Manhattan Beach Library Commission
May 8, 2023 1
CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH
MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING
Monday, May 8, 2023
4:00 PM
Location: MB City Hall/remote (hybrid)
A. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting of the Library Commission was called to order by Chairperson Bond at 4:03 pm at City Hall in person and remotely via Zoom (hybrid).
B. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG
C. ROLL CALL
Present: Commissioners, Jones, Levitt, Newell, Darrow, Vice Chairperson Schreiner, Chairperson Bond
Absent: None
Others Present: Sr. Management Analyst (SMA) Linda Robb, Community Services Manager (CSM) Jan Buike, Recording Secretary Rosemary Lackow (remote)
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – April 10, 2023
A motion was made and seconded (Schreiner/Jones) to approve, with changes:
1. Page 3, G.1.c (Library Appreciation Events): first line, strike “first” after “the” as follows: “…reported that the first event recognizing the public….”.
2. Page 3, G.1.d (Book Giveaway): second paragraph, third line: insert “foster better rapport.” after “attend an FOL board meeting to”
3. Page 4, G.1.f (Library Photo Op Day continued), first line, top of page: strike “this” and replace with “concert” to read “...requiring a lot of work for the April 29th the concert event which is only about 30 days before the Photo Op Day”.
Chair Bond called for a voice vote and the motion passed unanimously 6-0.
E. CEREMONIAL – None
SMA Robb explained that outgoing commissioners (Chair Bond, Vice Chair Schreiner and Darrow) will be recognized at an upcoming City Council meeting.
CSM Buike expressed appreciation to Chair Bond and will be presenting a certificate, when signed at a city council-commission reception this Thursday.
F. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION (3-Minute Limit)
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Librarian’s Report – Library Manager, Josh Murray
Manager Murray announced the following events:
May 10, 4–4:45 pm, “Paint in Polka Dots” class, ages 6-12 (at library). May 19, the library will have a booth at the Older Adults Health Fair at the Joslyn Center to promote library community resources.
May 17, Wednesday, 1-3:00 pm; free COVID-19/flu vaccination clinic, partnering with LA County Public Health, for 6 months and older (at library). May 23, 6-7 pm., author Jasmine Bothwell will provide guidance on how to publish your own book (at library).
May 24, Wednesday, 4–5:00 pm, for teens, glass fused suncatchers class with artist Anna Parkinson (at library).
May 27, Saturday, 1-2:00 pm. Taiwanese pineapple pastry workshop with Phoebe Chow (at library).
G. GENERAL BUSINESS
1. 2023 Work Plan Discussion
a. Learning at the Library —Commissioner Levitt noted the speakers are lined up (in order: Con Artist author, pickleball author, and in October, cook book author Peggy Curry) but she still needs to reserve a room. It was decided that the event should be held late June. Publicity will be handled as with other prior events.
b. MB Poetry Event – Chair Bond will be taking charge of this, an ongoing project, with Commissioner Schreiner leaving. Commissioner Schreiner commented that she would like to see this event held in November.
c. Library Appreciation Events–Commissioner Jones reported that all is set for the event tomorrow for the library staff from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, to be catered by Caffe Altamura. Then on the 15th, the Commission will be bringing certificates and a signed copy of “Hello Beautiful” to school librarians. Commissioner Schreiner has written up instructions that she will give to each commissioner.
d. Library Commission Book Giveaway —Chair Bond complimented Commissioner Schreiner for her six years of managing this program. Commissioner Schreiner estimated that over this period 3,000 books have been given away at, at least 13 events . She has 14 boxes of books that are available for future giveaways .
Commissioner Schreiner advised that routinely she sets aside any donated valuable “coffee table books” to give to the Friends of the Library for their sales. FOL typically has their sales on a Saturday and on Monday at 10:00 a.m. unsold books are made available to teachers, librarians, collectors as well as the Library Commission.
Commissioner Newell volunteered to take on this program, with guidance from Commissioner Schreiner. Chair Bond noted that when the new commission is seated there will be additional discussion as to outlets for the books. Commissioner Levitt stated there are opportunities to do an adult book giveaway. Commissioner Darrow
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will suggest that the incoming student commissioner also assist with the giveaways.
e. StoryWalk– Chair Bond advised that the City Council approved the revised pathway by the botanic gardens and CSM Buike reported that tomorrow Parks and Rec staff will be discussing a schedule with Public Works for installing the stands. After installation is done, a ribbon cutting ceremony can be scheduled.
f. Library Photo Op Day– Commissioner Jones updated - the event will be on June 3rd from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m . and everything is ready. SMA Robb displayed poster design number 1 which was selected and which will be sent to schools, etc. as typically promoted, including through the city social media. Commissioner Jones will reach out to the commissioners to finalize time slots for story reading. Commissioner Jones recommended, depending on whether a concert will be done in April again, that, due to weather considerations, the two events be flipped, with Photo Op in April, and the concert, in June. She noted that she will not be handling the Photo Op Day nex t year as she will term out at the end of May, 2024.
SMA Robb advised that photos taken by the contracted photographer will not be eligible for submission in the upcoming community art show. She will investigate having a photo release form on hand at the event.
It was discussed and agreed that the flyer be modified to include a stock photo that shows a more ethnically diverse family, and to include a camera image to emphasize that photos will be taken (as on design number 2). Regarding the company providing 200 cookies, it was determined that the company can have marketing materials on the table in the community room being given away , and SMA Robb will investigate whether the logo or name can be added to promotional materials.
g. Entertainment Series – Commissioner Jones reported on the April 29th event:
the venue and band were fantastic and many positive comments were received. The down side was that only about 100 attended and few young families. The discussion focused on how to increase or improve outreach. Manager Murray will investigate whether the Commission can provide city fliers for its events at library events and Commissioner Levitt will follow up. It was also suggested to send fliers to all local day care centers and preschools. Manager Murray added that the library will repost a city social media posting, upon being advised by the city. Commissioner Jones also advised that funding resources need to be looked into as the pledge by the Zislis group is now fulfilled. She added that the city’s Public Art Trust Fund is not an available funding source for library promotional events. Commissioner Levitt stated she would like to see of the two concerts per year, one targeted for small childre n and the other for teens, and perhaps feature high school bands. Commissioner Darrow informed that Mira Costa has a “Costachella” band event and there is a lot of talent.
SMA Robb informed that social media publicity was done for the April 29th concert and postings are scheduled to be done on May 30 for the June 3rd event.
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Chair Bond asked if going forward, the September concert will be targeted towards small children; Commissioner Jones indicated that it depends on band availability and she also affirmed that she will not be managing the fall entertainment event but she will contact the band Jelly of the Month Club to determine their availability for the fall.
h. Library Awareness Initiative – Chair Bond reported that she will be addressing the Rotary Club on May 22 and on May 19th and will be attending the Older Adults Health Fair to see what materials are being provided by the library. She will start reaching out to community groups (e.g. S oroptimists, Neptunian Club ; Sandpipers, etc.). Working with staff, she will put together a packet of information.
The Commission discussed the possibility that, when speaking to community groups comments may arise regarding a potential new library facility in Polliwog Park which has been featured in a local newspaper . SMA Robb emphasized that perhaps the most important thing to convey is that this concept is in very preliminary stages with no decisions made, and if, in the future, upon looking into this, the City Council decides to pursue it, then community outreach will be done , and, if this progresses to that point, the City Council may request assistance from the Library Commission for public outreach.
Regarding a suggestion to bring giveaways (e.g. library bookmarks) and possibly get some feedback from audiences , CSM Buike suggested based on her experience, that at meetings such as Rotary, members are unlikely to fill out a survey but bookmarks could be put out on a table for any interested persons. Chair Bond will c ontact Manager Murray regarding getting some bookmarks. Chair Bond emphasized that while there has been discussion about partnering with school librarians, the focus now will be on outreach to adults since the library has outreach programs with the schools.
The Commission d iscussed t he format and use o f the chart that Commissioner Schreiner has maintained for tracking commission work plan items. Chair Bond volunteered to be the note-taker for updating this chart and suggested, going forward, that whoever is the past chair can assume that role . In discussing, suggestions were made to improve the chart, such as inserting a column for due dates of action items and at the top of the chart, show the Commission’s mission statement. Commissioner Jones stated she believes this is a good tool but by clearly identifying and documenting specific steps and time frames for accomplishing action items, the committees can most efficiently implement the work plan. Commissioner Jones cited the decision to have a poetry event in November as an example – with this as the goal , each month the committee can look at and lock in due dates for steps needed to make this happen.
It was noted that the committees meet between the monthly commission meetings and in doing so can form action plans with steps needed and due dates and then bring this info back to the whole commission and update the chart. The committees, being of 3 or fewer commissioners are not violations of the Brown Act.
Chair Bond will work with Commissioner Schrein er to get the word file and convert to a spreadsheet, pulling out specific “to-dos” with a column for due dates, responsible person, and actions needed for the next meeting. She will avoid using google docs due
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to Brown Act issues. CSM Buike suggested that the chair show this chart/spreadsheet to the new incoming commissioners and explain how it is used with committees.
2. Selection of 2023-2024 Chair and Vice-Chair
SMA Robb explain ed that these positions rotate b y seniority and in the case that commissioners have the same level of seniority, then it is in order of seat number.
Commissioner Levitt is in line for Chair and Commissioner Newell for Vice Chair.
It was moved and seconded (Bond/Schreiner) that Commissioner Levitt be the new chair of the Library Commission for 2023/2024.
The motion passed by voice vote 6-0.
It was moved and seconded (Bond/Darrow) that Commissioner Newell be the new vice chair of the Library Commission for 2023/2024.
The motion passed by voice vote 6-0.
D. STAFF ITEMS – CSM Buike mentioned: 1) This Wednesday, 1-4 p.m. there will be a teen/older adults program jointly with the library at the Joslyn Center and 2) as a reminder, commissioners should RSVP for the Council/Commission reception. Chair Bond reminded of the need to complete cyber security training.
E. COMMISSION ITEMS – None
F. ADJOURNMENT
It was moved and seconded (Bond/Newell) to adjourn the meeting at 5:22 pm to June 12 th, 2023. The motion passed by voice vote 6-0.