The Library Board met 04/19/2022. It was not a particularly eventful meeting.
It started out with recognition of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System (OWLS). They didn’t have a printed copy of the certificate, nor has one been attached to the meeting minutes, but they did read out the recognition.
“The Outagamie Waupaca Library System is being recognized because the Outagamie and Waupaca Library System and Appleton Public Library have coexisted at 225 N. Oneida Street since the facility first opened in 1981. With this new chapter, the Appleton Public Library and Appleton Public Library Board of Trustees would like to recognize the Outagamie County library staff for being an important part of our library’s history. The Appleton Public Library and the Library Board of Trustees appreciates all that you have done and continue to do to support an advocate for libraries throughout the state.
“The certificate is awarded and in recognition of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System and is presented by the Appleton Public Library Board of Trustees this 19th day of April, 2022.”
The woman who received the certificate thanked them and said that the Appleton Public Library and OWLs had over 40 years of fruitful collaboration. The pandemic had not changed it and the library’s move to a temporary location would not change it. They were excited about the new library project and would remain dear friends.
There were only three action items.
The March 2022 Bill Register was not discussed beyond one of the board members commenting that the format was easier to read.
Library Director Colleen Rortvedt spoke about the Naming Rights Policy and explained that they thought it made more sense to bring it to the full board as a whole rather than separately to various subcommittees because it touched on matters that were relevant to a couple different subcommittees and would end up being reviewed by a majority of the board members anyway. So, it made more sense to just bring it to everybody right away.
She had been working on the policy over the past year in collaboration with the Friends of the Appleton Public Library. The city attorney had reviewed it several times. They wanted the policy to address the specific needs of a capital campaign and help set up the relationship that was going to exist between the Friends of the Library, the Library, and the city.
The Board of Trustees would have the sole authority to grant naming rights. The policy created guidance around what kind of gifts they would accept and also set rules around how they could rescind name recognition if a donor’s name became associated with negativity or criminal proceedings. Rescinding of names would, again, be at the sole discretion of the Board of Trustees.
The policy also talked about the purpose of donated funds, details about where funds would be held, how donors would be acknowledged, and how the Board of Trustees could modify naming rights in certain situations.
A board member wondered if naming rights would be brought to the board of a monthly or quarterly basis.
Director Rortvedt answered that some of that would likely depend on how donations were coming in. They would probably want to bring them to the Board in a timely manner and would probably happen monthly.
In answer to a question, she gave more details on the “Menu of Naming Rights” that was mentioned in the policy. They would take identified spaces that they believed would have a compelling draw to donors, put a value to those spaces, and provide the ability for them to have naming rights attached. She hoped to bring that to the board next month.
The 2021-2022 Library Carryover was the final action item. Nobody had any questions about that.
All action items were approved unanimously.
The Library Building Project Update was very brief. Director Rortvedt mentioned that the College Avenue North Open House had taken place and they included in the agenda packet some of the boards that had been displayed during that. Those boards showed some of the concepts that were being proposed for that area. [It looks like a lot of new housing and commercial/residential mixed-use development.]
The agenda packet also included information on parking. Director Rortvedt said that over the next month they planned to provide more in-depth information on parking because the parking solutions document was two pages long and it wasn’t easy to give the public quick answers about it. “And that is because right now parking isn’t a simple quick answer for the library in the same spot.” The document gave more context for parking and the surrounding area as well as the “pedestrian wayfinding aspect” which she thought was going to be important in creating the conditions that would result in people enjoying the journey between the yellow parking ramp and the library. [Honestly, it sounded like they were making things overly complicated. It also seemed odd to me that there was no mention of the transit center or people that loiter on the sidewalk outside the library which both factor in to whether or not people will enjoy the journey between the ramp and the library.]
They moved on to the Temporary Library Update. There was not a lot to report on that matter other than the floorplan was all set and they knew that everything would fit in this new space.
It was going to take until 05/06/2022 to move everything over to the temporary space, and the library would then open 05/23/2022. BRS Moving Company was highly praised for the work they were doing.
It was mentioned that one of the library desks they moved turned out to be made of quartz and was not laminate like they had assumed for many years. [I laughed quite a bit because that kind of indicates that the library spent a lot of money on a very expensive desk which turned out to be indiscernible from a much less expensive one. One wonders how much money was wasted on expenses like that when the first library was built and how much will be wasted again now.]
The board moved onto the Library Week proclamation made by Mayor Woodford. April 3-9, 2022 had been National Library Week. On April 13, the day after the library closed, the library staff had a wonderful gathering at which Director Rortvedt, Mayor Woodford, and board President Nancy Scheuerman spoke. There was total exuberance and excitement at that event. They also received a presentation from SOM specifically about the staff spaces in the new library.
During the board member, Library Board President Scheuerman praised all the staff at the library for their…
Resilience in working through the pandemic the last couple years and also for dealing with the last 8-10 years of the library project stopping and starting.
Agility in terms of their ability to respond on a moment notice during the pandemic and now during the library project.
Vitality and exuberance in what they do and how they keep the library’s mission statement of being a hub of learning and literacy upfront in everything they’ve done.
They moved on to the 2021 Annual Report.
This report served a few different purposes. It gave them an opportunity to communicate about their mission, vision, and strategic pillars. It also provided an opportunity to communicate about the programs, services, and initiatives happening at the library and their community partners. It was essentially a toll to help communicate the value of the library with the public.
This year’s report highlighted services and initiatives such as their continued curbside pickup, the library building project, outreach opportunities, and APL’s fine free initiative.
The board had no questions on that.
The final item was the Friends Grant Funded Program Summaries – 1st Quarter 2022 (January – March). The agenda packet included an overview of the ongoing classes, events and services that were funded by the Friends of the Appleton Public Library.
Director Rortvedt said there was a different flavor to the programs now versus before the pandemic with a little more emphasis on some outreach opportunities than in the past. Overall, however, she thought it reinforced the staff qualities described earlier of agility and resilience.
Another person added that it was nice to know that programing wasn’t going to stop even if they might look different and the library was going to be in a different location. The board’s job was to let the public know that it was going to happen, just in a different way.
Someone else expressed gratitude to the Friends for supporting the library. Their financial support allowed the library to be flexible and responsible because without it, APL would be planning programs along with the city budget timeline and there would be a very different dynamic with the kinds of programs and services they would be able to provide.
A board member asked what the summer reading program was going to look like this year.
A staff member gave a brief overview. They were going to use the Beanstack Reading Challenge website again as an online option. They would also have a paper version for the children. They had really simplified the registration process, but she didn’t provide details. The library would be tracking how many people pick up their prizes at the midway point of the program. The teen and adult reading programs would be on Beanstack as well. They would also have various programs and outreached throughout the community again.
Last year the online Beanstack program had badge books. The library had 500 of those to give out one a first come first serve basis. The library would also be working a little bit with the schools in some way because the Appleton Area School District was also doing Beanstack over the summer so they were hoping to possibly connect kids’ accounts.
There were no questions and the meeting adjourned.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=920198&GUID=4CCDD49E-96F5-4F5D-ACB8-F00AC5D666D4
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