Library Board of Trustees

LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES AUGUST 19, 2025 Roll call and introduction of attendees Tom Engelmann called to order the monthly meeting of the Davenport Public Library Board of Trustees at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. The meeting was held in Meeting Room C at the Main Library. Board members present: Honey Bedell, Michael Hustedde, Amanda Motto, Jerry Skalak, Malavika Shrikhande, Joe Heinrichs, Joanna Drake, and Tom Engelmann. Absent: Shelley Klaas. Others present: Jeff Collins, Library Director; Jennifer Williams, Library HR Operations Manager; Tracy Moore, Development Officer; Kasey Shipley, Library Office & Facilities Manager & Recorder; Hilary Tanner, FRIENDS President; and Marion Meginnis, City Council Liaison. Consent Agenda Heinrichs motioned to approve the consent agenda with a second by Shrikhande. Bedell, Drake, Heinrichs, Hustedde, Motto, Shrikhande, Skalak, and Engelmann all approved. Public with Comment No one was present. Reports and Communications FRIENDS Report Tanner encouraged Trustees that want to join the FRIENDS for Fatal Fiction on September 27 to buy tickets. Moore has been working really hard on it and last-minute details are being finalized. It will be a fun night so she hopes many can attend that night. In answering a question from Motto, sponsorships are being accepted through the end of August so they can be recognized in print materials. She will send more info to Motto on sponsorships. Bedell inquired on the goal amount with Tanner replying that it would be considered a success if $10,000 is made with it being the first year. Skalak inquired on the food. Tanner noted that The Full Nelson Catering Company will be providing heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine will be served with each attendee getting two drink tickets. Shrikhande asked about what guests were expected to wear. Moore replied that business casual was what was envisioned. Bedel shared that she has attended two events recently catered by this company and she was very impressed. Bedell also asked if any volunteers were needed and she extended an offer to help. Moore will work with her on what is needed. Checks should be made to FRIENDS of Davenport Public Library for tickets or sponsorships. Finance Committee Heinrichs noted a new fiscal year has begun. Collins confirmed for him that the large expense under Maintenance of Machines and Equipment was for the annual sorter maintenance agreements. Outside of that line, spending is pretty much on track, Heinrichs stated. 1 Personnel Committee Nothing to report, per Motto. Advocacy Committee Shrikhande shared that St. Ambrose University and The Library are collaborating during September’s Library Card Sign-up Month to get Davenport cards to their students. She recently attended the Center for Non-Profit Excellence Board Governance training, along with Tanner and another FRIENDS Board member. Dr. LaDrina Wilson and Linda Wastyn gave permission for the printed materials to be shared with others so she can offer to other Trustees. Skalak inquired if The Library has ever done planned giving as he was invited to a session at the Figge. Collins shared that the FRIENDS have that in their gift acceptance policy and can continue to explore more fully in the future. Director’s Report Collins pointed out the stat of the month at the top if his report. It is taken from the statistics pulled from the newly installed people counters at each location. The busiest day of the week in July 2025 was Tuesday. With 31,000 people that came into the three locations in July, it averaged about 1,100 per day. After Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were the next two busiest days, then Monday, Friday, and Saturday. Busiest times are 1-2 and 2-3 p.m. Program event information can be put into the software to see how numbers of people correlate, and it has a weather component that can aid in analyzing trends that may be attributed to weather. With the previous gate counts, it missed anyone using only the meeting rooms, bookstores, or restrooms at the branches. It now captures those counts at the first entry door. Construction is coming to an end for the Main Renovation Phase 2 project. The biggest change from last month is that Special Collections space has opened up on the second floor. Safety paint has been added to the front steps, the loading ramp has a slip-resistant paint treatment to help grip in wet conditions. Vinyl graphics will soon be installed on Makerspace and Special Collections glass. A ribbon-cutting will be held in the future once all work is completed. The next phase of the project is to move Technical Services from the second floor to the basement. The space they vacate will be repurposed for staff work spaces. Cigarette butt receptacles are now installed at Main. Butts can be recycled through the program. Skalak inquired about the installed cost of the receptacles, noting other areas of the City could use them. Collins replied they were through a grant the City received but would find out more information and share it with him. An interlibrary loan program to borrow and lend out of state is very close to beginning. Staff training is taking place this week and it should begin in early September. There were a couple of outreach activities canceled due to adverse weather. Staff has worked out a temporary solution for text notifications for AT&T customers and a long-term solution is coming as well. There is a side-letter in the Board packet for a very minor change to the contract from City Human Resources. Summer Reading Challenge had fantastic participation this year with 43% more signing up than last year. The Back to School Bash had over 500 attendees and more backpacks were handed out last week that were left from the program. The Library of Things will have memory kits to check out that were provided by Dementia Friendly Iowa as part of becoming certified. The Books on CD collection is being phased out due to significant decline in usage the past 2 five years and due to factors out of the control of libraries with how items are being published. Bedell shared she has heard from many people thrilled with Bridges since it became available. Collins and Lexie Reiling, Assistant Director, met with the Quad Cities Open Network and Humility Homes to come up with a solution for social work in The Library since the social worker position is now vacant. There will be more to come on that process. Thank you to the Trustees that attended the training session From Planning to Impact. There are also some great library stories in the report with cute pictures. Upcoming programs include Girls Who Code, a business workshop, Beginning Genealogy, and the Fatal Fiction event. The next Board meeting will be at Eastern in September. The updated Code of Ethics is in the packet and he asked all to sign. Heinrichs noted there is a night for Scouting America recruitment coming up. He said participation has been down greatly since Covid so if you know anyone interested, they can come to that meeting to learn more. It is September 20 at Eastern. Meginnis commented that the steps were clogged up with people sitting on them when she arrived and it was not a welcoming appearance and is not safe. Collins said to let staff know and it will be addressed. Council Liaison Unrelated to library, but related to the arts, the Junior Theatre lease has been signed so they can put on shows at the theater at Annie Wittenmyer, Meginnis shared. In the agreement there is an option for the City to buy back the theater and she believes that is probably what will happen. The City plans to put money into it for improvements and they should be the owners if they are doing that. The Third Street reconstruction will be finished in October or November. It will be converted to two-way traffic after work is complete. The primary elections for the City will be held in October for seats that need it. Meginnis may not be present for the September meeting of the Board of Trustees. There may be an interim City Administrator appointed so the new council can work through the hiring process after November election. Meginnis share that she was on the committee to hire the current City Administrator and it was a very long process from hiring the firm to hiring him. Old Business The first item of old business was to finalize committee assignments for the year. Engelmann stated the draft in the packet of committee assignments will be what is used for this year as he didn’t receive any feedback on changing of assignments. Motto has detailed instructions for the Personnel Committee to do the Director’s evaluation that should be helpful as her term ends in June 2026. The second item of old business was to approve the Behavior Policy. Heinrichs motioned to approve with a second by Bedell. Motto, Drake, Bedell, Skalak, Heinrichs, Shrikhande, Hustedde, and Engelmann all approved. New Business The only item of new business was to discuss the Makerspace policy which is up for the three-year review cycle. Collins said this is the first time it has been up for review as it was new three years ago. He noted the forms for patrons to sign have been removed from policy but will still be used in procedures. This cuts the policy down from five pages to three. Hustedde inquired in the three years 3 it has been in place, are things moving forward as they should. Collins replied that it has been a bit slower than anticipated due to the staffing model to have it open as much as we could. And, it is now fully enclosed to have more items out, ready and available for patrons to use. Shrikhande suggested having the copyright law in 6.4 be a link for ease of access. Meginnis voiced a concern if someone wanted to use it as a business, printing buttons in bulk, like 2,000, as an example, and wondered if The Library should ask for some payment up front for large orders and have that language in policy. Collins replied that if that case came about, we would see if we had that quantity on hand. If not, we’d let them know and probably charge them in advance. It may be covered by bullet number four and Collins said that would be handled on a case-by-case basis. The only work we do for patrons is the 3-D printing using their file. Skalak’s concern was that the price schedule is included and could need to change if prices dramatically change; post the costs in the makerspace and have that language in the policy on where to find current pricing. Collins would like the Trustees to set the pricing in policy. Bedell agreed with Skalak and wondered if language saying the Board approves a fee schedule annually that will be posted in the space would work. Drake prefers the fees be in the policy so everyone knows what the cost may be for what they want to make. Skalak stated if other products are added, it would need updated. Collins suggested an annual fee schedule could come before the Board with any fees noted that patrons are charged. That would then be posted on the website or Makerspace LibCal page. Drake suggested doing away with fees for it. Or, setting an amount that is free and then users pay when they get over that set limit. Collins replied that, historically, we charge patrons for consumables along with lost items. When there aren’t fees, there is bound to be some that take advantage of the system. A corresponding increase to the budget would be needed to cover those costs as well. Engelmann noted the policy will be voted upon at the September meeting. President’s Comments Engelmann encouraged that anyone available to attend Fatal Fiction should do so. Board Training – Kasey Shipley, Business Office & Facilities Shipley introduced herself and shared some background on her employment history at The Library before presenting a 15-minute training session. The employee she supervises on the office side of things is Brandie Park, part-time administrative assistant who has been with The Library about 18 months. Park reconciles cash, checks and charges taken at the three service desks daily and Shipley prepares the deposit for cash and checks to separate the duties. Park also purchases office and library material processing supplies. Invoices are paid with requisitions she enters into the City’s system. She also reconciles her City credit card (“p-card”) along with the building cards used by other staff to go out locally and purchase program supplies. Inventory of the office supplies or cleaning out the supply storage when we no longer use supplies is something that falls to Park. Outgoing mail is another daily task she handles. Overdues and Borrow-by-Mail holds that the FRIENDS support are two items that make up the bulk of current outgoing mail. There will be a learning curve on how much goes out as SHAREit interlibrary loans begin to be mailed and if a postage budget increase may be needed for FY27. Other primary tasks for Shipley include report and statistic gathering, budget building, and monitoring 4 the current budget. For Facilities, last year Joseph Holcomb was hired into a new position, Facility Services Supervisor, which took on a lot of tasks performed by Shipley and the branch supervisor positions in the past. He supervises six custodial positions, two library clerks, and one van driver. The van driver position was moved to be under Holcomb when it became vacant most recently since the full-time custodial staff are generally the ones to back up the van driver for absences. Another task in Facilities is working on CIP projects to get them to fruition. It depends on the project for how closely library staff work on those. The Fairmount roof was an example of one that library staff don’t really have a close tie to and we leave that to City Engineering and a project manager. Others that are going on within the building and are directly related to the daily library activities may have more library staff directly involved. Collins shared that the Fairmount roof project bid will be approved by Council soon to award Sterling Commercial Roofing the contract at $399,100. Photos and descriptions of changes for the Main Renovation Phase II project were shared, along with one project from Fairmount and Eastern. The bollard lights at Fairmount were replaced due to aged and obsolete internal parts. The shade sails at Eastern were added to the story circle to provide shade for youth services programs and story times held in the space. Collins shared that the space was built for outdoor programming but due to heat and sun, it was not somewhere patrons wanted to be. This shade created with sails, put up in spring and taken down in fall, will provide a more comfortable space. Funding was from the Enhanced Early Literacy Spaces. Hustedde inquired about any chance of outsourcing custodial services as Scott County recently announced they would be doing. Collins took that question and stated the return on investment and compliments on the buildings and grounds upkeep show we are doing it the best way we can. Shipley added that many cleaning contractors work when the buildings are closed and would not be around during the day to clean up the exterior grounds, assist with unexpected clean-ups in restrooms or like situations, or help in taking large deliveries. Library staff relies on these personnel to handle such instances. Many Trustees shared that outsourcing often doesn’t go well citing some attempts of it by other public entities. Collins complimented Shipley’s work ethic and thanked her for her service to The Library. Meginnis handed invitations around for a fundraiser for the Hamburg Historic District tea and garden tour. Adjourn With no further business, Skalak motioned to adjourn at 1:14 p.m. with a second by Hustedde and all approved. 5