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[EBR Library Board of Control on November 16, 2023.]
I WOULD LIKE TO CALL THE NOVEMBER 16TH, 2023 EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL MEETING TO ORDER.IZZY, WHY DON'T YOU LEAD US IN THE PLEDGE TO THE FLAG FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AMERICA.
AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
UH, LET THE, UH, RECORD REFLECT THAT WE DO HAVE A QUORUM.
UM, I THINK WE, UH, NEED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF OCTOBER 19TH, 2023 AND THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE MEETING OF OCTOBER 11TH AND THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE MEETING OF OCTOBER 16TH, 2023.
I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE ALL THREE.
ANY OPPOSED? THOSE MINUTES HAVE BEEN ADOPTED.
I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE A, UH, A CHANGE IN OUR, ON OUR ORDER HERE.
DO I HAVE A, UH, A MOTION TO MOVE ITEM SIX C ON THE AGENDA? THE PRESENTATION ON RESULTS OF COMMUNITY SURVEY FOR THE FACILITIES MASTER PLAN TO AFTER, UH, AFTER ORDER, UH, AFTER NUMBER ROMAN NUMERAL THREE SPECIAL ORDERS MOTION TO BE MOVED.
UM, SPECIAL ORDERS PRESENTATION, RECOGNIZING SPATE SCHOLAR, MICHELLE CHAMPAGNE OF LABELLE AIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS.
I'D LIKE TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION, UH, THE WONDERFUL, UH, OUR PARTNERS WITH THE HOME LIBRARY PROJECT.
AND TARA DEARING, WHO IS OUR CHILDREN'S SERVICES COORDINATOR, WILL JOIN US UP HERE.
AND WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING TO THE FRONT MS. MICHELLE FROM LOBEL AIR ELEMENTARY, MENTOREE.
AND AND WE'LL DO A PICTURE HERE, BUT FIRST, TARA WANTS TO SAY WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT YOU,
SO, UM, I FIRST MET MICHELLE ACTUALLY AS A PARENT, A PATRON THAT CAME INTO OUR CHILDREN'S ROOM.
SO I KNEW HER FOR SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE WORKING WITH HER PROFESSIONALLY.
UM, AND IN 2021, WE HAD THE CONSCIOUS KIDS PROGRAM, AND THEY WERE ONE OF OUR SCHOOLS THAT WE DID AN EVENT AT, AND IT WAS EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL.
AND SO WHEN WE STARTED OUR HOME LIBRARY PROJECT, UM, THEY WERE DEFINITELY A SCHOOL THAT WE WANTED TO WORK WITH.
AND SHE IS SO ENCOURAGING OF HER STUDENTS AND JUST ENCOURAGED THEM EVERY DAY TO READ.
IN FACT,
UM, THEY SAID THAT WHENEVER THE KIDS COME AND THEY NOTICE THAT THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED, THEY ALL GO, OH,
WELL, I DIDN'T REALLY THINK THAT THAT WAS LIKE EXACTLY THE TRUTH UNTIL I SAW IT AND I WAS COMING AROUND THE CORNER AND A KID WALKED UP TO THE LIBRARY AND THEY SAW IT WAS CLOTHED AND WENT, UGH,
SO THEY LOVE COMING TO HER LIBRARY.
EVERY TIME THEY, THEY SEE HER, THEY COME AND THEY GIVE HER A HUG.
AND SHE'S JUST, SHE'S BLESSED THOSE STUDENTS.
SO NOW, OH, WE'VE GOT TO TAKE A PICTURE.
AND, UM, SO SHE'S GONNA BE OUR 2023 SPATE SCHOLAR AWARD.
PICTURE THE WILL AND LEONA HUFF FOUNDATION.
AND, AND, UH, SHE BROUGHT, OH, GOOD.
SHE BROUGHT A SPECIAL, SOME SPECIAL FRIENDS WITH HER, WHICH IS EBR SCHOOL ROYALTY.
MICHELLE, YOU WANNA INTRODUCE THEM? THIS IS MY SUPERVISOR, MY LIBRARY SUPERVISOR, SUSAN, ER MM-HMM.
AND THIS IS MY FABULOUS PRINCIPLE TO OUR ROLES.
AND, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE COULD NOT ACHIEVE WHAT WE'RE ACHIEVING WITH THE HOME LIBRARY
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PILOT PROJECT WITHOUT THESE PARTNERS.SO IT'S A WONDERFUL TEAM AND WE ARE PROUD TO BE PART OF IT.
AND THESE ARE THE BOOKS THAT MICHELLE HAS CHOSEN FOR THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY FOR THE STUDENTS OF THE PARISH.
THEY ARE GOING TO BE PLACED IN THE LIBRARY'S COLLECTION WITH A SPECIAL BOOK PLATE THAT, UH, CELEBRATES THE SPADE FOUNDATION AND MICHELLE AND THE HOME LIBRARY PROJECT.
AND THEY WILL BE THERE FOR ALL TO SEE AND ENJOY THROUGH, THROUGH THE GIFT OF THE FOUNDATION.
THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING TO HELP THE CHILDREN.
WELL, AND I WANNA THANK ALL OF Y'ALL.
ESPECIALLY, I LOVE WHAT I'M DOING.
I'M EXACTLY WHERE I'M SUPPOSED TO BE, AND I'M DOING EXACTLY WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.
SO I DON'T THINK EVERYBODY'S THAT FORTUNATE.
SO I FEEL VERY LUCKY TO SAY YOU NOT RETIRE.
SO, SO BASICALLY SHE DOESN'T WORK.
AND WE'D LIKE TO GET A PICTURE OF Y'ALL TOGETHER, BUT SHE LETS EVALUATION TIME.
THAT'S WHY SHE'S SAYING ALL THE LAW SHE LETS ME DO, SHE LETS ME DO MY THING.
WAIT, ONE MORE WHERE WE CAN SEE THE NAME OF THE LIBRARY AND THE TABLECLOTH.
UH, NEXT UP WOULD BE A PRESENTATION OF RESULTS OF COMMUNITY SURVEY FOR THE FACILITIES MASTER PLAN IN MR. CARSON BLOCK.
CAN Y'ALL SEE ME OKAY? UH, WE'RE FIXING TO, OKAY.
I'M ALSO GONNA SHARE SOME SLIDES.
THERE'S LOT PRESENTATION, ABLE, ABLE TO SEE THE SLIDES.
I'M GONNA PLAY IT FROM THE START.
UM, THIS IS OUR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE, SO, UH, JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH I'M JUST HIGHLIGHTS A LOT OF INFORMATION, MAKE SURE IT'S NOT OVER.
UH, SO FIRST I WANTED TO GIVE YOU UPDATED.
OUR PRIORITY IN THIS PHASE ZERO IS ASSESSMENTS WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT CURRENT FACILITIES, UH, CONDITIONS AND NEEDS, AND LOOKING AT TECHNOLOGY, UH, AN UPDATE TO OUR PROCESS TIMELINE, WE SLOWED DOWN JUST A LITTLE BIT.
UH, AT ONE POINT WE THOUGHT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO WRAP IT UP BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
UM, BUT THEN, UM, IN, IN AUGUST, OUR INTERIM DIRECTOR, SHE RESIGNED AND, UH, WENT ON TO ANOTHER, UH, ASSIGNMENT.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE JUST SLOWED DOWN SLIGHTLY JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WEREN'T TRYING TO DO TOO MANY THINGS AT THE SAME TIME.
UM, WE STARTED THOUGH, OF COURSE, WITH GATHERING AND REVIEWING ALL THE CURRENT DOCUMENTATION AND DESIGNING THE COMMUNITY AND THE STAFF SURVEY.
WE CLOSED THOSE SURVEYS IN SEPTEMBER.
WE COMPILED OUR RESULTS AND, AND DID OUR ANALYSIS, AND THEN HAD DISCUSSIONS WITH OUR STEERING COMMITTEE.
AND THEN, COINCIDENTALLY, IN OCTOBER IS ALSO WHEN A NEW DIRECTOR, UH, WAS SELECTED, UH, WE'RE, WE ARE HERE NOW IN NOVEMBER WHERE WE'RE SHARING THE, UH, RESULTS WITH YOU.
WE ALSO SHARED THESE WITH STAFF.
WE WANTED STAFF TO SEE THESE RESULTS FIRST.
SO WE GOT THOSE TO STAFF A LITTLE BIT EARLIER THIS WEEK.
UM, AND THIS WEEK WE'LL ALSO INVITE THAT THIS GROUP OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS, I'M
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SORRY, NOT THIS WEEK, THIS MONTH, WE'LL INVITE, UH, COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO JOIN THIS PROCESS.AND THE CAC OR THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD, UM, WILL BE COMPRISED OF FOLKS OUT IN THE COMMUNITY WHO CAN HELP REPRESENT LOTS AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT GROUPS AND DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES.
UH, AS WE'RE DOING OUR ASSESSMENT OF, OF THINGS, UH, THE HOME STRETCH, UH, WILL BEGIN IN DECEMBER OF THIS YEAR.
UH, WE WILL, UH, TRY TO SCHEDULE OUR CAC MEETING, BUT 'CAUSE OF THE HOLIDAYS, UH, I RESERVE THE
UH, WE'LL ALSO BE FINALIZING, UH, SOME ADDITIONAL, UH, LIBRARY STAFF REPORTS, UH, ONE FOR TECHNOLOGY WHERE WE'RE DOING KIND OF A DEEP DIVE ON TECH, UH, BUT ALSO, UH, LOOKING AT CURRENT BUILDING CONDITIONS AROUND JANUARY, FEBRUARY.
OUR MOST IMPORTANT TASK, UH, UH, WILL BE, UM, ONBOARDING KATRINA STOKES.
AND THAT PROBABLY WILL BE HAPPENING IN FEBRUARY, BUT WE'RE NOT EXACTLY POSITIVE.
WE ALSO KNOW THAT, THAT SHE WILL HAVE AN AWFUL LOT OF THINGS TO DO AS SOON AS SHE, UM, UH, STARTS WITH JOB.
SO, WE'LL, WE'RE GONNA BE GENTLE ABOUT THAT AND JUST DO OUR BEST TO, TO GET ATTENTION AS SOON AS IT IS APPROPRIATE, UH, FOR THIS TOPIC.
UH, WE'LL ALSO AT THAT POINT, UM, D DETERMINE AND DESIGN ANY ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES, UH, THAT MAY BE NECESSARY.
UH, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THIS WITH OUR GROUP TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE, UH, REACHED ENOUGH PEOPLE, UH, FOR ENGAGEMENT AROUND THE MARCH APRIL TIMEFRAME.
IF THINGS GO SMOOTHLY, UH, WE'LL CREATE PRIORITIZATION METRICS AND OR METHODS FOR FACILITIES EXPENDITURES.
UH, WE'LL CREATE RECOMMENDATIONS AND, UH, HAVE THE DRAFTS OF THE FINAL REPORT AND THEN, UH, FINAL PRESENTATIONS OF THE REPORT.
SO THAT'S OUR UPDATE ON OUR PROCESS.
NOW WE'RE GONNA DIVE INTO THE FIRST TWO SURVEYS THAT WE DID.
UM, OF THE, THE FIRST IS WITH THE COMMUNITY.
WE HAD 3000, UM, UH, MORE THAN 3000 OF FOLKS, UH, UH, PARTICIPATING, UH, IN THE SURVEY RESPONSE.
OUR DEMOGRAPHICS WERE NICE AND BALANCED.
WE, EVEN IF YOU LOOK OVER TO THE FAR LEFT, WE EVEN HAD A FEW FOLKS UNDER 18, BUT, UH, AND, AND A GOOD, UH, SHOWING OF, OF, UH, TEENS OF 18, UH, TO 24 YEARS OF AGE.
BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE DIFFERENT GROUPS, THE 25 TO 40 GROUP, THE 41 55 GROUP, 56 TO 65 AND 65 PLUS, THAT'S PRETTY BALANCED FOR A COMMUNITY SURVEY BECAUSE IN A LOT OF, UH, INSTANCES, UH, THE FOLKS WHO HAVE THE TIME TO FILL OUT A SURVEY FOR THE LIBRARY, THEY TEND TOWARDS THE OLDER SIDE OF THE, THE CROWD.
SO WE HEAR FROM, FROM MORE OLDER PEOPLE THAN WE DO YOUNGER PEOPLE.
BUT THIS IS A REALLY GOOD, UH, BALANCE.
AND THIS HELPS US HAVE A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN, UH, THE VOICES THAT WE'RE HEARING.
THE OTHER THING THAT'S IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT IS WHO WE HEARD FROM IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS, UH, DEPICTION OF, UH, OF THE, UH, UH, THE MAP, UH, OF THE PARISH.
UH, THE DARKER AREAS ARE WHERE WE HAD THE HIGHEST, UH, RESPONSE RATE.
THE LIGHTER ONES ARE WHERE WE HAD THE LOWER RESPONSE RATE.
AND WHAT I WANTED TO, UM, UH, TO POINT OUT IS THAT, OF COURSE, IN OUR URBAN OR MORE URBAN AREAS, WE WOULD EXPECT THOSE TO BE DARKER BECAUSE THERE'S JUST MORE FOLKS LIVING IN THAT AREA.
BUT LOOK AT SOME OF THE MORE RURAL AREAS, ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY LOOKING TO THE NORTH.
WE HAD REALLY GOOD RESPONSE, UM, FROM PEOPLE.
AND THAT WAS JUST REALLY GREAT TO SEE.
THE DEMOGRAPHICS, UH, ESSENTIALLY WHEN YOU LOOK TO THE LEFT, UH, ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE HEARD FROM WERE LIBRARY USERS AND FOLKS WHO USE THE LIBRARY FAIRLY FREQUENTLY.
UM, AND SO THAT'S GOOD THAT THAT HELPS US UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT WE, WE GOT BACK.
ONE THING I WANNA POINT OUT, THOUGH, ON THAT TOP LEFT SIDE GRAPH, UH, WE HAD 2% WHO ANSWERED THE SURVEY, WHO SAID, NO, I DON'T USE THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARIES.
WHAT WAS REALLY COOL IS THAT WE GOT SOME GOOD RESPONSE FROM, UH, NON-LIBRARY USERS, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ONLY 2% OF THE SURVEY RESPONDENTS.
UH, WE GOT SOME GOOD INFORMATION FOR THEM AS TO WHY.
SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN JUST A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THIS PRESENTATION.
I DO WANNA APOLOGIZE FOR, UM, THE SIZE OF THE GRAPHS AND ALL THE INFORMATION THAT IS, UH, KIND OF CRAMMED IN.
IT'S REALLY HARD SOMETIMES TO COME UP WITH A SIMPLE WAY TO GIVE YOU A SAMPLING OF EVERYTHING.
SO THAT'S ONE REASON WHY WE GAVE YOU THE REPORT.
BUT ALSO, I WILL GIVE YOU SOME SHORTCUTS, UM, BECAUSE I AM GOING SO FAST ON HOW TO KIND OF INTERPRET OR TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE INFORMATION HERE.
THIS GRAPH SHOWS WE'VE ASKED, WE ASKED PEOPLE TO TELL US WHAT THEIR PRIMARY LIBRARY IS, AND THAT'S THE BLUE.
UM, UH, THE, THE BLUE BAR, THE GREEN BAR IS THEIR SECONDARY BRANCH, THE ONE THEY USE THE SECOND MOST.
AND THEN THAT AQUA OR, OR TEALE SORT OF COLOR IS THE BRANCH THAT THEY USE THIRD MOST.
AND OF COURSE, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE MAIN LIBRARY, WE'RE NOT, UM, TOO SURPRISED THAT WE, WE HAVE A LOT OF FOLKS THERE,
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UM, UH, USING THAT.BUT WHEN WE LOOK, UM, UH, AT THE GRAPH, I KIND OF WANTED TO PUT, GIVE YOUR ATTENTION TO PLACES WHERE THEIR THIRD CHOICE WAS REALLY LARGE OR REALLY HIGH.
SO THAT WOULD BE THE TEAL SORT OF THING.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, VERY HIGH RANKINGS FOR BLUE BONNET, JONES CREEK, UH, FOR, UH, FAIRWOOD, FOR GREENWELL SPRINGS, UH, FOR RIVER CENTER.
LOOK AT THE, LOOK AT RIVER CENTER FOR, FOR MANY OF THE RESPONDENTS.
RIVER CENTER WAS THEIR THIRD BRANCH.
SO I, I WAS TICKLED TO SEE THAT.
BUT ALSO CARVER AND SCOTLANDVILLE AND, UH, DELMAR, UH, I'M SORRY, DELMONT GARDENS, MY EYES ARE, ARE BAD ON ME, UH, AND EDEN PARK.
AND OF COURSE, UH, A LOT OF FOLKS SAID THAT THE BOOKMOBILE WAS THEIR, THEIR THIRD SPOT.
UM, AND, UH, THE OTHER REASON FOR ASKING THESE QUESTIONS IS IT WILL HELP, UM, WITH PARSING OTHER DATA AND THE LIBRARY HAS ACCESS TO THIS DATA IF FURTHER REPORTS WANT TO BE RUN IN TERMS OF SPECIFICS, UH, BY LOCATION.
UM, WHAT DO PEOPLE LIKE ABOUT THE MOST ABOUT THE LIBRARY THAT THEY, UH, UH, VISIT? UH, CONVENIENT LOCATION CAME IN AT NUMBER ONE BY A VERY, UH, WIDE MARGIN.
BUT THE SECOND, UH, TOP REASON WAS LIBRARY STAFF.
AND I'M GONNA POINT THIS OUT 'CAUSE THIS IS GOING TO BE A THEME THAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE AS WE GO FORWARD, IS THAT FOLKS ARE REALLY, UH, VALUING LIBRARY STAFF.
AND WHEN WE GET TO THE LIBRARY STAFF, UH, PRESENTATION, WE'RE GONNA SEE THAT THERE'S A GOOD REASON FOR THAT, UH, BECAUSE OF THE GREAT WORK THAT LIBRARY STAFF DOES AS WELL.
UM, UH, PARKING OR ACCESS FROM PARKING IS ANOTHER, UM, UH, THING THAT FOLKS LIKE WITH THEIR LIBRARY.
NUMBER FOUR, MATERIALS DROP OFF HAVING A CONVENIENT WAY TO DO THAT.
AND THEN ROUNDING OFF THE TOP FIVE IS HAVING A QUIET SPACE IN THEIR LIBRARY.
WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED AT YOUR LIBRARY? UH, ALMOST, UH, UH, TIED, UH, FOR THE FIRST, UH, UH, THREE SPOTS.
UM, UH, WELL, ACTUALLY, NUMBER ONE OTHER CAME IN NUMBER ONE, WE'LL, I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT THOSE OTHERS IN JUST A MINUTE.
BUT LOOKING AT THE OTHER CHOICES, UH, TIED TO THE TOP THREE SPOTS, SPACES THAT SUPPORT CREATING OR MAKING THINGS.
SO IMPROVING THE ABILITY TO DO, UH, MAKER SORT OF ACTIVITIES, OUTDOOR SPACE, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANT AS WELL, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT SOMETIMES A YEAR IT'S KIND OF STICKY, KIND OF HARD TO BE OUTSIDE, BUT FOLKS LOVE OUTDOOR SPACES.
UM, AND, UH, CHARGING STATIONS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES HAD COME UP.
NOW, THOSE OTHER COMMENTS, UM, UH, IN TERMS OF WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED, UM, THEY, UH, WE, WE CATEGORIZE THOSE, THOSE WERE WRITTEN COMMENTS THAT PEOPLE HAD.
UM, THE FIRST ONE, 34%, THE TOP ONE WAS PEOPLE SAID NOTHING, NOTHING COULD BE IMPROVED.
UH, A LOT OF TIMES IN A LOT OF SURVEYS, INFORMATION LIKE THAT IS TOSSED OUT AND NOT USED, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE INCLUDE IN OUR SURVEY BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT FOLKS WHO RESPOND ARE ACTUALLY GIVING A, UM, A POSITIVE RESPONSE TO A QUESTION THAT'S REALLY NEGATIVE IN ITS CORE.
OR, YOU KNOW, WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED OR WHAT COULD YOU NOT LIKE? UM, IN THIS CASE, WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED? NOTHING WAS THE TOP ANSWER.
UM, FOLLOWED BY SUGGESTIONS FOR THE COLLECTIONS, UH, FOLLOWED BY SUGGESTIONS FOR FACILITIES IMPROVEMENTS FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO TECH, AND, UM, UH, SUGGESTIONS FOR EVENTS AND PROGRAMS. NOW IN THE FULL REPORT, WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE, UM, UH, THE SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR THESE.
SO WE'LL JUST BE PROVIDING SUMMARIES FOR YOU TODAY, WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO AT YOUR LIBRARY.
WELL, WE HAVE LOTS OF WAYS TO DO THIS, AND THE LIBRARY COLLECTS A LOT OF SOPHISTICATED STATISTICS ON LIBRARY USE.
BUT WE WANTED TO ASK SURVEY RESPONDENTS WHAT THEY THINK THEY DO THE MOST BY OUR WIDE, WIDE MARGIN.
BROWSING FOR OR CHECKING OUT BOOKS AND OTHER MATERIALS, UH, WAS NUMBER ONE, UH, FOLLOWED BY, UH, MUCH LESS, UH, BRINGING A CHILD TO FIND READ BOOKS OR ATTEND PROGRAMS, ATTEND A MEETING SPONSORED BY A COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION OR OTHER NON-LIBRARY GROUP, ATTEND A LIBRARY PROGRAM OR PRESENTATION, OR JUST COME TO READ IN TERMS OF WHAT FOLKS WOULD LIKE ADDED TO THEIR LIBRARY.
THE NUMBER ONE CHOICE WAS CLASSES AND ACTIVITIES, FOLLOWED BY IMPROVEMENTS TO FACILITIES, WHICH IS WHY WE'RE DOING THIS SURVEY.
UM, SUGGESTIONS FOR THE COLLECTION.
UM, OUTDOOR SPACES CAME UP AGAIN SAYING THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT ADDED TO THEIR LIBRARY.
AND THEN, UH, MEETING SPACES AND STUDY ROOMS IN TERMS OF LIBRARY SERVICES THAT FOLKS HAVE USED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS THAT, UM, OUR, OUR RESPONDENTS HOPE WILL CONTINUE TO BE OFFERED.
UM, NUMBER ONE WAS LARGER SELECTION AND EBOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS.
SO, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS, UH, ONE WAY TO INTERPRET THAT, IF THERE'S A, UH, A SILVER LINING TO THE COVID CLOUD, UH, IT HELPS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE DIGITAL OPTIONS FOR LIBRARY SERVICES THAT MAY LOOK AT THEM AND THEY ENJOYED THEM AND THEY USED THEM.
SO THAT WAS BY A SUPER WIDE MARGIN, UM, OF RESPONSES THERE.
BUT ALSO, UH, SELF-SERVICE OPTIONS
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CAME IN AT NUMBER TWO.SPACE UPDATES, RENOVATIONS AT JONES CREEK, GREEN GULF SPRINGS AND OTHER LOCATIONS.
UH, THIS, UH, UH, UH, APPROVAL OF THAT MAKE AND TAKE
NOW, THESE, SOME OF THESE THINGS, UH, SOUND AND AWFUL LOT ABOUT SERVICES THAT WERE GOING ON DURING COVID THAT PEOPLE LIKED.
AGAIN, JUST ONE INTERPRETATION OF THAT INFORMATION, BUT THAT'S, THAT, THAT MEANS Y'ALL DID A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH THAT.
WE MADE THIS QUESTION VERY SIMPLE.
UM, WE DID NOT MAKE IT SPECIFIC.
WE JUST, IT'S ONE OF THOSE TEMPERATURE CHECK QUESTIONS.
UH, WOULD YOU SUPPORT THE ADDITION OF FULL SERVICE, REDUCED SERVICE OR UNSTAFFED LIBRARY SERVICE LOCATIONS, ESSENTIALLY? WOULD YOU LIKE, UH, THE POSSIBILITY FOR MORE LIBRARY LOCATIONS? OVERWHELMINGLY, THE ANSWER IS YES.
WHAT DIGITAL SERVICES SHOULD THE LIBRARY PROVIDE TO THE COMMUNITY? NUMBER ONE, UH, WIFI, UH, PRINTING, FAXING IT OR SCANNING WAS NUMBER TWO.
IT'S AMAZING, RIGHT? EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT, UM, THE, UH, WE'RE STILL WAITING FOR OUR PAPERLESS SOCIETY, AND THAT IS CORRECT.
MOST FOLKS ARE, ARE OUTSIDE THE LIBRARIES ARE SURPRISED AT WHAT A POPULAR SERVICE IT'S, BUT IT CONTINUES TO BE ONE.
PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTER WORKSTATIONS IS NUMBER THREE.
COMPUTER LABS AND TECHNOLOGY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES CAME IN AT NUMBER FOUR AND ACCESS TO MEETING ROOMS AND AV EQUIPMENT.
AND NUMBER FIVE, IF YOU DON'T VISIT FACILITIES, PLEASE TELL US WHY.
NOW THIS IS THAT 2%, AND WE DID CORRELATE.
WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, THAT THAT 2% CORRELATED WITH THE FOLKS WHO, UH, UH, ANSWERED, UH, THE QUESTION IN THIS WAY.
AND IT, THE, THE NUMBERS MATCHED.
THE FIRST ONE IS, I CAN FIND WHAT I NEED ON THE INTERNET.
THE SECOND IS, I DON'T HAVE TIME
THE THIRD IS I BUY THE BOOKS AND OTHER MATERIALS THAT I WANT.
THE FOURTH IS LIBRARY HOURS ARE INCONVENIENT.
AND THE FIFTH IS PARKING IS A CHALLENGE.
ONE THING I WANTED TO NOTE, UM, UH, WE DIDN'T GO INTO THIS IN DEPTH IN THE SURVEY, BUT, UM, UH, BUT OFTEN, UH, EXCITED, UM, THAT EVEN NON-LIBRARY USERS ARE LIBRARY SUPPORTERS.
THEY ACTUALLY SUPPORT THE LIBRARY, EVEN IF THEY DON'T, 'CAUSE THEY LIKE LIBRARIES AND THEY LIKE HAVING LIBRARIES IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO, JUST A, JUST A THOUGHT IN TERMS OF LOOKING AT THIS, BUT IT'S REALLY VALUABLE TO THINK ABOUT THOSE REASONS AS WELL.
THERE WERE OTHER CATEGORIES, OF COURSE, IN THAT TOO.
THE TOP OTHER CATEGORIES KIND OF, UH, REFLECTED THINGS THAT WERE IN OUR CATEGORIES, UH, IN A, IN A MANNER ANYWAY.
UH, FOLKS USING ONLINE SERVICES, FOLKS WHO ARE JUST SIMPLY NOT, UH, IN THE AREA, CLOSE ENOUGH ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES.
AND THE, THE LAST ONE IS, IT'S JUST NOT, NOT IMPORTANT, BUT YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBER OF RESPONSES THERE.
THEY KEEP GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER.
UM, THE MOST, UH, FREQUENT ADDITIONAL COMMENT ON THE SURVEY.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ABOUT THE FACILITIES? AND IT WAS PRAISED FOR THE LIBRARY BY A SUPER LARGE MARGIN.
UM, THIS IS SOME OF THE, THE QUOTES, EVEN THOUGH I SAID WE WOULDN'T GO INTO THOSE VERY DEEPLY, I WANTED TO SEE THESE.
I LOVE HAVING A FULLY FUNCTIONAL LIBRARY.
ALWAYS IMPRESSED WITH OUR LIBRARIES.
I INTEND TO USE THEM MORE AND MORE.
THANK YOU FOR LOOKING, UH, FOR OUR FEEDBACK.
BATON ROUGE HAS AN OUTSTANDING PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM.
I LIVED ALL OVER THE NATION AND HAVE NEVER PLUGGED INTO A SYSTEM LIKE I HAVE HERE.
PLEASE KEEP INNOVATING AND DOING AWESOME WORK.
WE LOVE OUR MAIN BRANCH LIBRARY.
WE'VE NOTICED IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, SO IT COULD BE MORE PLEASED.
THE NEWNESS OF THE BUILDING HAS NOT AGED.
AND I CONSIDER IT A LEADING LIBRARY.
IT'S ALWAYS CLEAN, FANTASTIC STAFF AND SELECTION.
WE LOVE OUR LOCAL LIBRARY, AND I THINK THE SYSTEM IS TERRIFIC AND IS DESERVED ALL THE SUPPORT THE PARISH CAN GIVE.
SO THIS IS REALLY GREAT FEEDBACK, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THESE ARE YOUR LIBRARY USERS, AND IT'S A BROAD BASE.
AGAIN, WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR DEMOGRAPHICS OF DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS TALKING ABOUT THIS.
AND, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF ENTHUSIASM AND SUPPORT.
IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO HAVE THIS VERIFICATION, UH, IN THIS WAY.
UH, SO I'M GONNA NOW GO INTO THE STAFF SURVEY REPORT.
AGAIN, I KNOW I'M GOING QUICKLY, BUT I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW.
AND I, I DO HOPE THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE FULL REPORT, A HEADS UP, UM, 'CAUSE OF THE, UM, THE TYPES OF, OF QUESTIONS THAT WE ASK.
UH, THESE GRAPHS ARE EVEN MORE DENSE, BUT I'LL DO MY BEST JOB TO, UH, EXPLAIN THEM IN A, AN EASY TO UNDERSTAND WAY.
UM, THE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE STAFF SURVEY IS THAT WE, UM, UH, WE'VE WE'RE ENSURING, UM, ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY OF STAFF RESPONDENTS.
SO EVERY TIME THAT WE NOTE SOMETHING, UH, NOT MUCH ON THIS, UH, ON THIS SLIDE DECK, BUT WHEN WE NOTE COMMENTS, UH, EVERY ONE OF THOSE COMMENTS WERE SUMMARIZED.
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WERE NOT, UH, DONE WORD FOR WORD, JUST SO THAT WE COULD DO OUR BEST JOB TO PRESERVE, UM, UH, FOLKS' AN AMENITY.AND WE HAD GREAT, UM, UH, GREAT RESPONSE.
OUR TOTAL NUMBER OF STAFF RESPONDENTS, UH, WAS 183, UM, UH, FOR, UM, LONG, UH, FOR THE, ARE THE, UH, THE LOGISTICS FOR THE DEMOGRAPHICS, UH, OF FOLKS WHO, UH, FILLED OUT THE SURVEY.
THERE'S A REALLY NICE SPREAD, AND IT WAS KIND OF FUN FOR ME TO SEE.
UH, UH, WE HAVE A SIMILAR NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS WHO WORKED AT THE LIBRARY FOR 45 YEARS, AS WE HAVE MORE THAN 20 YEARS.
BUT REALLY, UH, THIS IS A, A FAIRLY BALANCED WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU HOLD BACK AND THINK ABOUT IT, THIS IS A FAIRLY BALANCED, UH, UH, UH, NUMBER OF YEARS IN TERMS OF EXPERIENCE.
SO WE HAVE A GOOD MIX OF FOLKS WHO HAVE BEEN AROUND A VERY LONG TIME AND HAVE LOTS OF EXPERIENCE AND PERSPECTIVE.
AND THEN WE HAVE A LOT OF FOLKS WHO HAVE FRESH EYES TO BE ABLE TO, UM, UH, GIVE US A WELL-ROUNDED VIEW OF THINGS.
UM, THESE NUMBERS ARE NOT TOO SURPRISING IN TERMS OF WHO WE HEARD FROM BECAUSE JUST OVER THE STAFFING LEVELS, UH, CIRCULATION, UH, AND SHIPPING, UH, AND ADULT REFERENCE AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS TO THE TOP TWO.
UH, FOLLOWED BY CHILDREN'S TEAM ADMINISTRATION, BRAND SERVICES, ET CETERA.
UH, AS WE GO, UM, UH, DOWN THE LINE, UM, IN TERMS OF STAFF SIZES.
SO THIS IS REALLY GOOD REPRESENTATIVE REPRESENTATION.
NOW, HERE'S THE FIRST OF SOME OF THOSE DENSE GRAPHS.
AND SO I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A LITTLE, UM, A TIP ON HOW TO READ THESE.
UM, FOR EACH SET OF GRAPHS THAT YOU HAVE, DIFFERENT COLORS, UH, THE RED, UM, SHOWS FOR NEEDS, LOTS OF IMPROVEMENT.
THE ORANGE NEEDS SOME IMPROVEMENT.
GREEN IS KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE.
UM, PURPLE IS, HAS OR HAS SOME STRENGTHS.
AND THEN THAT TEAL COLOR IS VERY STRONG.
SO WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT THE GRAPH, THINGS THAT ARE WEIGHTED OR MORE DOMINANT ON THE LEFT SIDE ARE MORE OF THE NEGATIVE RESPONSE AND THINGS THAT ARE WEIGHTED ON THE RIGHT SIDE.
MORE WEIGHTED ON THE RIGHT SIDE ARE POSITIVE RESPONSES.
AND AS WE'LL SEE, SOME OF THESE ARE KIND OF ALL OVER THE PLACE, RIGHT? OR, OR I SHOULDN'T SAY ALL OVER THE PLACE, BUT THERE'S NOT A CONSENSUS THAT THERE'S A MIX OF, UM, UH, THE SORTS OF, UH, FEEDBACK THAT WE GOT BACK.
UM, WE HAVE A MIX WITH THE BUILDINGS, RIGHT? PRETTY MUCH, UM, UM, EVERYONE IS HAPPY.
UH, HOWEVER, THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF FOLKS WHO SAY, MY BUILDING NEEDS IMPROVEMENT.
UH, THIS IS WHY WE DID THE SURVEY IN THIS WAY AS WELL.
'CAUSE WE CAN'T, UM, BE MORE SPECIFIC BY THOSE BUILDINGS.
BUT FOR OUR PRESENTATION, UH, WE'LL NOT BE PHYSICAL COLLECT COLLECTIONS.
WE HAVE A LOT OF, UM, UH, HIGH RANKINGS OF THAT FROM STAFF BROWS ABILITY MATERIALS IS ALSO PRETTY GOOD.
UH, INTERNET SPEED IS A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, UH, HERE AND THERE, DEPENDING ON THE LOCATION.
SO, UM, IT'S PRETTY, PRETTY GOOD OVERALL.
BUT THERE'S SOME IMPROVEMENTS THAT NEED TO BE MADE.
OUTREACH SERVICES ARE PRETTY GOOD AS WELL, RIGHT? WE'RE, WE'RE MOSTLY WEIGHTED TOWARDS THE MIDDLE, ALL THE WAY TO THE, UH, TO THE, THE FAR EXTREME OF, OF POSITIVE TECHNOLOGY IS A MIXED BAG.
EVEN, UH, THOUGH THE STRENGTHS IS COMING IN AS NUMBER ONE.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE SOME FOLKS WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE IMPROVEMENTS TO TECHNOLOGY STAFF, WORK AREAS A LITTLE BIT MORE WEIGHTED THERE TOWARDS THE, UH, THE SIDE OF, OF LEADING, UH, SOME IMPROVEMENT, UM, BUT ALSO ALL OVER THE BOARD, UH, THERE, DEPENDING ON LOCATION, UH, STAFF, SERVICE DESKS, VERY SIMILAR IN TERMS OF THAT.
UH, AND THEN SECURITY FEATURES, WHICH IS JUST LIKE SQUARE IN THE MIDDLE.
SO THIS IS REALLY GOOD 'CAUSE THIS HELPS US KNOW WHERE WE SHOULD BE PAYING SOME ATTENTION.
UM, STAFF RATINGS OF FEATURES, THE TOP FIVE CATEGORIES IN THE COMMENTS, BECAUSE WE LEFT COMMENTS, UM, INCREASED SECURITY NEEDS, DIFFICULTIES WITH FACILITIES, INCREASED, UH, SPACES FOR WORKING, UM, BETTER TECHNOLOGY AND COLLECTION OF MANAGEMENT, UH, COMMENTS.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE GOT FROM THE, FROM THE OTHERS.
THANK YOU FOR BEARING WITH THESE.
UH, WE WANTED TO KNOW HOW MUCH FOLKS AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT, BUT AGAIN, YOU CAN LOOK AT THOSE, UH, UH, THE SHAPES OF THESE GRAPHS TO KIND OF GET AN IDEA.
THE FIRST IS MOST CUSTOMERS CAN FIND WHAT THEY NEED IN THE LIBRARY WITHOUT STAFF ASSISTANCE.
WELL, OKAY, IT'S PRETTY GOOD, BUT IN SOME CASES, WE NEED TO SEE SOME IMPROVEMENTS.
CUSTOMERS LOOKING FOR A QUIET PLACE TO STUDY, WORK, OR READ CAN USUALLY FIND ONE THAT'S PRETTY STRONG.
UH, THE STRONGEST THOUGH, IS CUSTOMERS USUALLY DON'T HAVE TO WAIT VERY LONG TO USE A COMPUTER.
THAT'S OUTSTANDING, ALSO STRONG.
AND THE NEXT ONES, THE NEXT SEVERAL ONES ARE, ARE, UH, VERY STRONG.
THIS BUILDING HAS ADEQUATE SPACE FOR CHILDREN.
THIS BUILDING HAS ADEQUATE SPACE FOR TEENS AND CUSTOMERS CAN USUALLY FIND PLACES TO PLUG IN AND RECHARGE THEIR DEVICES.
UM, ALSO THERE'S ADEQUATE MEETING SPACE FOR PROGRAMS AND EVENTS.
UH, SHELVING SUPPORTS BROWSING AND DISCOVERY OF THE LIBRARY'S COLLECTION.
THIS LIBRARY MEETS OUR CUSTOMER'S NEEDS.
[00:30:01]
OF THE TIME.THIS LIBRARY BUILDING IS VISIBLE IN THE COMMUNITY AND EASY TO FIND.
THIS BUILDING IS A GOOD MODEL OF MODERN LIBRARY SERVICE.
UH, SO THOSE ARE ALL MORE WEIGHTED TOWARDS THE POSITIVE.
UM, WHERE WE'RE GET, WHERE WE'RE RUNNING TO, UM, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF, OF, OF VARIABILITY IS THE TEMPERATURE IS USUALLY COMFORTABLE IN THE LIBRARY THAT IS ALL OVER THE PLACE.
IT DEPENDS ON THEIR, AND THAT'S NOT TOO SURPRISING A RESULT.
UM, IN OUR, IN OUR BUILT ENVIRONMENT, THE HVAC SYSTEMS, UM, THAT REGULATE THOSE TEMPERATURES, UM, ARE HARD TO DIAL IN, UH, BY ANY, ANY STRETCH.
SO THAT'S NOT A SURPRISING RESULT.
IT'S GOOD TO KNOW, UM, UH, THIS INFORMATION.
UH, THE NEXT ONE IS, IT'S GENERALLY NOT TOO NOISY IN THE LIBRARY.
UH, SOMEWHAT, UM, SOMEWHAT POSITIVE, BUT THERE'S SOME OTHER AREAS WHERE THAT IS ACTUALLY AN ISSUE.
SO REMEMBER, THESE ARE ALL AGGREGATE NUMBERS.
THIS IS THINKING ABOUT ALL STAFF WHO RESPONDED.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A, A A A WAY TO BREAK THIS DOWN SO THAT WE CAN LOOK AND UNDERSTAND, UM, THE, THE FACILITIES SPECIFICALLY WHERE STAFF ARE REALLY HAPPY WITH THOSE VERSUS THOSE WHERE WE'RE ASKING FOR SOME IMPROVEMENTS.
TOP FIVE CATEGORIES OF THE COMMENTS FOR THAT QUESTION.
UNCOMFORTABLE TEMPERATURE, UM, NOISE FACILITIES, IMPROVEMENT REQUESTS, WAY FINDING, UH, YOU KNOW, WHICH IS WAYS OF, OF FOLKS JUST BEING ABLE TO FIND THEIR WAY AROUND THEMSELVES WHEN THEY COME IN AND MEETING OR STUDY ROOMS. WHAT ARE THE BEST THINGS ABOUT THIS LIBRARY BUILDING AND IN WHAT DAY DOES IT SERVE THE COMMUNITY? WELL, PRETTY WELCOMING SPACES IS NUMBER ONE.
STUDY MEETING ROOMS. NUMBER TWO, LOCATION NUMBER THREE, CHILDREN'S SPACE NUMBER FOUR, AND COMMUNITY USE NUMBER FIVE.
PRETTY WELCOMING SPACES BEING THE STAFF IMPRESSION.
UM, THERE, THERE HARD TO TO, TO COMPLETELY CORRELATE THINGS.
BUT GIVEN THE, THE, THE, THE HIGH VALUE OF STAFF, UM, FROM OUR COMMUNITY SURVEY, I THINK THAT'S ECHOED HERE WITH THE EFFORT THAT STAFF PUT IN.
'CAUSE WHAT MAKES A PRETTY AND WELCOMING SPACE IS NOT JUST THE ARCHITECTURE.
THE ARCHITECTURE KIND OF SETS THE TABLE OR SET OR CREATES THE TABLE FOR THAT.
UH, BUT STAFF SET THAT TABLE EVERY DAY.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I SEE IN THESE RESULTS.
WHAT ARE YOU PROUDEST OF ABOUT THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY COLLECTIONS AND RESOURCES AND SERVING COMMUNITY AND PATRONS RIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE LIST? AND AGAIN, THE, UH, HAVING A GREAT COLLECTION AND THAT, THAT IDEA OF SERVICE ECHOES THE RESULTS THAT WE SAW IN THE COMMUNITY SURVEY.
THIS IS FOLLOWED BY STAFF, BY FACILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY.
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU WOULD CHANGE TO MAKE A LIBRARY A BETTER LIBRARY? THESE ARE, ARE A LOT ABOUT STAFF, UH, CONDITIONS, WORKING CONDITIONS AND NEEDS.
SO WHEN IS STAFF HOURS AND SCHEDULING? SCHEDULING IS A BEAR.
STAFF WOULD LIKE TO, TO SEE SOME IMPROVEMENTS THERE.
STAFF PAY, UH, HIRING PRACTICES, DEDICATED SPACES, UH, FOR STAFF AND, UH, TECHNOLOGY.
AND, UH, BEING ABLE TO USE TECH.
LOOKING FIVE YEARS INTO THE FUTURE, WHAT ARE THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES YOU SEE FOR THE LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY? RIGHT.
SO TECHNOLOGY'S ANOTHER THEME THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE STAFF SURVEY.
UH, THE NEXT, UH, ROUNDING OUT OUR TOP FIVE COLLECTIONS AND INFORMATION, UM, IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, IMPROVE OUR COLLECTIONS, UH, EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING.
POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY, HAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY.
AND, UH, UH, CREATING AND OFFERING COMMUNITY SPACES.
LOOKING FIVE YEARS INTO THE FUTURE, WHAT ARE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES THAT YOU SEE? THE FIRST IS STAFFING CHALLENGES.
THE SECOND ARE POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF LIBRARIES.
THERE'S OUR THEME OF TECH AGAIN.
AND THEN FINALLY FULFILLING COMMUNITY NEEDS.
AND I THINK HAVING THAT FRONT OF MIND, UH, IS WHAT MAKES, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES STAFF SO GOOD THAT THAT IS ON THEIR MIND.
MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT COMMUNITY NEEDS AND BEING ABLE TO FULFILL THOSE.
AND SPEAKING OF THAT, WHAT DOES THE COMMUNITY NEED OR WHAT WILL IT NEED, UH, THAT THIS LIBRARY BUILDING DOESN'T SUPPORT? SO THIS IS ANOTHER AREA TO TRY TO FIND GAPS.
UM, TECHNOLOGY CAME IN AT NUMBER ONE.
UM, THERE WAS, UH, UH, FOLKS WHO SAID, I'M NOT REALLY SURE HOW TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UM, UH, THE NEXT WAS, UM, UH, UH, COMING IN, UH, ARE HAVING STUDY ROOMS. AND, AND OF COURSE WHEN I DID MY TOURS, WE, I WAS ABLE TO SEE ALONG WITH, UH, LIBRARY STAFF, UH, A LOT OF MIXED CONDITIONS, OF COURSE, FOR STUDY ROOMS AND, AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR THOSE.
THE NEXT, UH, IS A VARIOUS FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT.
AND THEN THE LAST IS THE IDEA OF INTEGRATING SOCIAL SERVICES AND, UH, WHAT THAT MEANS INTO THE, INTO THE LIBRARY.
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE IN YOUR BUILDING IF YOU COULD? RECONFIGURING SPACE CAME IN NUMBER ONE, AND I THINK IT DID.
[00:35:01]
UM, ALL THE STAFF I TALKED TO, THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY, THEY ACTIVELY DO TO DIAL IN THAT SPACE AS BEST AS POSSIBLE.UH, THIS IS FOLLOWED BY TECHNOLOGY.
AGAIN, UH, DEDICATED SPACES FOR DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS, IMPROVED STAFF SPACES, AND THEN TEMPERATURE
BUT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE, THE, THE, THE TEMPERATURE COMMENTS THAT I HEARD COMING IN AND OUT WAS THE IDEA THAT THERE'S NOT A BUFFER, UH, IN MANY LIBRARIES BETWEEN THAT FRONT DOOR AND THE FRONT DESK, RIGHT? THEY'RE, UM, YOU'RE, YOU'RE AT, UH, MERCY TO WHATEVER THE WEATHER IS, WHETHER IT'S TOO HOT OR TOO COLD OUTSIDE, WHEN THAT DOOR KEEPS OPENING UP.
UH, SO THAT WAS, UH, THAT WAS A, A GREAT FINDING.
STAFF RATINGS OF THE TECHNOLOGY.
OVERALL, HOW SATISFIED OR DISSATISFIED ARE YOU WITH THE DIGITAL SKILLS SERVICES AND SUPPORT THAT THE LIBRARY OFFERS TO CUSTOMERS? THAT'S PRETTY GOOD SATISFACTION, UH, RATING AS WELL AS IT IS FOR THE TECHNOLOGY DEVICES THAT THE LIBRARY OFFERS TO CUSTOMERS, THE DEVICES AND SOFTWARE THAT YOU AS A LIBRARY STAFF MEMBER USE TO PERFORM YOUR WORK.
SEEING A LITTLE BIT MORE ENERGY TOWARDS THE, UH, THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF THE GRAPH, BUT STILL A POSITIVE RESPONSE.
UM, PUBLIC WIFI, HOW IT'S SERVING, UH, PATRON'S NEEDS.
NOT SURPRISINGLY, THERE'S SOME PLACES THAT ARE GOOD.
THERE'S SOME PLACES THAT ARE CHALLENGED AND THAT NEED A LITTLE ATTENTION.
AND THEN FINALLY, WITH A PRETTY GOOD RANKING IS HOW THE PROGRAM'S, CLASSES, AND SERVICES SERVE PATRON AND STAFF NEEDS.
WHAT TECHNOLOGY SERVICES OR DEVICE SHOULD THE LIBRARY OFFER CUSTOMERS THAT IT ISN'T CURRENTLY OFFERING? WHAT NEW THINGS DO WE NEED TO REALLY BE THINKING ABOUT? ONE WAS, UH, HAVING MORE IN LIBRARY DEVICES.
AND SO THIS WOULD BE LIKE LAPTOPS AND MOBILE DEVICES, UM, FOLLOWED BY SPECIFICALLY LENDABLE TECHNOLOGY.
SO THAT COULD BE TECH THAT'S EITHER LENT OUT INSIDE THE LIBRARY, BUT ALSO, UM, LENDING MORE TECH EXTERNALLY.
THOSE WERE THE TOP TWO BY, BY A WIDE MARGIN.
AND THESE WERE FOLLOWED BY AV AND TELECONFERENCING, UH, CAPABILITIES.
PRINTING, FAXING, SCANNING CAME BACK.
AND THEN ROUNDING OFF THE TOP FIVE, UH, IS, UH, INCREASING, UH, OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAKER SPACES.
UM, THIS IS THE, UH, AREA WHERE STAFF RATED THEIR STAFF WORK SPACES HERE.
AND YOU CAN SEE JUST PULLING BACK THE SHAPE OF THE GRAPH, UM, SHOW A MIX.
AND I THINK THAT THESE, UH, EVEN WITH POSITIVE ONES, I THINK THIS MIX REFLECTS SPECIFIC BUILDINGS.
'CAUSE WE KNOW SOME STAFF AREAS, UM, ARE DESIGNED PRETTY, PRETTY WELL.
THE OTHER ONES ARE, ARE THEY NEED A LITTLE WORK AND A LITTLE HELP.
UM, THE, THE QUESTION TO THE LEFT, MY WORKSPACE SUPPORTS MY NEEDS.
THE TASKS REQUIRING CONCENTRATION AND FOCUS, UM, MOSTLY ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, BUT DEFINITELY SIGNIFICANT.
UM, AREAS THERE, UH, THAT NEED A LITTLE BIT OF ATTENTION.
MY WORKSPACE SPACE STAYS IN COMFORTABLE TEMPERATURE.
UM, THAT'S, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH A MIX.
MY WORKSPACE MEETS MY NEEDS MOST OF THE TIME.
THAT'S A PRETTY GOOD RANKING FOR THAT.
BUT THERE ARE SOME AREAS THAT NEED ATTENTION.
IT'S EASY TO FIND A PRIVATE PLACE FOR CONFIDENTIAL CONVERSATIONS.
THAT ONE, UH, IS ALL OVER THE BOARD.
THAT DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF THE LIBRARY AND THE CONFIGURATION, BUT IT'S SOMETHING FOR US TO PAY ATTENTION TO.
OUR DEPARTMENT HAS SUFFICIENT ACCESS TO MEETING AND COLLABORATION SPACES WHEN NEEDED.
AND I THINK THAT'S A LOCATION DEPENDENT.
OUR DEPARTMENT HAS ENOUGH STORAGE FOR DAY-TO-DAY NEEDS.
THAT'S MORE TOWARDS THE NEGATIVE SIDE.
STORAGE IS IMPORTANT, UM, TO THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY.
SO, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING TO BE LOOKING AT IN OUR FACILITIES PLANNING.
AND THEN FINALLY, OUR DEPARTMENT'S WORKSPACE SUPPORTS EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE WORK.
UM, AGAIN, A MIXED RESULT, UM, DEPENDING, UH, ON THE STAFF MEMBER OR DEPARTMENT AND WHERE THEY WORK.
OVERALL, HOW MUCH DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE STATEMENTS? UH, AGAIN, ABOUT STAFF WORKSPACES.
MY PUBLIC SERVICE DESK SUPPORTS MY NEEDS FOR TASKS REQUIRING CONCENTRATION AND FOCUS.
THAT ONE IS SQUARELY
WE HAVE SOME AREAS OF THE ATTENTION.
UM, SAME FOR MY PUBLIC SERVICE DESK STAYS A COMFORTABLE TEMPERATURE.
UM, MY PUBLIC SERVICE DESK MEETS MY NEEDS MOST OF THE TIME.
UH, THAT'S A, THAT'S A MOSTLY POSITIVE, UH, RESPONSE, UH, OR AT LEAST ON THAT SIDE.
BUT SOME AREAS, OF COURSE, WITH LIKE, WITH MOST OF THESE, THEY NEED ATTENTION.
SINCE WE'RE GATHERING THESE, UH, ALTOGETHER FOR AGGREGATE NUMBERS, NUMBER FOR THIS PRESERVATION, IT'S EASY TO FIND A PRIVATE PLACE FOR CONFIDENTIAL CONVERSATION, NOT SO MUCH, RIGHT? UM, THERE'S, UH, LESS OF THAT, UH, OVERALL THAN THERE IS MORE OF, SO SOMETHING TO CONSIDER.
AND MY PUBLIC SERVICE DESK HAS ADEQUATE STORAGE ITEMS I NEED ON A REGULAR BASIS.
I THINK LOOKING AT THE OTHER STORAGE QUESTION, WE CAN EXPECT THAT WE ALSO NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT, UH, IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS, UH, IN THE LIBRARY SYSTEM OVERALL.
UM, UH, AGAIN, THESE ARE MORE, UM, RANKINGS,
[00:40:01]
BUT LOOK AT THESE, LOOK AT THAT, UH, THAT FIRST QUESTION.I FEEL PROUD TO WORK IN THIS BUILDING.
THAT'S, THOSE ARE VERY HIGH RANKINGS, HIGH.
THIS BUILDING SUPPORTS STAFF EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS.
THAT'S MOSTLY REALLY GOOD WITH SCENARIOS THAT NEED SOME A LOOK AT.
THERE'S SUFFICIENT PARKING FOR STAFF IN MY BUILDING.
OF COURSE, THAT IS HIGHLY LOCATION DEPENDENT.
UH, OVERALL IT'S PRETTY GOOD, BUT WE KNOW THERE'S A COUPLE SPOTS WHERE IT'S NOT SO GOOD.
I FEEL SAFE WHEN I COME INTO THIS BUILDING.
UM, OVERALL PRETTY GOOD, BUT THERE'S ALSO SOME CONCERN, AND I FEEL SAFE USING THE PARKING LOT OR EXTERIOR AREAS OF THE LIBRARY EVEN AFTER DARK.
THIS IS GOOD TO SEE THIS FEEDBACK SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND THESE PERCEPTIONS AND TO BE ABLE TO, UH, ADDRESS THEM IN SOME WAY.
DO YOU FEEL YOUR PERSONAL NEEDS FOR ACCOMMODATION OR SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS ARE MET AT THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY? OVERWHELMINGLY, YES.
UH, THERE'S SOME FOLKS THAT, THAT, THAT NEED SOME, UH, FURTHER ATTENTION, OVERWHELMINGLY, YES.
BUT I WOULD LOVE, UM, TO DO MY BEST TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS OR HEAR ANY COMMENTS THAT YOU HAVE FROM, UH, THIS PRESENTATION.
I DO REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL EITHER DO OR YOU WILL HAVE, UH, THE FULL REPORT, UH, THAT WILL GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME TO DIG INTO THE AREAS THAT ARE MOST INTEREST TO YOU.
YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING? I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING.
I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THROUGH THE NUMBERS WHEN I GET THE, UH, REPORTS SO I CAN KIND OF JUST DIG INTO THEM A LITTLE DEEPER.
AND I MAY HAVE SOME QUESTIONS THEN.
IS THAT IT? DO WE, WE CAN, YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S IT FOR CARSON THEN.
AND WE'LL SEND THOSE, UH, THOSE PDFS TONIGHT.
BUT WE'LL DO IT ONE AT A TIME AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
IF THAT DOESN'T WORK, WE'LL PRINT THEM OUT AND MAIL THEM TO YOU.
THAT, THAT MIGHT BE THE EASIEST THING TO DO.
WHO IS MARY LOU? WHERE WAS MY HOME NAME? I'M NOT SURE I, OKAY.
WELL, UM, MOVING ON, UH, REPORTS BY THE DIRECTOR FINANCIAL REPORT.
TANYA ALLISON WILL DELIVER THAT REPORT.
UM, THESE BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY, NOVEMBER, 2023.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE LIBRARY OF BOARD OF CONTROL FOR 2023 OPERATING EXPENDITURES THROUGH OCTOBER 31ST WERE $37,334,703 AND 3 CENTS, R 69.55% OF THE OPERATING BUDGET THROUGH OCTOBER.
WE SHOULD HAVE SPENT NO MORE THAN 83% OF THE BUDGET.
CASH COLLECTIONS FROM PROPERTY TAXES FOR 2023 REMAIN AHEAD OF THOSE COLLECTED IN 2022, AS WE ARE APPROXIMATELY $4.6 MILLION.
THE ACTUAL IS $4,599,497 AND 18 CENTS, OR 9.3% AHEAD OF THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.
NO, THE MOUSE WILL NOT OBEY ME.
I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE IT WENT.
IS IT? WELL, THAT'S WHY IT DIDN'T OBEY ME.
WE RECENTLY CELEBRATED VETERANS DAY, AND THAT COINCIDED WITH PRETTY MUCH THE INAUGURAL HOOPLA
[00:45:01]
OVER THE NEW FLAG RETIREMENT BOXES.Y'ALL, OVER 200 FLAGS COLLECTED WITHIN THE FIRST, I WANNA SAY 10 DAYS.
UH, THE BAG, THE BOX HERE AT MAINE WAS FILLED WITHIN 10 HOURS OF ITS INSTALLATION.
AND EVERY BRANCH THERE'RE SCATTERED IN, UH, THE SIX LOCATIONS THAT YOU SEE.
BUT BASED ON THESE RESULTS, MORE BOXES ARE COMING.
AND THERE YOU SEE, UM, OUR PARISH ATTORNEY, ELENA, UH, WHO HAS, UH, BEEN THE WONDERFUL SPEARHEAD FOR THIS PROJECT, UM, THROUGH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
SHE, HERSELF IS A FORMER, UH, MARINE.
AND THIS IS A PASSION PROJECT FOR HER.
AND YOU SEE WHAT THE BOXES LOOK LIKE.
THAT'S ONE OUTSIDE AT GREENWELL SPRINGS, BECAUSE THEY HAVE THAT BEAUTIFUL PORCH AREA THAT, UM, SUPPORTS IT HERE AT THE MAIN LIBRARY.
WE HAVE IT INSIDE BECAUSE WE DON'T REALLY HAVE THE SAME KIND OF SETUP, BUT ALL OVER, THEY ARE FILLING UP.
AND SHE HAD TO MAKE SO MANY TRIPS, AND THEY'RE COMING IN SO QUICKLY THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY PUT A SPECIAL CON, LIKE OVERSIZED CONTAINER OUT ON THE LOADING DOCK SO THEY CAN KEEP COMING AND THAT SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO DRIVE ALL OVER THE PARISH TO COLLECT THEM, BUT THAT THEY'RE, UH, BROUGHT IN CENTRALLY THROUGH THE DELIVERY.
SO THEY COLLECTED THEM AND THEN WE, SHE CAME AND PICKED THEM UP AND THEY HAD A FLAG FOLDING CEREMONY.
THAT'S THIS BOTTOM PICTURE THAT YOU SEE.
AND THERE WERE SCOUT TROOPS THERE AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS, UH, LEARNING HOW TO CORRECTLY FOLD THEM.
AND THEN THEY'RE RETIRED IN A CEREMONY.
AND THEN OF COURSE, WE'RE INSPIRED TO GET OUR NICE FRESH FLAGS.
THIS GOT A LOT OF ATTENTION FROM EVERY MEDIA OUTLET THERE WAS.
AND IN FACT, OUTLETS FROM OUT OF STATE, OTHER CITIES IN THE STATE AND OTHER STATES.
SO, UH, THIS COULD BECOME A NATIONAL PROJECT.
OTHER PEOPLE ARE ASKING, UH, HOW TO DO IT.
IS THERE A TEMPLATE? AND IN FACT, ELENA MADE, UH, AVAILABLE THE TEMPLATE FOR THE MAYOR'S PROCLAMATION, OR SHALL THERE BE AN ORDINANCE BY YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER NEEDS TO, TO HAPPEN IN YOUR OWN LOCAL PROVENANCE.
AND WE HOSTED THE VETERANS BREAKFAST HERE IN THIS ROOM.
ALMOST AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WERE VOTERS.
DURING THE, UH, ACTUAL ELECTION DAY, WE'VE ALL, AND IN MY REPORT I TOLD YOU THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, UH, VISITED OUR VARIOUS, UH, VOTING LOCATIONS.
AND THEN RIGHT NOW, CENTRAL CLOSING UP THE VOTE FOR EARLY VOTING, THEY'VE HAD THOUSANDS.
AND THEN, UH, AT OUR, AT OUR OTHER BRANCHES ON ACTUAL VOTING DAY, WE EXPECT A LOT MORE FEET.
SO A LOT OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, UM, COMING AND GOING.
AND THEN, AS YOU KNOW, SOMETHING ELSE GOING, GOING STRONG.
IT WAS SO LOVELY TO HAVE YOU ALL THERE TO HELP US BREAK GROUND FOR THE LONG ANTICIPATED SOUTH BRANCH LIBRARY.
AND AS WE SAID, THE TWO BY WORDS WERE PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE,
AND, UM, I SO APPRECIATED Y'ALL'S COMMENTS.
WE APPRECIATED MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY COMING OUT.
WE APPRECIATED ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL PARTNERS IN THIS ENDEAVOR AND OUR HELPERS WITH CITY PARISH ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES, DPW, THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
AND I LIKE TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE BEAUTIFUL TREE.
AND WHAT DO YOU SEE RIGHT BY THE MAYOR AT MY LIBRARY? UH, AND THEN YOU TURN AROUND AND JOIN US AT THE SCOTLANDVILLE BRANCH LIBRARY.
I MEAN, WE HAD, WE BARELY HAD TIME TO CATCH OUR BREATH.
AND THERE WE WERE DIGGING IN THE DIRT AGAIN AS WE BROKE GROUND FOR THAT EXPANSION PROJECT, WHAT WE'RE CALLING THE SCOTLANDVILLE ARCHIVES ANNEX.
AND TWO VERY DIFFERENT PROJECTS.
THEY'LL SERVE TWO VERY DIFFERENT NEEDS, BUT IT ALL SUPPORTS THE COMMUNITY.
SO VERY WONDERFUL HAPPENINGS THROUGHOUT THE PARISH.
AND THEN IN THIS ROOM, IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE IT FOR ADDICT TREASURES, WE WERE ON TREND, Y'ALL, BECAUSE IT WAS BARBIE DAY
SOMEBODY BROUGHT IN THE MOST FABULOUS BARBIE WARDROBE I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.
THESE WERE IMMACULATE, PRISTINE.
LOOK AT THAT TEENY TINY LITTLE PHONE, THE
[00:50:01]
PRINCESS STYLE PHONE WITH THE CORD STILL ATTACHED IN THE BOX ON THE HANGERS.IT WAS JUST A BARBIE DREAM DELIGHT.
WE ALSO HAD CABBAGE PATCH DOLLS, WHICH ARE SO UGLY, YOU HAVE TO LOVE THEM.
WE HAD, UH, DEVICES THAT DID, WHO KNOWS WHAT.
UM, UH, THIS WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITES.
AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SILVER FROM LIKE THE TWENTIES.
AND WE BROUGHT IT UP TO THE EXPERT AND SHE SAID, OH, I KNOW WHAT THIS IS.
BASICALLY, IF YOU, ONE OF THE LADIES GOING OUT IN THE EVENING, UH, IN YOUR FLAPPER OUTFIT OR WHATEVER, THIS WOULD BE DANGLING FROM YOUR WRIST.
IT'S JUST LIKE OUT OF, UM, A BBC SHOW, LET ME TELL YOU.
UM, AND WHEN YOU OPEN IT UP, IT WAS LIKE, WHAT ARE THESE CONTAINERS FOR? WELL, THESE CONTAINERS COULD BE FOR YOUR POWDER BECAUSE THE FLAPPERS WERE MAKEUP.
AND THEN THERE COULD HAVE BEEN A PLACE FOR YOUR CALLING CARDS FOR YOU TO ACCEPT OR GIVE A CARD.
AND THEN WHAT WERE THESE HOLES FOR? WELL, THAT WAS FOR YOUR EMERGENCY MONEY, FOR YOUR DIME AND YOUR NICKEL SO THAT YOU COULD RIDE THE TRAM HOME IF FOR SOME REASON YOUR DATE DIDN'T PAN OUT.
SO IT'S JUST LOVELY TO SEE THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, WONDERFUL BEADS, WONDERFUL PRINTED GOODS.
THERE WERE WEAPONS, UH, SHEATH.
AND PEOPLE JUST HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME.
AND ON THE BIG SCREEN WE DISPLAY AT THE ANTIQUES P FOUR A DATABASE AND GET PEOPLE KIND OF EXCITED ABOUT LOOKING UP THEIR OWN THINGS, JUST LIKE THEY DO ON ANTIQUE ROADSHOW.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, THERE YOU GO.
UH, THE, THE LOUISIANA BOOK FESTIVAL AT OUR PARTICULAR BOOTH, WE SAW OVER 500 PEOPLE WITH, WITH REAL ENGAGEMENT, NOT JUST WAVES.
AND WE, AGAIN, CELEBRATED THE BOOK.
UM, THE BIG BOOKMOBILE WAS IN THE SHOP, AND THE OTHER BOOKMOBILE HAD TO BE AT AN EVENT.
UH, SO THE NEW VERSA, I'M SORRY, THE, THE, UM, THE SENIOR GLORIFIED VAN WAS THERE SHOWING ITSELF OFF.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAD WONDERFUL GUESTS.
I DON'T KNOW, UM, THAT IS MO WILLEM'S ELEPHANT.
AND MO WILLEM IS A WONDERFUL AUTHOR THAT WE DO LOVE.
AND THE STAFF WAS THERE ALL CELEBRATING THE BOOK.
SO THERE'S JESSICA WITH, UH, WINGS BECAUSE WE WERE GIVING, UH, GIVE US BOOKS, GIVE US WINGS, BINGO'S BACK AT THE CREEK, Y'ALL.
UM, WE HAVE OUR NEW BRANCH MANAGER, JSA DE D.
SO SHE'S A GIANT PUMPKIN CALLING OUT THE BINGO CARDS AND FORMER BRANCH MANAGERS IN THE BACK INCOGNITO, UM, UH, LAYLA AND BRANDON RAD.
UH, RILEY CAME TO THEIR OLD STOMPING GROUNDS AND EVEN BROUGHT THEIR GIANT SCARY, JUMPY THING TO BE PART OF THE DAY.
IT'S ALL AGES, ALL RACES, ALL EVERYTHING INTERGENERATIONAL.
AND THEY JUST HAVE A FABULOUS TIME.
WE ARE ALSO GOING TO GAME ON AT THE MAIN LIBRARY IN TWO DAYS IN THIS ROOM WHEN WE, AGAIN, INTERGENERATIONALLY, IT'S A FABULOUS THING.
PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW EACH OTHER ARE ALLOWED TO PLAY GAMES TOGETHER.
AND THEY CAN LEARN NEW THINGS.
THESE ARE TWO BOYS FROM LAST YEAR.
THEY'RE PLAYING OPERATION, WHICH IS A GAME I GREW UP WITH.
THAT WAS ONE OF MY BIRTHDAY GAMES WHEN I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD.
UM, THERE ARE CEREBRAL GAMES, THERE ARE KINETIC GAMES, THERE ARE LIFE-SIZE GAMES, BOARD GAMES, SILLY GAMES.
SO I INVITE YOU TO ROUND UP SOME KIDS WHO CAN GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO PLAY A SILLY GAME.
BATON ROUGE HIGH SCHOOL BETA CLUB IS INTO THEIR THIRD MONTH.
AND EVERY WEEK THE ROOM IS FILLED.
UH, AND THE TEENS ARE SO KIND AND
[00:55:01]
PATIENT WITH THE KIDS THAT THEY'RE TUTORING.IT'S A GOOD EXPERIENCE FOR BOTH.
THE TEENS ARE BACK, YOU KNOW, WITH COVID.
EVERYBODY STARTED STAYING HOME.
WELL, THEY ARE IN THE LIBRARY AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY AND NIGHT, JUST THE WAY WE'D LIKE IT, GIS DAY.
WELL, THIS ROOM WAS FILLED WITH KIDS IN THE MORNING AND ADULTS IN THE EVENING.
UH, THE TOPICS INCLUDED TRANSPORTATION, GIS, FOR TRANSPORTATION AND THE THINGS THAT THEY CAN TRACK AND HOW THEY USE THE DATA TO MAKE DECISIONS, UH, UH, HOW THE WILDLIFE, UH, PEOPLE ARE USING GIS.
AND HE WAS TRACKING, UM, DEER AND DEER WHO WERE ILL.
UH, FIVE LUCKY WINNERS EARNED A LICENSE FOR A YEAR.
AND IN THE MORNING WE HAD, UH, WE HAD A HUNDRED KIDS IN THE ROOM.
THEY WERE FROM THREE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS.
WE HAD FIFTH GRADERS, WE HAD MIDDLE SCHOOLERS, AND WE HAD HIGH SCHOOLERS.
AND IN, AND THIS WAS THE FIRST YEAR WE DIVIDED THEM UP, NOT BY SCHOOL, BUT EACH POD HAD A FEW OF EACH KIND.
SO THE HIGH SCHOOL KIDS THEN BECAME THE BIG BUDDIES OF THE YOUNGER KIDS.
AND THEY DID THEIR THREE ACTIVITIES.
THERE'S ALWAYS A STORY MAPPING ACTIVITY IN THE DIGITAL LAB WHERE THEY CREATE, THEY LEARN HOW TO DO A STORY MAP AND THEY CREATE THAT AND KIND OF WORK TOGETHER TO DO THAT.
THERE'S ALWAYS AN ACTIVITY IN THIS ROOM WHERE WE MOVE ALL THE TABLES OFF TO THE SIDE AND THERE'S A GIANT MAP ON THE FLOOR IN THE SHAPE OF LOUISIANA.
AND THEY TAKE THEIR SHOES OFF.
AND THEY ARE ON THAT MAP BASICALLY MAPPING OUT LOUISIANA'S NATURAL RESOURCES AND HOW THAT DRIVES THE ECONOMY AND TRANSPORTATION ISSUES, BECAUSE GEOGRAPHY IS THE BASIS FOR EVERYTHING.
AND THEN THE THIRD ACTIVITY IS USUALLY A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A FIELD EXERCISE.
OUTSIDE IN THE PAST WE HAVE MAPPED TREES, BUT THIS YEAR, BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE MAYOR'S TASK FORCE ON LIT LITTER, AND WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH KEEP TIGERTOWN BEAUTIFUL AND CLEAN PELICAN AND KEEP LOUISIANA BEAUTIFUL.
SO THIS YEAR THE EXERCISE WAS BASED ON LITTER.
AND UH, I'M SAD TO SAY AT FIRST, IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE IN THE MORNING AT EIGHT O'CLOCK, YOU WOULD'VE, YOU WOULD'VE HAD A HEART ATTACK BECAUSE WE LITTERED, WE PUT LITTER
IT'S LIKE WHEN YOU SALT THEM ON, WE PUT LITTER ALL OUT THERE.
AND THEN THE KIDS CAME IN AND THEY HAD TO LEARN HOW TO USE A VERY SPECIAL APP.
THEY HAD TO GO OUTSIDE, THEY HAD TO FIND THE LITTER.
IT WAS CLEAN, CLEAN WHITE LITTER, Y'ALL FROM OUR RECYCLE BINS.
BUT THEY HAD TO GO FIND THE LITTER.
THEY HAD TO DOCUMENT IT, TAKE PHOTOS OF IT, DROP A PIN IN THE APP TO POSITION IT, POSITION, LOCATE IT, AND THEN THEY HAD TO PICK IT UP.
AND THEN THEY CAME INSIDE INTO THE TEEN ROOM AND THEY GATHERED ALL THAT INFORMATION INTO A REPORT THAT COULD, THEY COULD CREATE A VISUALIZATION.
AND SO BY THE END OF THE MORNING, THEY HAD COLLECTED ALL THE LITTER, DON'T WORRY.
AND THIS WAS BASICALLY A DRY RUN FOR A TRUE EXERCISE THAT ALL THESE SCHOOLS ARE GONNA BE DOING SOON.
THEY WERE WEARING THE FE, THE SAFETY VEST.
THEY HAD THE PICKUP STICKS AND EVERYTHING.
SO IT WAS REALLY SUCCESSFUL, REALLY FUN.
I INVITE YOU TO GO OUTSIDE TO THE GRAY WALL, THE GALLERY WALL OPPOSITE CIRCULATION, AND SEE THE HISTORY OF GIS AND THEN SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE LIBRARY IN THE LOBBY.
AND ON THE SECOND FLOOR, WE HAVE THESE FABULOUS, UH, GLASS ART PIECES THAT INCLUDE SATELLITE IMAGES FROM NASA, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, LAMINATED ONTO THE GLASS.
AND THEN AN ARTIST CREATED A VISUALIZATION FOR IT.
SO IT WAS A REALLY GOOD EVENT.
WE ALREADY HAVE NEXT YEAR PLANNED VIRTUAL AUTHOR TALK SERIES COMING UP.
WELL, PEOPLE GOT REAL EXCITED THINKING RICK STEVES WAS COMING HERE, BUT VIRTUALLY, UH, THEY UNDERSTOOD AND HE GOT SOME NICE ACTIVITIES, SOME NICE BLOG COMMENTS AND SUCH, UH, STRICTLY BUSINESS, UH, JEFF KOONS WAS, UH, YESTERDAY.
UH, AND THESE PEOPLE ARE REALLY RESPONDING TO THAT LOCAL INFORMATION.
UH, THE OTHER THING I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU IS WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THE SOCKET TOMI DRIVE, WHERE WE'RE COLLECTING SOCKS WITH BATON ROUGE PARENTS MAGAZINE, AS WE'VE DONE EVERY YEAR.
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DO ENJOY THE OPPORTUNITY TO BRING IN SOCKS.AND THEN THEY ARE DONATED MOSTLY TO CHILDREN, BUT ALSO TO HOMELESS SHELTERS.
WE ARE ALSO DOING A SEASONS READINGS PROMOTION IN VARIOUS MEDIA OUTLETS.
I CAN PROUDLY TELL YOU THAT COLLEEN HOOVER LEADS THE PACK IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY.
REGULAR PRINT, EBOOKS, LARGE PRINT, SHE'S THE WINNER.
UM, AND THEN FOR THE KIDS IT'S WIMPY KID, WIMPY KID, WIMPY KID.
ANY KIND OF WIMPY KID IS GONNA BE THE WINNER THERE.
UM, SO IF YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT TO GIVE SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE FOR, FOR HOLIDAY READING, WE CAN HOOK YOU UP.
THE OTHER THING I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE IS, UM, I DON'T HAVE A PICTURE FOR THE SLIDE, BUT YOU DO HAVE A HANDOUT AT YOUR DESK SHOWING ONE OF OUR FOUR VANS THAT WE RECEIVED THIS SUMMER FOR OUTREACH SERVICES, UH, FINALLY GOT ITS WRAP.
WE'VE BEEN HAVING TO USE THESE VANS SINCE THE MINUTE WE GOT THEM BECAUSE THE BIG BUSES WERE TAKING TURNS GOING TO THE SHOP.
SO WE FINALLY HAD TIME TO ACTUALLY SEND ONE OF THE VANS OFF TO GET WRAPPED, AND THEY'LL TAKE TURNS ONE BY ONE GETTING WRAPPED.
AND SO YOU MIGHT SEE THIS SLEEK NEW BOOKMOBILE, UH, IT'S A OVERSIZED VAN DRIVING AROUND THE PARISH THAT IS INDEED OURS.
AND THEY'RE VERY PROUD OF THE BOOK BOOKMOBILE.
THAT WAS THEIR IDEA AND I'M PROUD TO KNOW THAT.
SO, ANY QUESTIONS? UH, YES MA'AM.
UH, WHO, UH, WELL FIRST OF ALL, IS THERE ON IN THE GAME DAY THAT'S COMING UP? MM-HMM.
SO THEY WILL BE DOING SOME CARD GAMES AND THERE WILL BE LIKE A SENIOR ADVISOR OR A COACH WHO KNOWS HOW TO PLAY THE GAME.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, I'VE FORGOTTEN ANY GAME I EVER LEARNED.
UM, SO, SO WE HAVE VOLUNTEERS SCATTERED AROUND FOR THAT.
AND ALSO WHO MADE THE ART? YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE GIS ART.
UM, SO THE, THE USGS UH, HAD WORKED WITH STUDENTS THAT CAME FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LAFAYETTE AND HE HAS OTHER THINGS AND I HAVE HIS NAME NOW.
SO YOU'LL BE SEEING OTHER EXHIBITS COMING FROM THERE.
UH, SO IT'S KIND OF A JOINT PROJECT WITH NASA AND THE USGS AND THEN STUDENTS AT ULA LA.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT, I'M GONNA GET OUT OF THE WAY.
ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO OTHER REPORTS.
OKAY, I AM GONNA TRY AND MAKE THIS PRETTY QUICK FOR Y'ALL.
UM, WE GOT THE PO WE WERE WAITING FOR THE PARTS TO COME IN, BUT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE THIS WEEK.
SO WHEN I TALKED WITH WITH ALVIN WEDNESDAY, TUESDAY, HE SAID IT WAS SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE EITHER YESTERDAY OR TODAY.
SO I'LL DOUBLE CHECK TOMORROW AND MAKE SURE THAT'S HAPPENED.
UM, WE ORDERED NEW HVAC UNITS FOR THE DATA CLOSET AT FAIRWOOD.
IT IS VERY MUCH A SMALL CLOSET AND THE HVAC UNITS WEREN'T WORKING IN COOLING THE, THE, THE, THE SWITCHES AND THE SERVERS.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING NEW ONES FOR THAT.
UM, JONES CREEK HAD HAD A LOOSE WIRE IN THE CHILDREN'S ROOM THAT LEFT IT TOTALLY IN THE DARK FOR SEVERAL, FOR SEVERAL HOURS, BUT IT WAS A LOOSE WIRE IN A JUNCTION BOX.
AND, UH, THE PATRON ELEVATOR, ONE OF THEM AT RIVER CENTER, WE'RE STILL WAITING ON PARTS.
AND ZACHARY NEEDED A NEW LIGHT SWITCH, UH, A LIGHTING SWITCH THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.
UM, SO THEY HAD NO LIGHTS, BUT THEY HAD COMPUTERS WORKING.
BUT THAT HAS BEEN RESOLVED, UM, IN THE MISCELLANEOUS REPAIR PROJECTS.
SO OUTREACH, WE MET WITH THE ARCHITECT AND, AND ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES.
AND THE CONTRACTOR, UH, STAFF REPORTED THAT SOME OF THE PARKING LOTS WEREN'T FUN.
PARKING LOT LIGHTS WEREN'T FUNCTIONING, AND THE CONTRACTOR WAS WORKING ON THAT.
THE FENCE PANELS WERE INSTALLED LAST WEEK ON THE NORTH AND WEST SIDE OF THE PROPERTY.
SO THAT'S ALONG ACADIAN AND ALONG, UM, NORTH BOULEVARD.
UH, THE CONTRACTOR WORKING ON A REVISION TO THE PARKING LOT.
[01:05:01]
THE POCKET PARK WAS GOING TO, AT THE CORNER OF NORTH AND ACADIAN WAS GONNA RESULT IN THE LOSS OF ABOUT THREE SPACES.AND SO THEY'RE REVISING, THEY'RE MOVING THE FENCE OVER, AND THEY'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO PROVIDE US ALMOST AS MANY PARKING SPACES.
I THINK MAYBE THEY'LL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE US WITH FOUR PARKING SPACES, SO WE WON'T HAVE A LOSS THERE.
IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THAT WOULD BE SUCH A BIG DEAL.
BUT WHEN WE HAVE OUR BOOK SALES AND WHEN WE HAVE OUR STAFF THERE, THE, THE BOOKMOBILES TAKE UP A LOT OF SPACE, AND SO WE DO NEED AS MUCH PARKING AS WE CAN GET.
UM, THERE WAS A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE NEWLY INSTALLED LIGHTING, NOT PROVIDING ENOUGH LIGHT.
THEY'VE ADJUSTED THE LIGHTING.
I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD ADJUST LIGHTING WITHIN A AN LEDA LIGHT, BUT YOU CAN ADJUST IT TO BE HIGHER AND BRIGHTER.
AND PART OF THE ISSUE IS THAT THE, THE CEILING IS PRETTY HIGH, BUT IT HAS A PROPER NUMBER OF FOOT CANDLES.
IT'S JUST THAT THEY HAD TO ADJUST IT.
I THINK THEY WOULD STILL LIKE IT TO BE A LITTLE BIT BRIGHTER, BUT I THINK WE'VE MADE ALL THE ADJUSTMENTS WE CAN AND THEY CAN SEE.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT A VISUAL ISSUE, IT'S JUST THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE PERCEPTION OF, WELL, IT COULD BE BRIGHTER.
UM, THE OWNER PROVIDED EQUIPMENT, AND WE DO A LOT OF THIS, WE DO CERTAIN OWNER PROVIDED ITEMS THAT ARE CONTRACTOR INSTALLED.
THOSE HAVE BEEN, UH, SENT TO OUTREACH, AND SO THEY'RE BEING INSTALLED.
UM, HANDRAILS ARE BEING FABRICATED.
THEN THEY'RE GONNA TAKE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND WE'RE WAITING ON A QUOTE TO REFURBISH THE JANITORIAL CLOSET.
AND THEN THE PROJECT CALLS FOR NEW STOREFRONT DOORS.
THEY'LL BE POOL DOORS WITH HANDICAPPED SWITCHES SO THAT, BECAUSE THE DOORS WE HAVE NOW ARE NOT, THEY'RE MANUAL AND THEY'RE HEAVY.
AND SO WE WANT SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA BE EASIER FOR OUR STAFF AND THE PUBLIC TO, TO OPEN.
AND, UH, IT'S GONNA BE APPROXIMATELY FOUR TO SIX WEEKS BEFORE THEY'LL BE ON SITE.
AND I DID CHECK, AND WE DON'T HAVE A MINI GATE ANYMORE.
THE GATE HAS, BEFORE WE HAD A GATE THAT WAS ONLY THIS HIGH MM-HMM,
SO IT'S, IT WAS THERE, IT WAS ADJUSTED THE LAST TIME I, I LOOKED, I WAS OVER THERE, UH, A WEEK OR SO AGO, UM, FOR THE MISCELLANEOUS PROJECT, MULTI, MULTI-BRANCH IMPROVEMENTS.
WE HAVE A PUNCH LIST REVIEW, UM, AT CARVER.
THE NEW COUNTERTOP THAT WAS INSTALLED HAS SOME DAMAGE.
IT WAS NOT DONE BY THE CONTRACTOR, BUT WE'RE GETTING A PRICE FOR THE CONTRACTOR TO BUFFET OUT.
UM, DELMONT GARDENS, THE ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES HAS ASKED FOR COST BREAKDOWNS, FOR CHANGE ORDERS, FOR WINDOW REPAIR, MEETING ROOM FLOORING AND COMPUTER AREA FLOORING, AND THE INSTALLATION OF WEEPS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BUILDING.
SO YOU KNOW HOW YOU SEE THOSE LITTLE WEEP POLES IN THE BRICK? MM-HMM.
WELL, ONE PART OF THE BUILDING ON THE SOUTH SIDE DID NOT HAVE THEM.
AND, UM, SO WE'RE INSTALLING THEM BECAUSE THAT HELPS WITH DRAINAGE AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT WATER GETS OUT OF THE BUILDING, UH, WHEN IT COMES, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THE CRACKS.
FAIRWOOD, THE FLOORING HAS BEEN INSTALLED IN THE STAFF LOUNGE AND AT PRIDE ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES IS WAITING ON A COST BREAKDOWN OF THE REPLACEMENT LIGHTS AT PRIDE.
AND RIGHT NOW, WE WERE TOLD THAT THE, THE LIGHTING THAT WE SELECTED THAT TO REPLACE NATCH, WHAT WE HAVE IS MADE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO SEE IF WE CAN ACTUALLY GET THOSE LIGHTS AT ALL, OR WHAT KIND OF LEAD TIME THEY'RE GONNA BE FOR THE ROOFING PROJECT.
UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF THE CON CONTRACTORS COMPLETED THE CONCRETE PORES AT BLUE BONNET.
THEY'RE WAITING ON A REQUEST, AN ANSWER TO A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ABOUT HANDRAILS THAT ARE BEING INSTALLED AT THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
THEY'RE GONNA START INSTALLING CANOPIES AND DOOR HARDWARE AND SOME OF THE GUTTERS ARE LEAKING.
AND AT DELMONT GARDENS, THERE'S A GAP IN THE GATE AND, AND IT'S STILL NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
AND, UH, JONES CREEK, I JUST HEARD TODAY, THE CUPOLA HAS A NEW DELIVERY DATE, NOT OF NOVEMBER 17TH, WHICH WOULD BE TOMORROW, BUT OF DECEMBER 7TH, I THINK.
AND SO, UM, THAT INSTALLATION HAS BEEN DELAYED.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO RESCHEDULE THAT.
AND DEPENDING UPON WHEN WE HAVE TO RESCHEDULE IT, WE MAY HAVE TO CONSIDER CLOSING THE BUILDING BECAUSE THAT CUPOLA REPLACEMENT IS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BUILDING, RIGHT BEHIND THE CIRC AREA.
AND THERE'S GONNA HAVE TO BE SOME DEMO.
AND SO WE DON'T WANT ANYTHING FALLING INSIDE AND CAUSING A HAZARD TO ANYONE.
SO WE WILL JUST HAVE TO MAKE THAT DECISION AS, AS THE TIME GETS CLOSER.
AND, UM, THE ZACHARY, UH, AT ZACHARY, THE CONTRACTOR'S WAITING AN ANSWER TO
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A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION REGARDING GUTTERS.UM, THE BLUE BONNET RE RENOVATION, WE'RE AWAITING AN UPDATE FROM ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES.
IT'S STILL UNDER, UNDER REVIEW.
AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL I HAVE FOR THE MISCELLANEOUS PROJECTS.
THE CHILLERS, UH, WE'RE STILL THE CHILLER REPLACEMENT.
UH, THEY'RE DISCUSSING THE BRAND OF CHILLER AND WE'RE WORKING WITH ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES ON THAT.
BUT, UM, THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT I HAVE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY, ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU.
ALRIGHT, NOW, VERY QUICKLY, FOR MISCELLANEOUS, UH, REPORTS I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE TO YOU MS. ANTOINETTE POLAND.
ALRIGHT, SO ANTOINETTE, UM, I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO STAND AND COME ON UP FOR JUST A MOMENT.
AND THEN THE BOARD, THEIR NECKS WON'T GO BACK AND FORTH.
YEAH, SO ANTOINETTE IS, HAS JOINED US NOW IN YOUR THIRD WEEK MAYBE? YES, SECOND, THIRD WEEK.
UH, SHE'S NEW TO THE LIBRARY, BUT WELL, NOT NEW TO THE LIBRARY AS A PATRON.
NEW TO THE LIBRARY AS A STAFF MEMBER, NOT NEW TO CITY PARISH.
AND ANTOINETTE WILL BE THE NEW EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR, WELL ASSISTANT, I CAN'T EVEN SAY WORDS ANYMORE.
EA UM, NOT EA SPORTS, BUT EA EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT, UM, FOR OUR NEW LIBRARY DIRECTOR WHO WILL JOIN US IN FEBRUARY.
SO ANTOINETTE HERE ARE YOUR BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, SO WE HAVE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, KATHY WASCOM, DOLORES WATTS, MR. LUTHER JUST STEPPED OUT.
UH, AND THEN OUR PRESIDENT, JASON JACOB, OUR VICE PRESIDENT CANDACE TEMPLE.
AND THEN WE HAD A FEW, UH, ABSENCES OF PEOPLE, UH, THAT YOU WILL MEET MISS, UH, NICOLE LATER.
UH, AND MISS MARTHA CYCLES OFF THE BOARD NEXT MONTH.
SO YOU'LL SEE HER AS A PATRON PERHAPS, BUT NOT AS A BOARD MEMBER BECAUSE REMEMBER BOARD MEMBERS WE DON'T MEET IN DECEMBER.
ANTOINETTE WILL SEE YOU IN JANUARY AND ANTOINETTE WILL START EMAILING YOU, ANTOINETTE AND ROSANNA WILL START TAG TEAMING THE EMAILING TO YOU TO ANNOUNCE THINGS, TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH YOU.
AND SO YOU'LL SEE A POLAND IN THAT, UH, FROM ADDRESS.
ANTOINETTE, DO YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING? JUST LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU.
UM, LIA, LIAISON BETWEEN MY DIRECTOR AND YOU GUYS.
UM, THIS IS MY FIRST TIME BEING AN EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT.
I HEAR, UH, LIZ WAS A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW, SO I WOULD DO MY BEST
I DON'T HAVE ANY BUSINESS CARDS RIGHT NOW, BUT WE'RE GETTING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU.
MM-HMM,
OH, WELCOME TO THE, TO THE LIBRARY SYSTEM.
AND, AND YOU'LL HEAR HER CALM VOICE ANSWERING THE PHONE INSTEAD OF MY FRANTIC ONE.
ALRIGHT, SO, UH, SHE'LL, SHE'S GETTING INTO THE SWING OF THINGS AND, AND GETTING HER OWN STAMP ON THE FILES, THE ALL IMPORTANT FILES.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, WE'RE HOARDERS.
UM, SO
WELL, AND THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO MENTION UNDER MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS WAS THAT EARLIER THIS MONTH WE WERE ABLE TO HOST THE STATE LIBRARY ADMINISTRATORS CONFERENCE.
UH, OUR NEW STATE LIBRARIAN, MEG PLAQUEY WAS HERE.
UM, WE GOT A LOT OF USEFUL INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE RECORDS RETENTION PLAN.
AND WE'LL WORK ON THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE COMING ON.
UM, AND ANTOINETTE WILL BE PART OF THAT, UH, RECORDS RETENTION BECAUSE SHOULD YOU KEEP EVERYTHING? MAYBE NOT.
SO THAT'S GOING TO BE HAPPENING.
AND NOW BRYCE HAS COMPUTER SERVICES REPORTS COME ON UP, BRYCE.
SO A COUPLE OF ITEMS. OUR WEBSITE REDESIGN PROJECT HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED.
WE'VE HAD THE KICKOFF MEETING WITH
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OUR VENDOR ON OCTOBER 26TH.THEN WE ACTUALLY EVEN HAD OUR SECOND MEETING WITH THEM EARLIER THIS WEEK.
WE'LL BE MEETING WITH THEM EVERY OTHER WEEK.
THEY SUGGESTED FORMING AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE SO THAT THE COMMITTEE, UH, CAN HELP IN MAKING DECISIONS ON QUESTIONS, CONSIDERATIONS, AND OTHER HOMEWORK THAT'S ASSIGNED FROM THE VENDOR.
SO WE, UM, SELECTED AND HAD OUR FIRST ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING ON NOVEMBER 9TH, AND THAT COMMITTEE SELECTED 10 EMPLOYEES WHO ARE IDENTIFIED AS POWER USERS OF THE WEBSITE, UH, TO TAKE PART IN INTERVIEWS WITH THE VENDOR ABOUT THE CURRENT USER EXPERIENCE OF THE WEBSITE.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THEIR FIRST STEP IN, IN GATHERING DATA FROM THE, THE PEOPLE WHO USE THE WEBSITE.
UM, BUT SURVEYS WILL ALSO BE SENT OUT TO ALL STAFF AND TO OUR PATRONS SOON.
WE'RE STILL DEVELOPING, UH, WORKING ON THE, TO DEVELOP THOSE SURVEYS IN RELATED NEWS.
WITH THE WEBSITE WORK BEGINNING, WE CAN NOW START WORKING ON AN RFP FOR OUR INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEM, OR ILS AND THE ILS IS WHAT STAFF USE EVERY DAY TO PERFORM LIBRARY TRANSACTIONS.
THAT'S WHAT OUR PATRONS USE TO SEARCH OUR ONLINE CATALOG AND ACCESS THEIR ACCOUNT ONLINE.
SO WHEN I TALK ABOUT THE WEBSITE REDESIGN PROJECT THAT IS SEPARATE FROM THE CATALOG AND WHAT PATRONS USE TO ACCESS THEIR ACCOUNT, THEY'RE TWO, TWO SEPARATE PRODUCTS, BUT THEY'LL STILL ACCESS THE CATALOG AND THEIR ACCOUNT FROM THE WEBSITE.
SO WE'VE HAD OUR CURRENT ILS VS SMART SINCE 2009, SO IT'S TIME FOR US TO SEE WHICH ILS PRODUCTS ARE ON THE MARKET TODAY.
AND TRY AND SELECT ONE THAT WE THINK WOULD BEST BENEFIT THE LIBRARY, OUR SYSTEMS LIBRARY.
AND AMANDA AND I HAD A CALL WITH THE CONSULTANT TO DISCUSS SERVICES THAT SHE COULD PROVIDE, HELPING US WITH THE RFP AND WITH A POTENTIAL MIGRATION TO A NEW ILS.
WE'VE RECEIVED A PROPOSAL FROM HER AND WE ARE CONSIDERING MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT PROPOSAL THAT WE WOULD START WORK WITH HER IN JANUARY FOR OUR STATS.
UM, OUR SELF CHECKOUT KIOSKS STILL REPRESENT ABOUT 30% OF ALL CHECKOUT ITEMS FOR THE YEAR FOR CREDIT CARDS.
UH, AS OF OCTOBER, THERE HAVE BEEN 1,291 CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS MADE THIS YEAR BY 1,162 PATRONS FOR A TOTAL OF $21,306 AND 57 CENTS, $258 AND 20 CENTS OF THIS WHERE CONVENIENCE FEES AND 15.8% OF ALL PAYMENTS MADE HAVE BEEN CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS FOR HOTSPOTS.
AS OF OCTOBER 31ST, THEY HAVE CIRCULATED 4,067 TIMES BY 1026 PATRONS THIS YEAR.
AND THEN FOR OUR TICKETING SYSTEM AND COMPUTER SERVICES IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, WE RECEIVED 147 TICKETS THAT WERE CREATED AND WE CLOSED 137 TICKETS.
IS THAT IT FOR MISCELLANEOUS? YES, SIR.
IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY OF THE ITEMS LISTED UNDER, UNDER ROMAN NUMERAL FOUR ON THE AGENDA? IN ADDITION TO THE, UH, UH, UH, COMMUNITY SURVEY, UH, FOR FACIL FOR FACILITIES MASTER PLAN.
MOVING ON TO UNFINISHED BUSINESS UPDATE ON SOUTH BRANCH LIBRARY.
I KNOW EVERYBODY LIKES A PICTURE.
UM, SO AS YOU KNOW, WE BROKE GROUND ON THE NEW SOUTH BRANCH LIBRARY ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24TH.
WE HAD OUR FIRST MEETING ON NOVEMBER 1ST.
THE PROJECT IS ON SCHEDULE, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY'RE WAITING ON THE CIVIL PORTION OF THE PERMITS, THE CONTRACTOR SUBMITTED A LIST OF ITEMS THEY CAN COMPLETE WHILE THEY'RE WAITING FOR THE PERMIT TO BE ISSUED, SUCH AS FINISHING THE ROUGH GRADING AND DEEP ELECTRICAL, UM, AND, AND, UH, INSTALLING IRRIGATION SLEEVES WORKING ON THE PA, THE LAYOUT OF THE PAVEMENT IN THE MECHANICAL YARD.
UM, THEY CAN'T COMPLETE THE SEWER TIE-INS, STORM DRAINAGE, TIE-INS.
THEY CAN'T DIG THE GRADE BEAMS. AND THERE'S OTHER WORK, BUT, UM, THAT COULD LEAD TO DELAYS.
BUT SO FAR THE PROJECT IS ON SCHEDULE.
[01:20:01]
ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES IS WORKING WITH THE PERMITTING AND THE ARCHITECTURE AND THE CONTRACTOR TO RESOLVE THIS.UM, SO ANYWAY, I'M JUST GONNA, THIS IS, YOU CAN SEE THIS LINE RIGHT HERE SHOWS YOU WHERE THE, THE OUTLINE OF THE COURTYARD IS GONNA BE AROUND THE TREE.
AND THEN THIS IS A PICTURE OF IF, WHEN YOU ARE OUT THERE, YOU MIGHT'VE SEEN THAT FENCE ALONG GLASGOW.
UM, THEY'RE DOING, THEY'RE DOING SOME SITE GRADING AND YOU CAN SEE THAT CONDUIT FOR POWER AND DATA HAS BEEN DELIVERED AND THE INSULATED CHILLER PIPING HAS BEEN DELIVERED.
UM, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE IS SOME PROGRESS ON THE SITE.
THEY'RE DIGGING, UH, AND INSTALLING THESE REBAR CAGES.
AND HERE IS THE FAMOUS TEMPORARY POWER POLE.
AND SO WE KNOW IT'S THERE AND IT'S, WE'RE GONNA BE GETTING SOME POWER, UM, FOR THE TEMPORARY WORK.
UM, I TOLD YOU LAST WEEK, ABOUT LAST MONTH, ABOUT A WATER LINE THAT WAS IN THE WRONG SPOT.
UM, THE WATER COMPANY HAS, UM, CAPPED, SEVERED AND CAPPED THE WATER LINE.
SO THAT WAS TOO CLOSE TO THE FOOTINGS.
AND THE CONTRACTOR WILL BE ABLE TO ES EXCAVATE THE LINE AS NECESSARY.
UM, WE DID HAVE TO MOVE SOME CATCH BASINS.
THEY WERE TOO CLOSE TO THE, THE PERIMETER, YOU KNOW, THE INTERIOR PERIMETER OF THE COURTYARD FOR THE TREE.
BUT THE CONTRACTOR AND THE ARBORIST AND THE ARCHITECT GOT TOGETHER AND THEY FIGURED OUT WHERE TO, YOU KNOW, HOW TO REARRANGE THIS AND REDUCE SOME OF THE CATCH BASIN SO THE TREE WOULDN'T BE AFFECTED.
UM, INTERIOR DESIGNERS STILL WORKING ON THE VE PACKAGE, UH, THE FURNITURE PACKAGE.
AND, AND WE STILL HAVE A LITTLE VE WORK TO DO.
UM, IT'S JUST, JUST LIKE WITH THE BUILDING, UH, PRICES ARE CONTINUING TO ESCALATE.
UM, AND SO SHE'S, SHE'S WORKING ON SOME, SOME REVISIONS TO THE FURNITURE PACKAGE SO THAT WE CAN BE WITHIN BUDGET.
AND THERE'S ALSO THE ISSUE OF MAYBE NEEDING A COUPLE MORE FLOOR BOXES.
SO WE'RE GONNA SEE IF WE CAN, WE CAN TRY AND AVOID THAT OR IF WE HAVE TO CONTINUE WITH THAT.
AND IF WE DO HAVE ADDITIONAL FLOOR BOXES, IT'LL BE A LITTLE BIT OF A CHANGE ORDER.
SO DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT SOUTH BRANCH? I DID CALL, UH, THE ARBORIST TO GET AN UPDATE, MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO TRIM THE TREE AND ASK ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THE TREE, BUT I HAVEN'T HEARD BACK FROM 'EM.
BUT THE RAIN THAT WE GOT THIS WEEK HAS BEEN WELCOME.
AND SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE, BUT WHERE I LIVE, I ONLY GOT ABOUT AN INCH, BUT IT SEEMED MORE BECAUSE IT WAS JUST RAINING ALL DAY VERY, VERY SLOWLY.
SO I THINK THAT THAT SLOW RAIN HAS BEEN A GOOD THING.
UM, BUT ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT SOUTH BRANCH ANTICIPATED COMPLETION? WELL, IT'S, THE ANTICIPATED COMPLETION DATE HAS NOT CHANGED.
NOW THE THREE DAYS OF RAIN MAY HAVE CHANGED SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, ANYTIME YOU HAVE LIKE RAIN DAYS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT RIGHT NOW THEY'RE STILL DOING SOME OF THIS GRADING AND, UM, AND THEY, THEY SEEM TO BE ON TRACK.
WE WILL HAVE A MEETING AGAIN IN ANOTHER COUPLE OF WEEKS AND, AND, UM, I'LL LET YOU KNOW IF THE DATE HAS CHANGED, BUT AS FAR AS I KNOW, IT'S STILL, WHAT DID THEY SAY? SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION AROUND SEPTEMBER, I THINK END OF SEPTEMBER.
BUT, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT'S GOOD.
YOU STILL HAVE TO GET THE, DO THE, DO THE WALKTHROUGH, DO THE PUNCH LIST, GET THE PUNCH LIST COMPLETED, GET THE FURNITURE INSTALLED, GET THE EQUIPMENT INSTALLED, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO I'M NOT MAKING 2025
I'M HOPEFUL THAT'S, YEAH, I AM HOPEFUL FOR THAT.
I WAS THINKING SO, UM, READY TO GO VALENTINE'S DAY, BUT DON'T, DON'T HOLD ME TO A DATE.
UM, THERE'S NO OTHER COMMENTS ON THAT.
I HAVE SOME PICTURES HERE TOO.
YOU KNOW, WE BROKE GROUND ON, UH, NOVEMBER 6TH.
COX HAS REROUTED THE CABLE LINE.
AND IF YOU, IF YOU SAW, AND I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT YOU A COPY OF THE, THE SITE PLAN, BUT IT'S ON, ON THIS, WHEN I'D SCAN IT, IT WOULD JUST BE SO MANY SMALL LINES THAT WOULDN'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE.
BUT IF YOU CAN IMAGINE SCOTLANDVILLE WHERE THE, THE COX LINE WAS BEFORE WAS ON THE SOUTH SIDE, RIGHT
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NEAR THE MEETING ROOMS OF SCOTLANDVILLE.AND WHAT THEY DID WAS REROUTE ABOVE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE, THE BRANCH AND RERO IT AROUND SO THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA BE INTERFERING WITH ANY ADDITIONS OR POWER POLES OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND SO THEY DID INSTALL THE, THE VAULT, THE NEW VAULT, AND THIS IS WHERE THEY WERE WORKING.
THIS IS THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
AND JUST TO THE LEFT OF THIS FENCE, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, UH, THAT'S WHERE THE BLACK HERITAGE AREA IS GONNA BE.
SO WE JUST HAD TO WALK THE WHOLE PLACE AND MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING WAS TAKEN CARE OF AND WE WEREN'T GONNA BE PUTTING THE LINE DOWN WHERE, WHERE WE'D HAVE TO DIG SOMETHING UP OR INTERRUPT POWER.
UM, THE CONTRACTORS BEGUN DEMOLITION OF THE PAVING OF THE EXISTING DRIVE AND SIDEWALK.
AND I GOT AN UPDATE TODAY THAT SAID THAT A LOT OF THE EXISTING DRIVES SOUTH OF THE BRANCH HAS BEEN DEMOED.
AND, UM, WE'LL BE MOVING, REMOVING TWO ADDITIONAL TREES THAT SHOULD HAVE INITIALLY BEEN ON THE DEMO BUT WEREN'T.
BUT, UM, THE CONTRACTOR'S GONNA TAKE CARE OF THAT.
AND, UM, THEN THEY MENTIONED THAT FENCING HAS BEEN PUT UP, THE CONSTRUCTION FENCING HAS BEEN PUT UP.
I HAVEN'T SEEN IT, I DIDN'T SEE IT IN THE PICTURES OF TODAY'S REPORT, SO I JUST TEXTED SOMEONE OR EMAILED SOMEONE TO ASK HIM IF, IF THAT WAS IN FACT DONE OR IF IT HAD JUST ARRIVED AND THEY WERE GOING TO PUT IT UP.
SO WE SHOULD HAVE MORE PICTURES AS TIME GOES BY EARLY STAGES FOR SCOTLANDVILLE, BUT THEY ARE MAKING SOME PROGRESS ALREADY.
WHEN IS THE COMPLETION ON THAT ONE? 10 MONTHS? YEAH, 10 MONTHS.
SO IT'S A MUCH SMALLER BUILDING.
IT'S ONLY ABOUT 6,600 SQUARE FEET AND, UH, IT'S NOT GONNA HAVE THE LEVEL OF, HOW DO I SAY IT? FINISH.
IT'S GONNA HAVE, IT'S GONNA HAVE YOUR GBOARD AND PAINTING AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT IT'S NOT GONNA HAVE THE SAME LEVEL AS WE HAVE IN THE LIBRARY BECAUSE IT'S GONNA BE MORE OF UTILITARIAN BUILDING AND MOST OF IT'S GONNA BE STORAGE.
AND IT'S, IT'S A MUCH SIMPLER BUILDING AND IT'S MUCH SMALLER.
SO, AND, AND YOU'RE, YOU'RE GOING FROM SCRATCH, SO YOU CAN PUT YOUR LINES WHERE YOU NEED YOUR LINES TO BE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO, UH, DRILL UP ANY CONCRETE OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? OKAY.
LET'S SEE, BACK TO THE AGENDA.
IS THERE, UM, ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY OF THE ITEMS LISTED UNDER ROAMING NUMERAL SIX ON THE AGENDA? UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
UH, NEW BUSINESS VOTE TO ADOPT UPDATED COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY.
DO I, DO YOU NEED TO SAY ANYTHING OR JUST GO AHEAD AND I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JUST, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADOPT A MOTION THAT WE, UM, SECOND.
ANY OPPOSED? IT'S BEEN ADOPTED.
AND WE WILL SHARE OUR NEW POLICY WITH THE STATE LIBRARY SO THEY CAN ADD IT TO THE POLICY BANK, AND THEN WE WILL SHARE IT WITH THE STAFF AND HAVE A MEETING NEXT WEDNESDAY MORNING AT EIGHT WITH CIRCULATION.
UH, WE HAVE ORDERED NEW CARDS AND WE'RE WAITING FOR THEM TO COME IN.
WE WOULD START IMPLEMENTATION, UH, IN A ROLLING REREGISTRATION OPPORTUNITY FOR THE, ABOUT 70,000 KIDS AS SOON AS THOSE CARDS CAME IN.
IS THERE, UH, ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ON ROMAN NUMERAL, UH, SEVEN ON THE AGENDA? NEW BUSINESS? OKAY.
SEEING NONE COMMENTS BY THE LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL.
UH, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU, JASON, FOR YOUR SERVICE.
IT HAS BEEN GREAT, UH, SERVING ALONG WITH YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE, IT'S APPRECIATED BY THE STAFF AND BY THE BOARD, SO I WISH YOU THE BEST.
OH, WELL, THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS ALL DAY TODAY,
AND, UH, I'VE BEEN A PART OF SOME GREAT THINGS HERE, YOU KNOW, 12 YEARS.
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT 12 YEARS HAVE COME AND GONE SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN I CAME ON THE LIBRARY WAS IN KIND OF A BIT OF A, UH, KIND OF
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HAD SOME ROUGH, HAD A ROUGH PATCH THERE.AND, UH, I HAVE TO SAY THAT I'M LEAVING, UH, IN THE, THE LIBRARIES IN A LOT BETTER POSITION, STRONGER THAN EVER.
UH, I'VE HAD THE PLEASURE OF REALLY WORKING WITH SOME GREAT PEOPLE OVER THESE YEARS.
YOU KNOW, I HAVE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, I, I WAS KIND OF REMINISCING ABOUT SOME PAST BOARD MEMBERS, UH, BUT LIKE KIZZY, PEYTON, THE LATE STAN BARDWELL, MELANIE WAY, TANYA FREEMAN, TRAVIS WOODWARD, CHIP BOYLES, UH, LOGAN LEGER, THE LATE DERRICK, UH, GORDON, AND BETH TOMSON.
I THINK IF I'VE MISSED SOMEBODY, UNLESS YOU CAN THINK OF SOMEBODY ELSE THAT MAY BROWNING.
I, I WASN'T HERE WHEN DON, HE ALREADY ROLLED OFF.
'CAUSE THOUGH THEY WERE, BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT WAS LAUREN, LAWRENCE LAMBERT AND DON LEFT, ROLLED OFF WHEN I CAME ON.
SO, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I, YOU KNOW, STAN WAS A MENTOR OF MINE.
UM, AND, AND, AND EVEN KIZZY, UH, VERY MUCH, UH, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGE ME TO, TO TAKE ON A GREATER ROLE ON THE BOARD, JUST LIKE I'M DOING WITH YOU NOW, CANDACE, YOU KNOW? AND, UH, SO I, UM, UH, IT'S JUST, UH, IT'S, IT'S, I'M PROUD OF THE SYSTEM.
UM, Y'ALL MEAN SO MUCH TO ME AND I LOVE YOU ALL, AND Y'ALL ALWAYS BE IN MY HEART.
AND, UM, I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST.
I WILL BE FOLLOWING YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU ALL IN THE, THE NEWS.
AND OCCASIONALLY I MAY EVEN STOP BY, UM, UH, FROM WORK AND SEE HOW THE, THE BOARD IS, IS DOING.
BUT, UH, OTHER THAN THAT, I'M, I'M PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A, A BOARD MEMBER AND SERVING WITH SOME GREAT PEOPLE.
SO THANK YOU ALL AND I WISH Y'ALL THE BEST.
YOU'VE BEEN A WONDERFUL PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT P WELL, YOU'VE BEEN A REALLY
YOU'VE BEEN VERY PROFESSIONAL, UM, UH, VERY GOOD WITH THE MEDIA.
THE, THE MEETINGS ARE RUN VERY WELL AND, UH, THANK YOU AND I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
IT'S SO NICE TO, UM, TO COME TO, UH, SOMETHING THAT IS SO WELL RUN, SO PROFESSIONAL, UH, AND EFFICIENT AND DONE SO WELL.
AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU AND THE WAY YOU'VE DONE THINGS.
I WANNA ECHO THAT AND, AND ALSO SAY NOT ONLY HAVE YOU, UM, HELPED TO DEVELOP AND SHAPE A TEAM OF, UM, PROFESSIONALS HERE, BUT IT FEELS MORE LIKE FAMILY.
AND, UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO COMING TO MY MEETINGS BECAUSE I KNOW I'LL HAVE SOMEBODY IF I NEED TO HAVE AN OUTSIDE CONVERSATION ABOUT SOME, UH, EBR STUFF, BUT JUST A VENT,
YES, I CAN ALWAYS BORROW A PAIR OF EARS OF FROM ONE OF MY, UH, COLLEAGUES HERE.
BUT IT IS BECAUSE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE, YOUR PROFESSIONALISM AND ALL THAT COMES ALONG WITH BEING A PERSON IN CHARGE.
AS I SAID, I'LL MISS YOU ALL, BUT, UH, I KNOW THE LIBRARY'S IN GOOD HANDS AND, AND WE'LL SEE YOU AT THE DEDICATION.
YES, I'LL DEFINITELY WANT TO, UH, KNOW WHEN THAT, UH, WHEN THAT HAPPENS.
AND SINCE YOU'RE ON THE BOARD OF THE BOTANICAL GARDEN YES.
RIGHT BEHIND US, I'M SURE OUR PATHS WILL CROSS.
SO IS THERE ANY OTHER COMMENTS? OKAY, SEEING NONE, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? YOU HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
ANY OPPOSED? WE ARE ADJOURNED.