Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Alameda Library Board met on September 21, 2026. (Note: The transcription begins by referring to this as the "November meeting," creating a discrepancy with the official metadata date provided. This summary relies on the provided metadata.) President Amara Suri Wardena presided. Board members present included Bell and Panji. Vice President Gibbons and Board Member Striffler were absent. The board received a strategic planning update, discussed the library operations report, heard public comment, and unanimously approved the consent calendar.
Strategic Planning Update (Item 4A) Kristen, the facilitating consultant, provided an update on the strategic planning process. She reviewed findings from the stakeholder report, noting the library is highly valued, but opportunities exist in facilities, hours, and targeted outreach. Board members discussed the methodology of the survey, particularly how staff feedback on workspaces (e.g., 20-year-old chairs, lack of laptops) was gathered.
The three primary strategic focus areas were presented: Access (services and collections), Experience (community perception and outreach), and Internal Capacity (staff, technology, and infrastructure). Board members provided feedback on the language used. One member expressed strong concern that terms like "patron facing technology" and "facilities for connection and discovery" could be perceived as elitist and alienating to community members with lower levels of education or digital literacy, urging the use of simpler, more public-facing language. Another member stressed the need for concrete metrics and timelines to make the plan a usable operational tool. The Library Director confirmed that granular approaches and metrics exist in the appendices of the draft, which is expected to be ready for board review in January 2027.
Staff and Library Operations Report (Item 4B) The Library Director provided an update on several key operational areas:
Um all right, it's it's started. Yeah, welcome to the November meeting of the library board, the Alameda Library Board. Um this meeting, uh we will start with a roll call. President Amara Suri Wardena. Here, present. Vice President Gibbons is absent. Board member Bell. Board Member Panji, Board Member Striffler is absent, represent all right. Um we can move on to item number two, which is starting the non-agenda public comment. Uh comments are let me check in person only. Remote public comment is not available for this section. We have two people in the room. Do you have any public comment? Um, I might it depends. Have you guys written your mission statement yet? Or is that still in still in progress? Yeah, yeah. We're gonna hear some. Um so I put me together for you guys um because writing this kind of stuff is something that I do in my regular work. Hopefully, this is helpful and not presumptuous. Yeah. Um basically, last time we were you guys were all talking about um mission statements versus vision statements. And so I just put together like a little definition of terms, it is not intended to be pigantic, it is just a helpful tool as you guys are figuring out what exactly you want your mission statement to be. Um, sure, thank you. Um it's just helpful if you want to um sort of all be using the same terms, and they sort of will help you to um determine what it is we're after. So I included like a little case study, if you will, of Nike of just sort of how these four things are used. Hopefully it's helpful. Um and then I also just put together like a little um paracon version of the creative brief, which is what as an agency, um, any agency working with you would want you to fill out as you figure out what you're working toward. Again, you don't literally have to fill this out, we're just questions to get you guys thinking. And then the last thing I included is something that like no copyright or whatever actually want to share with is a truly raw brainstorm docum where I just started like throwing stuff down based on what I heard you all say. Yeah, um again, it is meant to be a jumping off point. It is truly raw. There are some like half ideas in there, you'll notice some of them trail off. They're just there for you to look at and ponder and see if they spark something for you. Thank you so much. It's Elise, right? Thank you so much, Elise. It's um really appreciate that. That's super super helpful.