OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Alameda Free Library Board Meeting – July 2, 2026

City Council — Thursday, July 2, 2026
BodyAlameda, California
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, July 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 53:19

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

Alright.

0:03

Good evening.

0:04

It is the uh May 13th Almeida Free Library Board meeting.

0:11

And we are going to start with a roll call.

0:16

Yes.

0:18

President Amara Surrew.

0:20

Present.

0:21

Vice President Gibbons.

0:22

Present.

0:23

Board member battle.

0:24

Present.

0:24

Board Member Kranji.

0:26

Present.

0:26

Board Member Strickler.

0:27

President.

0:28

By present.

0:30

We'll move on to item number two, which is non-agenda public comment.

0:33

Comments are limited to in person only.

0:36

Remote public comment is not available for this section, and there are no people from the public here.

0:43

So we will move on to number three, the consent calendar.

0:47

There are three different items.

0:49

One is the draft minutes of the March 11th meeting, the financial report reflecting the March and April expenditures and the bills for ratification check registers for March and April.

1:03

Does anyone have any questions about that?

1:06

We'll just move, make a motion.

1:08

I motion to accept the draft the draft minutes from the March meeting.

1:15

The entire consent calendar.

1:16

Oh, the entire case calendar.

1:18

All in favor.

1:20

Wait, was there a sponsor?

1:22

Yes.

1:26

All right.

1:27

All in favor.

1:29

All right.

1:30

It is passed.

1:31

Great.

1:32

Now we'll move to section four regular agenda items, and we'll start with our 4A, which is from our interim library joint.

1:42

Thanks.

1:46

Good to see you again.

1:47

Thanks.

1:48

Like I said, like hopefully riding a bike through.

1:52

But the um the letter I said I sent out there was quite a bit of programs that you saw.

1:59

Um we we had uh the women's history month, and then we also had the in women's history month, we had the Peeps Diorama Contest.

2:07

That was popular.

2:08

We think we had over 35 submissions.

2:12

So that was quite popular.

2:14

And then in April we had uh Arab American Heritage Month, and we had quite a few workshops, um author talks, uh things like that.

2:24

Um I think for oh also in April we have the bookmark design contests.

2:31

So that one we just wrapped up and we did uh um the final voting, so that should be printed and distributed in time for summer meeting program.

2:40

Um and we had a lot of great great uh designs, so it was kind of tough to narrow it down.

2:47

Um library staffing updates.

2:50

Marina Um Bellingit, who was our library assistant tech at Tech Services, has resigned or has retired.

2:58

Um so she was a big part of the library, but right now I am currently she's a library assistant at Tech Services, which was the department that I oversee.

3:09

Uh I'm trying to move that position into a library in one position because there are no librarians in tech services at this point, and we need one for collection development.

3:21

So we don't have any collection development uh full-time librarian.

3:24

We have two people, uh two part-timers working on that core function, so I think it's important.

3:30

Uh I went to the city council last week uh with the for the budget, and uh it seems to have moved forward, so it won't be adopted until June 2, but we'll find out more then.

3:41

If that's adopted, then I can start recruiting for that beginning of the new fiscal year uh in July.

3:48

So uh the other thing too during that budget meeting, the library social worker, which is funded through HHS, um has got approved for funding for another year.

4:00

So like I said it's not official until June 2nd, but there was a lot of um support for it, so which is great.

4:07

They've done a lot of work for us.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Libraries█████████████████████████████████████████████72%
Public Engagement████7%
Grant Funding███5%
Arts And Culture███4%
Youth Programs███4%
Community Engagement██3%
Music Events██3%
Tool Library█2%
Summary of Proceedings

Alameda Free Library Board Meeting – July 2, 2026

Note: The provided transcript begins with a date of May 13, 2026, but the meeting date specified for this summary is July 2, 2026. The content reflects the transcript as given.

The Alameda Free Library Board met on July 2, 2026, to discuss library operations, including the interim director's report on programs, staffing, and a new privacy booth; approval of a meeting room reservation policy with fee increases; and an update from the Friends of the Library. All board members were present. The consent calendar was approved, and several upcoming initiatives were discussed.

Consent Calendar

  • Unanimously approved the draft minutes of the March 11, 2026 meeting.
  • Approved the financial report reflecting March and April expenditures.
  • Approved the bills for ratification, including check registers for March and April.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made as no members of the public were present.

Discussion Items

4A – Interim Library Director Report

  • Programs and Events: The library hosted Women’s History Month and Arab American Heritage Month programming, including a Peeps Diorama Contest with over 35 submissions and a bookmark design contest. The winners will be printed for summer reading.
  • Staffing Update: Library assistant Marina Bellingit resigned/retired. The director is moving the position to a librarian role to address a gap in collection development. A budget proposal to fund this position was presented to city council and is expected to be adopted June 2, 2026. The library social worker position, funded through HHS, was approved for another year.
  • New Privacy Booth: A single-person pillar privacy booth will be installed on the first floor (Lincoln side) via the Empowering Access Project grant (approx. $16,000–$18,000). Permits from city planning have been approved, and installation is scheduled for late May or early June.
  • Strategic Plan: Three committees are being formed to implement the five-year strategic plan, with a kickoff in July 2026. The plan will be posted on the website. Metrics tracking will be developed, with reports likely every December and July.
  • Statistics and Trends: Circulation and attendance are up. Adult programming increased, while children’s and teen programming decreased, attributed to a vacancy in the school resource position (now filled). The Student Connect Card program with Alameda Unified School District will launch in September 2026, giving all K–12 students access to library databases and checkout of up to five books using their student IDs.
  • Hours Change: The library’s hours change (implemented October 2025) has received no complaints. Door counts remain high. The director hopes to eventually add evening hours when staffing allows.

4B – Approval of Draft Meeting Room Reservation Policy

  • The policy was updated to allow online reservations and a fee increase. New fees: Group D (Alameda nonprofits) $100 (increase of $25), Group E (Alameda public groups) $125 (increase of $50), Group F $150 (increase of $50). Fees had not been updated since 2014. The policy has been reviewed by the city attorney’s office. The board approved the policy; if also approved by city council in June, online reservations will launch in September.

4C – Friends of the Library Update

  • Mission and Activities: Friends of the Alameda Free Library (FAL) raises funds and advocates for the library. The spring used book sale is May 13–16, with a fill-a-bag for $5 promotion. FAL treated library staff to lunch on May 7.
  • Grants and Programs: FAL received a grant from the Alameda Welfare Council to support the library’s clinical social worker, providing free food and transportation passes. A grant from the City’s Public Arts Commission will fund a “Youth Show Up” event in March 2027, including a poetry slam, visual art, and speech forum for high school students, to be held during the Season for Nonviolence.
  • Fundraising: FAL runs biannual mailer campaigns. A capital campaign with a $1 million goal is planned for late 2026/early 2027 to refresh library furniture (the building turns 20 in November 2026). FAL is hiring a part-time retail manager for the bookshop.
  • Community Engagement: FAL invites board members to join the July 4th parade. A volunteer committee is forming. FAL also runs a concert series (“Lights of the Library”) and seeks sponsorships.
  • Administrative: FAL’s 990s are available; the annual report for 2025 is being finalized and will be released digitally soon.

Board Communications

  • Poet Laureate: Discussion about re-establishing the position of poet laureate (both adult and youth). The mayor is aware and interested. Board members will share information from previous processes and reach out to Alameda County’s youth poet laureate program.
  • Tool Library: A working group is forming to restart the tool library, funded by a FAL grant. A “phase zero” space is being identified with a limited tool set. Field trips to neighboring tool libraries are planned. The city attorney’s office is working on liability waivers.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar: Approved.
  • Meeting Room Reservation Policy: Approved by the board, subject to city council approval in June 2026.
  • Director’s Report: Received as information. Strategic plan committees to launch in July 2026. Student Connect Card program to launch in September 2026.
  • Friends Update: Received as information. Capital campaign to begin late 2026/early 2027.
  • Tool Library: Working group formed; progress to be updated at next meeting.
  • Poet Laureate: Board to research and present options at the next meeting.

Meeting Transcript

Alright. Good evening. It is the uh May 13th Almeida Free Library Board meeting. And we are going to start with a roll call. Yes. President Amara Surrew. Present. Vice President Gibbons. Present. Board member battle. Present. Board Member Kranji. Present. Board Member Strickler. President. By present. We'll move on to item number two, which is non-agenda public comment. Comments are limited to in person only. Remote public comment is not available for this section, and there are no people from the public here. So we will move on to number three, the consent calendar. There are three different items. One is the draft minutes of the March 11th meeting, the financial report reflecting the March and April expenditures and the bills for ratification check registers for March and April. Does anyone have any questions about that? We'll just move, make a motion. I motion to accept the draft the draft minutes from the March meeting. The entire consent calendar. Oh, the entire case calendar. All in favor. Wait, was there a sponsor? Yes. All right. All in favor. All right. It is passed. Great. Now we'll move to section four regular agenda items, and we'll start with our 4A, which is from our interim library joint. Thanks. Good to see you again. Thanks. Like I said, like hopefully riding a bike through. But the um the letter I said I sent out there was quite a bit of programs that you saw. Um we we had uh the women's history month, and then we also had the in women's history month, we had the Peeps Diorama Contest. That was popular. We think we had over 35 submissions. So that was quite popular. And then in April we had uh Arab American Heritage Month, and we had quite a few workshops, um author talks, uh things like that. Um I think for oh also in April we have the bookmark design contests. So that one we just wrapped up and we did uh um the final voting, so that should be printed and distributed in time for summer meeting program. Um and we had a lot of great great uh designs, so it was kind of tough to narrow it down. Um library staffing updates.

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TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
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