Manhattan Beach Library Commission
May 11, 2026 1
CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH
MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING
Monday, May 11, 2026
4:00 PM
City Council Chamber, 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 (7) Commissioners Cullen, Doll, Ferris, Crabtree-Kampe, Levitt, Vice Chair Chou, Chair Braitman
Absent: None
Others Present: Senior Recreation Supervisor (SRS) Kari Bell; Senior Management Analyst (SMA) Linda Robb, Recording Secretary Rosemary Lackow
D. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Moved and seconded (Ferris/Cullen) to approve as submitted.
Motion carried unanimously.
E. LIBRARIAN’S REPORT
Library Manager (LM) Cassandra Sargent updated April 2026 metrics and reviewed programming, recent and upcoming (May/June):
April 2026
No. of Programs 22 with 970 participants 22 with 1,007 participants Visitors 14,971 15,706
Circulation (non-digital) 17,707 15,199
Library cards issued 311
Holds placed 4,672
May/June programming review: including Evening Book Club (Clare Pooley, “How To Age Disgracefully”), Teen AP testing and study hall; Celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Month including activities e.g. Philippine c ulture through hand f an painting, Japanese paper flowers craft (adults); teens monthly Rubik’s Cube meetings, Lit- erally Trivia ( children); Neurographic Art (adults) and 6/6 Summer Discovery Kick Off (all ages); and County speaker series events, e.g. Regency Era Inspired Book Vase and Queen Charlotte Book Club.
Update: Julia Quinn speaker event: 1890 registrants - finalizing set design and selfie wall.
For more info and reservations: https://lacountylibrary.org/location/manhattan-beach- library/
Manhattan Beach Library Commission
May 11, 2026 2
F. PUBLIC COMMENTS - None
G. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Library Commission Minutes, Adjourned regular meeting minutes: April 13, 2026
M oved and seconded ( Levitt/Crabtree-Kampe) to approve as submitted. Motion carried unanimously by hand vote.
H. GENERAL BUSINESS
2. Library Commission Work Plan 2026/2027 (approved by City Council February 24, 2026).
Chair Braitman summarized the 4/21 City Council meeting item regarding the library needs assessment (presentation by Grace Nadel, county consultant). The Council accepted and took under advisement Ms. Nadel’s report ; many possible actions were generally discussed. SRS Bell emphasized no formal action yet taken by Council and it is expected that the topic will be on a June Council agenda. SRS Bell will report the Council’s final action to the commission next meeting, m eanwhile, the 4/21 discussion can be viewed online . Chair Braitman also mentioned an article in last week’s Easy Reader.
a. Library Appreciation Events (Commissioners Cullen, Ferris) – Commissioner Cullen reported: the committee is going with the plan mentioned at the last Commission meeting plus considering buying flower bouquets to give the library staff at the Julia Quinn speaker event. b. Speaker Series (Commissioners Braitman, Chou, Levitt) – The Commission discussed and the f ollow-up actions were agreed on for the committee: 1) get formal invite out to the school librarians; 2): coordinate the run of show with county library: ask if a show or hands can be done as to where attendees hail from (to inform future planning) and confirm librarian recognitions. LM Sargent described county preparations for activities including author book signing and fun activities and perhaps a table hosted by the MB Friends of the Library.
Reminder emails will be sent to registrants and if 50 -60% show up – that would be great turnout. LM Sargent will see what snacks will be provided, as Commissioner Levit suggested inviting a local store (e.g. Bristol Farms) to donate a high-tea type treat. Cullen has seen online school publicity and posters on campus. For future speakers, LM Sargent noted she believes offers have been extended to children’s author R.L Stine (for fall) and Michael Connelly for next spring; The Commission was ad vised Kelly Slater does not do speaker events and that Olympic athletes have very high speaker fees and so they may need to expand their search. c. StoryWalk (Commissioners Chou, Cullen, Crabtree-Kampe) Vice Chair Chou noted book selection for the June book change – the transition is progressing; boy scouts are ready to help.
d. Library Needs Assessment (Commissioners Braitman, Doll, Levitt) - see H.2. General Business.
I. S TAFF ITEMS – None
J. COMMISSION ITEMS
Manhattan Beach Library Commission
May 11, 2026 3
Commissioner Doll shared a mobile phone tip: if you bookmark your city email address on your phone this will make it easy to check your city emails (just click on that bookmark) Commissioner Levitt made heartfelt comments recognizing Commissioners Doll and Cullen who are leaving the Library Commission. Commissioner Cullen, who did a great job especially on S toryWalk and Library Appreciation committees, is college bound (Northwestern University). Commissioner Levitt stated r egarding Commissioner Doll, in particular, that during these polarizing times, it would be easy to “go to your corner” when differences arose, but Commissioner Doll never did that, instead worked towards agreement and that was greatly beneficial and appreciated. Commissioner Doll stated her appreciation for those comments and being a resident since 1998, it was a real pleasure to serve. The full Commission stated its agreement and appreciation to both departing Commissioners.
K. ADJOURNMENT
At 4:41 pm it was moved and seconded (Levitt/Ferris) to adjourn the meeting to June 8, 2026, at 4:00 pm; motion passed unanimously 7-0-0-0.