I'd like to call to order the Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees meeting for September 16th,
2026. Do we have any public comment at this time? Nobody online? Okay, great. Can I get a motion to
approve the consent agenda from the minutes from August 19th, monthly financial report, monthly bills
for payment, personnel report, and the board meeting calendar?
All in favor say aye aye those opposed say nay eyes have it and next we're gonna hear from Greer for
the directors monthly report You're probably sick of me saying this by now, but overall circulation
continues to be incredibly strong in 2026 We have now seen 12 consecutive months of six-year record
circ stats for overall sir. It's really fantastic. I
We have launched the indie author project through our biblio board subscription This is a service that
allows local authors to submit their own ebooks for inclusion in our local author collection page online
Lisa Champelli our collection development manager will be here in November I believe we rescheduled
her annual department update and she'll have more details to share on this new service But it's great
to see so far and we've been kind of looking at the indie author project through biblio board for about
seven years
So we finally got it in place, and we've talked to a lot of other libraries that have done this, so
it's kind of exciting to see. Preliminary summer reading numbers. I'll just share the stats, because
I don't wanna steal the thunder from Angelica or Kathy, who are gonna give some cool department updates
today. But here are the preliminary participation numbers. Children's Services had 3,267 participants
for summer reading this year. Teen had 726.
which is an all-time high for teen summer reading. Adult services had 3,329, which is phenomenal. 473
of those, by the way, were digital participants, so that's worth noting. And this is the first time
we did outreach house calls with summer reading. So for our house call patrons through outreach services,
we had 111 participants. That's pretty great. So overall, very strong numbers for summer reading in 2026.
Here at Southwest, the start of the new school year saw BMS students returning to our teen space faster
than ever, which is another indication that this branch is indeed a successful and safe space for our
teens. CATS officially assumed oversight of our downtown level up digital creativity space. CATS staff
have been training for this role for a few months while shadowing adult services staff during their
regular shifts.
We are happy to bring CATS back into an active role in providing this type of frontline digital creativity
tools and support for the community. And we are grateful to our adult services team for managing that
space and its resources so well these past five plus years.
As you all know, our annual public hearing on next year's budget takes place at County Council this
evening. Right now, in fact. So Gary is attending that meeting and we look forward to the next step
in seeking approval for the twenty twenty seven budget following tonight's hearing.
Staff day was held yesterday at our downtown library. All MCPL staff attend this annual event. Some
of you are in attendance as well, so thank you for that. It was a very successful day. We'll have more
details to share at the October meeting after we've tallied session and attendance numbers and have
also completed our annual staff day follow-up survey. We do that every year almost right after staff
day to gauge how well it went and what people wanna see us do differently or better the following year,
and that staff survey gives
really critical feedback to help us figure out are we going to do more or less of certain things? Should
we try something totally different? Is the time of year still right? Because we shifted from February
to September a few years back. So that staff feedback survey is going to go out very soon. And once
we get all of that tallied, then we'll tell you more about staff day. And finally, I want to highlight
a unique anecdote in the director's report. I usually pick one every month. This one really stood out
to me. It's from outreach services in a way.
So a staff member was at a local gas station and happened to be wearing an MCPL t-shirt, the much coveted
MCPL shirts, right? And the cashier there shared that they were never much of a reader until they were
incarcerated in the Monroe County Correctional Center and discovered our jail library collection and
its services. And that turned them into a reader. And since they were released, they're still an active reader.
So the staff member shared that with our outreach services manager, Chris Jackson, who decided to submit
it to the director's report. And that wouldn't really suck out because I think it's kind of a unique
example of the feedback we hear from the community on the impact that our collections and services have.
It's an under, not underutilized, but it's
an under-celebrated collection in service, the jail library that we have. It was great to see an interaction
with a member of the community that came back to us with a notion that this is a really valuable collection
that we have. That personal impact was great to see. I'm happy to answer any questions about the director's
report. I just want to say that staff day was really ... I could only attend the early session, but
I was so impressed. Everybody was just milling around. They were talking to each other. I was talking
to several people. And it was just really so great how everybody just interacted with each other. And
they were so happy. It was wonderful. So kudos. Well, kudos are for the person sitting behind me. Lorraine
Martin is our mastermind, but she leads a staff day committee.
With a small group of staff every year who really do the heavy lifting and they do everything from planning
the agenda to reaching out and Identifying and booking a keynote speaker to figure out what the foods
gonna look like the pacing of the day Everything comes from that committee. So they're the ones who
do the real work, but Lorraine Martin deserves a real acknowledgement Any other questions or comments
I liked your story. I just want to also comment that it just goes to show the library is for everyone
at any age. People who were not library users as children, there's still so much here to be found. That's
exactly right. I really like that. Next up, we're going to hear from Greer about the elevator bits.
Yes, so quick update on the elevator project and the bids the bids for updating our downtown elevators
were opened on Tuesday September 8th in a public meeting at the downtown library at 1 p.m We received
three bids which we opened and read aloud during the meeting all three bids came in around the same
price point We're looking at between four hundred and five hundred thousand dollars, which is more or
less what we expected and
Our elevator consultant is currently reviewing these bids and will advise us on the next steps. And
so we will share the decision on the preferred vendor and what those next steps look like in the coming
weeks. And then once we have done that, we can then schedule the work to occur at a time that is least
inconvenient to patrons and staff.
As a reminder, these are three elevators downtown the two main public elevators. Everyone thinks of
in the center of the atrium that go from the first floor up to the third and then another elevator around
a back corner, which is a staff elevator. It goes down to the first floor in the teen space and goes
up second and third floor and then up to a little known space.
At the downtown library called the penthouse which has all of our surplus shelving and other stored
items So very important elevator all three of those need more or less a gut update and that's what this
project is going to be I'm not sure we always prefer to be done all at once rather than to phase a renovation
or construction project because phasing takes more time and then we have to shift
around where people can go and not go. But a lot of that depends on the vendor.
can you remind me where the funding for this if this was an anticipated expense that I Recall you have
been expecting for a while where the funding will come from. Yes So so this was going to be a building
improvement project that we often use capital outlay funds for if you look at the beginning of the finance
report, you'll see that we're in a very very good position heading into the back half of the year with
respect to likely surplus and
And particularly our local income tax revenue checks are strong enough And I want to say it's twenty
two thousand a month For the rest of the year that that combined with our existing surplus will allow
us to use operating funds To fund that particular project. So it's a little early to say for sure. That's
how we're gonna do it But that's what we would prefer is to use our own operating funds. Yeah
Can I get a motion to hear about our surplus items? Okay, we have five items to surplus this month We
have two black metal cabinets that were previous previously used in vital if you remember vinyl had
a soft renovation over the summer And we have two black metal cabinets. We just don't need anymore we
also have two large ping-pong tables that were previously used in the downtown teen space and
They're hidden in a back hallway that leads to an emergency exit. It's actually not a safe place to
put them. We don't do the ping pong programming we did once upon a time, and we've got two large ping
pong tables. So I can't recall who the local entities we've reached out to to see if they're interested
in taking these, but as you all know, we typically do that with large surplus items rather than say,
well, we're just going to junk them.
But we don't have a guarantee yet as to who wants all of those items But we do need to surplus them
and then finally we have a set of particle board lockers that were originally Installed in the downtown
teen space. We're gonna probably replace those with more traditional metal metal lockers They didn't
really work for us in terms of their size and ability to hold students backpacks when they come in after
school and they're also in that same hallway and
Presenting a little bit of a safety hazard. So we're looking to surplus those five items And as we do
I will read the resolution aloud and then pass it around and we'll have to pass it that way and bring
it back so whereas the equipment listed below is no longer needed by the library and whereas the estimated
value of the items listed below is less than a thousand dollars and the library has the authority to
sell transfer demolish or junk the items under Indiana code 5 22 22 6 or
public or private sale or transfer without advertising or Indiana code 5-22-22-8 worthless property.
Now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Trustees of Monroe County Public Library declares the
following item surplus and authorizes disposition of the items. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed
say nay. Ayes have it.
Next up, we're going to hear from Angelica in Children's Services.
Hello, everybody. My name's Angelica Candraria, and I am the children's services manager at the downtown
branch. So what everybody's here is to hear about summer reading. That's our biggest event all year.
And just as a reminder, we did split up four years ago. We used to just have one children's board, and
then we started to cultivate a tween area inside of our children's downtown area. So we thought splitting
them up would give
autonomy to those tweens who don't feel like a teen but are not children. And so for the children, zero
to six, we do it based more on just creating that habit of reading. So it's a number of books. And then
tweens, it's based on minutes. Just because when you're getting into school, that's when you start seeing
more of a progression of how kids read.
Someone can read it in three hours, a 300-page book, but someone else might take a couple of days. So
we didn't want to make any of those tweens feel bad for not being able to accomplish things just as
fast as their peers. And this year, it was unearth a story. So you can only imagine all the facts we
learned about dinosaurs. Oh, and beef, actually. Forgot some things.
Some popular activities, which are jokes, art, and storytelling. And so jokes are one of the things
we look for every year. And so I have some here. Why didn't the toilet paper cross the road? It got
stuck in a crack. Why don't fish play basketball? They're afraid of the net. And last one, why did the
banana go to the doctor? Because he wasn't peeling well.
So we love hearing those kind of anecdotes. The children love doing it. Some we have to pretend because
they don't quite make sense. You know, they did make them up. But we do like having that kind of concept
of them going over that barrier of talking to us and seeing us as people and not as authorities.
This year we asked them to write a letter to a dinosaur. And so I have one here and it says, Dear Rex,
I hope you're having a good day in Jurassic Park. Have you found new humans or friends? See you later.
From Luke. And I have several other long ones here that the tweens and children decided to give us so
I could bring them here for you to see.
And so we just like them to be creative, and we love seeing it so everyone can see. And we like to see
what they like to do. They love giving us things and hearing that praise from us, especially from all
of our staff. So we like to do the jokes, art, and storytelling, and we do keep them up in the back
because staff do really like looking at them. Can you make sure they know how to say the words? Because
when they always like to tell me, no, you're not saying that.
Oh, believe me, we had a weekly challenge where they had to determine if a dinosaur bones was extinct
or extant, which I didn't know extant meaning it was still alive, so I learned something too. And then
another one had to tell us which dinosaur it was from different pictures and how many times I got corrected
by a child was I could not keep count.
All right, and this year we did have an all-time high of 3,200 sign-ups for all of the branches system-wide.
And then here is the breakdown. We are pretty close to what we were last year for completion. We're
just slightly under, but that is due to that we had more sign-ups and more completions overall. We did see
an increase for tween. As you can see here when we did start doing it, it was a slow climb, but this
year I think they really did like the dinosaur theme and they got used to having their own board so
more kids came, especially in that tween area. So we are seeing a progression of an increase, which
is really good. After the pandemic, a lot of libraries are really struggling to get back to their numbers
and we will reach that probably in the next year or two.
And this is our overall stats. I know you're all gonna ask again why we have 99 programs. Last year
was 85. I tell my staff every year, don't try and beat last year's number. We want you to survive summer
reading, but they just love our community and wanna give them the best experience. And so we had 99
this year, and that is with one member missing.
So we do have a new staff member, Kristen, so it might increase next year. And then we had about 3,100
participants throughout the summer. I'm really proud of that we did increase the partnerships. Last
year it was eight, and this year it was 11. So we were partnering with more organizations like the Natural
History Museum and trying to find those partners that can enhance our summer reading theme for our kids.
And the next is our second annual Battle of the Books. And the kids really love this program. And so
last year, a fourth grader, I believe, came to the desk and asked if we could do Battle of the Books,
because I believe it was at Rogers. They only do it for fourth grade. And she had so much fun, she wanted
to keep on doing it. And so we told her to,
give us a comment card and she didn't believe us that we read these comment cards. So this is her comment
card that I'll pass around. So Paul and Drew did it this year and we had about 17 teams and 85 participants.
They outdid themselves with partnering with an abundance of organizations as you can see. One of the
ones I do want to point out is that we did get a free haircut for everyone.
who participated. So that's a really good thing for when they go into school. They can get a fresh cut,
look really clean, and it's provided by the library. We also had Morgan Stearns, Batonese did our t-shirts
for us, and Wonder Lab also gave free admission to all the kids. And this is some of the stuff that
we had during the summer. We did an interactive story walk, and so that was done by Joe Barber.
who used to be here at Southwest. She thought that she would like to do one indoors, because it's so
hot, and some people cannot go to the parks that they're located at. So she did interactive story walk,
and I have. And it was the Octopus Escapes by Mahi Malloy.
And so she created just a really good immersive experience for the kids. She paper mache'd huge hands
and also a huge octopus that I was going to bring, but we cannot locate it. I think it is hiding somewhere
in her back stalk room. So it was really nice to give an alternative if they were just too hot or couldn't
make it to any of the vocations, they could come to a branch that was accessible to them.
And then the dinarific partnership, as you can see, a child is very happy about seeing a inflatable
dinosaur. We partnered with our circulation staff, who willingly got into those costumes and paraded
around during story times and just randomly, and the kids loved it. I will say we did kind of scare
about two kids, but the odds are still in our favor. The Fancy Princess Dress Up Tea Party, we did partner
with Royal Encounters at IU.
And it was just a tea party for everyone. So we had princesses of all sorts come and talk to the kids,
read to them, and also drink tea with them. And then Marmot Madness, we partnered, which is down here,
with Peep Squeakery. And it was groundhogs Delilah and Edna. And so the kids loved being able to interact
with the groundhog, touch them, and also just talk to their handlers on what a groundhog is.
We have Tween Reads, and this is one of the participants of Tween Reads, and for the third year in a
row, a Tween Reads book club patron did her 4-H reading project on one of the book clubs and earning
a championship ribbon. And then the last one is Read to a Dog, which I personally love because they
come on Sundays. We usually get about
30 to 50 people coming in for this. And they just love it. And so I have some of their baseball cards
here. So you're more than welcome to take one. Usually two to three. And so they do about 15 minute
sessions. I love Dickens. He looks like he just came back from the war in the winter. And we're just
redoing everybody's pictures. And they'll be all reading with books in their laps.
We did some sprucing up since we are kind of far down the line of any revamping or anything, but we
do still want to keep the spaces fresh and full and reaching the needs of our patrons. So Kathleen Reed
and Wyatt Reed did laps because we had a baby space inside and that was predated before we had an independent
baby space. And so we had constantly toddlers going in there and staff had to go in and do a negative kind of
interaction by telling them to leave. They didn't understand why they couldn't be in there. So we decided
to take it out. And so what we did is we flipped that baby space, made it into a reading corner, which
is this middle picture, and then gave them a bigger interactive space to pretend in this kitchen slash
shop area. And so we've had some really good feedback that they really do like this sitting area.
and just the overall space. And she is still trying to kind of develop more interactions where they
can be physical in the space because kids love running, throwing. So she wants them to give a better
kind of feeling for the library where they can do that in a safe way. She's also incorporated light
fixtures. So those are just little banners that go over the light. And the parents and kids have also
told us they love those because they kind of
makes the light a little bit softer, especially if you have those sensory issues. And then we did get
Joe Barber earlier this year. She came here to downtown from Southwest, and she's really just hit the
ground running. She's really revamped what our pre-K areas, which needed
a much loving hand to them, since they hadn't been touched in quite a while. So what she did is she
added a dress-up area, which is right outside our programming room. So they can be doctors, construction.
Right now, they're postmen, and they're just delivering an oodle amount of letters to us, filled with
stamps. And also, she did develop Explore Your Senses, which the kids are loving, because they can just
touch things, and they're allowed to push things on and off.
What I really like is the white in kind of the middle is, those are light fixtures, so they can turn
them on and off, and it does turn on and off. So kids love, you've had kids turning things on and off
as well, so they've really gravitated to that area. And then our last space is the tween space. And
Drew joined us, I believe in November, December of last year,
And she's really taken this under her wing and trying to make it a space that tweens can really call
their own. And so what she's done is she's added a lot more cushion spaces. This month she added some
weighted yoga balls, because kids like to bounce. They like to move. And so they weren't liking those
chairs very much because they were too stiff for them. She's very intentional in what she puts into
that cabinet next to the TV. And she's always updating that monthly.
She's also doing a junior librarian program and she's asking kids, what do you want in that space? What
do you want from us for summer reading? And they've been very vocal about what they want. So we're really
looking forward to next year, 2027 in a whole, just so we can incorporate those things in and the kids
can see that their voice matters. And so this is our yearly stats from January to August. So far we've
done about 266 programs.
We've served about 6,500 people coming to all those programs. And then, again, our partnerships were
at 28, which is much higher than last year. We are trying to not do all the work, maybe shoulder that
half and half with a partnership, just trying to realize we might not want to do it all and partner
with someone who can bring an expertise that we may not have or strengthen our expertise.
So overall, our stats are going up. And we're having a little bit more, if you can see this pie chart
over here at the bottom left, that we are trying to even out what we do for infants and tweens. Before,
it was a lot skewed to the infants, like story times, that kind of thing, where tweens would have a
lot less programming. So we're trying to shift it a little bit more to 50-50, so that way they don't
feel left out.
And then before I ask if anybody has questions, one of our library assistants has now commandeered a
fish tank, which she does a monthly frog and toad display. And it gets very detailed and intricate.
For this one, if you see the one in the middle, the red painting, that was done by a teen who visits
the Children's Department a lot. And they got into a discussion with our library assistant, Paul. And
she said that, you know,
Contemporary art isn't real art. You can just scribble something, and you can't call it art. And so
she made that red painting. And then Paul, to just vex her, made a description on the side, making it
sound very artsy, giving it some angst, some depth. And so that's the kind of things that our staff
does. They want to give kind of a fresh take on what the desk is.
creates more talking points with the kids. But then also, if a child does have a conversation, it sticks
with staff, and they can see, oh, they care. We matter to them. So it was a very funny interaction.
And also, those paintings in the back were done by library staff as well. And as you can see, we took
the frog in tow theme very, very seriously. Does anyone? Oh, so I have the winners for the youth
art month contest, and I have one for each of you all. And then I brought a example of one of the tween
programs. This is done by Drew, and she does a miniatures club. And so she made miniature cat posts
for all the kids to do. And there was also dog houses, and you could pick a dog or a cat.
And then I do have a couple of thank you notes, one from a partner. And then also, we do wonder totes.
And that's where we pick out books based on children's appeals and interests. And one is to Lily. A
child actually gave her a thank you note for an excellent job that she did. Did anyone have any questions?
I got to tell you this in person, but I wanted to share it. I really appreciated the bilingual aspect
of the summer reading program this summer as someone who's trying to raise bilingual, biliterate kids
in this community.
It was amazing to have the program available in English and Spanish. I did lie to my kids a little bit
and told them that they could only do the Spanish one if they read Spanish books. So my kids, we read a lot.
But they took it very seriously because it was a challenge, but it was truly a big highlight of our
summer. So much so that when my son started kindergarten, he told his teacher that he had read, I don't
know how many books, and he said, and in Spanish and English. So thank you for integrating just that
bilingual aspect. I know there are other languages in our community, but I really did appreciate that.
Thank you for reminding me. I just realized I didn't put that on there. This is the first year we did
bilingual in English and Spanish. We also had English and Spanish books for them to choose as their
final book prize as well. And those went very, very fast. So Emmy is now very encouraged, and she wants
to get more Spanish books to have in that prize selection. Thank you for all you've done. It's really
amazing. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we're going to hear about the Southwest branch from Kathy. Expecting now.
I know, I know. Okay, I'm moving around. Oh my gosh. Okay.
Thank you for this opportunity to talk to you a little bit about what we experienced at Southwest this
year. I thought I would make it a little more interactive, a sort of choose your own adventure story.
So on this handy-dandy library cart, which I consider the backbone of the library because we have moved
so many materials on there, and using some scars from story time. I had to wait to assemble it today
because I was taking key pieces from the branch.
We've got this opportunity to, what story do you want to hear? And I numbered them because I ended up
using multiple scarves because I couldn't hide all the items. So, who would like to get started here
the first? And I'm going to try not to whip it off so dramatically that I fling the artifact.
the library, which makes us more accessible for all. And because, oh yeah, I wanted to also have a few
things. I partnered it with how this month is also Library Card Sign Up Month, which means we're more
accessible, we're making more library cards. Let's celebrate. Marketing department, CNM, they make wonderful
stickers, and I brought the two that we have for this month so that everyone can have a sticker. How
do I enjoy
We're now a bus. So, yay, round of applause, because it was a minor miracle, because we didn't expect
it to happen, and when it did, we're just like, I was like, that's a bus! You know, like at the info
desk. And I was like, oh my gosh, check the website, see what's happening, and we got all excited. So,
yep, that's the first one. And I'm trying to keep it short, so maybe we can do all of them. All right,
seven. Dun, dun, da! All right.
awarded a grant from the wall at the wall grant and we were able to buy multiple robots along with iPads
and now we're able to do programming leaning into stem and we were able to buy enough that they can
partner together and really get their hands on robots. So they all got literacy based names and
And when we were like, oh my gosh, can we come up with names? And then we were like, but it's gotta
be a really good name. And we're like, Corduroy, yes, that works. But it was really interesting because
also when you're put on the spot, you're like, can I name multiple characters from the children's department?
Yes, I can, but are they the ones we want to put on our robots? So we were quizzing a lot of people
on who's your favorite.
This is when I debated. All right, here we go. All right. I came back from vacation and Puppet Cathy
was on my shelf. And the reason I included Puppet Cathy is not only how well they've got me nailed because
usually there's a pencil behind the ear, there are Post-it notes. If you know me, I stay organized with
Post-it notes. But the real reason that I brought this out is because
The creativity that the staff brings to the programming is incredible. Often we're talking about what's
your passion? What do you really like doing? Can we partner it up with the need we're seeing from the
community? How can we use recyclables? How can we get really effective with how we're using our budget?
How can we bring people together to create and create a sense of community? And a lot of our crafting
programs now are very much like
seeing intergenerational. We've had people say, you know, like, I've only been in town a little while.
And then everybody in the room was like, oh, have you been too? And they started talking about highlights
around the community. And it's this sense of welcome. We're glad you're here. We hope you like some
of the things that we think are really important in our community. And we're also going to be making
things. And we're also going to be leaning over and being like, how did you figure out how to do this?
And this is the skill that they're bringing to these programs that just get everyone excited. And we're
trying to make some of our descriptions a lot more open-ended. It's not our crochet and knit group,
it's craft club. And then we see an increasing range of crafts that people bring in and they feel like,
oh, this definition includes me, I'm gonna come and join in. And it just made me laugh so hard because
I was just like, oh my gosh, yeah, that's me, because it's a Star Wars shirt. And it's got Post-It notes
all over the place, although I'm really in trouble if my Post-It notes start fluttering away from me.
And this is the kind of detail that they bring to their programming that I so appreciate. Because they're
excited, that shared when they go into the program, and that sense of, hey,
come spend some time at the library this is for you, is very apparent. And they also said, if I go on
vacation again, I should put Puppet Kathy right there. They could come get some advice and continue
on. And I was like, ooh. So, others? Bye. That one I can lip off.
and it's actually magnetic. All right. So we had an empty, can you see? Okay. We had a wall space in
the children's room designed for our magnetic wall. And the goal of the magnetic wall was to reinforce
early literacy through shapes, colors, movement. And we have this in plan and the space was set aside for it.
And then the Kiwanis said, we'd like to make a donation to the branch. And I was like, do I have a project
for you? And they really just went all in with generosity. And we got our magnetic wall right now. We've
got our gears, which are so popular.
But the goal is to keep changing out what we have there to reinforce early literacy. The boards go down
to within six inches of the floor, so it's very accessible. And then at the very top, we have some space
that people can't reach and I have to use a step ladder. And then we put an early literacy tip up for
the month. So using all the space for early literacy. But the generosity of the community continues
to be just
I'll try to be very careful of this. So we run a small seed library at this branch, and we have it in
a very small card catalog. And because we know we have to go small, what we do is it's themed around
the food for the year. And then we use those supplies in our teaching kitchen to make that food. So
the first year it was a salsa garden, and then this year it was chili.
Because we like to have visuals, we planted some of the seeds from our seed library behind the desk
and under our grow lights so that they could grow. And then the staff harvested them, dried them, and
then used them in one of our programs. So we're trying to say, okay, we do need to go smaller. We are
a branch, but can we use it in multiple places? And can we reinforce, you want to grow? This is how
you can use some of it.
So, seed library, but then also we have a living plant library where we do cuttings, and then once they
root, we have those out, and that's a secondary part for our plants. Oh, I should really pull the stats
out on that. We handed out over 35 hundred seed packets this year. So, it's growing, flowering, growing,
We focused on vegetables. And then we referred everyone on flowers to downtown. So anytime we can say,
hey, this is what we have here, but system-wide, these are all the resources, we really try and reinforce
that. Yeah. Still have a couple more. Nine. Nine. Oh, this is the tricky one. All right.
on escape rooms at the break. And what I love about this is adults like to play too. And what we're
trying to do is give them a lot of opportunities too. So we run RPG club, we've got a movies versus
books club, but we also have escape rooms.
And our staff member who creates these is incredibly thoughtful and detailed about it. And also thinks
about accessibility. So for this one, I was talking to them and they were saying, shape it in a way
so it's easy to grasp, but also low vision, two different colors. So there's a layer of being thoughtful
about, well, what is the community going to enjoy, but can I include everyone? And they just ran a session
on staff day about how to do an escape room.
And they're very generous in that way. This is what I learned. This is how you can shortcut and use
some of my resources. This worked out really well in the library. And come talk to me if you want to
dive in more, and I'll share these resources with you. I will say I understand escape rooms. I've never
really successfully escaped an escape room. I love the thought that goes into it.
how they then look at the adult escape room and they make a version for tweens and teens. And how that
looks different based on what is a good fit for that age. Yeah. Yes, and because we are the mascot of
the possums, the last escape room was rescue the possums, so. I do believe they voted on that and our
possum theme continues to grow.
All right, we're down to, oh. Four is left. I've got two of these. All right, Gordon Pike, Fullerton
Pike, it's done. Oh my goodness. It's done, we're so excited. We had our construction connoisseurs
from a preschool age who loved all that road work. We learned a lot, too. We also learned how to coordinate
talking points on what's happening, how it's updating. But when that road opened from last August, our
foot traffic increased. And we had always since the beginning heard a lot of people say, oh, I haven't
been to the library in a while. And we're welcoming them in, talking about how libraries have changed
in the past 20 years. But now what we're hearing is,
Oh, I come in on Fullerton Pike, and I didn't know there was a branch here. And I just thought I'd swing
in and get a library card. And so the visibility of that road has been great for us. Our foot traffic
continues to go up. We love that it's convenient for people. We will talk about all the little benefits
of stopping by the branch if this is convenient on the way home, how we move items around through the
courier. We're like, let us give you the pitch on how this library can work for you.
We have a lot of conversations where they're just like, I haven't been in a library in quite a while.
And so when we do our welcome in, and then we do our sales pitch. So we are delighted. The construction
and the detour did not slow us down on last summer meeting. And this year, we've definitely had a strong
summer meeting. The energy of our adult services department and everyone who works here at that front
desk, the goal is
Do you say welcome in when you're coming in? So we've had our first contact and that you know,
we see you, we're here to help. The right joke is if you catch me off guard and you're a staff member
coming in, sometimes I will say welcome in and they're like, I work here. I know, but it's in the buffer
and it just pops out. So with that, what we're always trying to convey is we are glad you're here
please come ask us questions, ask us about resources, how are we a good fit for you? And if you haven't
been to a library in 20 years, a lot has changed, and we are happy to tell you what's happening, how
we're moving and grooving, how we're right close to bachelor, what that means at 315, with our foot
traffic from 7th and 8th graders, how programming has changed in 20 years, how we're really interested
in the feedback on how we can
make it more accessible to you. So, Gordon Pike, Fullerton Pike, done. And while we don't have instruction
equipment for our youngest, there's still a lot going on here. All right, I've got two more. Anybody
want number two? Sure, I'll grab that. Okay, so we knew every year, I know, I'm gonna have to stop,
because like Storytime scarves, I'll be like, let's start shaking scarves, I'll put them right here.
Our teams, when they come in, often they will head straight to the team room and they've got video games
they wanna play, they wanna talk with their friends. They are focused on a couple of different things,
but this year we noticed with our new group, they were very into crafting. And we would go in and we'd
be in there and we would have a dedicated crafting group right there at our design table and spreading
out to where we needed to make more room.
And this was very exciting because they were taking advantage of all the resources we have. They were
coming to programs and then continuing on with crafting techniques because certain ones like the needle
felting, they do need to attend the session and learn how to use a needle safely. And I brought some
of the things they like to make. One of our goals, very much like in story time is
Come to a story time, learn some of the urban literacy, go home, and hopefully it becomes private daily
routine with you.
With the teens, if they latch onto a craft they like, and then they are making things at home, we get
really excited. We did have someone who really liked needle felting, and then when we went out to do
the summer reading talks at the schools, they're like, hey, this is what I was making at home.
We love that. We're like, come up and tell us about what you enjoy making. So I've got a mix of needle
felting, the 3D pen,
I don't know if you've ever used one. I am not very coordinated on getting the plastic to then stick
together and make things, so I'm always in awe of what they made with the 3D pen. Our button maker,
they love making buttons. I love that they wanna draw, express themselves, and then wear it. We've got
a jewelry kit. This is just a little bit of how they're coming in,
I think about they've been at school all day. How long has it been since they had lunch? They do want
to talk to their friends, but here they are creating. And we want to make sure we have the resources
so that they can keep on making whatever they're interested in. And the one thing they were hoping we
could get, somebody made a cheese bracelet. They used the Shrinky Dinks and then also Pony Beads.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, I was like, I saw that and I was like, I want a cheese bracelet. So the creativity
coming out of our seventh and eighth graders and now also high schoolers coming back, especially from
South, I love that because they are such a generous group of teens.
I love it when I'm sitting at the desk and somebody comes in and they're like, oh, both the PlayStation
5 and the Nintendo Switch are busy. And our ask is, if you want to join, ask them if you can join. And
a lot of times they're scooting over on the bench and they're like, sure, hop in. We'll show you where
we're at. The kindness of inclusion that we're seeing from our teams is so hopeful. And I just love
having a big space for each other.
So we continue to add equipment to our teaching kitchen, and this year we added a fridge. And that has
been a good fit because what we're seeing is an increase in reservations from the public, organizations
to use the teaching kitchen.
we're very much listening to feedback because it is no small feat to get 12 people or a larger group
all cooking together. And we're always listening, what would make this space more accessible? What do
we need so that your organization can use this space and cook? So our comment card is going to work
out, but we're also listening when they're talking to us about it. So some things happening in the branch.
Yeah. Any questions? Thank you. Was this one handcrafted? I got the impression someone designed that.
3D printed. That's a lot to 3D print. That's pretty cool. So we use that for programming. We have board
games and activities in the all ages space. And if a piece goes missing, we try and 3D print it.
What we're looking into is some feedback from patrons about accessibility for pen holders. We're looking
to print some of those and have those in our all-age space. But really taking the resources we have
and using them in a variety of ways. Yeah. Amazing. I am always learning. I've got a really fabulous
staff. They've got a lot of energy. They've got a lot of creativity.
And I would probably love for you to work with them. You have a lot of energy too. I gotta do my job
just to keep up with them. Yeah, some days I'm like, I am hustling to keep up with you as a collective.
But they're very impressive. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments?
Do I have a motion to dismiss? So moved. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Being adjourned.