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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-05-2022 Library & Community Engagement Commission MinutesSaratoga Library & Community Engagement Commission Minutes | December 5, 2022 Page 1 of 6 MINUTES SARATOGA LIBRARY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 5, 2022 CALL TO ORDER Chair Victoria Zhang called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Victoria Zhang, Vice Chair Cristina Meiser, Commissioners Robert Gulino, Eric Lewis, Valerie Nygaard Absent: None Also Present: Jennifer Weeks, Nichole King, David Guidry, Manlin Zhang, James Lindsay, Crystal Bothelio ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ON NON-AGENDIZED ITEMS None AGENDA ITEMS 1. Library & Community Engagement Commission Minutes Recommended Action: Review and approve the minutes from the October 18, 2022 Special Meeting. GULINO/MEISER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER 18, 2022 SPECIAL MEETING. MOTION PASSED. AYES: GULINO, LEWIS, MEISER, NYGAARD, ZHANG. NOES: NONE. ABSTAIN: NONE. ABSENT: NONE. 2. Saratoga Teen Advisory Board Report Recommended Action: Receive Saratoga Teen Advisory Board report. Manlin Zhang, Teen Advisory Board Co-President, shared that the Teen Advisory Board has hosted several recent events including Movie Nights and College Day. Another College Day will be held later in the year. She also shared that the Board is working with the Youth Commission to host a SED Talks event featuring a local published author to talk about writing. The Commission discussed the upcoming College Day event, inquiring about the targeted age group and offering assistance. Saratoga Library & Community Engagement Commission Minutes | December 5, 2022 Page 2 of 6 3. Santa Clara County Library District Report Recommended Action: Receive Santa Clara County Library District report. Jennifer Weeks, Santa Clara County Librarian, shared information about a self-service pilot program at the Woodland Branch, exhibits at the Gilroy and Milpitas libraries, Silicon Valley Reads, and the annual Friends and Commissioners forum in February. She also announced that Saralyn Otter would be serving as the interim Saratoga Community Librarian starting in December. 4. Saratoga Community Library Report Recommended Action: Receive Saratoga Community Library report. Nichole King, Saratoga Community Librarian, noted that Library statistics are looking good and provided a summary of recent programming. In January, the Library will be hosting several different bilingual story times. The Library will also continue hosting Family bingo and trivia for 3rd to 8th graders. Other upcoming programs and events include ukelele, teen study hall, and a Lunar New Year event. 5. Friends of the Saratoga Libraries Report Recommended Action: Receive Friends of the Saratoga Libraries report. David Guidry, Friends of the Saratoga Libraries President, shared that the Friends do the majority of sales around the holidays. The recent paperback sale didn’t do as well as expected and the Friends will be evaluating what may have caused the sale to be le ss successful than usual. Membership numbers are good and the Membership Chair is doing a lot of cleanup to the membership database to make it more usable. The Friends will be hosting a Volunteer Appreciation Day, offering coffee and treats to recognize the volunteers that help with the Book-Go-Round and other Friends efforts. Facilities Manager Thomas Scott oversaw lighting updates, which have been much appreciated. The Board is expected to have discussions about long range plans and efforts of the Friends in the next year or so. 6. Commission Committees Report Recommended Action: Receive Commission Committees (Celebrate Saratoga’s Diversity, Parent/Student Collaboration, Good Neighbor Day) report on recent efforts and activities. Chair Victoria Zhang provided an update on the Celebrate Saratoga’s Diversity Committee, sharing she took note of Commissioner input at the last Commission meeting on the amount of work needed to edit video files. At this point, it may be best to limit the scope of the project to something that is achievable and consider expanding in future Saratoga Library & Community Engagement Commission Minutes | December 5, 2022 Page 3 of 6 years after the foundation of the project has been established. Perhaps the effort could start with submission of a story and pictures or other visual aids that are used to create a collage in the library. Chair Zhang shared that she and Vice Chair Cristina Meiser would continue working on the project. Vice Chair Cristina Meiser added that the committee took to hear concerns raised by fellow Commissioners about the scale and scope of the initial project proposal. Doing a visual project to start with 3 to 5 prompts helps keep the project more defined. Perhaps the stories and photos could be a tapestry that create an image when combined. Commissioner Valerie Nygaard commented that the new project scope sounds easier to produce and consume. Vice Chair Cristina Meiser agreed the new scope or vision is more contained, but maybe the project could include something like a catchphrase, slogan, or logo that could be built upon in future years. Commissioner Robert Gulino inquired about potential ongoing costs and opportunities for funding through the Community Event Grant Program. Assistant City Manager Crystal Bothelio clarified that the project is not eligible for the Community Event Grant Program, but if ongoing costs or resource needs are identified then a request can be shared with the City Council for consideration. Vice Chair Cristina Meiser shared an update from the Parent/Student Collaboration committee. She shared that she spoke with representatives of West Valley College about student housing needs and opportunities for the Commission to provide support or collaborate with the College on other areas of interest or need. Vice Chair Cristina Meiser shared that she proposed to the Board of Trustees President that perhaps the College and City could create a program that offers students with below market housing in exchange for providing household assistance to those who need it, such as older adults. Commissioner Eric Lewis mentioned that the Good Neighbor Day committee would likely begin working on plans for 2023 after the work plan is approved. 7. Library & Community Engagement Commission Chair Report Recommended Action: Receive Library & Community Engagement Commission Chair report. Chair Victoria Zhang shared her musings on the service of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who started her public service career in her 40s as a Library Commissioner. Saratoga Library & Community Engagement Commission Minutes | December 5, 2022 Page 4 of 6 8. City of Saratoga Report Recommended Action: Receive City of Saratoga report. Assistant City Manager Crystal Bothelio provided updates on hybrid meetings, the Housing Element, Celebration of Light, and the City Council reorganization. 9. Community News & Trends Recommended Action: Share news and trends within the community. None 10. Fiscal Year 2023/24 Work Plan Recommended Action: Review the 2022/23 Work Plan and progress to date. Brainstorm revisions or new ideas for the 2023/24 Work Plan for staff to gather additional information, including feasibility and resource needs, for the Commission to finalize the proposed 2023/24 Work Plan at the February 2023 meeting. Chair Victoria Zhang commended on how different the current year’s work plan is compared to previous year and also clarified that the “Responsibilities, Duties, and Relationships” portion of the document is not part of the work plan and only provided as a reference. Commissioner Robert Gulino concurred, adding that the Commission may not need to add much more to the work plan but could capture resource needs for the different work plan items. Commissioner Valerie Nygaard inquired about use of metrics to demonstrate progress towards the Commission’s responsibilities. Commissioner Robert Gulino commented that metrics would be nice to include in the work plan. Chair Victoria Zhang observed that metrics can be helpful when defining a plan but will be hard to reconcile with some of the more abstract work plan items such as serving as an ambassador to the library. Commissioner Valerie Nygaard recalled past discussions on the work plan and identifying champions for each work effort. She questioned if the Commission may be prepared to add additional efforts to the work plan. Saratoga Library & Community Engagement Commission Minutes | December 5, 2022 Page 5 of 6 Vice Chair Cristina Meiser shared information on how the work plan was consolidated and streamlined. Commissioner Eric Lewis added that until recently, the Commission has only had 4 members. Chair Victoria Zhang suggested that keep the current number of work plan items consistent in the upcoming fiscal year work plan. Commissioner Eric Lewis proposed that the Commission could review metrics, like circulation level and participation in Good Neighbor Day, and metrics could be helpful in evaluating programs but cautioned against using metrics as goals as many of the programs are new and have potential to grow. He proposed keeping the work plan as is. Chair Victoria Zhang noted that based on Commission discussion it appears that there is support for continuing existing programs and efforts in the work plan. She noted that perhaps the Commission could amend the work plan to identify ways to measure engagement. She commented on the Parent/Student Collaboration work plan item, noting that engagement could be measured through something really simple, like a providing a comment box where the public can leave their thoughts on books that are part of Project Cornerstones reading list. Commissioner Eric Lewis observed that the overall objective of the Commission’s work plan is to accomplish things, which the Council appeared to appreciate last year when the work plan was presented. Unlike other Commissions, the Library & Community Engagement Commission has a broader but less specific mandate. Chair Victoria Zhang agreed with the comments of Commissioner Eric Lewis and Commissioner Robert Gulino’s suggestion to identify resource needs as part of the work plan and when possible identify engagement measurements for each work plan item. Commissioner Eric Lewis note that with Good Neighbor Day information about message views and social media engagement could be measured. Similarly, the number of events held as a result of Good Neighbor Day could also poten tially be used to measure engagement. Chair Victoria Zhang added that the number of people participating in Celebrating Diversity could be a measure for that work plan item. The Commission agreed that committees would meet with Assistant City Manager Crystal Bothelio and Saratoga Community Librarian Saralyn Otter to discuss refinement of work plan items, resource needs, and engagement measures. All revisions should be relayed to Assistant City Manager Crystal Bothelio before the February meeting. Saratoga Library & Community Engagement Commission Minutes | December 5, 2022 Page 6 of 6 11. 2023 Meeting Schedule Recommended Action: Review the 2023 meeting schedule and make adjustments as needed. Chair Victoria Zhang proposed revisiting the schedule at the February meeting. Commissioner Robert Gulino noted that the Commission could tentatively approve the schedule and adjust as needed. The Commission agreed to reschedule the October meeting to October 10, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. and adjust the schedule as needed if future changes are needed. SUMMARIZE ACTION ITEMS Subcommittees will review their respective work plan items as needed and share proposed refinements with Assistant City Manager Crystal Bothelio before the February meeting. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING The Commission agreed to conclude discussions on the Fiscal Year 2023/24 Work Plan at the February meeting. Chair Victoria Zhang asked if it would be possible to receive a summary of the Library District strategic plan at a future meeting. County Librarian Jennifer Weeks informed the Commission that the District may be able to share more information will be shared during the Friends and Commissioners forum in February. ADJOURNMENT Chair Victoria Zhang adjourned the meeting at 8:56 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted: Crystal Bothelio City of Saratoga