Library Board of Trustees

LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES MAY 20, 2025 Roll call and introduction of attendees The Davenport Public Library Board of Trustees monthly meeting was called to order at 12:04 p.m. by Tom Engelmann on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. The meeting was held in Meeting Room C at the Main Library. Board members present: Joanna Drake, Joe Heinrichs, Michael Hustedde, Shelley Klaas (exited at 12:52), Amanda Motto, Malavika Shrikhande, Jerry Skalak, and Tom Engelmann. Absent: Honey Bedell (technical issues cut off her original phone-in). Library staff present: Jeff Collins, Library Director; Lexie Reiling, Assistant Director; Jennifer Williams, Library HR Operations Manager; and Kasey Shipley, Office and Facilities Manager & Recorder. Guests: Marion Meginnis, City Council Liaison; Steve Imming, Ex-officio/Immediate Past President, and Hilary Tanner, FRIENDS President (joined meeting remotely around 12:10). Engelmann welcomed Joanna Drake as the newly appointed Trustee. Drake shared that she works at the Chamber of Commerce in talent development. She graduated from Drake University in 2020 and attended high school in Clinton. She loves reading and the library. She has a sassy dog, Oliver, a Scottish Terrier and Shih Tzu mix. At Drake she studied law, politics, and society with a minor in magazine media. Consent Agenda Shrikhande motioned to approve the consent agenda with a second by Skalak. Drake, Heinrichs, Hustedde, Klaas, Motto, Shrikhande, Skalak, and Engelmann all approved. Public with Comment No one present for comment. Reports and Communications FRIENDS Report Collins shared the FRIENDS’ fundraising event, Fatal Fiction, will be held on Saturday, September 27. A flyer was passed around the table. He hopes all can attend. There is an item of business later in the agenda requesting to close the Main Library early that day to get ready for the event. Finance Heinrichs reported spending is on track for the end of the year. Some lines are fully spent but there are no lines overbudget. Personnel Motto noted she sent an email last week to Trustees with Collins’ update to his goals for the year. Motto welcomed Drake to the Personnel Committee. She will share information with her on the Committee’s job of performing the Director’s annual evaluation and how they go about that process. 1 Advocacy Shrikhande shared that she and Bedell performed a Board enrichment exercise by going with Outreach and Youth Services on a Grade Level Outreach Experience (GLOE) visit at McKinley School recently. She had great things to say about staff and the energy they brought to the visit through a story time and visit to the Outreach Wheeled Library (OWL) to check out items. Shrikhande was allowed to operate the lift on the OWL which she found thrilling. She realized there is a lot of hard work that goes into planning and performing the visits as they go to all Davenport schools in the spring. She shared that there is an early learning program in the Davenport school system that doesn’t know about GLOE, so they need to be sure to reach out and share that information. Director’s Report Collins updated Trustees that The Library is now designated as a Dementia Friendly organization, providing a welcoming, safe, and respectful space for those living with dementia and their caregivers. Klaas inquired on how partners or community members will know of the designation. Collins replied that it will be part of the communications package that will be share widely on social media and reaching out to specific partners that may benefit from the knowledge. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service options are being explored since we have disaffiliated with MOBIUS and the OpenRS project. Current ILL service is limited to coming from other Iowa libraries. The Library is joining BRIDGES, a statewide consortium with platform fees paid by the State Library of Iowa, that will quadruple the size of The Library’s e-books and e-audiobooks collection. The TechKnow Library is being rebranded along with the purchase of many new items. To accommodate the purchase and storage of these items, physical audiobooks and Playaways, which have declined in circulation, will have funding redirected to other collections. Many publishers do not publish in those formats due to the decline in sales. Imming inquired on BRIDGES and the selection of e-audiobooks and the availability. It could be that those have longer hold times, Reiling stated, as the publisher would prefer readers to purchase the titles if they don’t want to wait for the limited number of copies the consortium may own. Meginnis asked about accessibility. Collins shared a statistic that about 95% of adults have a smartphone so they could use the Libby app to utilize The Library’s holdings of e-book or e-audio but there are others that don’t have that technology such as older adults or younger children without phones. The Library is participating in the annual MLK Food Drive through today. Some members of Youth Services and Community Outreach Services departments have been attending meetings for the Youth Wellness Coalition. This partnership will include initiatives to promote health education and wellness for youth. The Tiffany D. Jackson author visit was a great success and Collins thanked the FRIENDS for supporting the visit financially. Around 450 students attended her presentation with another 175 attending a book-signing and meet-and-greet. Summer Reading is coming up, beginning on June 1 and ends on July 31. Books on the Blacktop is a collaboration with Davenport elementary schools for summer visits. The Touch-A- Truck event is on June 7 to kick off the Summer Reading program. GLOE trips, previously mentioned by Shrikhande, have been a great success. A few Library staff met with the Downtown Davenport Partnership (DDP) and Davenport Police to talk about the downtown safety program. They are seeing good progress in terms of interactions and meeting with people. The cleaning efforts mentioned in the 2 report pertain to DDP staff that empties the trash receptacles around the downtown, just to clarify. For upcoming programs, there is a viewing of “Free For All: The Public Library”, a PBS documentary, on Monday, June 2, 6 p.m. at Fairmount. Klaas inquired about the alternatives Collins mentioned that may be sought as the social worker position won’t be filled at this time. Collins noted that internships, practicum students and providing space for other groups to have office hours at The Library have been explored in the past. Recent discussions with Quad Cities Open Network have taken place. They are seeking grant funding for social workers to visit various public libraries and provide services. Collins explained that the ARPA funding for the social worker position cannot be used for other projects at this point in time. Expenses had to be allocated by the end of 2024 and it was for this particular position and cannot change. A request will be made to the City during budgeting time for FY2027 in fall 2025 to fund the social worker position from the general fund. Information was shared with the Board on what systems are left behind from the Social Worker to help put people in touch with the right resources, but not having a social worker to guide patrons through the system as she did is impactful. Shrikhande asked if Humility Homes comes in and Collins stated they do and The Library has a good relationship with them. Meginnis added that Vera French is working alongside with Davenport Police through grant funds, not City funding, on the downtown safety initiative. The Iowa State Legislature session ended last week. The two bills that would have negatively impacted libraries did not pass. One was defunding ILA and ALA, the other removing exemption for obscenity to educational institutions and public libraries. But, those can be picked up next year as it is a two-year cycle. A federal judge ordered an injunction to stop the closing of IMLS. However, Congress needs to reauthorize the act that funds the program by September 30 of this year or it could go away. Engelmann noted that Hilary Tanner had joined the meeting and he passed along his thanks to the FRIENDS for funding the author visit. Council Liaison Meginnis shared her relief that the property tax changes the legislature was considering did not pass during this session. Amazon announced earlier today that they are building a second facility next to the current one that will employ 400 people. Party in the Parks will be held in June at Cork Hill and Goose Creek, in July at Fejervary and in August at Credit Island. The Mayor’s State of the City address will be at Rhythm City on June 5 at 11:30 a.m. Meginnis announced at her recent ward meeting that she will not run for reelection. She announced this early so people who are interested in running can join the race and those vetting the candidates will have plenty of time to do so. Many of the Trustees thanked her for her service on City Council. Skalak added that the lighting of the Figge last weekend was amazing. Meginnis has a seat on their board and was very excited by the project. She will be present at Library Board meetings through December when her term ends. Old Business The only item for new business was to approve the Davenport Public Library Strategic Directions for FY2026-FY2028. Klaas motioned with a second by Drake. Collins noted the draft in the packet was created by the consultant and staff will be performing refinements to it including layout and photos. The Board is approving the top two levels which include the six strategic directions and goals under 3 those. The objectives under each goal are still being refined by staff using SMART goal criteria. The only question was from Motto asking if Drake’s name would be added to the list of Trustees. That edit will be completed per Collins. Motto, Drake, Skalak, Heinrichs, Klaas, Shrikhande, Hustedde, and Engelmann all approved. New Business The first item of new business was to approve the closing of the Main Library at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, 2025 to prepare for a fundraising event presented by the FRIENDS. Heinrichs motioned to do so with a second by Shrikhande. Shrikhande, Hustedde, Drake, Motto, Heinrichs, Klaas, Skalak, and Engelmann all approved. The second item of new business was to review changes to Administrative Policies 1.2, 1.5, 4.1, 4.2, and 4.6. Engelmann provided information to Drake that the Trustees typically review policies one month and approve the next. Williams noted changes for these were prompted by changes in the AFSCME contract which goes into effect in July. Language in 1.2, number 8, reflects the language in the contract. “Number” refers to number of shifts, either evening or weekend. Number 14 was updated as staff will now have the opportunity to select their meal period length twice per year rather than once. In 1.5, bullet number 3 was added as the number of hours that can be carried over into the new fiscal year. This does not have much impact for Library staff as overtime or compensatory time accrual is rare. Bullet number 4 had some language added that was in the contract and not previously in the policy. Policy 4.1 had Staff Enrichment Program changed to Professional Development Plan Program with the language expanding on the previous job shadowing in Staff Enrichment. Policy 4.6 includes language changes that align with federal guidelines. Bullet number 16 adds language from the contract. Bullet 18 allows bereavement to be used within six months of the death of the person defined in number 16, and is new to the upcoming contract. Policy 4.2 change includes expanding personal members in organizations to Leadership Team at the Director’s discretion. Shrikhande had a question relating to the Iowa Library Association (ILA) Trustee subdivision as she’d received notice it was ending and asked if they would still have a membership to ILA. Collins replied that The Library would continue to pay the membership fees for Trustees, just that ILA had begun to dissolve subdivisions that have essentially become defunct. The policies reviewed today will be up for approval in June, per Engelmann. President’s Comments Engelmann share that he attended the City Council meeting in which Drake was appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by Council. He appreciates her volunteering to serve on the Board and welcomed her to the group. Board Training – Summer Reading with Lexie Reiling, Assistant Director In absence of the Youth Services Supervisor, Reiling presented a 10-minute overview of the Summer Reading Challenge 2025. Level Up at Your Library is the theme and it will run from June 1-July 31. Last 4 year there were over 1,500 participants in the Challenge across all age groups. A survey after last year’s program showed that participants wanted a finishing prize, not just a chance at a grand prize drawing. There will be two tote bags that finishers can select from along with selecting tickets for grand prize chances for their age group. Print logs will be available at libraries and printable from the website, as well as tracking on the Beanstack app. Part of the drop in participation may be attributed to digital fatigue. Print logs are nice for kids who want to be able to mark their progress by coloring in days when they read or marking with stickers. On the log, any day you do any reading, you mark off a box. A total of 30 days gets a reader to the finish. Additional days of reading can be tracked on Beanstack for more entries into the prize drawing. Quests are also part of the Challenge. They are related to reading, library, learning, or literacy. Not all quests are the same for every age group, but some cross over to all so they can be done by families. Grand prize package information was shared for each age range. Reiling shared some promotional efforts to help increase participation. Staff will track how often they tell someone about Summer Reading and tally it at the front desk. At the end of summer, the building with the most referrals will get a pizza party. Reiling shared a slide listing some of the big programs to be held this summer. All-ages programs include Mikayla Oz Magic, Plants vs. Zombies by QC Botanical Center, Figge Family Art and Nahant Marsh Insect Investigations. Kid and Teen program highlights include How to Train Your Dragon party, Teen Hike & Read at Sunderbruch Park, Monday Matinee at Fairmount, Tween the Pages book club for tweens and the annual Teen Library Lock-in. Adult programs include Pride Month Storytelling Night, Tuesday Cinema at Main, Knit- Flix, Adult Bingo and a first-ever Adult Lock-in at Fairmount. Information on the June 7th kick-off at Fairmount with a Touch-A-Truck event was shared. Books on the Blacktop will have the OWL visiting every Davenport Community School District’s elementary school over the summer. Students can pick up a reading log, get a library card, return the reading log for prizes, check out books, get a coupon for 50% off admission to Elevate Davenport and enjoy a free popsicle. This will help kids that may not be able to get to the library participate in the Challenge. Reiling encourage the Trustees to sign up and share the information with family and friends. Pre-registration is open on Beanstack. Shrikhande asked if there were books for parents on the OWL during the Books on the Blacktop program and Reiling replied that they keep a core collection on board, so there should be something that appeals to everyone. Motto asked about completing the Challenge on Beanstack and how to claim the finishing prize. Reiling replied that a visit to the library will still be needed, and staff can look up participant on the staff side of Beanstack to confirm the participant has completed the Challenge. Engelmann thanked Reiling for the information and stated it is good to know what is going on for the summer so residents can continue enriching themselves. Collins added the packet contains an updated roster with Drake’s information. Skalak shared that Living Lands & Waters is leaving the property next to Eastern Library where they grew trees and the barn will be taken down. 5  Adjourn With no further business, Skalak motioned to adjourn at 1:05 p.m. with a second by Shrikhande. All approved. 6