Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Promotion Cmte - 02-18-2015ZE3 CITY OF PALM DESERT REGULAR MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Wednesday, February 18, 2015 — 3:00 p.m. Administrative Conference Room 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Kermode called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Member Lois Cardona Member Joan Beasley Member Marilyn Hahn Member Ella Manor Vice Chair Bobbie Rosenberg Chair Louise Kermode Also Present: Sabby Jonathan, Councilman Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk Sherry Martinez, Desert Zone Manager, Riverside County Libraries Lisa Brock, City Librarian Kaz Akers, Palm Desert Library Special Events Coordinator Eileen Strain, Palm Desert Library Volunteer Coordinator Deborah Schwartz -Glickman, Management Analyst Grace L. Mendoza, Recording Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Chair Kermode introduced Councilman Sabby Jonathan, the Liaison from the City Council. Councilman Jonathan stated it was a pleasure and honor to join the Library Promotion Committee. Chair Kermode inquired about Mr. Jim Miller and whether or not he would be joining the Library Promotion Committee. APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 Ms. Klassen replied his application hadn't been received, which is what starts the process for City staff. She asked if anyone makes contact with Mr. Miller, to please remind him to turn in his application. She went on to say the City Council just went through its annual process of Committee appointments and reappointments, and there weren't any people interested in the Library from the applications currently on file. She said the City accepted applications year round, and they are always welcomed with or without vacancies, because situations change, and as soon there is a change, there is a pool to draw from. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES of the Palm Desert Library Promotion Committee Meeting of November 19, 2014. Upon a motion by Member Hahn, second by Member Cardona, and 5-0 vote of the Committee (AYES: Cardona, Hahn, Manor, Rosenberg, Kermode; NOES: None; ABSENT: Beasley), the Minutes of the Library Promotion Committee meeting of November 19, 2014, were approved as presented. V. NEW BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON LIBRARY ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS. Ms. Brock introduced Ms. Kaz Akers the new Palm Desert Library Special Events Coordinator who filled Robin Stewart's vacancy. Ms. Akers said her background was both in entertainment and production, and she was a former restaurateur. Therefore, this position was perfect for her, because of her expertise, background, and knowledge. She has co -owned two restaurants, stating she started out as a performer and was doing that up until two years ago in addition to other administrative things. She worked television, stage, commercials, and owned two restaurants, a gym, cinema, so she has been very busy. She said this position was a good fit for her. B. PRESENTATION ON PUBLIC ART BY CITY OF PALM DESERT MANAGEMENT ANALYST DEBORAH SCHWARTZ GLICKMAN. Ms. Klassen stated Ms. Schwartz -Glickman had approached her about wanting to invigorate the interest of the public art collection at the Public Library and make sure all Committee members and staff were familiar with the collection there. 2 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 Ms. Schwartz -Glickman said she ran the Public Art Program for the City and would be covering the programming her department did around the art collection at the Library. She handed out a map of the guided walking tours used for the Public Art Docent Tours at the Civic Center Park, Palm Desert Library, and El Paseo, stating these tours are offered once a month from September to May on a rotating basis. Therefore, the Library's collection would be toured two or three times a year. The tours are free to the public, and no reservations are required for the scheduled ones. She said there are 12 works of art at the Library, and as part of the tour, they talk about the Public Arts Program, each art work and how it got there, and they give information about the artist and the artwork itself. Tours start at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, which is earlier than the Library opens, so it's a great opportunity to get a sneak peak in the Library without everyone else there. She added the tours are also part of what the City calls "First Weekend Palm Desert," which is the first weekend of every month starting with the first Friday through that Sunday. The City offers cultural activities throughout Palm Desert, which includes the McCallum Theatre, Cal State San Bernardino, and El Paseo having several events going on as well. If the Library has any cultural events happening, she encouraged that information be sent to her. First Weekend is a way to package the City's culture during that weekend. The City also offers private Art Tours to anyone that's interested free of charge, stating she has a group of volunteers to lead the Tours. She invited the Committee to take a tour of the Library's Public Art, stating she would be happy to schedule one, and although she didn't normally do them herself, she would be happy to do it for this Committee. She would also like to tour the Library staff at some point to get them more familiar with the art, so they can help publicize the tours, and the Committee can also spread information via word of mouth, which is one of the great ways the tours thrive. And vice versa, it was also a way to get the word out about the Library, stating it was a good synergistic relationship. She said the Library Public Art Tours ranged between 2, 8, and 10 people, and the El Paseo Tours can reach up to 60 people, but she would like to increase the numbers and frequency of the privately booked tours. She commented the Library had great art, but people didn't always know about it. She offered to answer any questions. Ms. Manor commented the newly purchased trash receptacles on El Paseo are absolutely gorgeous. 3 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 Ms. Strain inquired about the paintings on electrical boxes, stating she hoped no one will graffiti them. Ms. Schwartz -Glickman replied the painting of electrical boxes is part of the City's Art Program, and the City has been very lucky in that they haven't been graffitied. Part of the reason these types of programs were started on the traffic signal cabinets throughout the country is to stop graffiti. She said Palm Desert was fortunate it had very few issues with public art in general, stating there are 150 art pieces throughout the City, and 60 of them are owned or on loan to the City; the other ones are owned by the developers at the complex where they are located. VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VII. OLD BUSINESS None Vill. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Council Liaison (Councilman Sabby Jonathan) Councilman Jonathan thanked everyone for volunteering their time and putting their hearts and souls into the Committee, because it was important to the community, stating he and the City appreciated it. Being new, he had a lot to learn and asked for everyone to be patient with him. He expressed interest in meeting with Ms. Brock for a tour of the Library and hearing everything that's going on there, so he would like to get her contact information and perhaps coordinate that tour. He went on to say the City loves special events, and it seemed the Library is in a wonderful position to do them. He said he loved to see coordination with the stakeholders. For example, Ms. Akers mentioned she had a cooking background and the City has a Food & Wine Festival; maybe there can be an event where there are cookbooks with the author, and then there are demonstrations of what's in the book. Also, the McCallum Theatre is right next door to the Library, so it occurred to him that when there are performers, there could be related biographies, because some of the performers are very eclectic. He said there might be an opportunity to coordinate a reading followed with going to see a show. Additionally, 4 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 coordinating with the Josyln Center and the YMCA, where the seniors come to the Library to read to kids from the YMCA, and there is also the Children's Discovery Museum. In his experience in reaching out to all of these groups and organizations serving different segments of the community, they all seem to want to interact; together they can serve the community. He apologized if the Committee or Library was already doing some of these things, but those were his off -the -top -of -his -head comments. He again thanked the Committee for making him a part of this group and looked forward to working with everyone. B. Librarian (Lisa Brock) Ms. Brock stated while the Special Events Coordinator position was vacant, she has was filling in on all the adult programming with the Chef Program and Sunday Sounds over at the Community Center, stating the Library has continued its partnership with them. She said the programs have been very popular in that they were at full reservation of 150 by early January, and the programs run through March, which consist of three Chefs Programs and four concerts. The Library also has a Career Vision Workshop coming up on March 3, 2015; it will be announced in the next Brightside Newsletter. She said the workshop is sponsored by the Inland Library System, stating they pay for the presenters and everything else, and the Library only provides the space. A second workshop will be held in May on a Saturday so that those that work during the week have an opportunity to attend. The Library is also in the midst of re-evaluating the children's programming, and they are continuing with their weekly Baby Story Time, the Pre-school Story Time, and adding an evening program called "Wednesday Family Movie Night," held the first Wednesday of every month. Also, because Lego programs have been popular, they will start doing a monthly Lego program with kids creating whatever they want revolving around a theme. The Library is also starting a new story type program called, "The ABC's of Cooking," so all the stories will revolve around food with participants making edible craft; the program will go on to be nutrition -based on school age levels. Coming up April 1 is the 17th Annual Libraries are Fun Festival, which is always a huge event with about 350 to 400 kids attending; it's in the planning stages. For teens, the Library started a new Teen Advisory Group, which are teens interested in helping with the planning and programming for their age group. This group came up with a movie marathon, featuring Marvel Comic Book Movies, and will start in March for four weeks. This group also has a Lego APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 program for teens called, "Little Bricks," which is held once a month and is open to fifth graders all the way up to high school. She handed out the Public Library Statistics Report, stating that in January they finally had an increase in circulation, and Reference Questions had also been very busy. She said Eileen Strain will go over the volunteer statistics, but the numbers have been steady. Additionally, use of the meeting rooms has gone up with people wanting to use the Library Community Room and the shared study rooms. C. Special Events Coordinator (Kaz Akers) None D. Volunteer Coordinator (Eileen Strain) Ms. Strain said the numbers for January were good with 27 volunteers, and hours contributed were 163. For Home Bound, she only had four Shut-in Deliveries due to the holidays and Atria having their own activities; therefore, she only had 28 deliveries in January. She said she was having a problem getting volunteers to help in the evenings, specifically Wednesday nights, so she will try to reach out to college students. Also, she will call Mr. Jim Miller on the status of his application. E. Friends of the Palm Desert Library (Joan Beasley) None F. Committee Members 1) Member Manor stated that in reading the Bright Side Newsletter and seeing what is happening at the Library, she was disappointed the computer classes weren't being advertised. Additionally, there is nothing at the Library indicating there are classes at a certain time, and there are many computers with many people needing to take the class. Also, in talking to the gentleman who used to help the computer class on genealogy, he told her the class wasn't being advertised, so he wasn't doing it. Ms. Brock replied the Library stopped advertising for the general classes because there was a five -month waiting list at one point. Even now, for the upcoming Bright Side issue, 0 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 Jean Marie, who does those computer classes on Monday, asked that her class not be included; however, Lyn Manor's class will be advertised. Further responding, she explained sometimes people make reservations and then they don't show up, which added to the problem. Member Manor suggested placing a sign near the computers saying there are classes available. Ms. Brock agreed to put up a sign. 2) Member Hahn noted the Rancho Mirage Library has wonderful speakers, stating Jim Cornett spoke the other day and drew many people. She said these lectures are done during the week and are very successful. Ms. Brock said there have been discussions about a speaker series, and they have tried it in the past, but it wasn't well attended; perhaps it can be revisited now that Ms. Akers was on board. She believed it was a matter of finding the right speakers that will attract the attention. 3) Vice Chair Rosenberg inquired about the TED Talks at the Library, because she learned from her grandchildren that they have them in Michigan that are attended by thousands of people because they have the facility for them, adding the speakers talk on a wide variety of subjects. Ms. Brock explained the Library is showing TED (Technology, Education, & Design) Talk videos that are on the Internet, stating people come together and watch them during their lunch time, followed by the group having a dialog about it. She said there has been a good crowd each week so far. For now on Tuesday they have the TED Talk, Thursday is the Chef Program, and Sunday is the Sunday Sounds. Vice Chair Rosenberg said she was delighted the Library was tapping into this idea and urged her colleagues to research TED Talks on the internet. Ms. Martinez added that Robin has carried the program to the La Quinta Museum as well. There is a new exhibit there called, "It's about Time," with part of it clocks and watches, and the other part is relaxation and how to save time, 7 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 Alzheimer patients, and ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). Robin is having a lecture on ALS and obtained a local representative on ALS to speak, stating this speaker knows two of the actors in the movie "The Theory About Everything," and also knows Stephen Hawking. She also encouraged the TED Talks, pointing out TED-X meant it was a local speaker or local connection. Responding to question about how they get the word out, she said in La Quinta it's at the gym. Ms. Brock stated she publicizes in the Bright Side, the monthly calendar, and the website, offering that she usually puts up a poster with a description of the TED Talk video that will be shown. Responding to question about distribution of the Bright Side to Palm Desert residents, Ms. Klassen said it was mailed to all Palm Desert post office addresses for commercial and residential. 4) Member Hahn said she knew there was a book group in Palm Desert, but she's always been surprised there hasn't been an adult book study group. She said she has always gone to the one in Rancho Mirage, which is well attended and knew of the one in Palm Springs as well. She asked if there has been interest or inquiries on having such a group where everyone reads the same book. Ms. Brock said Palm Desert's book club has been well attended and utilized the same format. The reason it hasn't gone to a more traditional book club style is that sometimes it's hard to get enough copies of the same book for everyone to read. Ms. Strain explained that when Robin Stewart started the book club and everyone was reading the same book, two of the members suggested selecting a theme and reading a different book about it. For example, the theme can be on romance, and two people would read the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and two other people would read the Duke and Duchess of Windsor by a different author, and you end up with two different conclusions. The thought was to share the commonality from both books. She believed next month the topic was on headlines, and it can be for the past 50, 60, or APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 100 years. For example, with the headline "Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor," one can go to the Library and pick up any book on World War II because that's when it started. In fact, she is going to pick one up on the title "A New Nation," so she will pick up a book on the Constitution of the United States. She said she hasn't read the Constitution, but she will now. She said there might be other suggestions on how to conduct book clubs, but both formats can be used. Member Hahn shared that during the season, Rancho Mirage has about 30 people meeting once a month, and there didn't seem to be a problem getting the book, because they always picked a book where there is paperback available so that's is not too expensive. Vice Chair Rosenberg said she was part of a book club where they read the same book and loves it. She agreed people come to a different conclusion, which was the beauty of a book club. She noted they also utilized getting the book through their Kindle. Member Hahn said she was interested in joining another book club, which is why she was inquiring. Ms. Martinez pointed out the Thousand Palms branch just started a book club, and they have had a good reception. Councilman Jonathan suggested doing a trial run for three or six months, then evaluate, stating traditional book clubs are very popular. F. Staff Ms. Martinez said everything was coming along with the Library system in general. She said Lake Tamarisk received notice about their $4,700 Solar Grant, which will be used for programming for the next couple of years. Representatives for Friends of the Desert Libraries met in December where they discussed a certain amount of money that would be available to four of the branches for their Summer Reading Program, specifically those that didn't have Friends groups and Desert Hot Springs, which is struggling financially. Each will receive $1,500 for their summer program needs. Additionally, Anza is also in this zone, so they will receive $300 for their program. She said it's been a busy time. In 9 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2015 conclusion, she said Lisa Brock and staff have been doing a great job at the Palm Desert Library. IX. ADJOURNMENT Upon a motion by Vice Chair Rosenberg, second by Member Cardona, and 5-0 vote of the Committee (AYES: Cardona, Hahn, Manor, Rosenberg, Kermode; NOES: None; ABSENT: Beasley), Chair Kermode adjourned the meeting at 3:38 p.m. Gr ce L. Mendoza, Recording Secretary 10