- I'd like to call to order the public hearing for the library budget for 2026 for the Monroe
- County Public Library if at this time we can hear from Gary Letler about the 2026 budget.
- I'd like to welcome members of the community to the meeting tonight.
- The public hearing for the 2026 budget is the library's opportunity to share information
- about its financial plans for the next calendar year.
- This hearing is also required by law and must be held at least 10 days before the library
- board of trustees adopts the budget.
- The adoption of the 2026 budget will take place at the October 15th board meeting.
- So in August, we received the county's total assessed value figure for calculating the
- 2026 library property tax rate.
- The total assessed value for 2026 is about $11.1 billion.
- That's a decrease of about $95 million from last year.
- It's slightly less than a 1% decrease.
- The assessed value figure not only includes residential property, it also includes commercial
- property, business inventory, and equipment.
- Assessed value changes have been up and down the last few years.
- Looking at 2023 on the chart, the increase for that year was over $1.5 billion, which
- was nearly an 18% increase.
- For library revenue from the property tax levy, there's good news and bad news.
- The good news is that the tax levy will increase by 4%, but that's before the impact of the
- tax cap credit.
- The bad news is the tax cap credit will go up to about $420,000 next year due to Senate
- Bill 1.
- With a slight decrease in the net assessed value of the taxable property and a smaller
- increase in the amount of tax revenue to be collected, the library tax rate will go from
- the current rate of 7.93 cents per $100 of assessed value to 8.04 cents in 2026.
- This slide shows the trend in assessed value and the library tax rate over the past several
- years.
- It's interesting to see that 13 years ago the library tax rate was over 9 cents and
- assessed value was at about 6.3 billion.
- For the next year, the AV will be a little over 11 billion compared to the 6.3 billion
- 13 years ago.
- This slide is a summary of the 2026 budget compared to last year's budget.
- If it's hard to see, it's also in the packet.
- The first section is the revenue section, and so this is the operating revenue.
- The total projected revenue from the operating fund in 2026 is about $11.6 million.
- The property tax levy, which makes up most of the operating fund revenue, will increase
- to about $8.3 million, an increase of about $318,000 from the previous year.
- The big change for 2026 is that the tax cap credit will be around $420,000.
- Last year, the tax cap credit was about $53,000.
- The Senate Bill 1 changes have caused the tax cap credit to increase for 2026.
- Moving down the page to total revenue, the estimated increase for 2026 is only about $110,000.
- And moving down to the operating fund spending, the budget for total operating fund spending
- for 2026 is about $12.8 million.
- The increase from the 2025 operating budget is about $622,000.
- The DLGF sets a limit on what the total spending budget can be.
- We've increased the operating fund budget as much as possible, knowing that we will need
- to spend less than is budgeted.
- We've made operational changes, which will allow for some staff reductions.
- So for 2026, the goal will be to keep total spending in the operating fund under the amount
- of operating revenue received next year.
- And some wage and benefit assumptions for the 2026 budget, we're using an estimated
- wage increase of 2.75% or 75 cents an hour, whichever is greater.
- When we get to year end and we know what health care related costs will be for 2026, then
- we can make a final decision on wage adjustments.
- Before moving to the next slide, are there any questions about this report showing next
- year's budget estimates?
- >> Can you clarify, if you don't mind scrolling back up, you mentioned a figure and I think
- it was around 410 or 406,000.
- So the tax cap adjustment, can you -- I think I understand it, but the standard tax cap
- adjustment that we have been -- the library has been incurring without SB1 is a standard
- percentage.
- Can you explain what that 49 to 69 is, figure for this 2026?
- >> Yeah.
- So in the past, there's been one line for tax cap credit, and that was based on when
- assessed value goes over a certain -- or the tax rate goes over a certain percent, then
- there's a credit.
- So it's not a fixed percent, but it varies.
- And that's what the tax cap adjustment line was, the traditional tax cap adjustment.
- And then the SB1 impact works in a similar way, but those credits are related to changes
- in the Senate Bill 1 laws.
- And so really, the total tax cap credit is the combination of the two.
- So this is the operating surplus analysis slide, and for 2020 -- the last report in this binder
- shows actual operating fund revenue and expense starting in 2021 through 2024, and it also
- includes projections for years 2025 through 2027.
- For 2025, I'm estimating that operating expense will end up being very close to the operating
- revenue.
- There was an operating surplus of about $800,000 last year.
- For 2025, I'm estimating that operating expenses will be very close to operating revenue.
- If we have a surplus, it will probably be less than $100,000.
- For 2026, as the SB1 impact takes effect, I'm estimating that operating expense will
- again come in very close to revenue.
- The reports show an estimated surplus in 2026 of $100,000.
- For 2027, I'm estimating that operating expense will be slightly more than the operating revenue.
- The projected operating cost is expected to exceed operating revenue in 2027 by about
- $150,000.
- And that's it for the information I have to provide, and happy to answer any questions.
- I do have a question about the 2027 estimate.
- When figuring those, the operating revenue, is that taking into consideration what we
- have done to mitigate SB1 with staffing?
- Yes, the salaries and benefits line is where that is included in there as an estimate.
- Any other questions for Gary?
- Do we have any public comment?
- Okay.
- Then this meeting is adjourned.
- Board of Trustees meeting for September 17, 2005 for the Monroe County Public Library.
- Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?
- Second.
- All in favor of approval, say aye.
- Aye.
- No, nay.
- Ayes have it.
- And now we're ready for the Director's Month Report from Greer.
- All right.
- A couple of highlights.
- First, once upon a time, our annual summer reading program was primarily for our youngest
- patrons and focused on the importance of early literacy, and while that remains the cornerstone
- of our annual program, it has since grown to include all ages and audiences.
- Preliminary summer reading numbers for 2025 suggest that we had our highest ever teen
- participation with 665 summer reading program guides distributed to Monroe County teens.
- We'll hear more about this year's summer reading program from Angelica as part of her
- children's services update here in a bit, but it's really great to see more and more
- MCPL teens getting into summer reading.
- Also in teen services, our special education classroom visits will soon include Bloomington
- High School North on a biweekly basis.
- Last year we began hosting similar scheduled visits from Tri-North Middle School, so we're
- happy to have VHSS join in this program.
- We have replaced the Ellitsville fire door, and this is something we've had on our list
- for a long time.
- You probably don't ever see this door unless you're in the building when there's a fire
- alarm or a power outage, but it's recessed in the bulkhead, which used to be dark purple,
- that hangs over the threshold as you move into the Ellitsville children's area.
- So we had that work done recently as kind of connected to some of our other Ellitsville
- renovation work, we're glad to have that finally finished.
- When we first shared our strategy for absorbing the budget impact of Senate Bill 1 to reduce
- the total library staffing by the equivalent of five full-time employees, we shared that
- we would provide an update on our progress in early fall.
- So last week, we shared with our staff that we are currently at the halfway point.
- As of today, we have reduced by two and a half full-time employee or equivalents.
- All of this course done by way of attrition.
- So we will continue with this strategy until we reach the five full-time equivalent reduction
- mark again by looking at each voluntary departure and subsequent vacancy on its own terms.
- Then we will provide another update on our progress at the start of the new year.
- And we still expect to achieve this overall staff reduction by the end of 2026.
- Our annual Staff Day event was held yesterday.
- It was another successful and meaningful day for us.
- Staff Day offers a unique opportunity for MCPL employees to gather in one place and
- share experiences in the workplace, attend workshops and presentations for us to celebrate
- staff who have hit milestone years and for all of us to take time to reflect on who we
- are as an organization.
- So thank you to our Staff Day committee for doing all of the hard work in organizing and
- running this event.
- To our friends group for helping to fund various parts of the event.
- And to our trustees and our foundation board members who attended.
- Happy to answer any questions about the director's report.
- I'll just say I was grateful to attend part of the Staff Day yesterday and it really is
- a testament to the culture that the library has created that so many people, I was really
- honored to be a part of the or to attend the staff awards, the number of people who are
- achieving 5 and 10 and 15 and 20 and maybe I think 30.
- Yeah, years of service to the library really speaks to what a quality organization it is.
- So thanks for extending that invitation, I was glad to come.
- Absolutely.
- Yeah, this year we had 19 staff hit milestone years.
- And I can't remember the count for last year, but I do know that we had one staff member
- last year hit 40 years.
- Yeah, it's, I think, a sign of a pretty healthy organization when we have that kind of tenure.
- So, and yeah, thank you for coming, it's a cool day.
- Just add to that, I went also and every business wants to say they're like a family, but you
- could really tell the vibe, especially during the, I don't know what you'd want to call
- that.
- I'm sorry, the years of service.
- The milestone.
- Ceremony.
- Yes, I was going to say the awards.
- But there were even comments from the department heads would get up and talk about, use all
- these quotes from their colleagues, and there were even like, I love you, man, and I mean,
- it was very touching.
- At schools, I know at our school, we have a recognition of people for their experience,
- and it's a bigger ceremony, a bit larger number of people, you can't quite get personal
- in those, but this was really well done, and just the format of it was personal and just
- uplifting, and I went home and told my husband about it, and he said it was a really nice
- thing.
- Thank you, that's wonderful.
- Everyone who was honored had plenty of great things said about them by their colleagues,
- and it was really nice.
- Well extra thanks go to two of my colleagues behind me, that would be Josh Wolfe and Lorraine
- Martin who were part of the staff day committee and really led this process from when we first
- get together, which is what, spring more or less, February, up until staff day.
- It takes a lot of planning and a lot of work, and they really pulled through, so thank you.
- Thanks for attending.
- You don't have any business today, so may I get a motion to approve hearing about the
- media relations policy update from Tori.
- Hi everyone.
- So unlike my updates in February, this will not have my usual pizzazz and fanfare, unfortunately.
- So I believe you have the old policy and the new policy before you.
- So my job is going to be to walk you through some of the changes as well as contextualize
- some of the decisions we made with the media relations policy team.
- So at the Monroe County Public Library, we are committed to transparency, consistency,
- and professionalism in how we communicate with the community and the media.
- In today's digitally driven world, public expectations around communication have changed,
- and so have the tools and platforms we use to share information.
- The decision to update our media relations policy was made to strengthen the way our
- library communicates with the public, the media, and our community partners.
- As a publicly funded institution, it is critical that our messaging is clear, consistent, and
- reflective of our values and responsibilities.
- Updating our media relations policy was essential for several key reasons, including reflecting
- modern communication channels, ensuring consistent messaging and clear expectations, designating
- specific spokespeople, aligning with legal and ethical standards, and to protect patron
- privacy and staff.
- With these reasons in mind, we put together a team of MCPL staff to provide a variety
- of experiences and viewpoints to see how we could best make these updates.
- The team included Library Assistant Claire Clark, Children's Services Librarian Ginny
- Hassler, Social Media Specialist Aubrey Dunnick, and myself.
- So I will go consecutively through, or just top down, of the policy changes.
- So we added a general paragraph at the beginning of the media relations policy to set the intention
- of the policy and to provide context for why it exists.
- We simply didn't want to start off the policy with here's everything you can't do, and
- in our research, a lot of our peer libraries also had kind of a general overview to give
- context for anyone who were to see the policy, so we took that as a best practice as well.
- By including this introductory section, we clarify the purpose of the policy, establish
- the tone, provide context, and enhance accessibility, specifically for individuals who are
- unfamiliar
- with technical aspects of media relations.
- It helps them understand the why before diving into the how.
- This can be particularly helpful for new IU students in classes that require them to interact
- with local organizations, which we have seen in the past couple years.
- We also added a First Amendment rights paragraph to the top of the policy.
- We also saw this within peer libraries and took this as a best practice as well.
- First Amendment audits are activities where individuals, usually self-identified as auditors
- or independent journalists, film or record in public spaces to test and assert their
- constitutional rights, specifically under the First Amendment.
- These audits often focus on government buildings and spaces, including public libraries, to
- see if staff, security, or law enforcement can properly restrict their right to record
- in public spaces, exercise free speech, and access publicly funded facilities.
- As a public library, we must uphold and respect the First Amendment rights of individuals.
- However, we also have a legal and operational duty to provide a safe, welcoming, and functional
- environment where all patrons can access library services without disruption.
- This section was included in the policy to clarify the balance between free speech and
- library operations, reinforce the library's mission under Indiana law, provide legal and
- policy clarity for MCPL staff and the public, and support consistent decision making.
- So in our previous policy, it was stated that permission for recording had to be obtained.
- However, this was in direct opposition to our First Amendment policy.
- With this update, we are now consistent across the board in terms of our recording procedures.
- Because this is a public space, people do not have to obtain permission.
- However, our policy now states that if a patron requests not to be filmed, not complying with
- this request may violate our newly updated code of conduct policy.
- We also updated the library representation paragraph to provide clear expectations and
- reporting lines for anyone wishing to gather news and information on the property or from
- MCPL staff.
- This section helps the library maintain control over its public image, protect the rights
- and experiences of patrons and staff, and foster professional relationships with the
- media, all while ensuring that day-to-day operations and the library's mission are
- not compromised.
- Updates include requiring all media inquiries, including student work inquiries from IU students,
- to go through the communications and marketing director, prevent unauthorized filming or
- interviewing of patrons and staff, ensuring consistent information is given when individuals
- are involved in newsgathering, and to prevent disruption to library operations, including
- helping the library coordinate logistics to avoid interfering with programs, services,
- or general use of the facilities.
- This section also reinforces the library's commitment to timely and transparent communication
- with the media while also setting clear expectations.
- It communicates that we welcome media interest and cooperation, we are responsive and professional
- in our communications, and we have procedures in place to manage requests efficiently.
- We also added a library branding section.
- The library's name, logo, and visual identity are more than just design elements.
- They represent the integrity, mission, and public service role of the institution.
- This section was added to protect the library's reputation as unauthorized use of the library's
- name or logo can create confusion about official partnerships or endorsements, as well as lead
- to misrepresentation of the library's values or positions.
- This section ensures that the library is not inadvertently associated with third-party activities
- or messaging without prior approval, and it sets clear guidelines on branding to also
- help maintain consistency and more importantly, accessibility in how the library presents itself
- across various platforms, including print, digital, and in the media.
- We also updated at the very bottom the library social media rights and responsibilities section
- to include a disclaimer about sharing content not produced by us, as well as potential
- collaborations
- with individuals or other organizations.
- This section addresses how the library interacts with user-generated content and collaborates
- on social media, while also clarifying the boundaries of responsibility and endorsement.
- It provides clarity on what the library can and does share, support regarding strategic
- social communications, social media communications, including enabling the library to intentionally
- collaborate with staff members, patrons, and other stakeholders.
- By formalizing this, the policy supports proactive storytelling while maintaining professionalism
- and coordination through the communications and marketing department.
- Clear boundaries of endorsement, protecting the library's neutrality and public trust
- by clarifying that the library does not endorse any content from its followers outside of
- specific collaborative efforts.
- It also reflects transparency and professionalism.
- The library demonstrates that it has a thoughtful, ethical approach to social media and that
- MCPL values community engagement without compromising its neutrality or responsibilities as a
- public
- institution.
- This section allows the library to engage with the community on social media in a responsible,
- strategic, and legally sound way, amplifying voices and activities that support its mission
- while clearly distancing itself from unendorsed content.
- Thank you for your time, attention, and thoughtful consideration on the updated media relations
- policy.
- Your support ensures that the library continues to communicate with clarity, professionalism,
- and integrity while protecting our patrons, staff, and overall institutional mission.
- This policy reflects our shared commitment to transparency, accountability, and the responsible
- stewardship of MCPL's public presence.
- We appreciate your role in helping us uphold these standards as we continue to serve and
- engage our Monroe County community.
- Any questions?
- Do you have a question that couples this, not about the verbiage particularly, but is
- there a media relations intake form or a place on the website then where they could put in
- what type of request and give information that would then be directed to you or do they
- just contact you directly?
- That is a great question and that did come up in our policy review team.
- Right now as it stands, it would just be emailing me directly through either the community email,
- the general email, or my direct email.
- We did explore some options for forms.
- Some of our peer libraries are using third party technologies to do that outside of say
- our Google workspace, so that's something we are continuing to consider and we would
- like some buy in from most likely our IT team and our public services team, but that is
- something we are considering in the future.
- Thank you.
- Does anybody else have questions or comments?
- I guess about something, if you don't mind.
- Sure.
- When was the previous one last updated, and I don't need to know a year, but like approximately
- like I like the way you started, I hadn't thought about that.
- If I'm understanding you correctly, one of the things you updated was people are now
- in our everyday life, people are recording things in public, and I hadn't thought about
- that when I read these.
- I was like, oh, this is very well organized, easy to read.
- I think you had a specific example or two in here, a little more than the previous one.
- When did that kind of change where, and maybe that's why you felt like you needed to update,
- where we can't ask, require patrons to get permission.
- Did I hear you right, that one of the updates is kind of like just accepting that people
- will be taking photographs and videos and kind of fine tuning what our expectations
- are?
- Is that right?
- We found in our review that our general policy was that you needed to obtain permission before
- recording patrons or staff, and then we found that that was kind of in direct opposition
- to what we had best practices for in terms of First Amendment audits, and because this
- is a public space, and so we thought it would be best to align all of that with, you know,
- you're in public, it is a public space, so changes are you might be recorded, but also
- to respect patron and staff privacy and personal space, and we also thought it was a good time
- to include that because of our new behavioral rules policy as well, our code of conduct.
- I believe the last time the media relations policy was updated in 2021?
- The last substantive update was 2021, and we weren't talking a lot about First Amendment
- audits.
- Yeah.
- So we have found, I started my role here in July of 2022, so since then we've had a number
- of examples that kind of inspired us to revisit our policy as well, so particularly with the
- media school being right down the street in Franklin Hall now, so we have a lot of very
- passionate IU students that come in wanting to interview staff, and so we have a process
- for that so we don't disrupt library operations, and we have a lot of user-generated content
- as well with short-form video content platforms like TikTok, so it's just a lot of, we're
- in the age of user-generated content, especially short-form, so we thought it was a really
- good time to revisit this.
- You did a great job.
- Yes.
- And they need to let you know if they are not interested in being photographed.
- Yes, yes.
- We ask that anyone who is actively recording in the library, if a patron is uncomfortable,
- they can either talk to staff or they can talk to the person directly and that that
- be respected.
- I think that's better.
- This is really, really good, really well done.
- Somebody who doesn't know much about the media part of it.
- I read it, understood it, and for the average person, it's easy to understand, so.
- Great.
- Well, that is great feedback.
- But very thorough.
- Thank you.
- All right.
- Thank you for your time.
- Thank you, Tori.
- Thank you.
- All in favor of approving the media relations policy update, say aye.
- Aye.
- Those opposed say nay.
- Motion approved.
- And now we're going to hear some department updates.
- First we're going to hear from Children's Services.
- All right.
- Hello, everyone.
- I'm sure to do our updated for downtown Children's Services just to let you all know the amazing
- things that we are doing throughout the year and also summer reading.
- So we're really fine tuning our board now.
- We've stepped into the module version and we still adhere to these two points right
- here where they are split by age and we do that purposely because zero to six, it's really
- creating that habit of reading, not so much the time level.
- And so then when they go to tween, it's extending that habit, but also reinforcing what they
- do in school so they don't slip during the summer.
- And here's a picture of our board on the side.
- We do have four activities and they're split down to our actual activities that they do
- in the community or with their family and then to our reading.
- Some kids don't want to read that much in summer, but we do want them to engage with
- reading in some way.
- So they're required to do three out of the four activities, which forces them to do some
- kind of reading in the summer.
- And we always tell families, you know, you can make it 90 minutes, you can make it 100.
- You can tell them they have to do all four activities.
- We just want them to engage with us and participate.
- We are not hard and fast.
- We don't ask them to give proof, anything like that.
- We just want them to have fun during the summer with literature and the library.
- We did do a little bit of tweaks.
- If you see on the side it says minutes read, for the children it says books read, and then
- the books are indicated going up for that 90 minute goal that they have.
- We work very closely with Tori and her crew to make sure that these are pleasantly appealing
- to the eyes.
- The kids want to open it and engage with it, but also to be as simple as possible so we
- don't give more tasks to the parents to have to sit down and have a whole class of what
- summer reading is.
- The activities are very flexible like I said.
- We are seeing which activities are the favorites and that is create some kind of art and show
- it to the staff.
- So we get lots of, this year was Color Our World so we did a self portrait and kids just
- ran away with it.
- We saw so many kinds of art designs and they were so happy to show it to us which we really
- enjoy.
- This year we did ask for a recommendation from the staff and we love that kids breaking
- that barrier thinking that we're an authority, we're more of a third spot so we want them
- to see us a little bit more engaging not as an authority figure.
- And so next year we're thinking of trying instead of us giving them a recommendation
- but having the kids give us a recommendation so that gives them more of a platform to be
- a partner in the library and things like that and just so we can engage with them more.
- And so I did bring some, we did jokes as well to tell one of the staff members jokes so
- I have three of the top ones here.
- What does a cloud wear under its raincoat?
- Does anybody know?
- It's thunder wear.
- How does a zipper feel?
- It has its ups and downs.
- And why are scientists afraid of atoms?
- Because they make up everything.
- So the kids really like coming up and we laugh, we have a whole sheet of all the ones we get
- from them.
- They really like interacting in that way.
- Everybody laughs, say good job and stuff like that and also helps our collection move.
- So you know, books on portraits or different kinds of expression, the joke books tend to
- go a little bit more when we have these types of activities.
- And everybody likes statistics.
- I love statistics.
- We had almost 3,000 sign ups.
- For each module we collect how many reach that point and get a prize.
- So for the first module we had a 50% completion rate, then 46 for module two, module three
- had 43 and then module four had 40.
- Then I broke it down into tween and children's and it's about evenish.
- So it goes with the total sign ups and coming from other libraries, both I worked at Denver
- and then a rural library in Maryland, this is a very high, a very high success rate.
- Usually it doesn't even break into double digits or even 20%.
- So our community is very, very engaged with us.
- So we're really excited and also these strong numbers also do feed into teen.
- So we are making sure that from zero to 12, they know summer reading is every summer.
- You want to participate.
- That's the thing you do.
- The boards are going to be gorgeous.
- And so we're hoping that we can help teen through that way by just getting that routinely
- that they know.
- So they're expected when they hit 12 or 13, you do the same thing in your teenage years.
- And then I was able to get statistics from the last four years.
- 2022, they didn't have a module system, so that's why it's just game boards and then game prizes.
- As you can see, our numbers have, our completion rates have fallen a little bit, but our board
- and our overall participation has increased over time.
- So we are doing very well, especially after 2020, the 10 year year.
- Kids still want to come in, do summer reading.
- And that is partly of our staff, our children's staff is so awesome, and also our communications
- and marketing that makes the game so gorgeous to look at.
- All right, and we had two big programs that I want to highlight, especially Battle of
- the Books.
- Our librarian, Reagan, and our LA Paul did this one, and there's a story behind it.
- So there was a fourth grader who came in and wanted to do Battle of the Books because they
- did it at school, but you can only do it in fourth grade.
- And so she was disappointed, she loved it, she wanted to do it so much.
- So Reagan told her, fill out a comic card, we read those, we want you to fill them out.
- She's like, nothing is going to come of it, I'll do it.
- And so Battle of the Books ensued.
- So this highlights that our staff really wants to interact with our patrons, we want to hear
- what you want to do, especially from tweens.
- And so Battle of the Books is a trivia, kind of like a pub trivia.
- They have to read 10 books over the course of about five to six months, and then they
- come together as a team, and we have questions for them, and they have to fill it out.
- We got 21 teams, 80 participants, we had 175 people in total.
- So that's the audience, and also the tweens, and if anybody knows a tween, I was hoping
- for 10, 10 people, two teams at least.
- So we were overwhelmed, as you can see, it was in our conference rooms, it's jam-packed.
- We did partner, this is a great example of how our team goes out and tries to partner
- with the community.
- We partner with the Book Corner, Morgensterns for gift prizes, the mayor gave us an inspirational
- video that we showed at the program, Katz filmed it, so if you want to see it, it is
- on the Katz website.
- The Friends of the Library, Mike Burns especially, gave us items as well for their gifts, and
- then the Indiana Fever, we had some swag from them as well.
- And then Dirt Fest was kind of our ending program, and it is what it sounds like.
- It was dirt, and kids love dirt.
- But of course we're the library and we want you to learn also while you're there.
- We had the Muddy Sporks Bakery exploring the science of soil and expressing creativity
- through art using mud paint.
- So if you can see the pictures here, it was on the corner, kind of where the library bears
- are behind it, and kids were just ecstatic.
- They were digging, digging each other, as you can see in the one in the middle, one's
- getting some dirt put on them, but it was an awesome way of bringing the community into
- nature right outside the library.
- And we also did partner with Good Earth for the soil, the city of Bloomington Utilities
- Department.
- The educational programs specialist came and tabled with us.
- Bloomington Parks and Rec also tabled, and Indiana Geological and Water Survey also tabled.
- So trying to bring in those partners that kids normally don't think are kid-friendly
- and saying you can learn too about geology and soil and all that good stuff in a very
- fun way.
- So this I believe we got over 300 people.
- It was a very long, busy day.
- And a credit to the children during this, none of that dirt went into the library.
- So our facilities, very happy about that, very happy.
- And just to point out some of the other things we do do in the library, we do junior explorers
- which is from 0 to 7, and that's where two librarians take those children into parks,
- they went to the goat conspiracy, they went to the recycling center, again showing kids
- how things happen in their community, recycling, Mother Earth, just nature in general, kind
- of pulling them away from those iPads, TVs, being on social media and touching grass.
- So that's what junior explorer is.
- To read to a dog is a recent one we did, and kids read to a dog.
- Dogs get socialized, kids don't feel pressured that they're reading wrong or too slow, dogs
- don't care.
- Story time on a bus, we partnered with transit, Bloomington Transit where kids did a story
- time about buses and then went on a bus and went about a couple of blocks, kids love buses.
- So they're just excited, they got tickets, they handed it, it was a whole thing for them
- and as you can see the child is just happy to look out the window of the bus.
- And then pre-k math and science which was one of our big pre-k and that's where they
- learn high concepts in math or science but it's broken down in activities that they can
- learn.
- So they're playing and learning at the same time.
- And then bingo bonanza, bingo is just hot right now, kids love bingo.
- So that's a real favorite.
- Art Supply Petting Zoo, we partnered with Bloomington Art Supply and we just had a huge
- amount of mediums that they gave to us and kids were able to get messy, paint with it.
- You know parents, it's expensive so you're like I don't think we want acrylics for you,
- you know you're just gonna not want it.
- So parents really appreciated that we're giving access to things that may be outside the budget
- that they can play with and then just discard and not have to recoup that in a family budget.
- And also right now we are doing Wonder Totes and I will pass this along, it's a comment
- from one of our participants and it's where they fill out a form and we do a reader's
- advisory specifically for them and it's themed on a certain holiday or season.
- And so each person gets one or two kids, we pull books for them and then it goes into
- a sack with you know anything that's seasonal.
- I think we're doing fall right now so it's fall themed pumpkin spice, you know put some
- plushies and a little art supply.
- And so we are asking for feedback and that's one of the feedback that we got appreciating
- that they were able to say what they wanted and they got exactly what they wanted.
- And of course we love you know enriching kids but we also like traumatizing them a little
- bit and we do that by taste testers which we just did on Sunday and that's where kids
- blind taste snacks.
- And we did Pringles this last Sunday and kids were not happy with some of their forms that
- they fill out.
- They do everything very very classy.
- They have saltine chips that they can eat in between the flavors.
- They can smell coffee to cleanse their pellet and then they tell us what they think of it
- and it was not very good.
- We try and you know expose them to different flavors.
- We've done pop tarts, kisses, Oreos and parents like those as well again because kids want
- the newest Oreo.
- They want the newest pop tart.
- You know if it's lemonade they want it because their friends have it and so we are allowing
- them to taste it and be like "that's disgusting" like we don't want that anymore and so parents
- are happy you know they get to taste things, push against their boundaries, express themselves.
- It's really nice to see kids talk to each other and you know have that interaction with
- their peers over something and so we try and do the balance of teaching them stuff but
- also having that social interaction of you know commiserating over a chip that tastes
- like seaweed, which was one of the flavors we had.
- There's many.
- There's chili cheese fries, ketchup, seaweed, what else, butter caramel, hummus, red chili
- and hummus.
- So it does make a difference when you don't know what it is and kids when we were going
- into so it kind of escalates the first one is like you know cheddar, very mild and it
- ups the ante for everyone.
- By the fourth one the kids were just like you're torturing us, we can't do this anymore,
- don't do it, but they always come back so they enjoy that drama of you know escalating
- all that stuff.
- And then just some yearly statistics from January to August.
- So far we have done a 304 programs and then it's just broken down from birth to five children
- six to nine and tween and then total participants we will probably reach 10,000 by the end of
- the year the way we're going right now.
- So you can see we do a lot of programs but they are also very well attended and as you
- can see you can see why with taste testers, Wondertoads, Dirt Fest we are always trying
- to push kind of the boundaries of what a library is known for but also to kind of blanket also
- partners that you might not know would partner with the library.
- So we're always doing that as well.
- That way both staff can do what they want but not shoulder all of that weight.
- So there's all of that.
- Does anybody have any questions?
- No question but I'm really excited about your battle of the books because the MCCSC used
- to have a program that the sixth graders they would be teams and then they would get together
- and it was competition though and that's why we had to stop it but they had the different
- schools that were against each other to see how well they read the stories and I just
- think that's a fabulous program.
- The kids kind of missed it after it was taken away so that's really wonderful and it looks
- like also with their tween things that it's going to just be the gateway for them to continue
- with the teen activities too so congratulations.
- Thank you.
- I can say that a lot of these the parents often come to us begrudgingly and say well where's
- the adult version of this?
- Where's Dirt Fest for kids, you know for adults and we are in the process we got a lot of
- adults who would like to do Battle of the Books with you know as an adult one and as I was
- thinking about in talking to my staff we thought it'd be really nice to do a family Battle
- of the Books where you come together with families and read it together and then do the trivia
- as well to do that intergenerational programming so that way it's not so excluded by age.
- So thank you yeah we've got kids coming that same day saying so when's the next one?
- And I do know the second place winner was four people one was siblings and I talked
- that older boy into doing it so when he came out I was like see I told you it'd be worth
- it you won something.
- All right thank you.
- Thank you.
- Just wanted to say too this is I mean really wonderful work kudos to you and your team.
- The creativity that it takes to put these programs on and the energy coupled with these
- kind of statistics is really something like it's sort of a holistic skill set that you're
- bringing to be able to like look and continuously improve based on data which is difficult to
- collect when there are hundreds of children in the room or playing in a dirt pile.
- So just want to say thank you for this presentation it's clear that the work and like the
- creativity
- of service is really there but it's really impressive to the staffs that you're able
- to provide and look at to continuously get better.
- Thank you I think it's a nice balance where I'm more statistic based and my staff is more
- visual and I always tell them get a you know 300 was a roundabout there might have been
- more there probably was more just because we need to show both statistically and visually
- that the library is needed especially now so I always push get as much statistics even
- if you have to round park if you're at 200 and you're like I can't count anymore that's
- still going to make an impact for the library.
- Okay next we're going to hear about the Southwest branch.
- All right so thank you for this opportunity to talk about Southwest I'm really happy to
- share a little bit about the year and really what I'm going to try and recreate is the
- story of us who we are and what we do and it's a lot like the elephant where I can tell
- you just little bits and everybody's going to walk away with a different impression but
- I'm going to try and get you the impression that's closest to what we experience on a
- daily basis.
- So the first one I was in use services for almost 20 years and I used a pig puppet and
- when I came to Southwest I thought oh there's going to be so much of what I used to use
- at Southwest.
- No no had to reinvent the wheel I could use a lot of my experience but I was like nope
- toss the pig puppet because that's not where we are anymore and then I was like hmm turtle?
- No we do not move slowly at Southwest we are not guarded we are very open to the public
- oh I so wanted to be the bunny so cute so fluffy oh my gosh you could do so much with
- this expressive little face but bunnies they startle easily and that is not us oh my gosh
- alright you guys this was so unexpected and yeah really unexpected I thought I know what
- Southwest is gonna be like I know libraries I know what's gonna happen this started with
- me moving to Bloomington and I am trying to cram everything into a one bedroom apartment
- and I'm shoving my kayak into my sister's garage and she waltzes up to me my sister
- who is also a children's librarian smiles at me and sticks 50 possum stickers in my
- pocket and I'm like Chris what are you doing I've got to get this kayak into your garage
- and she passed my pocket she goes you're gonna need them and that became part of the Southwest
- lore because when I was on the third floor and everyone was so kind when I started and
- staff started coming in or introducing themselves and they said we heard you have possum stickers
- where are ours and I was like oh my gosh I think these are my people and possums quirky
- unexpected but oh so needed in their habitat doesn't always look pretty but oh so useful
- so if you can picture what I'm about to say and the quirkiest most unexpected fashion
- that is us and I'm gonna put you up right the other way is a little too worrisome so
- upright moving quickly so Southwest we are a staff of 10 public service and we have four
- material handlers they are the unsung heroes and when my sister was a material handler
- in Bloomington almost 20 years ago she said never forget your material handlers they are
- the ones who get your core reason back on the shelf and the reason why everything keeps
- moving smoothly never underestimate your material handlers so I want to give a shout out to
- our four material handlers my goodness they keep us going we have two security officers
- and we have three custodians so that's just sort of the numbers but now we're gonna talk
- about who we are I hope you got to see our teaching kitchen that is one of the more unusual
- pieces of Southwest and oh it was one of those quirky bits really quirky bits because as
- I said last year and this is our expansion I spent 20 years trying to keep everyone safe
- and I was watching for hazards and I was like and now we've got fire and we've got knives
- and we're gonna throw kids into the mix all right so we need to talk to somebody who's
- done this what not a lot of people have done this we're gonna make it up ourselves we're
- gonna do some brainstorming okay so we spent the past year expanding our programming ideas
- and I'm gonna talk about one of my favorite ones our equipment and that was a lot based
- on the public saying hey what do you want to see in the teaching kitchen what do we
- need to invest in equipment wise that we can continue to use over and over and then I don't
- know about you but I know I can cook at home can I cook with 12 other people and tell them
- what I'm doing and keep it organized and keep my eye on everyone so we had to work on our
- development of how do we teach in this new space that's not traditionally in libraries
- and then at the same time the teaching kitchen is like this meeting room public like organizations
- throughout the county they can reserve it and use it just like the meeting rooms and we
- had to figure out how does that work best with what we're seeing and can we adapt and
- pivot and that is one of my things I was like ooh that's unexpected how are we gonna pivot
- I think I thought about that a lot throughout the year and I really want to talk now about
- the children's staff we have one children's librarian Jenny and we've got two children's
- librarian assistants Krista and Jessica and they came up with something ingenious they
- do preschool cooks and books I was like oh three to six year olds they're gonna cook
- okay okay okay with their caregiver all right all right all right I was like how are we
- gonna do this and they took some of the key components of story time specifically music
- and they worked that in and they said we want to do not traditional cooking I mean we could
- do if you give a mouse a cookie and then we make cookies but what if we made wontons I
- was like okay and we're gonna make a song up so our three-year-olds can figure out the
- motion of putting the filling in putting the water on the edges and fold to fold to fold
- and they came up with a song and I walked by because I love to walk by during some of
- these programs and I see all the kids singing as they do this and I was like oh yeah we
- knew that worked and children's story time you sing you break the words down phonologically
- they're learning vocabulary but they're also doing motor skills that are designed for that
- three through six and they're trying something new and we weren't going to be like you got
- to eat it all just be like hey it's a new flavor let's try it and then into this learning
- we also added smell so there's a lot of like we got the ingredients out in the little bowls
- and then you smell it and you're like what does it smell like because it might be something
- new and that added sensory bit in that learning it's really sticking with them oh the songs
- are very cute and I often like when I'm going by and I hear a ukulele going and I hear Krista
- trying to work the syllables out to see can I get the instructions into a song I love
- those moments because I was like oh that's so clever and what do you do when you try
- something new what have we just taught parents and caregivers that we have expanded out the
- possibilities of what children are capable of and hopefully modeled something that you
- go home and keep doing oh they're capable of wontons what else are they capable of what
- should we be trying at home to keep doing this sort of expansion and I was like yeah
- because we got a comment card saying I know like you know I love my kid I think they're
- capable of great things but the possibilities of what they are capable of at this age I
- have branched out on what we're going to try at home that's our goal so if you want to
- come to a cooking program I highly recommend it and if you have a three through six year
- old yeah come so teen space what we focused on this past year was we got a lot of seventh
- and eighth graders this is maybe their first time being independent in a public space so
- while we're spending a lot of time saying hey this is the behavior that's expected in
- a public space we also want you to feel like you have ownership in this public space that
- when you have comments we're listening and we're trying to integrate what you're telling
- us so we worked on a teen advisory board and they gave us feedback and we got art up in
- the teen space that reflects their interests and worked in their ideas we also heard them
- that sometimes you know like I would like this board game I would like this material
- that's very traditional but we also worked on how are we arranging some of the small
- pieces of furniture so it feels very cozy and then we also went and we added some frosting
- to the study room walls and the outer space so that their space is where they feel very
- comfortable and we can say hey the library is for everyone but when we also say and I
- hear you and we integrate what you're asking for we're reinforcing it and we're watching
- how it goes and there is between 20 to 60 teens who come over after school once bachelor
- lets out we're also seeing some of our older used to be bachelor now at high school coming
- over and we're loving that mix and we're seeing more the ones who are hanging out in the all
- ages space coming into the team space and interacting with our team staff so we're going
- to continue to be like are we listening closely to this audience and can we mesh with what
- they're asking for adults so we went very green this year we launched two different
- things one of them sorry at downtown library the seed library we started our own seed library
- but we knew we couldn't duplicate downtown so we thought how can we go small and we want
- to tie it into the teaching kitchen so we decided this year we would do a salsa library
- and we would have limited amount of seeds but the goal was take this grow it at home
- come back and we're going to try and wrap it into programs that we have at the teaching
- kitchen so oh at the very beginning like maybe you don't have a green thumb let's do like
- how to get going in your garden with Purdue extension and then we're getting into the
- summer and your peppers are going so can we do some dehydration of peppers because your
- tomatoes aren't ready yet and then we did a salsa program so we're like this works for
- us we're going small we tied into the teaching kitchen we handed out two thousand three hundred
- and twenty two packets of seeds and next year we've already decided we're going to do a chili
- garden because then we can keep going on like hey that stuff you learned with tomatoes last
- year let's build on it and then if you like your chili a little spicy you know that those
- peppers that you knew how to grow and then also something that can be vegetarian and
- also then something possibly vegan and then also you know like we're trying to keep going
- and then and then and then so we also launched a living plant library this one was very different
- we had the seeds there in their packets they're all nice and contained and then they're like
- let's do a living plant library and I was like aha water in the library I was like talk
- to me about this so we ended up handing it out 438 cuttings reaching about 250 people
- we had 48 plant libraries they had it down to a science and you know what I should have
- mentioned I skipped over teen services staff Kate long and we have two part are two full
- time teen services library or library assistance Danny and Joe and then an adult Becky craft
- is the adult librarian and then Sophia and Julie and I should have known with Becky because
- I was like I unleashed Becky on the kitchen on the organization so I was like water plants
- cuttings Becky ill work so what I heard the other day at the desk was we love using the
- library but the plant living plant library was something very unexpected because you
- know everything we take from the library it's like information it's intangible or it's
- a program and it's a relationship that's also sort of intangible the materials we borrow
- we return but the seed cuttings we took home and I love that green that is now in my home
- and it reminds me of the library and serve an unexpected way on a daily basis and they
- brought back the tubes and they said if we bring turn these will you do the program again
- next year and I was like yeah yeah we will so oh and then they were also like and we'd
- like to donate this time too so a little bit unexpected and all the age groups but it wouldn't
- be this year if I didn't say something about the road construction and the piece I really
- want to talk about the road construction there was a lot but what we found was as the road
- construction changed on a daily basis what it really did was tightened up our internal
- message because it was like what's happening out there and sometimes I would run out and
- take a look it would change hourly I'd run back in I'd be like here's the update and
- we would pivot on these talking points sometimes you know twice a day but what was really
- interesting
- is it became not quite a weather conversation with the public but a really interesting way
- to connect because they're like oh you know like yeah that was that was wild getting in
- and then we'd start talking about it and it was something in common no matter who walked
- through the door whether it was little kids who loved all the construction or it was adults
- who are like I can't wait until this is done or it would be people who are like I can't
- wait till we can walk here or people who came on such a regular basis they would give us
- an update so then we could add it to our update but it was something in common that we were
- all experiencing as we were using this community place and that's really what we look for a
- lot of times can I find a way to connect with you and then share some resource that you
- need or would like to hear about or tell you about a program and we try and start that
- with like a hello welcome to Southwest welcome in so we've got that first but construction
- gave us an unexpected second and it also brought a lot of kindness from our community because
- we thought we'd get a lot of complaints but what we got a lot of was oh hey and then it
- gave us something to talk about and it was easy then to transition into what can we do
- for you here at the library and that will be something we will continue to think about
- as we ask for feedback from the public as we continue to watch what is needed from our
- community and the south side and I have no doubt that we will continue to be rather quirky
- because it has worked for us. Anybody have any questions? You guys have really weathered
- quite a few things recently. So kudos to being able to still have a smile on your face and
- doing a great job. Humor has saved us. I would love to come in and be very serious but really
- since humor carries us along, I'm going to grab possum puppet and come in and hope no
- one has a terror or fear of possums or puppets and just tell you this is what we're trying
- to do and we are supported by so many different departments to make it possible because we're
- not operating out here in isolation. We've got so much support from the system and that's
- been incredibly important to us. I just think it's wonderful to see a full spectrum of engagements
- and enthusiasm. So I think that's to your leadership. Thank you. Thanks. We try and
- really work that because even though everyone's got their specialty, everyone works all three
- of the service points because then we're heavily invested in promoting all the programs and
- we also know about them. And it's interesting because I have a completely different experience
- with summer reading at the information desk than I will in teen or children and I think
- that just helps me on all of them. And also then I'll be like, I catch the parents and
- I'll be like, hey, you want to join the summer reading club, don't you? And I grin at them
- until they take the board. And I'm like, yeah, you do. It's like, let's do this. Thank you.
- Thank you. Thank you. At this time, do we have any public comment? Okay, all in favor
- of adjourning, say aye. Aye. Meeting adjourned.
- ("Pomp and Circumstance" by Edward Elgar)