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Geauga County Public Library

LWV Geauga Observer Corps

Meeting: The GCPL Board met on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 4:00 pm at the GCPL Administrative Building. This meeting was in-person with a virtual option. Video recordings are available at the GCPL website.

Public Comment: Permitted and included in the regular order of business per GCPL bylaws. Further clarified in Policy 215 - Public Participation at Board Meetings.

Board Attendance: President Kate Pitrone, Vice President Paul A. Newman, Secretary Karen Delano and Trustee Joshua Hutchinson. Trustees Kristen Brickman and Jake Yanchar were absent.

Reviewer Note: there is currently an opening on the Board. Learn more and apply here.

Staff Attendance:

Kris Carroll - Director
Katy Farrell - Assistant Director
Lisa Havlin - Fiscal Officer
Nicole Burnside - Human Resources
Marlene Pelyhes - Tech. Services Manager (attended online)
Michael Pope - IT Manager
Dani Hollar - Bainbridge Branch Manager
Joy Hoge - Head of Youth Services, Chardon
Rachael Hartman - Middlefield Branch
Marsha Owen - Geauga Library Foundation
Alicia Evens - Mobile Services Manager

Guests: None other than this observer.

Minutes: February 23 Board Meeting minutes were approved without discussion and are available online. Recordings also are available on the same page of the GCPL website.

Agenda: all items were approved. Additions included:

13B paving contract for Geauga West Branch

Communications:

Handwritten thank you note from Geauga Soil and Water for setting up and help with a “Well Educated” program.
Thank you note from a Chardon Branch patron for kindness and helpfulness of staff.

Fiscal Officers Report – Ms. Havlin

Approval for distribution of gifts - passed.
The Library's Annual Finance Report was filed with the state. Electronic copy was shared with the Finance Committee.
The Board packet included financial strength reports for PNC and First National bank that highlight the bank's stability. Both banks show a strong liquidity position and credit ratings.
Director Kris Carroll and the Fiscal Officer have been discussing the possible implications of HB1 As currently written, the bill could reduce the library’s collection from the Public Library Fund by $381,522 in 2024 and $260,632 in 2025. If the library loses collection from rollbacks, an additional $687,387 could be lost each year. At this time, it is unclear if GCPL would lose revenue from rollbacks.

Observer note: complete Library financial statements are included in the Board Packet sent out before each meeting

Director’s Report – Ms. Carroll

Approval for reimbursement of tuition - passed.
Completed Roundtable meetings at all branches. Employees could submit questions in advance or bring up discussion topics during the meeting. The questions and answers from each meeting were summarized in a document posted on the staff intranet. All part-time staff were asked to complete a survey about their priorities around paid time off, benefits, and flexible schedules. In future meetings, Administration and the Personnel Committee will discuss the results.
The Facilities Committee met with Chardon Schools to discuss possibilities around the conceptual plan for a Chardon Branch renovation and expansion. See Facilities Committee report below.
The Director is working with the Ohio Library Council to monitor the progress of HB1 and HB 33 and the potential effect on public library budgets. An impact sheet is being shared with all state and local elected officials to highlight the GCPL’s community impact in 2022.
The Director met with the Learning Disabilities Association of Ohio to discuss cooperative programming for the 2023-2024 school year.
Facilities and I.T. finalized keyless entry at all locations and distributed key fobs to all staff.
Several trees were damaged and removed from the Thompson and Administrative Center properties.The Chardon parking lot was striped. Facilities began spring clean-up and landscaping.

Assistant Manager’s Report – Ms. Farrell

60th Anniversary Committee: Second meeting for the 60th Anniversary Committee. The event is scheduled for August 12th and will be systemwide.
Job descriptions and schedules were created for the Chardon Maker Space to be created at Chardon High School.
Ms Farrell created a plan with the Geauga Arts Council for displaying art at Geauga West and Bainbridge libraries.
Ms Farrell began attending the Chagrin Valley Rotary meetings to stay engaged with the west side of the county.
Ohio History Day: Ms Farrell was a judge at Ohio History Day at Western Reserve Historical Society on behalf of Geauga County Public Library.
The annual Winter Reading program ran from January 2 to February 28. A total of 2,952 patrons participated in Winter Reading this year, an increase of 25% from 2022.

Statistics:

64,031 patrons served at the branches
16,355 computer and wi-fi uses
331 programs presented for 8342 patrons
12,227 reference interactions
Total circulation of items: 218,841

Bainbridge:

The new storywalk was installed that leads patrons from the building, through the gardens, and across the grounds. The crew from Facilities worked with the branch staff to provide this service for patrons.
Linda Nichols volunteered to serve as a Notary Public and completed her certification this month. The branch had been without a notary since a staff member left in 2022.
Mary Balog helped 44 Girl Scouts earn their Mechanical Engineering Badge in one day with the perpetually popular “Badge in a Day” event.
A gentleman and his wife, who appears to have advanced Alzheimer’s disease, spend time strolling in the building two or three times per week, most often holding hands. The gentleman stopped by the desk to offer his thanks for allowing them the space and time. He remarked that "...it's so good for her and she really looks forward to it."
The winner of February’s “Maker of the Month” was delighted to share the work she’s been doing in the laser engraver. She has been working with area non-profit organizations and community groups to engrave fundraising bricks. When notified that she had won the monthly contest, she replied:

“Thank you so much for your email – it was a wonderful surprise to my day! I am SO appreciative of the GCPL for including the Inspiration Station at the Bainbridge location. It has allowed me to continue to expand my small business offerings as well as my personal creative outlet. I love to tell community members about the gem they have in their midst.”

Chardon:

The zoo animal scavenger hunt had over 110 participants. Several parents and/or grandparents said they have created scavenger hunts for the children to do at home.
Judy Lasco attended a virtual meeting with the organizer from the Buckeye Trail Town group. The Buckeye Trail goes through the city of Chardon and the city itself has been designated a “Trail Town.” The library will put a display up in April promoting the trail and hopefully continue with a speaker in the future.
Melissa Cole modified and presented her Genealogy 101 program to Torchlight foster teens and their mentors on February 8th. Eight teens and four adults were present. Ms. Cole hoped to inspire some of these teens to consider their genealogy. She received positive feedback from the director of Torchlight, which is a youth mentoring alliance.
Karen Murphy is working with the Neighborhood Forest free tree program to help distribute trees to each child in preschool through high school.

Geauga West

Storytime continued with strong attendance and other programs, including Sight Word Saturday, a program for kids to work on their sight words with fun activities. A new program is “Baking with Books.” Attendees enjoyed a baking theme storytime and then made a no-bake French silk pie.
The Cleveland Art Museum brought their “Art to Go” program titled “Beauty and Elegance in Art from West and Central Africa.” Patrons were able to view and touch various items from this collection.
The Puzzle Exchange had 75 patrons in attendance.
Patrons were able to see Lego displays alongside the student art show at Geauga West in March, “...because student art show entries are picked by art teachers and not all kids are included. Having the Lego and tiny art shows held at the same time lets everyone participate in something,” said one patron. Another patron said that her kids make these “wonderful creations” and then no one gets to see them, “...so this is wonderful!”

Middlefield

Homeschool Science, Homeschool Art, Mini-Masterpieces, LEGO Club, and Teddy Bear Tea attracted 24-40 participants each.
The first Amish School visit occurred. The theme was “funny farm animals.”
“Beekeeping: Bee-yond the First Year” had 43 participants.
A thank you note was received from Dimitra Thompson, program director at Maplewood of Chardon, for GCPL’s “Valentines for Seniors” program.

Thompson

The Thompson Branch hosted Horse Day on February 25. Patrons Karen and Richard Kne set up a display in the meeting room that included saddles, model horses, and displays about the care and feeding of horses. There was a scavenger hunt, hats, button making, and a real horse in the parking lot for a few hours, thanks to patrons Bronwyn and Brynn Sullivan. The day finished with a showing of the film “Spirit.” Thirty-seven patrons attended.
AARP did taxes for patrons on February 10, with all the reservation slots were filled.
One of the patrons from the January crochet class reported that she has been using her new skills to make scarves to donate to the homeless. She had been struggling to find a way to contribute to the community and was grateful that the library program had helped her find her purpose.

Human Resources – Ms. Burnside

Approval needed on Human Resources actions below - passed - including:
Three new hires and three terminations.
Injury form created and sent out to all employees.
Custodian evaluation forms were created to manage a more accurate process.
2023 Timeline for Performance Evaluations was updated and sent out to all Managers and Supervisors. It included a Best Practices Guide as well as an available training webinar.

Information Technology Report - Mr. Pope

Mr. Pope and Mary Crotty, Technology Trainer for GCPL, met with Bainbridge staff to review feedback about the Maker Space. As a result, I.T. is creating updated instructions for each machine, video instruction, and increased office hours to provide in-person assistance.
The 3D printer was moved to the Thompson Branch to help with the workflow around processing print jobs.
Mr. Pope met with the Chardon High School Admin Team to complete the plan around training and staffing for the Chardon Maker Space.
Over 1,714 patrons have trained in using the Maker Space equipment.
Mr. Pope and Ms. Crotty updated Digital Legacy Lab instructions, improving access for patrons.
Updates were made to the GCPL webpage, including the Foundation Mini-Golf Fundraiser page, ticket sales, and the upcoming GCPL photo contest.
OPLIN (Ohio Public Library Resources Information Network) dropped the subscription to Transparent Languages, so GCPL purchased Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is available on the GCPL website.

Facilities Committee Report - The members of Geauga County Public Library’s Facilities Committee met with the Chardon Local School administration and the Board of Education Facilities Committee at the school’s Administration Building to discuss the library’s Chardon Branch concept plan. School Superintendent, Dr. Michael Hanlon had shared the concept plan with the full board at their February 21st meeting. School Board of Education members expressed their concerns with the plan which include decreased greenspace, lack of fencing, and decreased overall play space. Board of Education member CJ Paterniti stated that he has had several discussions with parents expressing their concern with the proposed plan.

New Business: Approval of the March Discard list - passed.

Foundation: Approval of the Memo of Understanding between the Geauga County Library Foundation and GCPL -passed

Public Comment: permitted but none offered

Next Meeting: April 18, 2023, 4pm, Geauga West Branch

Observer: Cris Takacs

Editor: Shelly Lewis

Reviewer: Anne Ondrey

Submitted: 4-1-2023

The League of Women Voters of Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org

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