##VIDEO ID:3_hrMwrXA7w## e e e e e e e e e e you hear me I can hear you yes we can hear you can you hear us yes yes oh good excellent excellent all right one of these meetings we want to see that beautiful grandbaby e we're all set okay good evening I'd like to call the uh October 19th or October 17th meeting of the Edison Public Library board to order let the minutes reflect that it is 7:01 p.m. please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of States of America and to the for it stands one nation indivisible as required by the open public meetings Act of 1975 adequate notice of this scheduled meeting has been provided by the public by notices given to the home News Tribune Star Ledger and Sentinel posted on the library bulletin boards and website and give it to the township clerk's office roll call please here that was good I just okay I'll hold I can hear uh miss me here yeah Miss O'Neal here Miss Pam here miss lirry excused absence Mr Romano here uh Mr Pasqual I have not heard from him I'm not sure he might be on his way uh Miss Krauss here Mr Patel excused absence and Miss Massie here you have a quorum all right thank you okay the first item on the agenda is uh the minutes of September 10th 2024 hopefully everybody had a chance to review them do we have any comments or Corrections all right hearing none the minutes of September 10th 2024 are approved by unanimous consent and please for the record I abstain since I was not here thank you okay so on to my report it's brief I just want everybody to know that I attended the Friends Meeting on October 9th uh and earlier this week I had a chance to work with Sarah the president of the Edison Public Library friends group and a number of students and it really was uh it they were quite good um to help sort the books there will be um the B book and bake sale on third on wednes on Friday and Saturday October 25th and 26th and there will it will be open for friends only on Thursday on the 24th uh and also I know Alan will speak about it later but we had a very productive meeting with um Dr aldarelli uh the superintendent of schools earlier this week um and Library news will be able to go out to parents uh and and students and teachers through the digital backpack on their new website um so that is it for my report let's go on to the financial reports hopefully everyone had an opportunity to review them do we have any questions about the reports themselves not the bill list any questions or comments about the financial reports all right hearing none let's move to the bill list do we have any um questions about the bill list just one we have so many um temporary Library assistants how are we doing with recruiting um it's as you could see U by my report U we have filled some of the positions um some of the the staff is still new so they're not quite ready on their own um we also um have several uh more uh in the works we're currently looking at the vacancies that we have um and uh Deborah and the staff are working on uh first and second interviews so we're hoping to get um all those positions uh filled as soon as we can good good luck another question the Del computers you spent $33,000 is that a state contract yes um and um uh we fulfilled one of the mandates in the Strategic plan was to ensure that our uh technology was up toate uh and now that we have someone on staff who's dedicated to digital literacy um we uh needed to uh actually get new laptops which we held off on for several years because we weren't really using them staff were using them here and there so now we have new laptops for um uh the public for our public uh public to use in um training and for some of the the staff uh to have better uh PCS um so we're really excited about that okay good all right any other questions um a really quick question where do all those Z's the Z's at the top revenue account range first two four on the top of the page on page one yeah oh I'm missing page one on this let me just see if it's here I am missing page one let me oh wait wait wait wait wait wait wait oh um that's just the way um the uh Edmonds did the things they really just the the account numbers because it's it's uh zero it's 100 to 099 uh on the um uh revenues it's just that's the way oh I now I see all the Z's she pulled that up that just doesn't mean anything that I know of I can double check with Edmonds but I never noticed that before I mean we run basically an operational report which gives us revenues and expenditures um which is a caned report out of edly run I'll actually ask them what and I don't know hopefully maybe it means we have more money who knows any other be nice any other questions or comments hearing none do we have a motion to approve the bill list so moved okay Joe could we take that as a second yes okay all right roll call vote please miss me yes Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes okay uh Mr Romano yes Miss Krauss yes and Miss Massie yes uh motion carries um two things to bring to the board's attention we have received the preliminary numbers for 20 25 of our uh 1/3 mil allocation uh and is approximately uh $37,000 increase over the 2024 uh allocation um and as I think most of you know it's based on the formula of uh the ratables times uh 000000000000 33333 3 33 333 which gives you that 1 third Mill um and I'll share that information with the township um the next day or two um uh what we receiv received from the State Library so they have that and they actually get the same information from DP DCA uh being sent to them as well usually at the same time um the other um piece of the finance is um the township has completed their uh 2023 audit and so our Auditors have uh asked for final reports uh from the township on um what expenditures were use mainly for insurance health and some miscellaneous so uh that was just sent to them earlier this week I believe Monday or Tuesday so I hope to um uh have our audit for you um at our next meeting good excellent do you want want to move right into your report I can uh if you so if you so desire um I'm just going to uh review some of the the things briefly um I've mentioned most of it in my report and I know um you'll have a chance to read that um on uh at leisure um the two the two big items uh that we had basically uh was that um we did go to the planning board uh to share um the um plans for the North Edison Branch uh for a courtesy review uh that went very well um and the uh bid the bids I shouldn't say the bids are out the RFP for bids are out for the North Edison Branch uh next week there will be a um uh for any interesting uh interesting construction companies to come and take a look at uh the facility and then I believe we are November 7th the bids will be open at the North Edison Branch so um that's been uh long and coming and we are uh very uh excited uh that this is finally happening um m ming is there a preferred labor agreement I do not think there is thank you um the library Foundation um we have uh uh been looking at um the library foundation shortterm and long-term uh and uh Keith and I are planning to uh visit some of the other Library foundations in the state um he's currently uh away at the moment um our first uh trip is going to bring to the Princeton Public Library Foundation um which happens to have their Gala I think tomorrow or Saturday so um be interesting to see how uh that went um the friends of the library approved a Kickstart of uh $500 to get the 1,000 books before kindergarten uh project underway we're excited about that um and I think Sarah is here she'll talk about the the the book sale that will be happening uh next week at the uh North Edison Branch um we continue to look for temporary quarters for the North Edison Branch um we have a couple of still uh options uh nothing has really been finalized I hope that we will have uh something more uh to share with the board by the time we get to the meeting in November main library uh work has uh been progressing nicely a lot of the duck work and electrical work is done a lot of the framing of the walls are up um and so we're beginning to see how uh the second floor some sometimes you say the second floor sometimes we say the upper level sometimes we go what floor really is it is the first floor um because the elevator says it's a one um and the first floor is a to G and so we just keep interchanging I don't know what to call it the upper level um and uh as you noticed um we um uh the furniture the first order for the uh Furniture uh is in progress and uh we attach for all of you to see um some of the furniture so that you get to see um what it's going to look like um as things stand now the expectation is the upper level will be finished somewhere around the first or second week of December um we will then move the first floor up to the second floor um in that time period and then either uh the last week in December or the first two weeks in January um we will have to close the main library again for remediation on the first floor um and we're hoping that this all times in right with the North Edison Branch which we have will not close until we can actually go back to the upper level in the main library we want to make sure we have two branches open at the same time um um Library branding um this was a little bit delayed because of uh myself on vacation but I would expect that the focus groups are going to meet in the early part of November as for our new logo and and some branding techniques um the Sprinter van um seems to be now more and more in demand we are looking at uh for example this week and it's going to be at um the uh trick or treat trick or tray trun or treat trun or treat uh Tricky Tray whatever you want to call it um but um we've also been been able to do on and off at the uh Farmers Market um we've had some now requests from some of the elementary schools um so we're now um able to uh really provide uh much more service and it's much more flexible than bringing the uh the entire uh van um we've been working with Clara Barton to uh do some weeding and we'll be looking at um merchandising it more like a bookstore so people will be able more to browse it looks very much like at this point soldiers on a shelf and we want to make it more appealing to people uh both on the first floor uh and the second floor so we have um new staff that we have uh added since our last board meeting meeting um Allison Raz Gonzalez is uh one of our new part-time Library assistants uh Ellen Yuen another Library part-time uh library assistant and Elizabeth Calderone um our part-time library assistant um and so they're still in training um and um they've all been doing uh very well Eric rll is our new library associate he's currently working uh at the main library uh and he uh is taking on more and more UH responsibilities been doing a lot of uh displays helping people obviously with what they're looking for materials uh and he comes to us having uh worked um in uh several bookstores uh over his career so he brings that kind of bookstore uh touch to us and so I asked uh tonight our two newest uh administrator staff members uh to come to uh meet uh the library board um so the first uh person is Christopher Cado of is this typle wrong it's colado right two L's and and and when I wrote it's two RS um he is the business finance operations manager and basically he did the packet uh under some guidance of uh Deborah and uh Amanda so he comes to us from having done a uh similar but with not as much responsibilities at the East Brunswick Public Library um so he came in um uh quite uh how do we say he hit the ground running uh because he was doing most of this while I was on vacation so um we're really glad to have him um and the second new administrative staff um which also meets the Strategic plan um Dana galasa I'm guess it's good she is our coordinator of uh literary services and we're using that in the broad term um both uh English language learner uh literacy and digital literacy uh and she comes to us not only with a background in ESL but she herself uh is uh and has done training in American Sign Language so we expect also at at some point to be offering our own American sign language classes and so we've been able to Kickstart that whole process with um our new uh English language learning classes um and our literacy uh by um I would say not quite borrowing staff from planfield planfield offered us uh some help to get started and so uh Jose Sanchez uh is our um uh ESL teacher elll teacher uh and uh Robert sha conlay Conlin is our literacy service excuse me we say literacy services but he's digital literacy so we've already um they were able to get all these classes started kick started within like three weeks and they've already started this week we're really really uh excited um to uh get this done and we also found out this week that um we received a grant from the State Library um which is part of an americore project um only eight libraries in the state have gotten it and it's to help with digital literacy so um that's a big emphasis of technology and literacy and our strategic plan uh and so that's a one-year project uh in which the funding is paid for by the State library in americore um so um I think that I already warn Daya she's G to have more people to to uh supervise than she thought and um we've had a couple of people come out of the woodwork saying they want to do volunteer work and they want to help with the English language or in classes so um there is a big need we currently have a waiting list uh and I think this is a really exciting uh time for us um and I would say with uh Chris here um that allows me to spend more time on uh all the other major projects instead of having to do some of this nitty-gritty stuff that I was doing uh with myself Amanda and and Deborah so it frees us up uh a lot so we want to welcome all our new staff um we're all we're glad to have all of them and uh Sue there'll be more to come we have a couple in the in the pipeline but they're not here you know that it it takes us a good six it depend on if they're working now they have to give another Library time you know uh two to four weeks uh um notice and then we have to do the usual background check and Drug check and that other stuff so takes usually a minimum of a month once we agree to get someone to get them in here I have another question anytime um yeah you had mentioned that uh the ground floor of the main building needs some remediation also is that another asbest problem or what's that yeah that was already part of the whole I know there was one upstairs because the tile had cracked and it got in the air it's still it's that it's the original building it's the one half of the first floor that still has that they won't pick up the carpeting um and they did the testing and it has it so and that was when we originally did came to talk about it we talked about um it was upstairs and downstairs but we we did a phase one because one was coming out of this year's budget and a phase two because it's likely the first floor the ground floor will be out of next year's budget so instead of having them lump it into one we had them lump it into two but you approv both phase one and phase one uh phase one and phase two uh when uh we came to have that done okay thank you all right you have a question yes very quickly please just explain I at least I can't hear sorry can you hear me now yes uh please just explain for I know mo many of us here know but I think people who are watching from home would not what is the difference between a library assistant a library associate we have so many different levels of jobs I think it Bears explaining what what they you know what they do and why they need training um well let's start with basic difference that that we in every Library uh differentiate a library assistant generally doesn't have a bachelor's degree a library associate has a bachelor's degree so those are the two so you've got basically three levels you've got a library assistant who may be coming out right right after out of high school or have some college you have a library associate who has a bachelor's degree and then you have the librarian which at the minimum has a master's degree and um at one time we would only be looking at master's degrees in library and information science and now the profession has looked at other master's degrees that people come in uh education uh literacy um all those kind of other social work um so the library field still consider them on the same level as Librarians if they have that master's degree generally we use a rather where to check our materials in and out for inventory control that's basically what a library assistant does it helps you they help you check books in and out um help you find holds when we get to the library associate they have more experience um they're the person you go to if you want a recommendation for a book um they would be preparing book lists they would also be doing programming along with the Librarians so they are that interim step between the library assistant and the Librarians and what we always encourage is our library Associates think about long term if they love working in libraries to think about going to library school I mean and that's you know and um we have one of our current staff um who's been super that we've worked with with years for for she's been she was here when I came we finally finally I'm now convinced her after two years um she's going to go to library school so she came in today to ask me use me as a reference and I said absolutely um so that's that's kind of uh the difference that that we see um on those three levels and that's pretty typical for every Library does that help you with the with that or what yes thank you okay yeah I know that's helpful for people at home watching to to know what the positions are and I think on behalf of the board we want to we want to welcome and thank uh Dana and Chris for attending and welcome aboard to all the new staff members um Deborah did you want to add anything to your report um no just keep your eyes on the uh website under employment opportunities because we'll post the jobs there oh it's hard to hear it was hard to hear you I was just saying keep your eyes on the website um because employment opportunities will be posted there excellent thank you uh we have no committee reports um this month uh you know our director was away and there really was wasn't any chance to meet we will have a negotiation meeting coming up uh and most likely um there will be at least one or more policies to app approve next month um but nothing for this month I don't believe we have any unfinished business Shar Serv do we have any just say Shar Shar Services agreement oh just the shared services agreement there is absolutely nothing to report on the shared services agreement I know we had said that we were going to keep it on the agenda to report um and I I can just tell you uh interesting and I'll I'll bring this up later on about the trustee Institute but one of the topics that will be discussed will be shared services because it's really not very clear in the state of New Jersey whether libraries really need to have a shared services agreement um so there is nothing to report about our particular situation in Edison may like it right do you have anything to add to that okay new business I mean I I I will say I I do want to complement uh the township um we met with the township it's now I guess about four weeks ago before I went on vacation to to look at a potential across from JP stents in the park to place uh a trailer and the the township came talked to us um we had a good meeting there they suggested that it might be better if we went to the first aid Squad they went with us to the first aid Squad um they opened up the the doors for us um to start the conversation with them so I will say they really have been trying to be very helpful in uh making sure that we have um an opening to have some temporary quarters um so I do want to to say uh thank you uh to the township staff Sonia uh Bob deal and Ry uh met with uh P myself and so you're right that was a very very helpful meeting and they certainly W and we did like uh we did mention the Shar Services agreement and it it does seem to be the case that it is as clear as mud uh about having a shared services agreement um so we'll keep on pursuing it I'll be curious to see what information if any we find uh that we learn at the trustee Institute that will be held on Saturday uh November 16th and I hope all of the trustees will um register for that and even even if for some reason you register and you're not able to attend I still think you receive the link to to uh to hear and view the meeting um like six hours it's a long it's a long day it's it's it's from like 9 o' but I haven't done a zoom yeah it's from 9 o' until like 3:15 Zoom it's on Zoom yeah on Zoom yeah it's on Zoom it used to be on person and they usually give you a break for lunch and oh yeah they give you a break and there's breaks in between so yeah it's to get distracted I know I know but then it's easy you just dial up Zoom that's it um do we have any new business um the only new business that I I meant to uh I I put at um each one of your places is that um the finish line is in sight for the New Jersey freedom to read bill um the bill um passed the senate committee uh and I'll send more information out um we're now looking for the Senate uh to take up the bill and uh pass it uh even though we Now understand there have been some amendments added um so if the Senate uh passes it it would go back to the assembly um but there seems seems to be uh a good chance that this will get voted on uh at the uh by the end of this year at this point um so that's um very very good news and I'll I'll send you the all the information that we received uh as an email blast from uh every Library um who has been working with njel uh on the same bill so yeah I'm glad you share this because I really meant to put that in the president's report and I didn't um every library has um um a petition that you can sign if you desire uh and I think it would be appropriate since the Edison Public Library is a um book Sanctuary so I do hope the freedom to read bill passes um but thank you for sharing that do we have any public comment yes please what's my blood sugar before I have candy I'm good yeah no it's [Music] fine hi good evening everyone everyone much better now I'm back again uh my name is Sarah naster I'm from Pleasant Avenue in Edison and um as the president of the friends of the Edison Public Library I am here to reiterate a few things um that President Massie and director kimman have already mentioned um so our biannual bake sale and book sale is going to be next Friday and next Saturday October 25th and 26 at the uh North Branch on Friday it's going to be 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 P.M and on Saturday it's going to be 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. we're also doing a special preview for friends only on Thursday at 5: to 8:00 p.m. um after the book sale and the bake sale the next meeting for the friends will be on Wednesday November 6th and that's at 700 p.m. at the main library and then uh the following one will be December 4th also a Wednesday at CLA Barton at 7 p.m. okay I'm a little nervous today give it anyways um now i' kind of like to speak to you as just a library user um a reader I was at the main branch the other day and a book caught my eye and it was The Secret Lives of book sellers and Librarians and I almost put it back when I saw that it was by James Patterson don't judge me um but um anyways there was an author's note in there that I felt spoke to how I feel about all of you and about Librarians in general and I'd like to take a few seconds to speak about it all right so if you live in America you're among only one in five who can read a book and are actually in the habit of reading books to my thinking that statistic is dystopian so in America we urge everyone to read at sorry over the age of 18 to vote but only 15% of Voters can actually read books only 15% of us perform the lifeof forming sanity bolstering empathy forming Act of spending time inside somebody else's head unfortunately in spite of Pardon Me fortunately in spite of our cell phones in spite of all of our video games in spite of online gambling in spite of the current storm of short-sighted Politics the habit of reading books is not yet on the brink of Extinction not yet as being the operative word so this is in no small part due to the elite core of Frontline workers people who are holding that line and sometimes even turning the tide I'm talking about the thousands of book sellers and Librarians working long hours to keep reading alive and getting little recognition for all that they do so today's book sellers and Librarians are not the sitcom stereotypes who give judgy looks when someone brings the latest bestseller to the counter some of them might be but um they are not the ones that say shush to to an overenthusiastic teenager or to churchy quiet from 60 yards away today's book sellers and Librarians are extraordinarily good at understanding and motivating armed with empathy wit and Professional Training they take the confused the fearful the frustrated and help them become more keen eyed sharp eared and just jce attuned what they do is crucial for this country especially right now they understand in their hearts and souls that in the beginning was the word so day after day they find the right book for the right person and in doing so they help save people people's and our Collective lives and our sanity so I know that was long- winded but to paraphrase basically what you guys do is important it's one of those things that having a library is a refuge a safe place for a lot of children and a lot of adults including myself so I wanted to say that it's important that we support our libraries and I'm emotional because I see all the things that are happening that make it hard for libraries to stay open and I want to make sure that Edison prioritizes our libraries and make sure that we do everything we can to keep it open and to hire new people new staff to inspire encourage and just motivate new readers so it's not just one in five that read books but it continues to increase as we go forward okay me and my emotions are going to go sit down now but again book sale bake sale come out eat some good food and just pick up a book that you're going to read and even if it's James Patterson I won't judge you um but just come out and get a book and sit down somewhere and oh that's fabulous thank you very much thank you that really is very nice thanks for sharing that all right is there anyone else who would like to speak okay uh we do not no we we're going to do that yeah we don't have a closed session now we go to announcements all right now we have yes Margot okay I'm wondering this is some something new that's come to my attention is the Edison art Society has been doing their exhibitions on the third floor here but they have been told now that that will end as of October 25th with the closing of Thomas SI Thomas Si's exhibition and I think that the Edison art Society is looking for a home for the time being know ultimately we would love it to be at the fante house but that's been going through problems as well so I I've been with um Liz Han and I have been going back and forth playing telephone tag and Liz Han is the is now the director of the Edison arts society but we work hand inand now with with them over at the uh Cultural Arts commission I'm wondering and I have not even spoken to Liz about this but just want to put it out there is would there be any chance of any of the libraries being able to host any of these exhibitions until the fan house is done and ready I think that's a great idea personally could could that be done um well one of the two things um just looking at 2026 um the North Edison Ranch will actually have a really decent Gallery um and that's far in advance um we were looking at um once we go back upstairs um doing the using the auditorium uh as a place in which we could do exhibits so hanging um getting that kind of wiring that we can hang um the pictures on um we were we were have been talking about that almost since the beginning because we have some outside exhibit space there but it's not enough for major exhibit so we certainly would love to work with Liz um uh uh on that uh and I you know that that fits in that' be great for us do you think there are any possibilities before 2026 do you think there possibilities for a temporary home at one of the library well the only one would be the main library would be enough space okay claraa Barton doesn't have enough wall space and their meeting room is kind of small so the main library meeting room would be probably the best place um because we also have space outside the meeting room in that Corridor um that we could use for uh exhibits okay great I will get back to Liz with this and uh maybe we can Loop in together sure okay thank you uh Pat thank you for bringing that up that's a I think that's a good idea uh Pat here yes sorry uh councilwoman uh is there any uh you think there'd be any room at the revised Stelton Center the Stelton school after all the town is spending money to recondition 10 or 12 classrooms there and I'm quite sure that you know the township you know they they wanted it so bad why can't they give us a couple rooms just for you know it's Township I think that's a good idea Joe um I don't know when the Stelton school is when that's supposed to be done I have no idea but I think that's a good alternative as well thanks thank you yeah that is a good idea as well that's true yeah I'm glad you brought that up all right Kat is not here Joe do you have anything that you would like to report no just uh I just I talked to the superintendent and I know that the Li people talk to the superintendent and uh we're actively looking forward to working with you and uh uh the uh North Edison Library we have about 50 students that use our library and uh they actually go to the North Edison library and uh we've said that uh we would accommodate the students that would like to go to the library by us instead of when the library closes they could use our facility so that's something that we've discussed we actually discussed it this afternoon at a Clos session meeting so I'm not supposed to tell you yet okay well that's very good to hear okay I'm not no no please do not tell anybody Okay no Okay but as soon as that as soon as the North Edison facility closes I'm quite sure that JP Stevens will be able to handle it well that's very good news that's great un newws news yeah no not not that we'll say you didn't hear that from me now you never heard it no thank you me I I think we did so Pat and I uh and and Deborah and Michael uh met with the superintendent and I will say he is always open to any ideas that we have in trying to work with uh the kids and trying to to improve the communication uh to the students and the parents I mean he's been really a good supporter of the library he's very open to all the ideas we we come with um so much appreciated that is very good all right um do we have any other announcements I would just like to wish everybody a safe and happy Halloween and to remind everybody to get out and vote Yes and I would like to wish everybody anyone who celebrates a happy suot and um a a happy devali as well yes thank you thank you all right excellent any other announcements at all all right then do we have a motion to adjourn motion all right do we have a second second second all right all right then the meeting is adjourned at 7:45 thank you it was just under something thank 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