Manhattan Beach Library Commission
September 8, 2025 1
CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH
MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING
Monday, November 10, 2025
4:00 PM
Location: City Manager Conference Room, City Hall, 1400 Highland Avenue and Zoom
A. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Braitman called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
B. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG
C. ROLL CALL
Present (5): Commissioners Cullen, Crabtree-Kampe, Levitt, Vice Chair Chou, Chair Braitman
Absent: (2) Commissioners Doll, Ferris
Others Present: Senior Recreation Supervisor (SRS) Kari Bell; Senior Management Analyst (SMA) Linda Robb, Recording Secretary Rosemary Lackow
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – October 14, 2025
It was moved and seconded (Crabtree-Kampe/Levitt) to approve, subject to correcting spelling of Commissioner Crabtree -Kampe’s name in two places on p age 2, General Business; paragraph 2c (StoryWalk). Motion carried 5-0 (Doll, Ferris absent) by voice vote.
E. LIBRARIAN’S REPORT
Library Manager Cassandra Sargent provided updates on library matters including November statistics (Door count: 13,359, Circulation: 18,664; Library cards: 220), and several recent and upcoming programs and activit ies for all ages. Upcoming events may be reviewed on the library website: https://lacountylibrary.org/location/manhattan-beach-library/
Regarding the Nic Stone speaker/book signing event held October 25: there were 88 registrants and about 90 attendees; Commission input was that speaker very engaging and Librarian Skye Patrick was very effective moderator.
Update on library improvements: furniture will be brought in around first half of December.
F. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Chair Braitman invited public comments; none received either in person or remote.
G. GENERAL BUSINESS
2. 2024/2025 Work Plan Discussion
Chair Braitman recognized the trophy won by the Commission on its entry in the annual pumpkin race (first place among city commission entries). Thanks to Commissioner Cullen for taking the lead and all commissioners who participated; Librarian Sargent will display the trophy in the library.
Manhattan Beach Library Commission
September 8, 2025 2
a. Library Needs Assessment (Braitman, Doll, Levitt) Chair Braitman updated that the next meeting between the city and LA County Library will be December 3, 2:00 p.m. Chair Braitman has a list of ideas and a few of these were raised and briefly discussed . SRS Bell noted that the city and county are still in a brainstorming phase and fresh ideas are encouraged but any innovative programs, if requiring specialized staffing or training or resources may be difficult or impractical to implement . The County Library staff will work with the city in coming up with a recommendation of programs or improvements deemed viable and eventually this matter will be taken to City Council for its review and approval . SRS Bell encouraged all commissioners to send their ideas and suggestions to her ahead of the December meeting.
b. Speaker Series (Commissioners Braitman, Chou, Levitt) See Librarian’s Report, Agenda Item E. Chair Braitman added that the next author speaker in the spring (large venue) will be Julia Quinn (Bridgerton book/Netflix series); tentatively May 23rd. For the fall, Colson Whitehead (Underground Railroad, Nickel Boys, Harlem Shuffle) is being lined up.
c. Library Appreciation Events (Commissioners Cullen, Ferris) Commissioner Cullen will coordinate with Commissioner Ferris. One new idea to be explored is to host a hot chocolate bar for the library staff. Commissioner Cullen noted difficulties in accessing city emails; SRS Bell will provide contact info for city IT staff.
d. StoryWalk (Commissioners Chou, Cullen, Crabtree-Kampe) Commissioner Crabtree- Kampe described some problems that have caused a delay in getting the next book installed.
Commissioner Chou will be contacting the scoutmaster and Commissioner Cullen to set up an installation time, hopefully this week.
H. STAFF ITEMS – no items.
I. COMMISSION ITEMS
Responding to Chair Braitman : Library Manager Sargent updated regarding library improvements: all floor and wood refurbishments were completed in June, and the HVAC has been referred up to the County Library executive leadership and the furniture replacement is expected to be done in December and the library will need to be closed for a couple days, possibly the second or third week , ac tual closure dates will be finalized this week. It was requested that the closure dates not conflict with the school final exams scheduled for the third week in December. Library job vacancies and volunteering w ere briefly discussed; Library Manager Sargent noted that the library has an adult volunteer program with a small number of participants. Commission Cullen stated she felt Mira Costa students would be interested in volunteering for the library; Manager Sargent will pass this along to the teen librarian.
J. ADJOURNMENT
At 4:48 it was moved and seconded (Crabtree-Kampe/Levitt) to adjourn the meeting; motion passed 5-0 (Doll, Ferris absent).