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Geauga County Public Library (GCPL) - December 19, 2023

Meeting: The GCPL Board met on Tuesday, December 19th at 4:00 pm at the GPL Administrative Center. This meeting was in-person with a virtual option. The meeting was not recorded. Minutes of this meeting will be posted on the GPL website/ GPL Board after they are approved at the January 2024 meeting.

Public Comment: Permitted and included in the regular order of business per GCPL bylaws. Further clarified in Policy 215 - Public Participation at Board Meetings.

Board Attendance: Vice President Paul A. Newman, Karen Delano, and Joshua Hutchinson.  President Kate Pitrone, Crist Miller, Kristen Brickman and Jake Yanchar were absent.

Staff Attendance: 

• Kris Carroll - Director

• Katy Farrell - Assistant Director

• Lisa Havlin - Fiscal Officer

• Nicole Burnside - Human Resources

• Marlene Pelyhes - Tech. Services Manager 

• Dani Hollar - Bainbridge Branch Manager [virtual]

• Erika Noark - Geauga West Branch Manager

• Mike Pope - IT Manager

• Judy Lasco - Chardon Branch manager

• Rachael Hartman - Middlefield Branch manager

• Kevin Barton - Thompson Branch Manager

• Samantha Kretschmer - Collections Development [virtual]

• Deborah Schrock - Community Development

• Denise Javins - Marketing

• John Johnson - Facilities Manager

• Jonathan Kopp - Marketing intern
  

Public: This Observer attended in person

Vice-President Mr. Newman called the board meeting to order at 4:00pm and roll call was taken.

Minutes: November Records Commission and November Board Meeting minutes were approved without discussion and are available online. The minutes are posted as soon as they are approved at the following month’s Board meeting.                

Agenda: Agenda was amended to remove item 17 Executive Session. The motion passed.

Communications:

• Thank you note from a poll worker. Over 1,800 came through the library on Election Day, one out of every 16 Geauga voters. Many books were taken out that day and many voters got or renewed their library card.

• Thank you notes from two Books by Mail patrons. One patron is 92 years old. Both thanked the librarian for help in choosing books.

Fiscal Officers Report – Ms. Havlin

• Ms. Delano made a motion, seconded by Mr. Miller, to approve the year-end appropriations and fund transfers as presented in the board packet. The motion passed.

Director’s Report – Ms. Carroll

• Mr. Pope (IT Manager), Mary Crotty (Chardon Creativity Center), and the GPL director hosted Leadership Geauga at the Chardon Creativity Center. Ed Klein, Chardon Assistant Superintendent, and Ms. Carroll answered questions about GPL partnership with Chardon Schools and various funding questions.

Assistant Manager’s Report – Ms. Farrell

Statistics for November 2023:

• 55,134 patrons served at the branches 

• 18,700 computer and wi-fi uses

• 269 programs presented for patrons

• 11,579 reference interactions

• Total circulation of items: 243,578

Human Resources Report - Ms. Burnside

Mr. Hutchinson made a motion, seconded by Mr. Miller, to approve the Human Resource Actions as presented in the board packet. The motion passed.

1 - Resignations, 4 – New hires, 3 – Transfers, 1 – Raise, 1 – Promotion

Local Branch Manager's Report -  Ms Javins

• Ms. Javins, Marketing Manager, shared the most recent Lines and Links newsletter as well as the annual Our Favorite Reads document with the board members. Ms. Javins also shared 2023 marketing accomplishments with the board.

Committee Reports:

Facilities Committee

• The committee met 12/6/2023. Present were Board President Ms. Pitrone, Director Ms. Carroll, Assistant Director Ms. Farrell, Fiscal Officer Ms. Havlin, Library Consultant Larry Corbus, Committee Chair Mr. Newman and Committee members Ms. Brickman and Mr. Yancher.

• The Facilities Committee discussed several location options for a new Chardon Branch. Walkability, compatible neighbors, accessibility, and price of each location were discussed. Based on these considerations, the Committee asked Mr. Corbus to begin negotiations for property.

Marketing - Ms. Javins

• Marketing completed and mailed the Winter Spring 2024 Lines and Links on December 7th. The physical copies were delivered to the branches on December 15th. Marketing emailed Lines and Links Lite twice in November and December.

• Ms. Javins and Ms. Burnside collaborated to update the careers webpage on the website. 

• Marketing continues to support the Foundation with Mini-Golf. 

• The open rate for emails increased by 1% to 44%. The industry standard is 23%. 

• Mr. Kopp created a total of 220 posts on social media channels.

Technical Services - Ms. Peyles

• Review of education database options, including Gale Courses, Udemy, and Skillmill.

• The Books by Mail service sent 1000 items between January 1st and November 1st, 2023. This is a significant milestone for this targeted service that provides patrons unable to access the library in person. It was stated that Dawn Hauser does an excellent job managing this service for Technical Services.

IT Report - Mr. Pope

• The Clevnet app is broken. Clevnet is working with Sirsi to develop a new app. No timetable for the replacement. Patrons can access the catalog from the website.

Bainbridge Branch - Ms. Hollar

• The Bainbridge Branch was a polling location for the first time during the November election. Three precincts were assigned to vote at the location, bringing many people to the library for the first time. Many voters expressed their satisfaction with the location. The Board of Elections plans to continue to use the library as the polling location for voting in March.

• Stitching Circle is gathering warm clothing items and yarn donations from the community and will be knitting hats, scarves, and gloves to donate to a local charity organization that distributes these winter items to people who are currently unhoused. Chardon and Middlefield branches have agreed to be additional donation locations for this project.

• Mary Balog acquired 100 COSI Kits that were divided amongst our libraries to be distributed to students during winter break. The kits feature five different STEM activities and were provided by COSI and the Ohio Library Council. 

• Katie Whisler held a Teen Advisory Committee meeting. Each teen designed a T-shirt with the committee’s logo in the Inspiration Station, with the help of Ann Trem and Cathy Gehrke.

• In November 2023, the maker space had 161 reservations, which was similar to the reservations in November 2022. 

Chardon - Ms Lasco

• Author talk with David Petrovic, a teacher who is autistic and works at St. Mary’s Middle School in Chardon. The program was well-received with 36 people in attendance. Several patrons stayed after the program to purchase books and speak to the presenter. 

• Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency (NOACA) chose the Chardon Branch to display an electronic kiosk for 10 days. The kiosk had a touchscreen and gave information on the climate action initiatives of NOACA. There was also a survey on the kiosk that patrons could participate in. Few patrons interacted with the kiosk, and there were no comments on it.

• The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) recently announced that it would no longer send print materials to member libraries. Librarians are seeing how utilizing only online copies of resources will affect patrons at Chardon.

• Chardon shelvers decorated the front window for entry in the Chardon Chamber of Commerce holiday window contest. Last year we won second place, and this year’s winners will be announced on December 15.

• On November 22, the Chardon library elevator stopped working. The Facilities Department had Gable Elevator check it on Friday, but by that time the elevator was working. However, it had stopped again at the time of this meeting. Observer note: At an emergency meeting held 12/29/2023, funds were allotted to repair the elevator.

• A librarian had a request from two patrons for books on grief. They asked if we had any groups that met at the library for grief support. Although no groups currently meet at the library, the librarian printed a list of local resources for grief support, and the patrons were very appreciative for the help.

• A genealogy librarian received a phone call from a man regarding his WWII veteran relative who was killed in action. She found a lot of information for him. His response: “Thank you so much for all the information. I will forward it to my wife’s sister. We will go through it and then send on the new information to the Veterans Administration to help rebuild his file. Thank You, it is greatly appreciated.”

Geauga West - Ms. Noark

• The branch received a donation from the Red Key Network. Megan Vogias was nominated as Businesswoman of the Year. As part of her nomination, she chose the Geauga West Branch of GCPL as her cause to donate the registration funds to. The 50/50 raffle winner, Kim Skala, also donated her portion of winnings to the library. In total, $504 was donated to GW. 

• A generous donor contributed $500 to continue the Art to Go programs facilitated by the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

• The Manager met with a Job Training Coordinator with the ESC of the Western Reserve to discuss the Geauga West Branch becoming a job training site for two high school students. They started on December 5.

• The Manager presented her first Essentials program to staff new to GCPL. Although it was a small group, the attendees asked great questions and all learned something new.

• Circulation registered over 20 new kindergartners for their library cards as part of the Rascal Readers program.

Middlefield - Ms. Hartman

• November 2023 circulation was up almost five percent over last year. Middlefield is on track again to be the branch in Clevnet with the highest circulation.

• The Merry Recycled Christmas Extravaganza was held on December 2 and included a Christmas Decor Swap, a Re-gifting Swap, and a Christmas themed Pop-Up Book Sale. The swaps were well-received, with over 60 people happily refreshing their holiday home decor and finding the perfect white elephant gifts. The book sale didn't do quite as well, with 36 people in attendance, earning $129.00. Leftover holiday books were given to the other branches for their ongoing book sales.

Thompson - Mr. Barton

• November is National Model Railroad Month and this is the third consecutive year that Thompson has hosted the Lake Erie N-scale Society (LENS) for an annual event. The two-weekend event brought well over 100 patrons to view the trains in motion, and the LENS group members are engaging, knowledgeable, and open to all kinds of train-related questions.

• The Thompson Branch has also partnered with The Metzenbaum Center. Every other month, a representative from the center offers a “Movin’ and Music” program for preschool children. The presentation follows the Friday story time and in November there was a record turnout, making it the branch’s most successful ongoing children's program.

• Thompson hosted its first annual chili cookoff on Sunday December 3. There was Christmas music, a roaring (virtual) fireplace, crafts for the children and four contestants in the cook-off. Judging was conducted by library staff, and the winner was newly elected Thompson trustee Joseph Cindric. The event was followed by a library story time at the church on the Square and an opportunity to visit with Santa. Over 75 patrons attended the library event.

Mobile Services - Ms. Evans

• Staff on the Bookmobile are seeing an increase in the number of patrons since fall began. The staff has transitioned from the fall to the winter passive program. Patrons can take home a paper stocking, decorate it, and return it to staff to decorate the bookmobile. For their creativity and time, participants get a small Christmas gift and a candy cane.

• Mobile Services welcomed a new driver in November, Jennifer, who joined the team at the end of the month.

• Patron feedback: One of our young patrons told the driver at the stop, “Thank you so much for coming because I don't know what I would do all winter."

Unfinished Business – None

New Business:

• Mr. Hutchinson made a motion, seconded by Ms. Delano, to approve the changes to Personnel Policy 715 - Unpaid Time Off as presented in the board packet.  The motion passed.

• Mr. Hutchinson made a motion, seconded by Mr. Miller, to approve the new policy 724 – Leave of Absence as presented in the board packet. The motion passed.

Board Development 

Mr. Hutchinson made a motion, seconded by Ms. Delano, to accept the 2024 GPL Board Officer nominations as presented in the board packet. The motion passed.

• President - Paul Newman

• Vice-President - Karen Delano

• Secretary - Kristen Brickman

Foundation Report:

• Alice Munn, GPL Foundation Co-Chair, was invited by Kinetico to present the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to their employees. There will be an area set up at each of their three buildings to promote the program.

• Geauga County Library Foundation would like to thank Fireside Book Shop in Chagrin Falls for donating part of their proceeds to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library on all sales made on December 9th.

Friends Committee:

• On December 2nd, the Friends Group had their Christmas Pop Up Event at the Middlefield Branch. 

• The next scheduled book sale will be at the Chardon Branch during the Maple Festival.

• The Friends group met on December 12th and decided on the 2024 book sale dates.
  

Development Coordinator - Ms. Schrock

• Ms. Schrock has begun training Ellen Strojan for her new position as the new Administrative Assistant. Ms. Strojan transferred from the Geauga West Youth Services Department. 

Upcoming Community Events

• March 9th & 10th, 2024 - Adult and Family Mini Golf Events

• March 23rd, 2024 - Gardening and Cookbook Pop Up at Middlefield Branch

• April 25th – 28th, 2024 Chardon Branch Book Sale

• May 18th - Book Donation Drive Thru at the Geauga County Fairgrounds

Public Comment

League of Women Voters representative, Cris Takacs, asked the board when Board Member Mr. Hutchinson’s appointment ends. Mr.Hutchinson replied that it will end in 2024 and that he intends to ask the Geauga Commissioners to be reappointed.

There was no Executive Session.

The meeting adjourned at 4:23.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 16 at the Administrative Center at 4:00 pm. 

Minutes:  The latest minutes are posted as available here.  Prior to March 2023, videos of meetings were available to the public here.  The GCPL is no longer posting videos of their meetings.

Observer: Cris Takacs

Reviewer: Anne Ondrey

The League of Women Voters of Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org