02/18/2021 - Minutes City of Tigard
Tigard Public Library Board Minutes
MEETING DATE/TIME: Thursday, February 18,2021 6:30 p.m.
MEETING LOCATION: Virtual Teams Meeting with Phone Bridge for public listening
1. CALL To ORDER:
Chair Katie Harris called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Christopher Allen,Mary Bogert, Shirley Edwards,Katie Harris,
Jim Ivler, Kate Ristau, Suzanne Sikora
Alternates Present: Helen Allen, Gail Stephens
Council Liaison: Heidi Lueb
Staff Present: Halsted Bernard,Director of Library Services;Amber Bell,Readers
Services Manager;Margaret L. Reh, Confidential Executive Assistant
3. APPROVE MINUTES
The minutes from the January 21, 2021 Tigard Public Library Board meeting were reviewed. No
changes were requested. Motion by Mary Bogert. Second by Suzanne Sikora to approve the
January 21, 2021 minutes as written.
Allen—Aye Bogert—Aye Edwards—Aye
Harris —Aye Ivler—Aye Ristau—Aye
Sikora—Aye
4. AGENDA ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS
The draft copies of the Borrowing Materials policy,Library Card policy and the Confidentiality of
Library Records policy were not yet available to review at this meeting.The documents were still
being revised. The Board will revisit this agenda item at the March 18,2021 meeting.
5. LIBRARY STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE AND DISCUSSION
Library Board Member Kate Ristau and Amber Bell (Readers Services Manager) presented a
Library Strategic Plan update. Library Board members were presented with two questions to
discuss. The first:What are two or three of the most important issues for the Tigard community?
The second question was about how the library can support the community. A good discussion
ensued. Comments shared at the meeting will be compiled with other feedback to help develop the
Strategic Plan.
Amber Bell shared the library overview that is being presented at meetings with community
partners,which gives some background about the library: The Tigard Public Library has been
serving the public since 1963.We currently have a service area of about 65,000 people. We are a
department of the city of Tigard, and a member of Washington County Cooperative Library
Services. Community members use library resources for many reasons. Families come to story time
Tigard Public Library Board MINUTES —Thursday, February 18, 2021
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503.639.4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 1 of3
to strengthen early literacy skills and build relationships with each other.Job seekers develop skills
with technology classes and use Wi-Fi and computers to find employment. Many people visit the
library just to have a quiet, safe place to spend time by themselves or connect with others. In short,
the library is a community hub for information, entertainment, and connection. Before last March,
we served about 1,000 people a day. Since June,we have been providing services through Library
Takeout;with holds pick-up,Take&Make activities, and printing services. Through Library
Takeout, library patrons have checked out over 154,400 items, and library team members have
served 5,031 people in January alone. We also have a range of online programming, and we are
available to answer questions on the phone or through email.We are looking forward to expanding
our services again when health& safety allows.
6. DISCUSSION AND PREPARATION FOR JOINT CITY COUNCIL/LIBRARY MEETING
Chair Katie Harris began the discussion by letting the group know that having a video with an audio
component will not work for the current virtual venue that City Council is using. It was suggested to
go ahead with a video concept but use a narration along with the video. Five separate videos were
suggested to demonstrate: 1) Finding a book with librarian help; 2) placing a book on hold and its
journey to the holds shelf;3)Librarian helps choose a book for a patron(book stacks);4) Guest picks
up book in takeout; and 5) Book returned and quarantined.
These short videos could be reused for other purposes on our website and social media too.
The City Council has always been very supportive of the library. We want to continue to keep them
informed of our resources and how we meet the needs of our community members during this
pandemic and beyond.
City Council Presentation Breakdown Presenter
Opening Remarks Katie Harris
General facts, Our survey, and the COVID transition Helen Allen
Video (Book Checkout Process) with videos broken up by title cards Chris Allen
(Back-up:Jim Ivler)
Strategic Plan overview and where we are going next Kate Ristau
7. LIBRARY OPERATIONS
Library Director Bernard updated the Board on activities and decisions made since the January
meeting. She went over the Service Levels the library is operating at and the protocols the library is
following to comply with the guidance and best practices set out by the Washington County Public
Health Department, Oregon Health Authority, and the City of Tigard. The Risk Level for
Washington County recently lowered from extreme risk to high risk. If the risk level decreases to
the next level,we will plan to reopen the library building in a limited capacity.
A detailed update on staffing and the recruitment process for open positions was also provided.
Our volunteer program remains suspended, as it has been since March 13,2020. Katie Nelson
(Volunteer Coordinator) is developing a virtual volunteer recognition celebration.
Our continuing education opportunities have expanded for all staff as our library has signed up for
the organization access to the 2021 Oregon Library Association Conference. Our entire library
team can register for the virtual conference at no additional cost per person. Since it is a virtual
Tigard Public Library Board MINUTES —Thursday, February 18, 2021
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503.639.4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 2 of3
conference that is being recorded, staff will have until the end of August 2021 to view the
individual breakout and pre-conference sessions. In line with our anti-racism action plan, one of the
pre-conference sessions include the Oregon Library Association's Equity,Diversity, and Inclusion
Committee's Anti-Racism Toolkit. This will be a vital learning tool used to achieve the goal of
building equity in our community.
Statistics for programs and circulation in January include 30,470 requests to fill holds. In
comparison,January 2020 was 16,158.We helped 5,031 patrons in Library Takeout in January. Our
24 virtual programs were attended by 452 patrons.There were 453 reference questions answered by
phone and 155 answered by email. Tech Services added 1,911 new items to our collections last
month. It takes staff, on average, 17.4 days to process new materials.
Library Board member Kate Ristau and Jeanne Peloquin (Communications and Outreach
Coordinator) were interviewed on the "Talking Tigard" podcast—"Books Are Just the Beginning."
Currently the City of Tigard is conducting a survey about the city's next website! The survey will
help us understand what community members most frequently look for on the city's website. The
survey will close on March 10. This survey is offered in English and Spanish at these links:
English-htt2s://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LC93VI2
Spanish -https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BX689K",
8. DISCUSSION POLICY UPDATE
Deferred to March 18, 2021, as stated above.
9. OTHER BUSINESS
There were no other items discussed.
10. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Katie Harris adjourned the meeting at 7:32 p.m. The next virtual meeting of the Tigard Public
Library Board is scheduled for Thursday,March 18,2021 at 6:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by: Margaret L. Reh
Date approved: March 18, 2021
Tigard Public Library Board MINUTES —Thursday, February 18, 2021
City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503.639.4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 3 of3