2026-09-23 - Worcester Public Library Board of Directors

00:00Go straight.

00:02Get us started. Thank you, Jason. So, I

00:04call us to order. It looks like 5:06,

00:085:07.

00:10Welcome back. It's nice to see you all.

00:13I saw a number of you at the foundation

00:15annual meeting, but it's nice to see you

00:17here.

00:18Uh back to doing business.

00:21Um the first item on the agenda is the

00:24approval of some minutes. We have the

00:26June 17th meeting minutes for the full

00:29board of directors. Do I have a motion?

00:32>> I move.

00:33>> Excellent. Can one of you be a second?

00:35Fabulous, thank you. Are there any

00:37comments on the minutes

00:39from June 17th?

00:41>> Yes, like yesterday.

00:43>> Feels like yesterday.

00:45>> [clears throat]

00:46>> Um

00:47Other than that,

00:49uh all in favor of approving the June

00:5117th minutes as submitted?

00:55Any opposed? Wonderful.

00:58Uh July 20 and August 10 admin committee

01:01minutes. As you recall, the admin

01:02committee meets with the full board of

01:04the full board during the summer.

01:05Any comments or questions on both of

01:08those minutes?

01:11Do I have a motion to accept the admin

01:12minutes from July 20 and August 10?

01:15>> I move.

01:16>> Second?

01:17All in favor?

01:19Marvelous, thank you. We're just buzzing

01:22right along. That's what I thought.

01:24For my report this evening, I'll be

01:26brief. It is Hispanic Heritage Month.

01:30So, to engender empathy and create a

01:33world using only words is the closest

01:35thing we have to magic. Any guesses?

01:40Lin-Manuel Miranda.

01:42I didn't sing it, so you probably

01:44noticed, right?

01:45>> Nice try.

01:46>> You're all welcome.

01:47>> [laughter]

01:49>> Um

01:50reminder, we have the fall festival

01:52Saturday. How are we feeling about the

01:55forecast?

01:56>> We are ready to move inside if we need

01:59to move inside and we'll make that call

02:02at on Friday morning.

02:07Yes, I'm getting Um

02:09>> The rain or shine we're doing

02:11>> Rain or shine, the Fall Fest is on.

02:14Um it

02:15Regardless will be very busy and very

02:18loud at Bull Mansion Library on

02:20Saturday.

02:21>> I'm excited and the Friends book sale

02:24starts on Friday. That is both Friday

02:26and Saturday.

02:28Not to be missed.

02:30Uh thanks again to those of you who were

02:32at the WPL Foundation annual meeting.

02:35Well done uh Chrissy and team.

02:38The speaker was fantastic. We had Carol

02:41Rose from the ACLU of Massachusetts. She

02:43was terrific.

02:44>> It was terrific.

02:45>> Thank you all for coming and do check

02:47out their website. They're doing a lot

02:49of really important and good work.

02:51Um

02:54New website. Woo, so cool. Plugging a

02:57few items out of Jason's report or

02:59should we elaborate uh on all these

03:01things? Jason, I will you be talking

03:04about an app coming soon?

03:06>> Um yes, I will shortly.

03:07>> Okay, I'll say.

03:08>> Thank you.

03:09>> Um a lot of great information, a lot of

03:11staff achievements in that report. I

03:14felt like every other page somebody was

03:16getting recognized for an award.

03:19So, bravo to the team.

03:21Bravo team.

03:23Leanne recognized by the Library of

03:25Congress, not too shabby.

03:28Fantastic. Uh the library card sign-up

03:31promotion this month for library card

03:33sign-up month is a co-branded effort

03:36with the Worcester Animal Rescue League

03:37that Linnea hatched. Uh thanks to the

03:40Friends for supporting that.

03:42Um pressure all of your friends to get

03:44library cards this month.

03:45>> Yeah.

03:46>> Um

03:47I loved how much community outreach

03:49happened over the summer. Again, big

03:51props to the team being out there

03:53meeting people where they are. It's

03:54really impressive and important work, so

03:56thank you for that.

03:58Um Jason and team, uh I love how

04:02creative and innovative this programming

04:04is. When I was reading through the

04:05report, I was just

04:07This is amazing stuff and huge shout out

04:11to both of the ALA that did the

04:13perimenopause and librarianship webinar.

04:16Yeah.

04:17>> I also I also attended that.

04:21>> Every day I

04:23forget who I even am.

04:25The brain fog is real. I love that we're

04:27actually talking about it.

04:30Fabulous. And just a reminder, our next

04:32full board meeting is October 28th. Make

04:35sure that's on your calendar. Costumes

04:37are optional.

04:39Um and I have some bad news to report. I

04:41had outreach from I'm shedding like a

04:43demon over here. I had um

04:47a note from Gail Skyler that she's not

04:49able to continue her service on our

04:51board. So we are going to be without

04:53Gail moving forward. She has a lot going

04:55on in her personal life and didn't feel

04:57she had the bandwidth.

05:00So we have appreciated Gail's sense of

05:02humor and commitment over the last few

05:04years and we'll miss her very much. So

05:07we will post for that role. It

05:09officially expires next December. So

05:12it'll be a short fill-in term for

05:14somebody.

05:16Um and then we will lose Matthew at the

05:17end of the year and I'm not ready to

05:19talk about that yet.

05:22>> [laughter]

05:23>> That concludes my report. Any questions

05:26there?

05:28All right. I will turn it over to

05:32the executive director.

05:34>> All right. Thank you very much. I'm

05:36going to try to debrief cuz I have as

05:38part of my I have a little introduction

05:41to do as well, but I'll kind of first

05:43talk about your little swag pile that

05:45you arrived

05:47to find. So the very first thing I want

05:50to call attention to is the new t-shirt.

05:53Um and

05:57Okay.

05:58Um

05:59So uh local artist even uh Gilling?

06:03>> Wait, I think it was G.

06:04>> Sounds

06:06it was those

06:07>> G's, G I L L I always want to, you know,

06:09I always struggle a little bit on how

06:11they want to pronounce it. But Eamon is

06:14a local artist, a Worcester artist that

06:16has this whole triple decker theme. And

06:19so he made us a custom Worcester Public

06:21Library triple decker

06:23reading, which we're really excited

06:25about.

06:27This shirt will premiere at the block of

06:30the

06:31Harvest Fest block party

06:34on Saturday, again rain or shine.

06:37We will also be using some of this for

06:40some future friends swag. Wrong is

06:44joining us.

06:45Some future friends swag as well as a

06:47coloring book mark.

06:50So he gave us a lot of creative freedom

06:53to

06:54to use his his custom triple WPL triple

06:59decker. You guys are of among the first

07:02to see it. The staff also got to start

07:05picking up their shirts today as they

07:06came in this afternoon. And then so we

07:09are really excited about that. And so

07:11that's kind of part one.

07:13Part two for those of you who attended

07:16the foundation of average was actually

07:18most of you, which was awesome.

07:21For those who did not,

07:23you should have a copy of the community

07:26report for FY 2026. This is our second

07:28community report. There is a message

07:31from Stephanie to kick us off as well as

07:33the photo of when she received the

07:36trustee citation at on the big big stage

07:39ALA before Geraldine Ferraro spoke. And

07:43and lots of fun information including

07:45updates about GBB in this space.

07:48If you would like any more to give out,

07:51I have a couple extra. I have plenty of

07:53extra. We ordered plenty of them. If you

07:56do not want any and you already received

07:58some, feel free to leave with them with

08:00me. They'll be given away.

08:03>> It's a beautiful report. Props to

08:05Linnea.

08:06>> Yes.

08:06>> Yeah, she was the designer on that.

08:08>> Um

08:09uh

08:10>> Stephanie had mentioned the Friends and

08:13in October we will

08:15be celebrating the Friends 70th year of

08:18service to the Worcester Public Library.

08:21They are the second longest serving

08:23Friends group in the state of

08:24Massachusetts.

08:26Um and uh they are the Friends group

08:29that keeps showing how to increase

08:32usage. They continue to make more money

08:35year over year.

08:37Um

08:40uh which is great for great for us. Um

08:43they've been really collaborative and

08:45continue to be collaborative as

08:47as evidence with Lisa going to talk to

08:50the president Rosemary this afternoon to

08:53talk about what our rain plan is for

08:56for Saturday.

08:58And she and just said

09:00Friends will be here being the best

09:02friends we can.

09:03>> However, you tell us to exist.

09:05Um so we're really excited about that.

09:08Um a

09:09calendar reminder that I'll put on all

09:11of your um

09:13I will say verbally right now, but I

09:16will also provide in writing at the in

09:17the next board uh

09:19is board packet is the Friends of

09:23Massachusetts Friends of Libraries and

09:25the Massachusetts Trustee

09:28Massachusetts Library Trustee

09:29Association, MLTA, and MFOL

09:33um

09:34are hosting a joint conference in here

09:37at the Worcester Public Library on

09:38Saturday, November 21st.

09:41Um that the keynote speaker for that

09:45event is a short fairly short business

09:47meeting and mostly speaker. Um they do

09:50have ALA president Mary Macaulay um

09:54to speak at that event. Um

09:57The Friends of the Worcester Public

09:59Library are doing kind of all of the

10:01hosting work um including food and um

10:06uh and all the sandwiches because they

10:09lunch time event. Lisa, do you remember

10:11the time of the event? I think it's

10:1211:00 to 1:00 or something like that. I

10:14don't remember exactly. I will send you

10:16the timing for that event soon, but be

10:19on the lookout. You may see those coming

10:21to your emails as well through the

10:23various

10:25announcements online.

10:27Um

10:30as for awards,

10:32before I get into awards, I'm going to

10:33talk about the app. As Stephanie

10:35mentioned, the main website premiered on

10:37September 1st. They'll fully comply with

10:40those two accessibility standards.

10:44And an important piece that I'll share

10:47with all of you is

10:49throughout the summer

10:51the CW MARS the our library network has

10:55been working with the Communico company

10:58on creating a restful API so that we can

11:02actually have our

11:04our app up-to-date and and so people can

11:08see what books they have on hold and all

11:10the stuff.

11:12That system already exists. It should be

11:14really plug-and-play, but because we're

11:15a members of the 165

11:18libraries,

11:20those who do not have Communico

11:22libraries do not want to be part of the

11:23app.

11:25So we have to invent a way We have to

11:28program a way. So I've been working with

11:30CW MARS. It's all done. Everything is

11:33done. So as you know, CW MARS just has a

11:34major update to do in November and then

11:38what the app will kind of be

11:39plug-and-play for us.

11:42All the programming was completed over

11:44the summer at the same time as the

11:46website. We're just waiting for CW CW

11:49MARS to turn that switch on, which

11:51happens at a major update in the middle

11:53of November so for us to have our app.

11:57Once that happens, don't worry, Lydia

11:59will spend a lot of time doing all the

12:02press that we need to do to make that

12:04come to fruition.

12:06Um and then as Stephanie said

12:10I mentioned throughout the report and if

12:12any of any of you would like a printed

12:15copy of the report, I know it came a

12:16tiny bit late. Um so I did print out

12:19some for you all. So I'll have asked

12:21Liza to hand them out for anyone who

12:23might be interested in the report.

12:24There's plenty for everyone.

12:26>> Thank you.

12:26>> Um

12:27and

12:28as well as attendees if

12:32they would like any. Um

12:34>> Thank you.

12:35>> But as mentioned by Stephanie, we had

12:37some really exciting awards happen.

12:40Um and while I'm not, you know, supposed

12:42to pick favorites, um

12:45only one award got to um let me have

12:48lunch with the acting librarian of

12:49Congress.

12:51Um and that is uh the work of the

12:53Talking Book Library

12:55uh

12:56headed up by Leanne Ruby, who is um

12:59joining us today. And as part of the

13:01director's report, I have included a

13:03small presentation from Leanne to tell

13:06you a little bit about the Talking Book

13:07Library.

13:09Senator Chandler knows um quite a bit

13:11about the Talking Book Library as uh as

13:13the um origin of it. Um and so we were

13:18named the subregional library of the

13:20year for the National Library Services

13:22in the Library of Congress. So um so can

13:25you believe they allowed Leanne and I to

13:27go have lunch with the librarian of

13:29Congress? Don't worry, we did give him a

13:3130-second dance party button, which is

13:34um his

13:37his private assistant has already had

13:40already issued her complaints about him

13:43using the button because she was like,

13:45"Oh no." And uh the exact words from one

13:47of the staff was, "Oh god, you need the

13:49biggest kids in the in the Library of

13:52Congress toys. Thanks."

13:55Um and so with that, I'd love um to

13:57introduce Leanne Ruby, um head of

13:59Talking Book Library, to share a little

14:01bit about what they do. I do I asked her

14:03to just do a super high-level

14:06introduction as she's done it once

14:08before to some of you who've been on the

14:09board. But I think that was like 4 years

14:11ago. It's a long time ago.

14:16>> All right, thank you. I was just about

14:17to tell you all I'm also in charge of

14:18the building right now, so I might need

14:19to run away, but my colleague has my

14:21back.

14:22>> Hi, everybody. My name Can I stand here?

14:25>> Stand You can stand wherever you would

14:27like.

14:27>> Okay, so I'll stand over there. Yeah. Um

14:28my name is

14:29Anne Marie. I am the head of the

14:31award-winning Talking Book Library.

14:33>> It's nice to see the award-winning

14:35chairwoman at this award-winning meeting

14:38with all of you today.

14:39>> Uh thank you for having me. Um

14:42you guys probably know a little bit

14:43about what we do. We serve folks with

14:46print disabilities and make sure they

14:48have access to reading materials. We

14:50provide them with large print, we

14:51provide them with audiobooks, we provide

14:53them with braille. We do all of this by

14:55mail for free, including return postage.

14:58We work very closely with the Perkins

14:59School. They have a library. We talk

15:02back and forth all the time. Um

15:05we cover the central mass part of the

15:08state. I believe there's like 70 towns

15:10or so, 90 kind of little villages in

15:13little things that Massachusetts has.

15:15And Perkins covers the east and west,

15:16and we do the large print for the entire

15:18state. We have a pretty big large print

15:20collection. We've also started to lay

15:22something called super large print. I

15:24ran out of hands on my way up here, but

15:28if you ever want to see any super large

15:29print, come find me. I spend a lot of

15:32time in this

15:33Um I would love to give anyone a tour,

15:35show you any of the things that I didn't

15:36bring with me tonight. Please my I'm

15:39very friendly. It's It's a little weird.

15:41Um call me, email me, whatever. I would

15:43love to have you in our building. Um so

15:45that's basically kind of the gist of

15:47what we do, but we do so much more. And

15:50a lot of what we do has got some

15:52attention from from Library of Congress

15:55and from other libraries, and that's

15:57kind of what led us to be nominated for

15:59this award by Jason and Jason and Beth.

16:02Um

16:03just a little bit about what we're

16:04working on. We have a really great

16:05partnership with the senior center right

16:07now. We have a librarian who's there

16:08with one full day a month who not only

16:11puts on incredible programming that has

16:13been bringing in over 100 people, but

16:15she's there to help those with Libby

16:17apps, library card information, things

16:19like that. He's also part of the branch

16:21friendly host fair. We are really trying

16:22to partner more with the community. Um I

16:25learned kind of during the COVID period

16:27a lot of elderly folks are very isolated

16:30and we don't want that. And when you're

16:32in memory care, you're there alone, it's

16:34scary. We want people to have the sense

16:36of community and that's a big part of

16:37what we do. So, Karen's at the senior

16:39center one Thursday a month. Her next

16:41Thursday she's bringing a neuroscientist

16:44who just wrote a book called The Mind

16:46Electric. And so, if you find yourself

16:48something to do on October,

16:51please come to that. And if you like

16:52brains, I kind of want to go. I'm really

16:54excited to read that book.

16:56Um some more stuff we do, we have a

16:58recording studio. So, we actually

17:00provide books, we record content for

17:03folks all over the world. So, thanks to

17:05something called the Marrakesh Treaty,

17:06which Kim Charleston had a hand in

17:08putting in place at the Burton Library,

17:10we can now share our talking books with

17:12other talking book libraries all around

17:14the world. So, we have titles that are

17:16growing rapidly in every other language.

17:18It's it's really wonderful. Right now,

17:20we're only recording books in English,

17:22but we have several folks in this

17:24building who speak other languages who I

17:27beg to record me books. It's so

17:29Hopefully someday soon, I really love to

17:32get some Haitian Creole in the

17:33collection. Yeah.

17:35So, a couple other things that we've

17:37done this year that are really exciting

17:39is I've been kind of playing this

17:40background. So, I talk with my hands a

17:42lot. This is a culture sensory bag. This

17:44is a sensory friendly kit. So, folks

17:46that have sensory issues or sensory

17:49things that maybe make traveling or

17:51entering spaces they are unfamiliar with

17:53difficult can come in and request a bag

17:55for in-house use. These bags include

17:57things such as noise-canceling

17:59headphones,

18:01um and fidget tools. My favorite fidget

18:04tool is this. It's just so weird. I love

18:07it. I play with this all the time. Maybe

18:10I need a fidget tool like that.

18:12Christmas is coming, you guys.

18:14Um another thing that we did because we

18:16have a system called Bright Here and

18:17this is coming to the branches on

18:19starting this Thursday. You you look out

18:21the library and behind me,

18:22um you'll see these around. I left my

18:24cell phone downstairs because I ran out

18:26of hands, but if you see this and you

18:27download something called a Right Here

18:29app, you put it in front of this, and it

18:31will tell you where you are. This is not

18:33just for folks who are blind, but it is

18:35also for folks that have processing and

18:37hearing issues. So, this is covering a

18:39lot of accessibility there.

18:41This was met with such great positive

18:44interaction within the blind community

18:46that I think WRTA is looking into this

18:48as well. So, very cool. Let's make

18:51Worcester as accessible as possible.

18:53Um

18:54that's pretty much it. Um the large

18:56projects we're working on this year, we

18:58are It's our FY27, kind of our big thing

19:01right now is we are hosting a conference

19:04this year uh for all the other talking

19:06book libraries that use our ILS. Um I

19:08know there's a few other libraries in

19:10the Vermont library like people. If you

19:12ever want to see a really cool ILS, come

19:15see me. It is very different than

19:17anything you've ever seen. It's really

19:19fun to play around with. I'd love to

19:20show it off.

19:21With my library card,

19:23you can save the environment.

19:25Um

19:26that's all I can think of. It's been

19:28kind of a crazy day, so I uh I'm a

19:30little low on brain, but if anybody has

19:32any questions, any comments, I brought

19:34some swag, I brought some pamphlets,

19:36just some information on our

19:37dial-a-story program. We worked with the

19:39folks for Pride celebration. We had some

19:4140 record pieces on that. That was

19:44really fun. One of our volunteers just

19:46saw me, they hadn't seen each other in

19:47ages. And I was like, "Oh, my god, I

19:48went to Pride and the 40 record stuff

19:50was so cool." So, good feedback for WPL,

19:52good feedback for us, good feedback for

19:54the community. Um please take all of my

19:57things. If you ever say, "Klyne, what

20:00can I do for you?" tell everyone you

20:02know about us.

20:04Blind in the world, safely and with

20:06recycling, with pamphlets and

20:08applications and tactile stickers, tell

20:10everybody about us. Please, I want TBL

20:13services to be known all around the

20:15world, not just in Worcester. Somebody

20:17you know needs this service, be it here

20:19or be it across the country, and I want

20:22them to be able to access them.

20:25So, that's it. Thanks for having me.

20:33>> I think a great option here.

20:36>> Yes.

20:36>> I want to tell them what you showed.

20:38>> I would love to have you on.

20:39>> I would love that. The whole Google

20:42watches.

20:43>> Need to know it.

20:44What you do and how you do it and see

20:47some of these things. Just Just listen

20:49to this this now.

20:50>> But I couldn't do many of this without

20:52you. So, and you did so much for TBL

20:54before I I started and I'm always

20:57grateful to you and I will try not to be

20:59totally starstruck in your show.

21:05>> does for people and how excited they are

21:08to be able to I I give them a

21:11part of the building but when when when

21:13when the

21:14the tapes come back, it's it's a big

21:17deal.

21:17>> Yeah, it's so exciting. Yes. I love to

21:21make a bookmobile someday of tapes.

21:22That's one of my

21:24my dreams. Jason, look out. I'm coming

21:26in with big dreams. So, look out the

21:28budget.

21:29>> How about a small

21:30>> Yeah.

21:31>> smaller than that.

21:32>> We have money. We have money to spend.

21:34So, big plans and I feel like, you know,

21:36all of us together can, you know, make

21:37Wester more accessible and a better

21:39place.

21:40>> Get Robin Kennedy involved in this.

21:42>> I would absolutely Thank you so much. I

21:44look forward to being in the show. I'll

21:46do my best.

21:49>> So, um an important

21:51uh

21:52an important thing is also for those of

21:54you who have an interest, as Lianne

21:57mentioned, um the record We do have a

22:00recording studio in the basement. Um

22:02that recording studio is um was part of

22:06what we used some of the ARPA money um

22:08that TBL received from the state um to

22:12make that recording studio so they can

22:13record local books

22:15um including um including our um

22:19outgoing board member Gail. She has um a

22:22couple of books of poetry published and

22:24she actually did the recording of her

22:26own Um

22:28so people who want to kind of hear her

22:32books and also hear from prior, which is

22:34really cool. So, I think

22:36it's an important um

22:38thing, and it's also added, as Leanne

22:40said, to Library of Congress database.

22:43So, anyone across in that kind of

22:45America's treaty, as she is spelled out

22:50This also these materials are also

22:52available in Spanish.

22:54Um and and TBL has

22:57five full-time staff members that try to

23:00bring all of this to the 90 communities.

23:02There's five full-time people do this

23:04for 90 communities across um the

23:07Commonwealth. Um focus on Central

23:09Massachusetts. So, thank you.

23:11Um we're all done, Leanne.

23:13>> Thanks, everybody.

23:15>> Thank you, fellow world wedding person.

23:17>> [laughter]

23:18>> Right back at you, fellow world wedding

23:20person.

23:21>> I got to have obnoxious can we be?

23:24>> You can get out of here.

23:25>> Well, what if you put a sign on

23:26yourself? Then we'll have people out

23:28here.

23:30>> Um I just a few more things from from my

23:34report. I'm

23:35able to take any questions.

23:38Um so, the

23:40uh so, you'll see in my report we were

23:43as Stephanie mentioned, very busy

23:44throughout the summer. Lots of different

23:46connections made.

23:48I will call attention to Leanne had

23:50referenced the board of for the record

23:52the UMass Q + history exhibit that just

23:56came down last week

23:58after a little over 2 weeks uh taking

24:00over Central Central Library.

24:03Um and we were really excited to partner

24:06with Holy Cross, the Museum of

24:08Worcester, and um Pride Worcester to

24:10bring that

24:12uh exhibit to fruition that um really

24:15led by Liza um trying to

24:20find wrangle um creatives and and

24:25education-based individuals as those of

24:28you who work in education know how

24:29difficult that can be. Um

24:32so

24:33we will uh we're very excited about

24:35that. And to that point with the

24:38Dial-A-Story

24:39um elements

24:41um

24:42we put a bunch of those stories on so

24:44people could um

24:46phone in and listen, um which is a

24:48really great space.

24:50I'm happy to answer any questions that

24:52the group might have about the report

24:54and then expand on anything that you

24:56might need to know a little bit more

24:58about like the perimenopause in

25:01libraries.

25:02>> And everywhere.

25:03>> And everywhere.

25:04>> [laughter]

25:06>> Well done. Thank you.

25:07>> Matthew.

25:10>> Two notes and a question.

25:11>> Yes.

25:11>> One, the story about uh a young patron

25:15being really excited about capybara

25:16books is adorable.

25:17>> Yes.

25:18>> Um and we need more cute kids stories in

25:20the reports.

25:21>> And more capybaras.

25:22>> And more capybaras and

25:24any um

25:24>> Have you seen a Costco ones?

25:26>> No.

25:27But apparently I need to.

25:28>> Yeah, they're like literally 4 ft tall.

25:31They're plush. I want one. That's what

25:33I'm saying.

25:34>> Well, we'll be at Costco in Western Mass

25:36eventually.

25:37>> Eventually.

25:38>> Um

25:40My other thing was I love seeing the the

25:42the reorg in the juvenile collection

25:44being more graphic novel novels. Of

25:47course I love graphic novels,

25:48but but I'm always on the hunt for more

25:51kids manga cuz it's usually hard to

25:52find, so I'm going to go check that out

25:54myself.

25:55Um and my question is can after we

25:59complete our full report, can we get an

26:01update on total number of active library

26:03patrons?

26:04Post sign up numbers cuz we haven't had

26:06any in

26:06>> Yeah, most certainly.

26:08That's fine.

26:09>> All the other numbers are in the

26:10community report, but that one's not

26:12updated.

26:16>> And I know at Holy Cross you did they

26:17did their library fest.

26:19>> Mhm.

26:20>> And I know you

26:21you traveled them to library funds as

26:23well.

26:24>> Yes. Um so the the outreach there's a

26:27kind of group that have been um

26:30uh

26:30trying to do more outreach, So I think

26:32we went to like more know your school

26:34nights for Worcester public schools than

26:36like ever before. So the team has really

26:38buckled down and gotten some more

26:40outreach going. So hopefully we'll see

26:42some some good numbers this month. I

26:46know that Linnea told me the number at

26:47some point in the first two weeks and I

26:51do not remember that number but I

26:52remember she was excited about the

26:53number.

26:54>> Okay. Well, it's

26:55okay. It's okay.

27:00Any other questions or comments for

27:02Jason on his report or on the answer

27:05reports?

27:06We can talk about it in their absence.

27:09>> I I had a question. This is Ron. I had a

27:10couple

27:12>> Go ahead.

27:15>> Can you hear me?

27:16>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

27:17>> Okay.

27:18Um these are just a few. One um if you

27:21already talked about them, I apologize.

27:22But uh regarding the Great Brook Valley

27:24branch and the staffing model, what what

27:27does the staffing model actually require

27:29to operate it

27:30well? Um

27:33I know that was a concern the thing on

27:34how big it was and that we needed more

27:35staff to cover it. Do we know how many

27:38staff we need and what that cost would

27:39be?

27:41>> Yeah, sure. Um so it's it's just a

27:42little quiet. I'm trying to turn it up.

27:44But I heard you fine so I'm going to

27:45just repeat what you said for like the

27:47good of everyone here.

27:49Um so the question is about Great Brook

27:51Valley and the staffing model making

27:53sure that we have enough staff for the

27:55expansion. Um that conversation is

27:58ongoing. Um I've had my kind of

28:01pre-start conversations for a while with

28:03the city manager.

28:05Um in the next month or so, Solmaz,

28:08Tressa, Angela and I will be meeting to

28:10determine that piece.

28:12Um the kind of full staffing models for

28:15that. We're still expecting that new

28:17fiscal year as well as making some

28:19adjustments. Um so all those things are

28:22kind of still in process and not uh

28:25ready for our prime time piece. Um but

28:29um

28:29we have our

28:32We are going to develop a plan A, plan

28:34B, and plan C.

28:36Um and this will let us make sure that

28:38we have the But right now, as a

28:41reminder, we have five branches that are

28:43staffed at two people.

28:45Um we do not have enough staff to

28:47operate this library, full stop.

28:50Um

28:51and uh and so um

28:54it will definitely be of the uh behoove

28:56all of us to spend a lot of time

28:58advocating for more staff. Um especially

29:01as we open the Great Brook Valley

29:03branch, um because we cannot operate a

29:054,200 square foot um

29:08branch on two full-time staff.

29:11Um

29:12we do have plans and we have scenarios

29:14that we're still running through, um but

29:16I don't have any that are ready for the

29:18board. But as we finish those up, those

29:21will be presented to the scrutiny.

29:24>> Um

29:25thank you so much. The second question,

29:27or more of a statement, has to do with

29:29Great Brook Valley as well.

29:30Uh as I was reading through

29:32uh Trinity,

29:33um concerned about naming rights, uh I

29:35just wanted to put my position forward

29:37that I would love to preserve Great

29:39Brook Valley because of its historical

29:41and communal community significance.

29:43Um completely understand their

29:44investment, but I'm thinking something

29:47along the lines of like Commerce Bank

29:48Field at Fully Stadium, especially as a

29:50cultural institution. Uh we've seen this

29:53go down before when Plumley uh moved in

29:56through

29:57uh the neighborhood and

29:59uh you know, can completely done that.

30:00So, I would just

30:02put

30:03my uh motion forward as a conversation,

30:05not a motion, but just the my position

30:07that if there's a way that Great Brook

30:09Valley stays connected to it, um I'd

30:11really appreciate that. Uh so we don't

30:13replace community name, unintentionally

30:15erasing history.

30:21>> I um I will just add that the board is

30:25actively working on making sure that the

30:27policy, any naming right pieces, is

30:31there is of the board of directors and

30:34not anyone else, so does this group. Um

30:37I can make recommendations,

30:40the staff can make recommendations, any

30:42external people can make

30:43recommendations.

30:45Part of why we're trying to finish up

30:47all the naming rights conversations it

30:49leaves

30:50a little bit in Laura's report later

30:54is so that you know that this group has

30:59to

31:00vote to make any change for that and no

31:02one else other than this group can do

31:05that.

31:07>> Last question, I appreciate you guys'

31:08patience. This is back to like

31:10circulation with you had mentioned in

31:12the report with traditional print

31:15circulation changing and digital

31:16borrowing growing.

31:18I was concerned or are you already

31:20thinking about, I'm sure you are, Jason

31:21you're always on top of it, but what

31:23measures should the board be watching to

31:25know whether the library is actually

31:27reaching and serving Worcester

31:28residents, not simply like books checked

31:31out, but I know the visits, digital use,

31:33programming,

31:34>> [snorts]

31:34>> community reach,

31:36and like through that are we actually

31:37reaching new people potentially?

31:40Just thinking about that shift, I

31:41thought that was uh

31:43I thought that was intriguing to to read

31:44that in the report.

31:46>> Yeah, so the

31:49part of the move from print to digital

31:52is it's a reality of how people are

31:53interacting and countering our

31:55information, but the data that we report

31:58on is reported on residents. Like we can

32:02pull who checks out our e-books who are

32:04not residents of Worcester,

32:07which we do have that data readily

32:08readily available,

32:10but if we that's kind of part of why we

32:14talked about it because more people are

32:16where we're seeing our growth is

32:17actually listening to e-audio books.

32:20That's where growth is. So people and I

32:24think that that's been very much helped

32:25by

32:26um

32:28by the rise of podcasts and their

32:31popularity. People are listening more,

32:34which is which is great.

32:36We are keeping track on all of the

32:37metrics that we can. But there's also

32:40some metrics that, you know, for us as

32:42librarians, we we don't keep full track

32:46of because we want to protect the patron

32:49privacy. But kind of across the board,

32:52that's why we're spending a lot more

32:54time and why this summer we spent a lot

32:56more time on visits and and interactions

32:59over the kind of reading minutes thing

33:02that we had been doing forever is cuz we

33:04wanted that that connection to be more

33:07meaningful and more qualitative rather

33:10than quantitative, which had previously

33:12been previously been our kind of summer

33:14approach,

33:15which we think was

33:18created a lot more relationships,

33:19created a lot new a lot of new patrons.

33:22I saw a lot of new patrons, connected

33:24with a lot of new patrons. So I was

33:25really excited about.

33:27And so I think, you know, we continue to

33:30try to address the changes in our

33:32community and meet them head-on.

33:34So I really appreciate the comment and

33:37the follow for us to continue to do so.

33:41>> Listen to

33:42Do you think that shift at all would

33:45have any impact impact? I've only been

33:48on the board for a short period of time,

33:49but there are it's clear to me that

33:52there's sometimes we have a

33:54uh we have fierce conversations with the

33:56city as it relates to funding our

33:58institution. And so with those shifting

34:00dynamics, do you think that has any

34:01impact in our conversations about the

34:03funding we do need? Or am I over over

34:05over concerned in that?

34:08>> Um I think that's kind of the part

34:11>> We're having a hard time understanding

34:13what he said. Repeat what he said.

34:15>> I will repeat. And I'm going to see if I

34:18can turn this physically up a little.

34:20>> A little bit low.

34:21>> It's loud enough. Just talk.

34:23>> Okay. It's It's a little garbled,

34:25though.

34:25>> Okay.

34:26>> [clears throat]

34:26>> And he talks fast.

34:27>> Yeah.

34:28All right. So

34:30So the kind of question in front of us,

34:32Ron, if you'll indulge me to kind of

34:34phrase it back and give me a yes or no

34:37and I'll and and and improve on it if

34:39it's a no,

34:41um, is about the impact that this change

34:44in circulation could have on funding and

34:46what work the board can do,

34:48um, to help continue advocate. Does that

34:50sound like a good summation?

34:52>> Yes.

34:55>> Um, so the part of why we try to

34:58position our data in the way in which we

35:00are is to tell the story, but it's, you

35:02know, part of our bigger problem and one

35:05of the legislative pieces that we've

35:06been working on as a state is, um,

35:10is

35:11big is really getting a handle on the

35:14cost of e-books. So, e-books are between

35:17three and six percent, sorry, three and

35:19six times, not percent, three and six

35:21times,

35:23um, more than they would cost a

35:24consumer.

35:25To put that in context, for physical

35:27books, we spend about 40% less than a

35:30consumer on our physical books because

35:32we are the largest purchaser of books,

35:35obviously. The Worcester Public Library

35:37spends about a million dollars on

35:39materials every year as one public

35:41library, and I would assume everyone in

35:43this room combined does not

35:45spend a million dollars on, and maybe

35:47Stephanie does, but spend a million

35:49dollars on new books every year. So, um,

35:53part of our problem is our legislation,

35:56um,

35:57has not kept up with allowing these

35:59companies to continue to change prices

36:02and directly price gouge public

36:04institutions.

36:06Um, a large problem with that is most of

36:09our legislators do not understand the

36:11why, and I've had some very frustrating

36:14conversations with former members of,

36:17um, um,

36:18of the, um,

36:20Tourism Arts and Culture Board. Um, the

36:22not current chair, the last chair, said,

36:25"Well, you just have to talk to

36:26publishers." And I was like, "And with

36:28all due respect, I have been for for 17

36:31years when I started working on

36:32e-books." Uh,

36:34so this is not a new process, this is a

36:36long-term process. The good news is that

36:39many states, including our our neighbor,

36:42uh, Connecticut, uh, New Jersey just

36:45passed one as well. Have started to do

36:47these ebook laws, so to prevent um price

36:51gouging, but all of these are based um

36:54often have um a trigger clause. So, a

36:58certain not

36:59population of the US has to sign into

37:02that before it goes into effect. Um so,

37:05behooves us

37:06>> [snorts]

37:06>> um to do the work to find mirroring, uh

37:10to mirror those um those same laws to

37:14protect the the negotiating power of

37:16public libraries. This is a little far

37:19away from your um from your question on

37:21impact and funding, but I do think it's

37:22an important piece because for every

37:25ebook e-audiobook that I I buy, I could

37:29buy six physical copies of that for the

37:32same price. Um so,

37:35uh we there's lots of fun data that I

37:38can share with you guys in the October

37:39meeting about how that funding um is

37:43broken down, but it is true and true

37:46price gouging happening because um when

37:49we talk about ebooks and we talk to our

37:52legislation legislators about ebooks,

37:54most of them do not understand.

37:55>> Right.

37:56>> Um

37:57and just talk to the publisher. We've

37:59been talking to the publisher for over

38:0015 years. Um my I I have I Jason Homer

38:04has the doctor development shares for

38:06over 15 years. Not just we as in um

38:10the Worcester Public Library, we as the

38:12library in general. This is like my

38:14lived experience um starting with the

38:18Massachusetts ebook pilot project um in

38:21what was that? That that's been That was

38:23a long long time ago. Um but, with

38:26not just Worcester, but the state of

38:28Massachusetts has significant amount of

38:29power when it comes to ebooks. Um

38:32Teresa, who's in the room, uh form came

38:34to us from um from the Massachusetts

38:37library system where she took the Sora

38:40collection, which is the school library

38:42uh ebook collection to first in the

38:45world for circulation.

38:47So, there's a significant amount we are

38:50a huge buyer despite being a small

38:53state. And while some of those trigger

38:55factors I mentioned earlier related to

38:57population, it is important to

38:59acknowledge that we are a big money

39:02buyer,

39:03which has meant that we have some power

39:05and we have to figure out how to work

39:07together on that power. That would be a

39:09great topic for some of that MLTA

39:12conversation on the 21st of November.

39:16But kind of getting back to the core of

39:18Ron's point is our data

39:23tells a story and I think that we try

39:26our very best to do storytelling that we

39:29can with the data to show that the

39:31library is is busy that people are

39:34engaged with it.

39:36But we have had the problem of people

39:39not believing that data. And I've

39:43experienced that throughout my tenure. I

39:46remember once someone said to me, "Well,

39:48what's your real number for door count?"

39:49I was like, "That's my actual door count

39:51number. That's That's not a fake number.

39:54It's I can see it on my phone. Here's

39:57how I pull it."

39:58And they were like, "Oh, I just thought

39:59you guys made a guess." And I was like,

40:01"No."

40:03>> Librarians are known for guessing.

40:06>> So, it really is almost to the call that

40:10we had

40:11during our conversation is more

40:13engagement, more communication.

40:15You know, one thing that we can prep

40:19for in addition to thinking about

40:23Matthew's action item of total active

40:25library card numbers is there is there

40:27are tools that exist to do some level of

40:29return return on investment for a

40:31financial return on investment for

40:34library usage.

40:36It's a

40:38It's not a perfect system, but it is

40:42the ALA does have a tool that can be

40:45used to give kind of some baseline. And

40:48if the board if anyone like to assign me

40:51the action and I'll be presenting that

40:53in October, I would be willing to take

40:55that on if

40:57>> Well, I

40:58I get it. Yeah, and

40:59>> There's caveats attached to it.

41:01>> Yeah. But, I get a everything I take out

41:04has it you save $6. Correct.

41:07So, you could probably if we gave you

41:09permission, you could just tell us how

41:11much each of us as a library user has

41:14saved.

41:15>> So, the good news is for your for your

41:17information, I actually cannot see that,

41:19which is benefit.

41:21>> Can I? No.

41:21>> Um it depends on whether or not you've

41:24turned on your reading history. So, one

41:26of the complicated problems that

41:28librarians carry with ourselves is that

41:30we simultaneously have a lot of data

41:32about you and protect it with our lives.

41:34>> Right.

41:34>> Um and so, you don't we don't turn on

41:37your reading histories for people. So,

41:38if you said to me, "What did I read 2

41:40years ago?" I'd say, "I have no idea."

41:42>> Yeah.

41:43>> Um and it's not my business. It's your

41:45business and only yours. Yes. Um and so,

41:49it's important So, I can give a caveat

41:53written

41:54>> Yeah.

41:55>> um best guess on for every dollar

41:57invested in the city in the Worcester

41:59Public Library, here's what we return to

42:01our community with that and I can do

42:04that as moved by our annual

42:06>> Yeah, I think that's great. Share.

42:09>> Yeah. And the and the library of things,

42:13I would say that would be a big one.

42:14>> Yeah, and most certainly will. Um thank

42:17you.

42:17>> Two things. First thing is public

42:20service announcement.

42:22Uh you could make that into a public

42:24service announcement, which is free and

42:27they say great

42:28for the community and our community is

42:31I'm sure with the thing that we have

42:32done in the community.

42:34And it would be interesting way of

42:36bringing to the public because they they

42:38don't know this the story. And

42:41you you've got to assault them in a very

42:44heavy you know,

42:45very graphic kind of way that and you

42:47could do that with a with a theme and a

42:50you know, and brand it as number one.

42:52Number two, uh

42:54the is my ignorance here. Uh

42:57out do do

42:59ebooks wear out at some point?

43:02>> They do.

43:03>> That brings me to the next part of my

43:05question.

43:06>> Okay.

43:06>> How when they wear out, what happens to

43:09them?

43:10>> What a great question. Um so, there's

43:12really there's multiple camps, but I'm

43:14going to give you the shortest amount of

43:16camps and not try to look at Tressa

43:18burning holes into my soul and behind

43:22you as the as a true juggernaut of

43:27ebooks for the state. Uh let us not uh

43:30oversell that we have one of the best

43:33ebook providers in the state in this

43:35room right now.

43:36Um so,

43:37uh very

43:38>> But they do wear out?

43:39>> They do wear out. So, the longest they

43:41will ever last is 2 years.

43:43>> Oh, so it's very short-term.

43:45>> Very short-term. The most of the time,

43:48and depending on the publisher, it can

43:50be a number of checkouts. So, sometimes

43:52one thing that we do is if there's a lot

43:54of books uh of a lot of people have put

43:56a particular book on a on hold via

43:59Libby, the way that we um disperse and

44:03dispense

44:04um

44:05ebooks, we might buy 100 one-use titles.

44:09So, 100 people can simultaneously check

44:11it out at the same time, so there's not

44:13this 6-month wait that you're

44:15experiencing.

44:17Tressa, do you know off top of your head

44:18how much that usually costs us to do

44:20that?

44:21>> It's cheaper than purchasing a copy of

44:25the the checkouts expired by time or

44:30um

44:32number of checkouts. Yes. So, like 100

44:34copies for maybe $150.

44:38But if you bought 100 copies of the

44:40meter of the limited metered access,

44:44you know, 12 checkouts, it would be like

44:49$800

44:51plus, probably. And that's just a rough

44:54estimate. And that's going to be an

44:55ebook. Audiobooks are like insanely more

44:58expensive.

44:59>> And oftentimes like a one copy one user,

45:02so one person can check it out at a time

45:04just like a physical book, can be in the

45:06$85

45:08>> So, what is it really you could get?

45:11And I'm really thinking off the, you

45:13know,

45:14top of the top of my head.

45:16Um,

45:16>> [clears throat]

45:17>> which is not always the best place to

45:19think from.

45:20Um, but I'm wondering if you could have

45:23a conversation with the Worcester

45:24schools

45:26and work out some sort of an arrangement

45:29with the Worcester schools

45:31that when your books

45:33start to wear out

45:35they can use those books, they can be

45:38given. I mean, there are kids that would

45:40love to have

45:42>> So, the good news is we do that.

45:44>> You do it already?

45:45>> Yes.

45:46Um, and include and so where those two

45:48book carts that you walked by on the way

45:50here, the two full

45:52those are actually the donated some of

45:54the donated books from that WooSox

45:57donation event.

45:59Um, and on our Dolly Parton and those

46:00are actually directly to go to schools.

46:02So, I've already texted all of the

46:04schools librarians to come and make

46:07through those pieces.

46:09Um, so we are always working with the

46:11schools whether we're giving them

46:12discards. Um, a good another example

46:15that will be in next month's report that

46:17happened this month, that's one of those

46:19frustrating things is um, for the second

46:22year in a row, um,

46:24second year second year in a row, um,

46:28representative Mary Keefe uh, secured an

46:30earmark for the Worcester Public Library

46:32to buy books for

46:34teachers. Um, and it's called Library in

46:36Every Classroom. And so we on the 9th of

46:41September,

46:42um, we had uh, we had given we gave out

46:45thousands of books to local tea for

46:48Worcester Public School teachers to come

46:50and either build their classroom library

46:52or give them up to their students. Um,

46:55so we are

46:56we both give them free books. The

46:59uh,

47:00we partner with all of the libraries. I

47:02spent my whole summer building libraries

47:04in schools in the seven schools that

47:07started. I have been I was texting them

47:10as as frequently as two hours ago with

47:13some updates about funding. We've been

47:16working with them on

47:18I'm working with some key funders to

47:20make sure there's more books. So our

47:22the like book ecosystem that we've

47:25created with the schools is really just

47:27us getting as many books in hands as

47:28kids in the kids' hands as possible

47:31through all of the different ways we

47:33can. Whether it's us buying e-books to

47:35support their collection,

47:37handing things off, adding more books to

47:40the collection,

47:42when we discard books getting it to give

47:44to kids. All of those things we are all

47:47we're we're the constant book peddlers.

47:51And it was very funny because

47:54um today yesterday as Trisha and I were

47:57going through some of those donations, I

47:59did see three books that I knew that we

48:01got a couple years ago

48:03given back to us. So I'm like, "Oh,

48:05they're going right back into the

48:06system." So

48:07>> [clears throat]

48:08>> So it's nice to recycle the the blood of

48:10the books throughout this throughout the

48:12city. So

48:13>> As possible.

48:15Excuse me again.

48:17Going on with this subject, but it's an

48:19it's an interesting subject and it's an

48:21important subject that we not really

48:24exploring

48:25>> [clears throat]

48:25>> as fully

48:26as I think we could.

48:28But you know,

48:30in some cases philanthropy and I'm sure

48:33Rosanne knows more about this than I do,

48:35but

48:36uh

48:37philanthropy

48:39uses products that

48:43sold by or given by

48:46for for occasions for birthdays and for

48:50weddings and for things like that.

48:53I wonder if we could ever have a a

48:55system that maybe the friends might be

48:57interested

48:59Excuse me.

49:00For for getting you all involved, but

49:04but the the friends or some other or

49:06another group and other volunteer group

49:09could run that basically they would be

49:12able to uh

49:14to have a birthday

49:16and instead of giving somebody a

49:18birthday gift, you give them a

49:20book. Uh

49:22an ebook which they would love to have

49:24perhaps. And uh

49:27they you know, they have a little thing

49:29inside that says that this was given in

49:31honor of uh

49:33in your honor to the ebook section of

49:37the library.

49:38Uh

49:39but they would get the you know, the

49:41other way of doing it is to let them get

49:44the book.

49:45They give the

49:47the the amount of money that you get the

49:49opportunity to be selective about what

49:52you add.

49:53>> So, the good news is our foundation does

49:55take book gifts. Um and so some people

49:58when um when loved ones pass away

50:02>> That too. That too.

50:03>> give or birthdays and other things. So,

50:05we do have a process for that already

50:08with the foundation and uh Chrissy works

50:11with the library team to to directly do

50:15um different spaces at So, we do have a

50:16method for that. The ebook method

50:18doesn't exist yet. Um but it is

50:21something that um

50:23>> That's me.

50:24>> the publishers don't want to give us the

50:26power. I don't know. The publishers are

50:29the villains. Like never I

50:31I am

50:32being recorded and I'm telling you this

50:34and I will accept the libel that I get

50:37from that. I literally have huge issues

50:40with the publishers and stuff.

50:42So, it it's So, the process for the

50:45physical thing does already exist with

50:48little notes in the book jacket and all

50:50those pieces. Um we have a couple of

50:53people who every time someone

50:55sneezes [snorts] they buy a book um for

50:58their friends. Um so, we do have our

51:00kind of heavy hitters with that piece.

51:03Um, and so all of that is it helps us

51:06with the ecosystem, but we also a new

51:08nonprofit has formed in the city over

51:10the summer. The um,

51:13school li- school library

51:15>> What's the elementary school coalition?

51:18>> The elementary school coalition. Um, and

51:20so that has also been doing a lot of

51:22fundraising for things like this for

51:23like birthday and all that stuff. So,

51:26right on track.

51:27>> This could be um, extremely valuable.

51:30Brandeis Public Library came on the

51:32scene.

51:33>> I love love the conversation, but I do

51:35need to keep us moving.

51:36>> I'm sorry.

51:37>> No no, it's That was good conversation.

51:40Um, Ron, did you have any other

51:41questions?

51:43>> He says he did message

51:46He said that thank you and complete and

51:48uh

51:48>> Okay. So, fantastic.

51:51Um, looking through the agenda, Matthew

51:53has asked to defer finance to October.

51:56So, we will do that. Do we have a

51:58friends report?

52:00Did I make it to the friends?

52:02>> I Jen and Angela are always making it to

52:04the friends.

52:06Um, but I don't So, I would say Oh, you

52:09Okay.

52:10>> I have to say I was at the friends

52:11meeting. Um, there was a review of

52:15upcoming programs that I think is

52:17customer on standard.

52:19Um, they are excited for their 70th

52:22anniversary coming up.

52:24Um, there is a bit of working on the

52:26regular line items review. They're

52:28talking about the stuff with the

52:29furniture that

52:31Um, still has some things to iron out a

52:32little bit with the collecting of the

52:34actual monies.

52:36Um, they are getting excited for their

52:37next book sale and they are

52:40and they said that having so many books

52:42is a basically a great problem to have

52:45and um

52:47They had a meeting.

52:48>> Awesome.

52:51Excellent report. Thank you, Bressa.

52:54Uh, Rosanne, do you have a foundation

52:56report for us?

52:57>> Um, the only thing I'd like to

53:00say is that it was an unbelievably

53:03wonderful foundation meeting and it was

53:06so meaningful to give the real award

53:10to Joel and the facility staff. That was

53:13the most

53:13beautiful one of the It was one of the

53:15most moving and of course the speaker

53:17was wonderful but the way you run the

53:19meeting is so well done and you know, it

53:23was nice to have Luz

53:25head of the foundation

53:27completed her term and

53:29I'm happy to hear Viviana is the

53:32incoming president of the WPL Foundation

53:35and she is so excited about the upcoming

53:38event.

53:38>> Viviana

53:39>> Yes.

53:40>> Excited?

53:41>> She was really excited.

53:43>> Like what's happening?

53:44>> She was wearing a nice red dress so I

53:46can't assess it. She was excited.

53:48Uh so everyone has it on their calendars

53:51but you wanted to you

53:52November I'll let proceed.

53:54>> Yeah, so first off thank you. I know

53:57all of them thank first anyway you know

53:59maybe but I do appreciate it and we did

54:01vote in our new president Viviana

54:03Hernandez and our new vice president

54:06Lisa Melo who is also

54:08the liaison here. She had to leave a

54:10little early. We also voted in five new

54:12members and we lost three members that

54:15hold up the board. So hopefully you all

54:17get to meet them if you didn't meet them

54:19at the meeting.

54:20Uh we've moved on to the celebration

54:22event which is November 5th.

54:24Things are going smoothly. I can't

54:26believe it's in a little over a month.

54:29But you know, we're proceeding with

54:31that. Tickets are available. Invitations

54:33will be in the mail probably by next

54:35week.

54:36Uh you can purchase tickets now online.

54:40We have some new

54:42opportunities that you can check it out

54:44online in the leadership giving circle

54:46which is sort of a VIP event if you're

54:48willing to donate in advance of the

54:50event so you can check that out online.

54:53We also opportunities to donate to our

54:55raffle if anyone's interested in

54:56donating toward our wine raffle,

55:00restaurant gift cards. So if you are

55:02interested in seeing me cuz we're we

55:04could always use some extras

55:06of donated items for our raffle. Um

55:09>> Okay.

55:10>> And what else?

55:14I guess that's it.

55:15Unless anyone has any questions.

55:19>> Fantastic.

55:22Thank you. You look like you were going

55:23to say something.

55:24>> I was just looking.

55:26>> [laughter]

55:28>> He's playing with his fidget thing.

55:29>> Yes.

55:32Um, yeah. You know, so other than that,

55:34I don't have anything. Um

55:38>> Yeah, and it was in the old thing was

55:40you had mentioned something you did the

55:41Green Award is going to be presented.

55:43>> Oh, yeah. So, the

55:45we're giving our Green Award to Lisa

55:46Kirby Games this year, the Kirby

55:48Foundation. She's not able to attend our

55:50annual meeting. So, we're going to do it

55:53at the celebration event. We did do that

55:55a few years ago. So, we're trying to

55:57tighten up the program a little bit so

55:59we can get to the

56:01get the authors. Um, as quickly as

56:04possible.

56:05>> That'll be That'll be really nice.

56:06>> you all will come and join us.

56:08>> Thank you.

56:09>> Thanks. Thanks for reminding me of that.

56:12>> I had my first official nightmare about

56:14the event.

56:18I had a dream that

56:18>> You never know if you have would have

56:20nightmares about it.

56:21>> Yeah, I was in the night of the event

56:23and I was sitting next to Judy, your

56:24newly elected board member. Friend of

56:26mine and we were you were doing the

56:28program piece and I just looked at Judy

56:30and said, "I didn't bring any

56:32questions."

56:33>> [laughter]

56:37>> Hopefully that does not

56:38>> Don't do that.

56:39>> [laughter]

56:39>> That's not what you should do.

56:41>> But I loved all the books, right?

56:43>> Y'all were great.

56:45Um, and it's nice to have theme of you

56:47know, winning I think people have that

56:50theme of not studying for anything.

56:53>> I've never been to this class.

56:55>> Yes, I'm sorry. I've been there.

56:58>> That's how I know it's real.

57:01Any other questions for Chrissy or

57:03Rosanne on the foundation?

57:06Okay, great. Uh, under old business I'll

57:09ask Laura to give her report of what the

57:12admin committee I I I know you've seen

57:14the minutes, but uh, Laura, you want to

57:15talk about what the admin committee did

57:17>> Yes. And then summer vacation.

57:18>> I did.

57:19Um, lots of bonfires. No.

57:22Uh, July, we met in July, August, and

57:24September. You've got the July and

57:26August, but not the September notes or

57:28maybe minutes. Those will be in the next

57:30packet, too. But, we had uh, three two

57:33big items that we talked about, and then

57:34just to keep everybody posted on what

57:36Eva as a committee uh, naming

57:38opportunity policies. So, tied back to

57:40what Ron and Jason were talking about

57:42earlier, um, we are formalizing the name

57:46naming opportunity and what that will

57:47look like so that we can make sure that

57:49a lot of thought is put into a lot of

57:51care is put into any names that we would

57:53choose. And then also just the processes

57:56that go along with being responsible

57:57with that sort of commitment, as well.

58:00So, that's moving forward. Conversations

58:02are being had with the different people

58:04who need to be involved with that, and

58:06then it will be coming back to admin,

58:08and then more details will be coming to

58:10the board for that.

58:11Um, next thing we voted on the 2027

58:13holiday hours. I've got the printout of

58:15it if um, anyone

58:18needs the the holiday hour printout.

58:20That's the same just like standard of

58:22what we normally do is 12:00 and and

58:24that group. Uh, and then it just the

58:27review process for the executive

58:29director is normally starting in

58:31October, so we haven't talked about that

58:32yet, but we are on top of the the cycle

58:36of what we can talk about.

58:39Who needs to say that? So, turn.

58:41>> Any questions or comments for Laura on

58:43the admin committee report?

58:46>> I put it waiting list.

58:48>> [laughter]

58:50>> Excellent.

58:50>> Is there any new business to come before

58:52the group tonight?

58:54>> I would just be remiss to not announce

58:57to everyone that the National Custodians

59:00Day is October 2nd. Um, so we'll be

59:02working on something as internally nice

59:05um, to continue to celebrate Joel and

59:07his silly these team who do so much. So,

59:11we're working with the friends on the

59:14because the friends have expressed a

59:16need a desire to be more forthcoming

59:20with thanks to the staff.

59:23For all of the staff does, so I'll be

59:26taking them up on that offer to

59:27celebrate National Custodians Day. So I

59:29wasn't going to

59:31wasn't going to announce it, but then we

59:32talked about Joel and his team and I

59:33figured you're going to be

59:35>> Good to see you. And and I'm sure you'll

59:37get a picture of them. I'm kidding, but

59:39>> That was hardly a

59:40>> Did that picture.

59:41>> You know, they invented a facilities

59:43emergency, so they didn't have to stand

59:45up and sit down.

59:46>> That's steps.

59:48>> Sometimes air conditioners have water

59:50condensation. It doesn't mean there's a

59:51leak.

59:52>> [laughter]

59:55>> They're a very modest group.

59:56>> They're a modest group.

59:59>> Thank you so much.

1:00:01All right, that is that concludes the

1:00:03formal agenda. Do I have a motion to

1:00:05adjourn?

1:00:07So moved. Thank you all so much. I look

1:00:10forward to seeing you at the Friends

1:00:11event,

1:00:13uh which is before the October board

1:00:15meeting.

1:00:15>> That like right before it, like in a few

1:00:16days.

1:00:18>> Like that's the week before.

1:00:19>> Yeah.

1:00:21Awesome. Thank you all very much. Those

1:00:23of you who are playing with bylaws, take

1:00:26a little bio break and then we'll

1:00:28reconvene.