WHITE PLAINS PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Virtual Meeting
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Agenda
7:00 p.m. Call to order
1. Minutes of Regular Meeting of October14, 2020
2. Budget a. City Revenue & Expenditures Budget by Department – 10/31//20
3. Bills: 2020-2021 Budget: Claim #3
4. Reports of Library Administration
5. Trustee Reports & Business a. WLS b. Friends Meeting c. Foundation Report
6. Ongoing Business a. Revised Exhibits and Displays Policy and Procedures Update b. One Book, One White Plains Book Discussion Update c. Review of Circulation d. Review of Budget: Bill Deierlein e. Library’s Strategic Plan
7. New Business a. Circulating Laptop Pilot b. Acknowledgment of Gift from Ann Ladd
AGENDA ITEM #1 White Plains Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of Regular Meeting October 14, 2020
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Library Board of Trustees was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by President Schwarz via Zoom.
Attendees Trustees Present: D’Ambrosio, Furth, Haynes, Matthews-Serra, Scherer, Schwarz and Summers. Trustee Apologies: Barrera and Ricca. Also Present: Library Director Brian Kenney, Assistant Library Director Degyansky, Foundation Executive Director Nancy Rubini, and Library Director’s Secretary, Sandra McDaniel. Observers: Beth Kava, Diane Tabakman
Minutes of Regular Meeting of September 9, 2020
The minutes of the regular meeting held on September 9, 2020 were adopted on a MOTION by Trustee Summers, seconded by Trustee Haynes. All were in favor.
Budget
The City Revenue & Expenditure Budget by Department as of September 30, 2020 was reviewed. Trustee Scherer continues to monitor expenditures and inquired about the encumbrances as well as the funds from other libraries. Library Director Kenney answered that the City encumbers annually for a few contracts, most notably our cleaning contract. Funds from other libraries refers to the Local Library Services Aid (LLSA) which is distributed from the State of New York to the Westchester Library System and then to local libraries. This year we anticipate those funds to have decreased by 20%.
Bills: 2020-2021 Budget: Claim #2
Trustee Furth confirmed that she had reviewed the bills prior to the meeting and two revisions were made. On a MOTION by Trustee Furth, seconded by Trustee Haynes, payment of claim #2 was approved. All were in favor.
Reports of Library Administration
A board member inquired as to whether members of the public needed to be informed of man-in-the-middle- attack (a form of hacking) reported in the Library Systems report. Library Director Kenney responded that there had been no breach of personal data and the problem had been detected and corrected by our I/T department.
Trustee Reports & Business
WLS – Trustee Matthews-Serra commented that committees had been formed; but the Board had not been notified prior to the dissemination of information (i.e. SLAs) to WLS members.
Friends – Library Director Kenney remarked that he had not met with the Friends but commented a long- term member of the Friends, Faith Robinson, had passed away.
Foundation – Executive Director Rubini reported that the Kendi Author Visit on October 28 th had well over 400 people scheduled to attend. Nancy said that she has received a $5,000 grant from Con Ed to buy 3D printers which would replace the two that were donated to St. John’s Hospital at the beginning of the pandemic. The Edge staff will have updated 3D software included with the printers.
AGENDA ITEM #1 Minutes of the October 14, 2020 meeting of the Library Board of Trustees, page 2
Ongoing Business
Library Director Kenney said the capital project was just about finished and the remaining actions were to complete the signage and to purchase a moveable stage for the auditorium/studio.
Library Director Kenney discussed with the Board two requests we regularly receive from patrons: for a room to use for studying or meetings and to use the computers. We are presently in Phase Two of the Library’s Policy: Library Building Re-opening, a Phased Response and both study space and computer access are addressed in Phase Three. The Board discussed expanding services but, with the infection rate on the rise, recommended that we remain in Phase Two.
Library Director Kenney informed the Board that there was potential for a film shoot with a small number of people using the front lobby, for a couple of hours and be finished before we were open to the public. The Board had no issues with this request.
Library Director Kenney stated that there were several One Book, One White Plains book groups underway and there has been a great deal of interest. Mr. Kenney stated that former White Plains librarian, Donnie Simmons, Jr., now a librarian at Westchester Community College, would conduct the interview with Dr. Kendi. Library Director Kenney mentioned there was also interest in holding book groups after the event, and we would continue hosting discussions through November.
Library Director Kenney remarked that Wilson Arana, WLS I/T Manager, met with the PLDA (Public Library Directors Association) and presented different models of service level agreements (similar to what had been submitted in a letter to WLS). Mr. Kenney noted that we could be more selective about the services we receive from WLS and will have direct access to the catalog, something we have requested for several years. Library Director Kenney said these changes should going into effect next year.
New Business
Library Director Kenney advised the Board that the library cards to all children project, spearheaded by Librarian Josh Carlson, had begun and they would receive the data from the school district for K-12 students.
On a MOTION by Trustee Summers, seconded by Trustee Haynes, authorization was granted for K. Jackson’s fall tuition reimbursement of up to $800 for Library School. All were in favor.
On a MOTION by Trustee Matthews-Serra, seconded by Trustee D’Ambrosio, the report of Payroll Additions/Deletions from July 1-September 30, 2020 was approved. All were in favor.
Assistant Library Director Degyansky presented the Revised Exhibits and Displays Policy and Procedures to the Board. A board member requested information on insurance coverage for the exhibitor’s work and Ms. Degyansky said she would get back to the Board. Trustee Furth suggested the topic be tabled until next month as it did not affect the exhibit planned in January.
Adjournment
There being no more business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m. on a MOTION by Trustee D’Ambrosio, seconded by Trustee Haynes. All were in favor.
______Yuki Haynes, Secretary Library Board of Trustees
AGENDA ITEM #3
WHITE PLAINS PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
BUDGET YEAR 2020 - 2021 CLAIM LIST # 3 Page 1
Claims Paid On: October 2020
BUDGET CODE NUMBER VENDOR AMOUNT
2.602 Education/Training Fees 40 Thornton-De Stafeno-reimburse $ 49.00
3.001 Office Supplies claim 10/06 Purchase Supply Room – Sept 2020 1,989.34 PC-38 WB Mason 247.70
3.003 Printing PC-36 Alloy Printing 130.00
3.005 Books claim 10/05 Amazon 190.89 41 Baker & Taylor, Inc. 30,258.70 40a Ingram Library Services 949.14
3.006 Subscriptions 43 Royal Scarlet Deli 682.00
3.010 Non Books 38 EBSCO Information Services 2,300.67 PC-41 Midwest Tape 2,932.91 PC-40 OverDrive 12,420.09 PC-38 Recorded Books 3,478.03
3.011 Program Supplies claim 10/05 ALA Store 90.04 claim 10/05 Amazon 113.04 claim 10/05 Staples 53.39
3.014 Library Supplies PC-36 Grainger 2,695.32 PC-42 Grainger 300.18
3.306 Maintenance Supplies claim 10/06 Purchase Supply Room – Sept 2020 70.32 PC-38 WB Mason 789.30 claim 10/05 Home Depot 59.96 PC-36 Grainger 574.74 PC-42 Grainger 203.82 PC-37 Kent Supply Company 134.10 PC-35 Wallauer 39.58
3.601 Electricity 7/13-8/11/20 NYPA Report 18,505.58 8/11-9/10/20 NYPA Report 20,162.67
I:\LIBRARY BOARD\CLAIM LISTS\2020 -2021\CLAIM LIST 3.DOC AGENDA ITEM #3
WHITE PLAINS PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
BUDGET YEAR 2020 - 2021 CLAIM LIST # 3 Page 2
Claims Paid On: October 2020
BUDGET CODE NUMBER VENDOR AMOUNT
3.602 Telephone 39 Verizon Wireless $ 40.94
3.603 Gas 9/10 - 10/9/20 Con Edison 1,223.23
3.704 Copier Rental PC-43 Canon Financial Services 96.00
4.015 Service Contracts PC-39 Canon Solutions America 693.72
4.058 Online Subscriptions claim 10/05 Ring Central 88.97 claim 10/05 Zoho 550.00 44 Optimum 25.26 45 Verizon 266.98 claim 10/5 Zoom 190.00
4.709 Library Programs 42 Eric Alan 600.00
Approved:
______Yuki Haynes, Secretary
I:\LIBRARY BOARD\CLAIM LISTS\2020 -2021\CLAIM LIST 3.DOC
By: Timothy Baird
Dept. Adult Services Subject: Monthly Report – October 2020
Date: Novem ber 10 , 2020
Administrative • Met with Head of Collection Management Deschamps to discuss the process of removing Missing items from the catalog. • Met with Librarian Bauman and Director Kenney to discuss a better system for scheduling zoom hosts. Adult Staff will now be responsible for hosting any programs they are responsible for. • Completed a request from a Library School student about how staff handle a specific reference query. • Met with Dept Heads to discuss how to improve curbside service if we need to return to that model of service.
Staff Activities - Thanks to librarians Sharon Rothman, Mariel Perez, Kristen Thornton-De Stafeno, Kristy Bauman and Austin Duffy who contributed to this report. • Librarian Rothman attended: How to Become a Best Selling Author and ReferenceUSA Discover Employment Opportunities hosted by NYPL; Penguin Random House Morning Buzz; Candid Conference and Monthly Network meeting; Harper Collins Book Buzz; Westchester Library System Adult Services Meeting; Bite Size Books: new titles from many publishers; Library Reads Fall Book Club Picks; Booklist Must Read Mysteries; Monthly CODES[ALA] Cookbook meeting • Media Specialist Olney trained staff on Zoom hosting. • Librarian Duffy attended the following webinars: “Building Community Broadband Networks”; “Starting Your Own Digital Inclusion Coalition”. • Librarian De Stafeno completed the November virtual calendar. She worked with staff on blogs: “She Writes Science”; “Cookbooks”; “Horror Stories”; “Staff Cookies Recipes”. She helped Youth Services staff upload Day of the Dead virtual exhibit. She redesigned the e-newsletter layout. She sent a press release for the Kendi event and helped with the digital signage design for the event that appeared around the City. She created a PDF on career panels for schools. She attended the following Webinars: “Promoting Your Collections: Messaging, Merchandising, and More”; “Library Leadership Your Way”.
Customer Service: • Digital Media Specialist Olney provided another three Virtual Tech Help sessions. • Librarian Rothman created a cookbook blog. • Librarian Duffy answered eight local history queries, six of them via email. • Librarian De Stafeno worked with Zork on creating Poem a Day videos. • Assisted patron in multiple searches for part numbers for 1991 Mercury Capri parts online. • Assisted patron in research on NYS poverty data. • Assisted patron in using closed captions on Kanopy. • Assisted patron in researching how to remove mold from mattresses.
Community Outreach: • Please see the Community Outreach report. • Red Door Readers book discussion in partnership with Gilda’s Club of Westchester. Programs:
• Zoom basics, Android basics and Library ebook services hosted by Digital Media Specialist Olney. • Librarian Duffy hosted the English Conversation Groups. • Barbara Wenglin's short-story book group met twice in October via Zoom with more than 40 attending each session. Lively discussions of classic works by John Cheever and Ring Lardner were enhanced by musical selections and screen sharing. On a dark and stormy afternoon, patrons appreciated the option of joining from home, near and far--including from California, Florida and Minnesota! As we have all discovered, there are some advantages of virtual programs. Barbara is planning her winter/spring series using the same anthology, 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories , edited by Lorrie Moore (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015). • Book Discussions included “Future is Female”, “Book’em Mystery Book Group”, “Reading to End Racism”, “Slow Reading”. • Spanish for Beginners started its fall session with a full slate of students. • Pause and Reflect online creative writing workshop started in October. • Wellness programs included “Lunchtime Meditation”, “Meditative Drawing”, “Fad Diet or Bad Diet? A Guide to Eating Well”. • One Book, One White Plains discussions of Dr. Kendi’s book “How to be an Anti-Racist”. The month ended with A conversation with Dr. Kendi event. • How to Avoid the Paycheck to Paycheck Culture program with Kristen Jacks, a financial educator and author.
By: Kathleen Degyansky Dept.: Assistant Director Subject: Monthly Report for October 2020 Date: November 10, 2020
OUTREACH AND COLLABORATION
• Assisted with preparations for the Library to serve as a polling place for Election Day.
• Coordinated the proper procedure for a donation of art from a local resident. We received a painted bench which was placed in the Trove but was never formally accepted. Board action is required.
PROGRAMMING AND EXHIBITS
• Funding was secured for a second series of the Pause and Reflect writing workshop. The program will again be led by Julia Rust. Sessions will run from October 6 through December 1.
• Working with two artists to arrange for exhibits in spring and summer of 2021. The revised policy calls for a committee to review the application and submission of samples. The committee is not yet formed.
INTERNAL
• Submitted the final report to the State Library Development Construction grant office for funds received for the Gallery and meeting room renovations. Once approved by the State, we will receive the final payment.
• Performed maintenance tasks on the Library’s text-a-librarian service. This involves entering auto-responder messages for all holidays.
Christiane Deschamps
Department: Collection Management
Subject: Monthly Report October 2020
Date: November 9, 2020
White Plains Virtual Programs (planned and Zoom tech hosted)
*Lunchtime Meditation 4 programs (40 attended) *Slow Reading Book Discussion 2 programs (Ellen Lambert and Ellen O’Connell) (27 attended) *Future Is Female (Ellen O’Connell) 7 attended *Meditative Drawing (Arlene Mangialardi) 16 attended *Fad Diet, Bad Diet (Elizabeth DeRobertis) 14 attended
Other
*12 Request a Purchase forms were processed (AV and Overdrive by Karyn De Luca ) *Talked with library-school student Brianna S. about our Collection and selection and acquisitions process *Spoke with Lori Gagliano (Scarsdale Library) at length, answering her questions about our experience with acquisitions module and full processing and records set up with Baker & Taylor
Webinars and Meetings
* Evergreen Buckets, Baskets, and Lists (Allison Pryor, WLS) *Reading to End Racism (Common Ground Conversations Series) *Just Mercy : A Community Panel Discussion *Met with Lindsay Stratton to discuss Acquisitions issues *A Conversation with Ibram X. Kendi
Suzanne Erhard
*Physically processed and linked books and AV items. Handled all invoices, inputting many manually into Evergreen. *Note: Cataloging/processing work halted at times due to Evergreen catalog being down *Requested bibliographic records from WLS. *Continued work on Processing and Cataloging Guidelines, with the goal of making them available in google Drive. * Attended webinar Evergreen Buckets, Baskets, and Lists (Allison Pryor, WLS)
Karen Jackson and Betsy Purtell
Weeded, processed materials, changed new books to old, and worked on Library statistics and magazines. Working from Evergreen reports (e.g. Missing Items list), corrected catalog and materials in hand.
October Monthly report
Meetings and Webinars
Programs
• 2 Spanish for Beginners: 15 people attended
• Know the 10 Signs: Early Detection Matters signs an Alzheimer's program on Evanced. 9 people attended. • Contacted Veronica Bazan from WEDC do discuss 60 hour entrepreneurial program in Spring of 2021. Austin Olney Digital Media Specialist October 2020 Report
Highlights ● Successful Professor Ibram X. Kendi program ● Trained various staff how to self-host their Zoom programs ● Continued popular tech programs for Youth and Adults
ADULT TECH PROGRAMS by AO Virtual Tech Help 10/14/2020 10:00 AM Adults Digital Technology
Virtual Tech Help 10/21/2020 3:00 PM Adults Digital Technology
Virtual Tech Help 10/27/2020 5:30 PM Adults Digital Technology Continued this well-received program where patrons have the opportunity to get one-on-one virtual help with a variety of technical issues they may be encountering during the current pandemic. Many issues have been resolved and goals achieved thus far!
Zoom Basics 10/28/2020 4:30 PM Adults Digital Technology Apparently, many patrons are interested in learning more about Zoom because this session had a great turnout. They were shown the basics of the app and given tips on how to maximize the experience, as well a real-time look of how it looks from the host’s perspective and attendee’s perspective alike.
10/13/2020 12:30 PM Adults Digital Technology Android Basics Gave an overview of the Android operating system to patrons who were unfamiliar. It was a productive session where many specific inquiries were addressed in a “hands-on” approach.
Library eBook Services 10/20/2020 5:00 PM Adults Digital Technology Discussed with patrons the current lineup of eBook services available through our library and the larger library system. The session culminated with a hands-on tutorial of using Overdrive and Hoopla function.
YOUTH PROGRAMS by AO Virtual Chess Club 10/8/2020 5:00 PM Children Fun and Games
Virtual Chess Club 10/22/2020 5:00 PM Children Fun and Games The word is spreading! Many youth showed up for Virtual Chess Club this month, and I was even fortunate enough to see familiar faces from back when we did Tech Tuesday in person. We had multiple chess matches between the group happening simultaneously and much fun was had.
Virtual Youth Meet-up 10/1/2020 4:30 PM Teens Fun and Games
Virtual Youth Meet-up 10/15/2020 4:30 PM Teens Fun and Games Kat and I continued this fun program where youth have the chance to unwind and play fun, wholesome games in a virtual environment with library friends. At the same time, it is securely done on a private server so it is safe from outsiders as well. As always, our regular attendees were begging for more at the end.
STAFF TRAININGS & SESSIONS Staff Zoom Training 10/19/2020 11:15 AM Adults Staff Meeting With many staff beginning to host their own library Zoom programs, a session was held to get them up to speed.
Walk Through of Tech, etc. Kendi 10/27/2020 10:00 AM Adults Staff Meeting Event Met to finalize details for the major Ibram X. Kendi event.
PROGRAMS HOSTED by AO
● A Conversation with Ibram X. Kendi 10/28/2020 7:00 PM Adults Books and Authors Hosted a successful session featuring Professor Ibram X. Kendi. Received plenty of positive feedback from the community on how it went!
● One Book, One White Plains Book 10/21/2020 7:00 PM Adults Books and Authors Discussion
● Jester Jim LIVE! (families, all ages) 10/10/2020 2:00 PM Families Performing Arts
Other Tasks ● Submitted Virtual Chess Club Blog Post for webpage. ● Submitted Virtual Youth Meet-up Blog Post for webpage. ● Completed workplace harassment training and workplace violence training. ● Gathered and sent a variety of resources for the staff Zoom training this this month ● Recorded H oopla tutorial session for patron ● Completed research questions about Virtual Reality for Western Carolina University. ● Tweaked and set up Zoom for major Ibram X. Kendi event in October. ● Input all staff December events into Zoom, and updated evanced entries with Zoom info/instructions for scheduling.
● Assisted various patrons and staff with digital issues and tech related advice. ● Set up private Roblox servers for Youth Meet-up programs. ● Made changes/additions/deletions to various Zoom programs based on staff input.
Have a great day!
MONTHLY REPORT By: John Lolis Dept. Library Systems Subject: Monthly Activity Report - October 2020
Our subscription to Acorn TV, Qello and IndieFlix through RBdigital was found to have lapsed as of September 30th. We received no notification of the impending expiration, hence the inadvertent lapse in service. It was restored as of the 9th.
In anticipation of resuming public access computing, in September we subscribed to a cloud-based remote assistance service known as Zoho (see last month’s report). As we no longer plan to make public computing available for the foreseeable future, but do plan to circulate laptops, we will install the support client on those so that we can help patrons at home should they have an issue.
On Monday the 5th, Brian Kenney and I attended a virtual meeting with other directors and WLS’ Director of IT, Wilson Arana. The meeting concerned the WLS IT Service Level Agreement and the new teired service levels that were announced. The most welcome part of it is that member libraries will no longer be required to access the Evergreen ILS through WLS’ network, nor through the use of VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure), the latter having had particularly poor performance issues. Member libraries now have the option as to what level of service they can have. It should be noted that WPPL, due to us being on the City’s municipal network, was never required to use VDI as had been the case with all the other member libraries; however, we were required to access the ILS through a WLS network tunnel.
We found on the 13th that all our Evergreen staff passwords had been reset, and once again without notice. It was not until later that evening that we received the new passwords from WLS.
Due to the heightened need to maintain access to the Library network for staff working from home, I configured a second VPN (Virtual Private Network) tunnel. If the existing VPN through our Cablevision connection fails for whatever reason, we now have a backup connection through FiOS.
Throughout the month, there were several outages with the Evergreen ILS (10/4, 10/9, 10/28 & 10/30). They ranged in duration from a few minutes to half the day or more. They were also not due to a single cause, as some outages were on the Equinox side and some on the WLS side.
In an effort to further increase social distancing, a number of staff were relocated to other locations, primarily to those meeting rooms which would otherwise be unused.
I submitted a purchase request for a new server as well as for VMware’s VSphere and VCenter software. The latter accounts for over half of the total purchase price (>$14000), but it will allow for a very robust environment with excellent maintenance capabilities and a backup strategy that would provide the utmost in protection and disaster recovery. The City IT Department is reviewing the request. Page 2 of 2
Database % User Database Uses Use Sessions 1 hoopla 141 11.67% 110 2 Online Tutor 113 9.35% 88 3 RBdigital Video (AcornTV) 102 8.44% 66 4 Kanopy 89 7.36% 76 5 ConsumerReports.org 60 4.96% 53 6 lynda.com 48 3.97% 43 7 Ancestry Library Edition 44 3.64% 36 8 LearningExpress Library 43 3.55% 37 9 ReferenceUSA 42 3.47% 34 10 Freegal (Music Downloads) 42 3.47% 39 11 medici.tv 40 3.31% 39 12 AcornTV (Direct Link) 31 2.56% 23 13 Freading 30 2.48% 26 14 RBdigital Magazines 30 2.48% 27 15 TumbleBooks 24 1.98% 22 16 Foundation Grants to Individuals Online 24 1.98% 6 17 Open Library 22 1.82% 19 18 Qello 21 1.73% 17 19 Kanopy Kids 21 1.73% 21 20 IndieFlix 21 1.73% 19 21 Foundation Directory Online Professional 20 1.65% 6 22 RBdigital Recorded Books 18 1.49% 15 23 Britannica School 17 1.40% 13 24 Project Gutenberg 16 1.32% 13 25 Comics Plus - Library Edition 12 0.99% 11
### October 2020 Media Report - Kristen Thornton-De Stafeno
● Worked with Zork on sharing Poem a Day videos. ● Created November virtual calendar email. ● Continued uploading YS content to YouTube. ● Created Kendi graphics for city’s digital signage – confirmed they ran. ● Sent out press release on Kendi event ● Worked with Karyn D. on She Writes: Science blog post. ● Worked with Sharon R. on cookbook blog post. ● Worked on Horror Stories film/book blog post. ● Worked with Kristy B. on adding select events to Facebook calendar. ● Worked with YS staff on creating/uploading Day of the Dead virtual exhibit. ● Redesigned eNewsletter layout. ● Updated Kendi Registration Blog. ● Created PDF on career panels for schools. ● Reviewed text for Foundation page update. ● Gathered staff cookie recipes for blog post. ● Edited Raquel C.’s speech text for Día de los Muertos event. ● Ran Facebook ad for Raising Race Conscious Kids workshop. ● 17.4% average open rate on all newsletters sent out in October, showing a 0.3% decrease from September; 1.7% average click rate in October, showing no change from September. This Week on Martine October newsletters had a 19.2% average open rate showing a 0.8% increase from September; YS October newsletter had a 17.3% open rate, showing a 1.9% increase from the September newsletter. We lost 57 subscribers in October. ● Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers have all increased. Our Facebook reach is up 127% from September, and our post engagement is up 7%. Our most popular Facebook post was on Jester Jim (it reached 8.2K people). Our twitter impressions are down 31.2% from the previous month. Our most popular tweet was on Grab&Go Kits. Our most popular Instagram post was on Ancestry @Home.
Stats
October 2020 Adult Juvenile Promotional Activities Fliers 0 0 Newsletters 6 1 Press Releases 1 Social Media Posts 61 94 Digital Graphic/Image 25 32 Blog Post 12 36 Print Graphic/Handout 0 0 FB/Insta Outreach Activities Email Phone Visits MSG Blog Comment Community Contacts 3 5
Newsletter Social Media Facebook Twitter Instagram Edge Insta Subscribers Followers 2110 1690 1232 172 9207 Ad 1
Patch.com shared multiple library events and blog posts (they share almost all of our blog posts now).
White Plains Girl Scouts shared events via Facebook.
West Margin Press shared an event via Facebook.
WLS shared many events on Facebook and Twitter.
MONTHLY REPORT AGENDA ITEM #4
By: Brian Kenney Dept. Library Director Subject: Monthly Report Date: November 18, 2020
In the past month, I worked on the following initiatives and activities:
Planned for the Ibram Kendi event, including program development.
Planned for the joint Library/School district book discussions of Ibram Kendi’s Stamped. These discussions will involve over 600 students over the course of two months.
With the management team, planned for the possible retrenchment of Library services in response to rising cases of COVID-19. This includes returning to Phase One B, when the building is closed to the public but we provide curbside pickup and Phase One A, when the building is closed, staff are working from home, and all services are virtual/digital.
Continued to meet weekly with the Public Library Directors Association to share strategies, seek advice, and coordinate efforts in the face of the pandemic.
Contributed to several board meetings, including METRO Library Council, ALA’s Booklist Advisory Board, the EBSCO Public Library Advisory Board. Participated in a WP Planning Department focus group on services to vulnerable populations.
Met with Joshua Carlson to review youth services budget for the remainder of this FY.
Conducted book discussions of Kendi’s How to Be and Antiracist and Book ‘Em.
Participated in the Winbrook Crisis Authority, presenting on library services during the pandemic.
Worked with Bill Deierlein, Westchester Country Board of Elections on use of Library as polling site.
With management team, continued to reconfigure staff work spaces and locations to minimize contact.
With management team, planned the lending of bundled laptops/hotspots. We will launch this as a beta test in December, with the possibility of expansion in the first quarter, 2021.
Worked with DPW, Community Media to finalize the renovation and Media’s move. Began collaboration between Community Media and Library staff.
Began work on a strategic plan to cover pandemic and post-pandemic response.
Youth Services Monthly Report for October 2020 From: Joshua Carlson Date: November 9, 2020
Programs to Create a Better Society October was a big month for Youth Services, and for the Library in general, in terms of social justice focused programs.
Josh says, “I think this is where we, the Library, are really needed: providing and sharing programs that not only promote inclusivity, equity and social justice, but actively create a more inclusive, equitable and just society.”
Raising Race Conscious Kids Workshop On October 21, we held a virtual Race Consciousness Workshop, facilitated by Sachi Ferris and Myra Hernandez of Raising Race Conscious Children (http://www.raceconscious.org). Leading up to the workshop, Kathlyn posted weekly “Recommended Reading” blog posts designed to get participants thinking about the topic in advance. Those can be found here: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/09/race-consciousness-recommended-reading-part-1/.
Ms. Ferris founded the nonprofit Border Crossers, now known as the Center for Racial Justice in Education. A former teacher, Sachi holds a Master’s degree in education. She now serves as the director and principal blogger for Raising Race Conscious Children. Ms. Hernandez is an educator with over 20 years of experience in the classroom. Myra also holds a Master’s degree in education, and is an early childhood literacy consultant and curriculum developer.
Over 50 people attended the workshop, including all full-time YS librarians. The program featured breakout discussion, exercises and interaction. It was important to hear ways to speak with children on this topic, but it was equally important to actually work through some of the exercises which were designed to engage participants to make them consider their own concerns, nervousness, misconceptions and implicit bias. It was a fantastic, but also challenging, experience.
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi Visit On October 28, the long-awaited virtual conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi took place. Josh can attest: it was “powerful and thought-provoking;” “made you take stock in what you think, what you do, and what you could be doing;” and it was “a great experience to hear from such an important and current thinker and writer.”
Kendi had so many important points. ● “The heartbeat of racism is denial.” Antiracism and self-reflection are the way forward. To deny when you have been racist, is to be racist. To admit when you are, or have been, racist is to be antiracist. ● On teaching - if we’re not teaching kids to just value and see the beauty in different skin colors - then what are we doing? ● “Society isn’t colorblind!” ● “I’m not necessarily guided by the light. I’m guided by the terror - the fact that there are three weapons threatening humanity: nuclear weapons, war and bigotry. Either we fight or die. I just don’t think we have any other option.” ● “I love humanity too much to just sit back and let it die.” ● “Racism is death. Antiracism is life.” ● Libraries and independent bookstores are “North Stars that will lead us into a better future.”
We would like to take this opportunity to give an extra word of thanks to the White Plains Library Foundation for supporting both of these programs and supporting the important work of creating a better, more just and more equitable world.
Project LIT Community Book Groups Ashley and Raquel hosted the Library’s first Project LIT Community book discussion group for grades 4-6 since the Library officially became a chapter of the grassroots organization. The title for the first discussion was El Deafo by Cece Bell, which is a graphic novel that examines experiences of a deaf girl going to school. Ashley noted that the kids “enjoyed discussing and playing trivia about it.”
Next, the Project LIT Community book group will be reading the One Book, One White Plains title, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynold in a parent-child reading and discussion of the book on November 18: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/09/fall-project-lit-book-groups/. Ashley notes, I've also been preparing a Project LIT book discussion for kids around Jerry Craft's New Kid. I'm looking forward to an upcoming book discussion for kids of the first book in the 5 Worlds series that will include one of the authors [Mark Siegel] joining us to chat about his book!”
Just the Beginning... These programs are just the beginning of the Library’s work for social justice issues. If you want to get involved and take action, Kathlyn provides some Antiracism: Next Steps in a blog post following Kendi’s program: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/antiracism-next-steps/. Project LIT Community book groups will continue moving forward. And, we are starting what hopes to be an ongoing program series with the school district on social justice topics, starting with:
Working with the Schools - Stamped Book Discussion After meetings with Douglas Cronk, ELA Coordinator for the High School, and Rocco Varuolo, Coordinator for Instructional Technology, we are excited to be in the planning stages for book discussions using the One Book, One White Plains title, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds. At this time we are looking at having 600 students from Highlands and the High School take part in groups starting at the end of November. A culminating project may potentially involve a digital exhibit of reflections on the reading in various formats - AV, art, and writing. This important program is receiving support from the White Plains Library Foundation, the High School PTA and the Friends of White Plains Public Schools. We look forward to working together on this, as well as future social justice focused programs.
Other Programs and Services
Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos In conjunction with ArtsWestchester and local community members, the Library took part in a video production celebration for Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead this year. Tata and Raquel filmed a section talking about the Trove’s altar workshops and how we would be collecting images of altars made at home this year to share on our website. The community video premiered on October 24 and featured music, dancing and more. It can be found online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUvO9A8uH-c. In addition, the online Day of the Dead altars exhibit can be seen here: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/day-of-the-dead-dia-de-los-muertos-virtual-exhibit/.
“How Did I Get Here?” Teen Career Panels The Library held three virtual career panels for teens in October. Starting off, Assembly-person Michael Buchwald spoke about his path to public service and politics. The second panel had a data analyst from Verisk Analytics, and finally we had an entrepreneur and small business owner in the audio/video industry come and speak to local teenagers. https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/how-did-i-get-here-virtual-career-panels/
College Admissions Workshops for Teens We held two programs this month on college admissions. The first was in conjunction with Yonker Public Library, a speaker from NYS Higher Education came to talk about college scholarships and grants available to students in the state of New York. Our second panel had a college admissions counselor talk about applying for college and going to college during the pandemic. Additional workshops are on the way and information can be found here: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/11/college-admissions-workshops/.
Jester Jim Performance Having been rescheduled from the end of July, Jester Jim performed virtually on October 10 for the Library. And what a hilarious show it was! Jim juggled everything from socks, to plungers, to knives and fire, and entertained throughout. In addition, Jim was also gracious enough to allow us to share the recording of the performance, so our community can see it whenever they would like! https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/stream-jester-jim/
Virtual Chess Club Austin notes, “The word is spreading! Many youth showed up for Virtual Chess Club this month and I was even fortunate enough to see familiar faces from back when we did Tech Tuesday in person. We had multiple chess matches between the group happening simultaneously and much fun was had.”
Trove StoryWalk October’s StoryWalk title was The Steamboat School by Deborah Hopkinson. https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/09/trove-storywalk-steamboat-school/. Coinciding with the StoryWalk, grab-n-go activity kits featuring an Origami Boat activity were provided to the community. Twenty five kits were picked up to be enjoyed at home. This will be the last StoryWalk until March, when we plan to begin
having them outside in the Plaza, however the success of the activity kits has also led to the creation of our new Grab&Go Activity Kits.
Grab&Go Kits https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/grabgo-kits/
The first kits released in October included Pumpkin Garland Craft Kits for teens: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/grabgo-grades-7-12-pumpkin-garland-kit. All of the kits were picked up. The Grab&Go Kits that will begin in earnest in November - each kit will be marked in our online calendar for the first date it is available.
Halloween STEAM In addition to the Grab&Go Kits, Caroline created STEAM kits to be used during her virtual Halloween STEAM program on October 27. She made twenty kits, which included a marker, balloon, tissue paper and a zombie cut out. Fifteen kids (plus siblings!) joined the Halloween STEAM virtual event which started with a reading of Fright Club by Ethan Long. Caroline notes, “the kids really enjoyed the book!” She then walked them through the process of using the kit to create a walking/dancing zombie that demonstrated static electricity. She notes, “I am happy to report that many of our young patrons were successful and excited with the outcome of their zombie static experiments. They tried different types of fabric and even their own hair! The kids loved sharing their dancing Zombies and each shared if they used hair or cloth to raise their zombie. I also checked for understanding... Many were able to explain the process of static electricity... This was the most successful virtual program that I have had this year.” https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/halloween-steam-project-zombie-dance/
Other Things
Professional Development Josh organized schedules so that all full-time Youth Services staff could attend the Race Consciousness Workshop. He felt it was important that the Library’s staff take part, so that we can take time to reflect on how we handle and discuss the topic of race, both with kids but also in terms of being able to help our community’s parents and caregivers. Ashley noted she felt like she “learned a lot” from the Workshop.
Caroline attended a webinar, The Power of Storytelling. She notes, “This webinar looked into the immigrant’s story. As an immigrant, I felt that the webinar highlighted some great books. The authors also explained the experience of never reading anything on the immigrant experience. I identified with this outsider/immigrant experience: it wasn’t until I read Persepolis by Marjan Satrapi, that I felt that someone had captured my childhood experience.”
Josh, Kathlyn and Raquel attended School Library Journal’s Virtual Summit on October 24. The overarching theme of the event, Culture Shift, was about creating a more equitable world, and specifically how schools and libraries fit into doing that. Josh found the session “Challenging the Classics” to be especially fascinating. Three founders of the #DisruptTexts movement discussed their work and why challenging the so-called
“classic” books taught in school is important. Many such works portray racist stereotypes and the majority are by White male authors. The presenters talked about being more critical of “classics” as well as the importance of bringing a more diverse selection of authors and works into the curriculum. Josh is interested in having the presenters run an event for the Library, which could be in conjunction with the school district as part of their work together on social justice programming.
On the Web YS librarians continue to create great content for the website. Some highlights from October include:
Ashley and Josh provided the first two posts in a new column called “Reads Revisited” https://whiteplainslibrary.org/tag/reads-revisited/. In this ongoing column, YS librarians will re-read books from their childhood - Ashley wrote about The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke and Josh revisited two books by author John Bellairs, some thirty-ish years after he read them the first time.
Caroline and Erik continued to create a wealth of at-home STEAM learning and fun: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/tag/steam-at-home/.
Josh recommended some Diverse Graphic Novels to coincide with the release of Class Act, the companion Jerry Craft’s Newbery Award-winning New Kid https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2020/10/dive-into-diversity-graphic-novels/; as well as Peculiar Picks featuring National Dictionary Day, Spooky Reads, and for the upcoming annual cancer awareness event, No-Shave November.
Mental Illness Awareness Week is the first week each October, and Ashley, Raquel and Kathlyn provided some recommended reading in various levels: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/tag/mental-illness-awareness-week/.
Halloween is a big deal for a lot of families in October, and we provided reading lists, at home activities, as well as a lengthy post to help families that might not have been doing traditional trick-or-treating this year: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/tag/halloween/.
November 10, 2020
Board of Trustees White Plains Public Library 100 Martine Ave White Plains, NY 10601
RE: Donation of art
I donated my full length painted bench to the White Plains Library back in late 2019 (see photos below). The bench is titled BeE Kind To Bee Bench. My intention was for the library to use it in any way they found a use for it. I was delighted when I saw it was placed in your beautiful Trove Space. The value of the bench is $1,200.
Please acknowledge my gift by providing me with a letter, stating your willingness to accept it and the value of the piece.
Thank you for all the years of wonderful reading my children and I have had thanks to The White Plains Public Library.
Ever thankful,
Ann Ladd White Plains Artist 63 Ralph Ave White Plains, NY 10606