Good evening.

Welcome to the regular Board of Trustees meeting of the Indianapolis Public Library.

Gilbert, would you please call the role?

Yes, ma'am.

Miss Johnson.

Dr.

Murtada.

Present.

Dr.

Palacio.

Present.

Dr.

Riolo.

Present, Dr.

White.

Pro.

And Miss Whitter.

Present.

We do have a quorum.

We have a quorum.

Good evening, everyone.

It's my pleasure to welcome you to the monthly meeting of the Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees.

My name is Kaula Murtada, and I'm vice president of the Indianapolis Public Libraries, Board of Trustees, and I'll be presiding this evening as President Bieterman is away.

But I'd like to take a moment to introduce someone that I have a great deal of admiration for.

And this is our new board member.

I'd like to welcome Ms.

Elizabeth Johnson to our board.

Miss Johnson has been appointed by our board to our board by the Marion County Board of Commissioners to replace Mr.

Davy, who has stepped down.

Miss Johnson currently works as a business librarian and assistant professor at Butler University.

She's built a career in academia and librarianship with experience in research support, instruction, and community engagement.

Some of you may recognize her name.

Miss Johnson's previous role included assistant librarian at Indiana University, Indianapolis, as well as Martindale Brightwood branch manager of the Indianapolis Public Library.

In addition to her professional work, Ms.

Johnson has been active in library leadership and community service.

She's a member of the American Library Association and currently serves as president of the Indiana Black Librarians Network.

She's earned her Master of Library Science from Indiana University and her Bachelor of Science in African and African American Studies, as well as political science from Indiana State University.

Please, once again help me to welcome Ms.

Johnson back to the service.

I also must take a moment to thank Mr.

Davy on behalf of the board for sharing his time and his service with us.

Before our branch report, I just wanted to take a moment to mention that last Thursday, last Thursday was one of the most wonderful events that the library holds annually.

And that's the 47th annual Marion McFadden Memorial Lecture.

It drew at capacity a multi-generational audience reflecting strong community engagement and enthusiasm for reading and of course our library programming.

But we couldn't do any of this without the staff of our library.

So we have to give a round of applause just for our staff.

I was told that more than room capacity, right?

It's more than room capacity, and that our staff just managed it brilliantly.

The author, of course, in the conversation with Michael Streets, the event delivered an engaging and inspiring discussion, highlighted the power of books, of course, the joy of reading and the importance, the critical importance of our public libraries.

Want to thank the foundation, of course, and our problem with all the things that are happening out in the world with censorship.

The McFadden lecture brings together you cannot stop this powerful work.

It is so very important.

And this memorable event makes all the difference for our community as well.

Next on the agenda, we'll turn our attention to our monthly branch report.

But each month we usually meet at our branches.

But this day we're going to talk about what's happening with the info zone, which is located at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

For logistical reasons, instead of hosting there at the Info Zone, we're holding our meeting here in the Library Service Center, just a few blocks from the InfoZone.

So now let's learn about the incredible work of the InfoZone and invite Miss Stacey Terrell, branch manager, to step forward to share her report.

Thank you, Miss Darrell.

Vice President Murtada, members of the Library Board.

On behalf of the Infozone Branch, welcome to the Library Services Center.

While we are a small branch, our physical footprint may be small, but our range with the within the community reaches far and wide.

Uniquely located in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

The InfoZone celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and we continue to be the only full service public library branch inside a museum.

Like with other small branches, we at the InfoZone wear many hats.

And I am thankful to have a great team who provide such a welcoming atmosphere to our patrons.

It consists of myself as the manager, our circulation supervisor, a youth multimedia learning specialist, and I guess I should do the slides.

And two public services associates, one public service associate that we also share with Garfield Park, and a part-time computer assistant.

And then a little bit of just about who we serve.

The neighborhoods that we serve are Crown Hill, Highland Vicinity, Historic Meridian Park, Mapleton Fall Creek, Meridian Highland, and Historic Watson Park.

These neighborhoods all have a rich history in the city and are dedicated to helping their residents, as are we.

And then just a little bit about some numbers.

While they don't tell the whole story, it does provide a snapshot of our last year at the infozone and illustrates all that our team does for the community.

We provided 403 programs with a total of 9,608 attendees last year.

I did the math, and that averaged out to about 24 attendees per program.

And then our programs run the gamut from serving toddlers and babies, school age children to even adults.

And one of those is we had a unique opportunity last spring to provide a program for a delegation of educators from all over the world through the State Department.

And they came through the International Visitors Leadership Program.

And the focus was on technology and innovation.

Elizabeth, our youth multimedia learning specialist, uh demonstrated some of the tech that she uses in programs and also her process and planning programs just to illustrate some of the unique programming that we do.

The other thing we're very proud of is last year we did see a increase of active cardholders up 16% over the previous year.

And I really credit the team at the infozone for making sure that they're engaging with our patrons and providing excellent customer service to whoever walks through that door.

So which also kind of brings us to around the branch.

As I said, our programming and outreach has contributed a lot to our success.

Especially with Butler Lab 60 and Hair and Preparatory Academy.

We currently see all the classes from Hair and Prep from kindergarten to seventh grade.

Next year they'll have an eighth grade class, eighth grade classes as well.

Every month, these classes come over to the info zone.

It's a two-fold purpose.

They check out books.

And then we also provide programming that incorporates both a literacy and a technology element with it.

And you can kind of see some of the pictures that we've put up, um, are just some of our favorite snapshots from the last year with our students.

Um we had fourth graders um decorating the tote bags that were donated into a food pantry for the Seeds of Caring program that PDA put on.

Um they did a phenomenal job.

It was fun to watch them just get into it.

Um then the middle picture is one of my favorites.

It's a also a fourth grader.

Um, and we do have some AI that we use with like the PLOs, which are the dinosaurs up in the top corner, and this new thing we have looks like little gerbil, it's called a mofflin, but it's AI, it responds to you.

Um, and Yuan just loved on that.

Um, and he was very expressive, and I had never seen him so just involved in a program before.

So it was really good to see.

Um, and then also they work together as teams, whether it's building, playing games, um, and then also just reading as well.

Um, they all get to choose books throughout their time, and they'll just go back and sit and wait for everyone else to finish and start looking at the books that they're gonna check out.

So it's it's a pleasure to just work with all of these students.

And then because they visit monthly, some of my favorite programs this year have been those that we've been able to do like a project, like on a continual basis with them.

And to get ready for our summer reading program with the theme as play, we're actually have our seventh grade classes designing tasks for a real life among us game, and um that we are planning to use for the summer.

So they're helping us design this so they get to learn about the design process and also use technology.

Um the one picture at the bottom is um we have this new thing called a chomp saw that actually cuts through cardboard safely, but it's like they get to use like a saw.

So they're learning how to like cut, measure, create, build, all of that.

Um and then of course, we also still continue to do outreach events throughout the um service area, whether it's with the Indy Health District and going to a farmers market, um, trunk or treats at Heron Prep, working with Ivy Tech and their pre-education classes, um, and also doing vaccine clinics with the children's museum by providing space and and activities for the families as they wait.

Um, you know, we get to do it all.

Um, and then just a little bit more about um the branch.

Um, as I said last year, um, we celebrated our 25th anniversary, and so through a variety of programs over the year, including a fail abration that we did in June for our half birthday, um, it actually encouraged kids to, and some of the pictures, the three um at the top there are from that, um, where they got to basically take cardboard and create and build things.

And our um the my favorite one is the one of the the little girl.

You can't tell, but it's a dinosaur head, and uh she also attends our Star Point camp, which is part of the children's museum summer camp, and they come for weekly visits, and she was struggling with making mistakes and not wanting to do that and like feeling that like you know, she just needed to start over every time and had to scrap everything and felt like she was failing.

So at this fail abration, it took her a while, but she figured out how to make this dinosaur head out of cardboard, and she was so excited, and she took it home with her.

Um, and then in talking with her mom, you know, it really did help her kind of start to see that you know, mistakes can happen, and you just have to work through that as you create.

So that was a very fun event.

It culminated at with a birthday party that we did in December, and then um because we have such a strong partnership with the schools, um, I've really seen an influx of the families coming outside of school time, right?

They're coming on the weekends, they're coming during the summer.

We saw several over winter break.

Um, they were meeting other families here at the info zone for play dates and to check out books because they needed more uh before this they went back to school.

So we've really seen an influx of the families coming to the info zone and really seeing it as their library and using it on a more regular basis.

And because of that, um, we also did a program in the afternoon when we knew one day Heron Prep got out early, and we had them all come over and it was a huge success.

Families came, they got to make a mess with art, they did an escape room, they played games.

Um, so we know what we can do more of that.

And we plan to do more of that kind of programming this summer with the families as well.

Um, something else we've started doing is offering a PJ story time on Thursday evenings.

We're the only branch open on Thursday until eight.

Um, so we've taken advantage of that, and we do a PJ story time, and it's been very successful.

Um, and we continue, and we plan to continue to do that through the summer as well.

Um see.

And then just kind of a last thing about some of our displays that we've been working on.

We really try to not just make engaging and diverse displays through the info zone to promote our um materials, but we want to make them interactive as well.

So one of the things we did last year was we had a mystery that was a take-home packet for teens and adults that they could take with them tied into the books about dark academia, just to tie it all together.

Um, and we also do um, you know, there's another one about it was for Earth Day last year, and like how you can help your community and what you would want to do to help make sure um we leave the world a better place than than where it's at now.

So um that kind of just sums up everything about the info zone.

Any questions?

Just 25 years.

Yeah.

Tremendous.

The only library and a museum.

Yeah.

403 programs.

Awesome.

Fail abrasion.

So any questions from the board.

Please, Lisa, go ahead.

I'm only disappointed that we're not in your space today because last year, so many comments from the community were complimentary of you, your staff, your programming, and the value that you brought to the community.

I mean, it's really nice that your staff were able to hear all of that from the community.

Yeah.

So I'm sorry they're we're not there for them to do that.

Well, I do remember that.

Yeah, thank you.

I do have two staff members here, but I asked if they wanted to be introduced, and they told me no.

So I respected that.

But they are here, and they know I'm very thankful for what they do.

So anything.

I see somebody waving.

Okay, good.

I just wanted to, yeah.

Um, yeah.

Uh unfortunately, the museum, not unfortunately, but it's spring break for a lot of schools, including here in prep.

Um, and so the museum is normally closed on Mondays during the school year, but they're open today.

So it just was too busy to try to figure it all out.

So it was just really nice to be all it was very nice, yes.

Additional comments, thoughts you want to share?

Plus one, everything that was said.

Um, first of all, happy 25th anniversary.

Second, uh, I love the creativity.

I I wrote down the falibration as well.

I love that.

I may take that back to the uh business sector as well.

And then um, thank you for just reporting out how you see a correlation between um school engagement and partnership and um independent and you know, uh traffic through the door, that correlation just inspiring.

So I I I've just been very impressed with every report every single month.

So thank you.

Congratulations.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Did you did you have some doctor Plaza?

Yeah, I thank you for keeping that space vibrant.

I take my kids for your kids in particular and the families.

I take my kids here once in a while.

So we really uh enjoy the time there before we go into the museum.

But it's always uh uh nice and enjoyable.

So thanks for keeping that uh vibrant.

Thank you.

Any other thoughts you want to share?

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and these elections for Nana.

Oh glad you liked it.

Just wanted to say uh I really appreciate the partnerships and the connections that you've built with the schools.

Uh when I read over the reports that I get every month, uh, I'm really grateful for the exceptional experiences that you and your staff uh provide to the patrons of the Indianapolis Public Library.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Partnerships are invaluable.

Yes, they are.

Thank you again.

Thank you.

This is the time when we proceed with public comment.

Ms.

Gilbert, do we have any individuals requesting public comments?

Yes, ma'am, we do.

We have Michael Torres who would like to speak.

And they're only back from the public about our Indianapolis libraries, and this is a time when the public may address the library board.

If there are several individuals representing the same group, please select a spokesperson.

Please do not repeat the same comments someone else's offered.

Please note also that this public comment time is not the appropriate time or the forum for commenting on matters related to employee charges, employee complaints, or alleged employee misconduct.

Any such matters should be brought promptly to the attention of the CEO or the human resources department where matters can properly be addressed in compliance with established library policies and procedures.

A five-minute limit will be allowed for each speaker.

Each speaker should give their name, and if they're speaking on behalf of a group.

Welcome, Mike.

Good evening, uh trustees, and welcome to our newest trustee, Ms.

Johnson.

It's great to see and to have a professional librarian on the board again.

I hope your fellow trustees will learn and lean on your experience and insight into how libraries operate day to day.

When Stephen Lane served on this board, even for a short time, he brought a perspective that only someone working on the front lines can offer.

It's good to have a voice represented again.

Welcome.

Budget season is here once again.

Last year during negotiations, junior members and library administration agreed in writing that the library would seriously explore moving to a single flat amount raise instead of a percentage-based raise for 2027.

We intend to hold firmly to that commitment.

Two years ago, this board made an important decision to give everyone across the system the same raise amount.

That choice gave many of our lower-paid frontline workers some much needed breathing room as the cost of living climbed.

With prices rising even faster today, it's even clearer that returning to percentage-based raises would widen the gap again.

We're looking forward to productive conversations about salaries, conversations that recognize the essential work are frontline and support staff due for the people we serve every day.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Gilbert.

At this time, we wanted to make sure that we announced that we had an executive session.

It was a regular meeting, and we had a special meeting.

The executive session was on February the 19th.

Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the executive session that was held February 19th?

So is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

The minutes have been moved and seconded.

Any discussion.

We now have a roll call to approve the minutes, please, Miss Gilbert.

Yes, Ms.

Johnson.

Aye.

Okay.

Dr.

Palacio.

Dr.

Riolo.

Approved.

Dr.

White?

Approved.

Miss Witter.

Approved.

And Dr.

Ratata.

Approved.

Motion carried.

We had a regular meeting on February 23rd, 2026.

Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held February 23rd, 2020?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

The minutes have been moved and seconded.

Any discussion.

Now have a roll call, please, Miss Gilbert, to approve the minutes.

Ms.

Johnson.

Approved.

Dr.

Placio.

Approved.

Dr.

Riello.

Approved.

Dr.

White?

Approved.

Miss Whitard.

Approved.

And Dr.

Matada.

Approved.

Motion carried.

Finance committee.

Dr.

White.

Thank you very much.

In consideration of your time and situation tonight, we do not have any resolutions for approval.

However, we want to give you a financial update, and Lilita and Mary will make that presentation.

Welcome, Miss Campbell.

Ms.

Rankin.

President Matada and Board of Trustees.

Oh Lord, I'm sorry.

On this slide, we reflect information from February 2028 2026.

The year-to-date amount that we received in revenue is 566,000, which is 2% of our budget, which will appear unfavorable.

However, this is the cadence of the library because we typically get our majority of our revenue through property taxes, which will hit in May and June and November, December.

And then for the charges of other services, we received public printing, which is $36,000, and also catering revenue, which was a little over 10,000.

And under our miscellaneous revenue, the interest that we received was 108,000.

And the year that received from the Hoosia Fund in it, Trust Indiana is about one percent lower than it was last year.

And this is normal right now for the end market.

So we probably will see this continue to drop.

So we're kind of monitoring that.

We did budget this for 2026 because we did forecast.

On this next slide, you'll see us a slope graph and also a bar graph.

The slow graph we will reveal the month to date information.

And the first part of it, you see the proper taxes again.

This is the cadence of the library, but you see that we're in line with everything else in the other other categories.

And in the bar graph, you'll see we're in line with all other categories, but it would appear that for the charges of services and miscellaneous that we received less, a little less than we did last year, and that is mainly because of the interest for the miscellaneous and the the drop in the yield.

And in the bar graph, you'll see we're in line with all other categories, but it would appear that for the charges of services and miscellaneous that we received less, a little less than we did last year, and that is mainly because of the interest um for the miscellaneous and the the drop in the yield and that total amount the difference from this time last year and this year is 576,000 on the expenditure side.

Um the largest category is personal services and benefits are month to date on that is 2.8 million and year to date 7.1 million.

Uh supplies is a smaller category at 104,000 for the month and 211,000 for the year to date.

Other services and charges, category 43 is uh 1.1 million per month to date and 1.8 million approximately for year to date.

And um that includes legal security, cleaning services, equipment, supplies, and technology, capital outlay is primarily our capital furniture and books and materials, category 44 and month to date was 267,000 with year to date 271,000.

So um that reflects that February is when we primarily got the um book system back up for the year after loading in budgets.

The next slide is the bar graph on the left for the month comparing to the year before at this time uh as well as the budget for the year.

So personal services and benefits are a little bit higher than last year and but within the budget, well within the budget, the supplies uh a little bit more than last year.

Um well within the budget, as well as other services and charges have decreased since last year, but within the budget and capital outlay also.

It's a little showing a little bit more than budget, but we didn't spend as much in January, so it's fine.

The year to date is to the right in the line chart, and personal services and benefits is blue line for this year, and orange is last year's and the yellow is the budget line.

So again, showing we're under the budget for personal services and benefits, uh supplies is within the budget as well as other services and charges and capital outlay.

Are there any questions?

I I would like to add that um for the expenditure for the on February 212th of the year is it's 16 percent.

I'm sorry, and right now we're at 13 percent.

So we were like three percent on the budget to just get a picture of um kind of you know how what percentage we're on the budget.

Any others?

Is there a motion to accept the report of the treasurer for February 2026?

Second any discussion.

We now have a roll call to accept the report of the treasurer.

Uh Ms.

Johnson, approved.

Dr.

Palacio approved, Dr.

Riolo approved, Dr.

White approved, Miss Woodard, approved, and Dr.

Matada approved.

Motion is carried.

Any other points that you wanted to make?

Um we did have this a couple of updates.

That's it.

Um one is that we're still in pre-audit and we're doing very well.

Um Mary is keeping up with all the the requests they have.

Um they have plenty, and I think it was last week.

Um, we had a meeting with our working group pursuing bonds to cover the Urban 10 renovations.

So that's in progress right now, and that's it.

Important.

Yeah, Mary keep us abreast.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms.

Campbell.

Thank you.

Diversity policy and human resources.

Dr.

Palacio.

So I'm happy to record that we don't have any resolutions for tonight, but we have uh talked about uh addition additional objective to the strategic plan uh for the CBLC.

Looking forward to hearing further information about it.

Thank you, Dr.

Palacio.

Facilities committee, Dr.

Riallo.

Yes, we have a single resolution, and we have a guest tonight to present that to us.

So we have Diana Short who will present that one resolution.

Welcome, Diane.

Be with you all.

Good evening.

Goody.

Um I am just presenting one resolution.

Um and this is resolution 10-2026 and its approval to award a construction service contract for the Franklin Road Branch carpet replacement project.

Um so the carpeting, just to give you a little bit of background at Franklin Road, the carpeting has definitely served its purpose, and it's pretty worn at this point.

Um, and they've actually had quite a bit of um trouble with the carpeting in recent years with it kind of losing adhesion to the concrete slab below.

Um, and just to give you an idea, carpet tile kind of the expected life we expect to get out of it, is about 10 years.

I think we're past that by a little bit.

Um so we sought to reach out to some vendors, um, and we did so by directly reaching out to eight vendors and then also posting on the Indianapolis Public Library website um and gave them about three weeks to review the quotes.

So we followed the invitation to quote process um per public works statute IC 36-1-12.

We ended up receiving two quotes um upon the time they were due.

Um, and Indianapolis Public Library shall award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder um or quoter per IC 36-1-12-14, and that lowest responsive and responsible quoter was EF Marberger.

In terms of fiscal impact, um their quote was 129,000, which is below the project estimate of 150,000.

Um, this project will be funded through the facilities improvements number three bond, which is fund 485.

And the last item is community impact.

They're a vendor, E.F.

Marburger is based out of Fishers, Indiana.

Um, they are a city certified woman business enterprise, and they will self-perform 100% of the work at Franklin Road.

So that is all I have.

Does anyone have any questions about this board resolution?

It did receive uh positive review from the committee and wanted to put it forward to the full board.

So the chair would request a second to such recommendations.

Second any discussion.

We now have a roll call to approve this resolution, Ms.

Ms.

Johnson.

Approve.

Dr.

Palacio approved Dr.

Riolo approved, Dr.

White, approved, Miss Fritter, approved, and Dr.

Matata.

Approved and get that new carpet.

Okay, thank you all.

Much appreciated.

Dr.

Riolo, we need to have a library of foundation update, please.

Yes, I will provide that in Roberta's steps.

Um the foundation does partner with the library for the uh McFadden lecture.

And as you heard, it was very positively received, and the foundation wanted to say how proud they were to partner with the staff who did just a remarkable job.

Um, circulate tonight at the library is still scheduled for Friday, April 17th.

Please get your tickets at ndpl foundation.org.

It's the annual fundraiser, and it's a whole lot of fun.

So definitely get your tickets there.

Um foundation wants to thank 220 donors who made gifts this past month.

And top corporate foundation donors include Alan Whitehall, Clues Charitable Foundation, Cummins Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, First Merchants Bank, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Lily and Down.

Oh, is it that one?

Nina Mason Puliam Chow Prost and Office of Lawrence, Lawrence Township Trustee, Steve Tally.

And this past month, they the foundation was able to provide more than $90,000 to the library for major initiatives that included summer reading program, growing global citizens, and CBLC Ninth Annual Book Fest and Juneteenth celebration.

So still doing good work.

Tremendous work and the again, the McFadden lecture and having all the kinds of support that it gives.

And the donations are welcome.

Yes.

Thank you so much for giving us a lot of.

There's a donation button right at the top of the NDPL.org website.

Got a little heart on it.

Go ahead and donate.

Thanks, Dr.

Riella.

Report of our CEO.

All right.

Thank you.

Good afternoon or good evening, Dr.

Matada board members.

First, I want to just give the confirmatory resolution 11 2026, which is before you every month regarding finance personnel and travel.

It's in its typical format, and I would ask for your approval.

And a second back discussion.

Yes, Miss Johnson.

Approve.

Dr.

Placio.

Approved.

Dr.

Yolo.

Approved.

Dr.

White.

Approved.

Miss Woodard.

Approved.

And Dr.

Martada.

Approved.

Thank you.

All right.

I'll continue on.

First, I'd like to give a brief update on the Central Library.

I wanted to share the latest update on the temporary closure of Central Library.

As many of you know, Central Library has been closed since February 22nd due to an unusual situation.

An interior glass panel in the six-story atrium was found to be fractured and requires repair.

We're pleased to report that Powers and Sons, along with their construction subcontractor, uh architectural glass and metal, will begin work at 8 30 a.m.

on Wednesday, March the 25th.

They will be installing scaffolding and construct a 30 by 60 foot containment wall within the HRM to safely remove and replace the damaged panel.

Once the glass is removed, the temporary covering will be installed over the opening.

At that point, we anticipate being able to safely reopen the building to the public.

The scaffolding will remain in place while we await the replacement glass, which is expected to take up to six weeks to arrive.

We are working diligently to complete the repairs, and we will reopen as soon as possible.

Thanks for that update.

Yep.

All right.

Thank you.

Okay, so my report will cover the uh February activities and impact across our neighborhoods.

The first is the scale of engagement.

It's the library is more than a landmark, it's a daily destination.

I have a couple key data points.

One of them is the 6717 average daily patron count, and then the 13,098 average daily circulation.

Uh going back up to the average daily patron count for the month of February.

We had 188,000 uh 62 patrons who visited our locations.

The uh Fort Bend, Glendale, and Michigan Road branch were the most visited branches.

Uh circulation, there was a 6.7% increase over the same period last year in total circulation, which includes e-circulation and physical circulation, but there was a 2% decrease in physical circulation compared to February of last year.

Uh programs, there was a 0.5% increase in programs from February 2025.

In February of this year, we had 944 programs, which is an amazing amount of programs.

Uh program attendance, we had a 1.2% increase from February of 2025.

Uh our attendance for February was 17,391.

So great job to all the branches and PDA for putting together uh amazing programming.

Uh impact in real time.

So approximately every five seconds, an Indianapolis neighbor walks through our doors.

Um, some of the things we do, of course, bridge and the the digital divide.

We have high speed and Wi-Fi hotspots, and with that, we had over 30,000 patrons use our public PCs in February, and we also had 41,000 unique users.

A unique user is a single distinct person that is using Wi-Fi.

So that's that is uh very uh amazing.

Also, workforce development.

We have the career center, and then um Hallville, East 38th Street, Martindale, Brightwood, they have career centers, but the other locations uh they provide some form of workforce development in the way of uh resume writing, job searching, and and that type.

So thank you to those branches as well.

Also, multiple locations hosted career charting, design your professional path, which is a series uh of uh three two-hour workshops that go beyond typical career advice to help our patrons chart a meaningful and fulfilling professional uh course of action, and then of course, we have our early childhood literacy, which is uh the foundation for future success.

Some engagement data uh on the adult side, East 38th Street.

They continued with the tax prep.

They had about 60 uh patrons who attended that, and then at Ford Bend, they had 218, and their tax prep is provided by AARP Tax Aid.

Um, all ages, we have Meet the Artist, and with Meet the Artists, I'm going to show a quick video.

Uh the Open Gala and Reception.

We had uh 1,353 visitors to Central.

Of course, Meet the Artist features art and performances tied to the theme Love and Action.

Uh guests had the chance to browse paintings, sculptures, and written works by local authors.

Uh Meet the Artists also featured a main stage with gospel singers, a comedian band, and the annual traditional fashion show.

So, real quickly, this video is about a minute and 30 seconds.

Meet the artists.

Some of this year's 30 featured artists are adult visual artists who have paid tribute to this year's theme park for sending work that represented love in action.

There has to be some sort of love within you that is expressed on your work.

Anyone who creates anything, they love what they're doing.

Anybody who meets anybody and gets into a relationship, they love who they are being with.

It is important that we share the love with one another.

So this is just a representation of how when two people come together, you pretty much connect on a different level.

This event means so much to me.

Yeah.

You just have to love yourself just to be able to live in this world because love is what it's really about.

We got to give an applause.

And I want to thank Miss Cordia Watkins and Mr.

Tony Radford and the African American History Committee for your outstanding work on Meet the Artists.

The next was the bilingual story times, which is a popular opportunity for families.

We hosted 18 different bilingual story times in a variety of languages, including Spanish, American Sign Language, and Ukrainian.

There was three sessions engaging our patrons with AI.

We had 24 patrons who came through the doors for that particular uh session.

We had 29 unique users who completed 31 learning hours and took 32 assessments through the self-directed North Star Digital Literacy Program.

And Michigan Road had the highest use of that platform.

CBLC Soul for Journey of Women is a captivating history experience that honors the voices and legacies of African American women who shaped our world.

And I think that was actually at four different locations.

I don't remember what those locations were, but uh that was uh that took place at four separate locations, and then Michigan Road, a shout out to Michigan Road and their teen advisory group.

Uh they are the ones who planned and led this pain and punch that was for uh ages 10 to 18, and they had uh 18 guests.

So thank you, Michigan Road and your teen advisory group.

Uh also during the uh the month of February, we uh have a lot of patrons who come through our doors and we provide safety uh and community health as well.

So one of the things is um food pantry access, and we do have food pantries at select locations.

Um, so that allows us to be able to uh help reduce hunger and some of the barriers associated with learning and stability.

Also, harm reduction.

We have uh Narcan available at our locations, and we also provide uh needle disposal, and this prevents overdoses and reduces biohazard risk to not only staff but patrons as well.

Uh social services, thank you to uh our social services team.

You guys do amazing work.

They offer on-site referrals for housing, employment, uh, mental health, basic needs such as food, clothing, and hygiene.

And often uh they are the first contact for these folks who come into our library.

Um also we have done uh vaccination clinics in the past in partnership with Marion County Health Department.

Also step up in Shalom.

We do uh STD testing as well.

Uh it helps increase public health coverage for families in our vulnerable populations, and of course, our core library mission is enriching and supporting communities by inspiring lifelong learning through stewardship and engaging service.

And then uh I like to give a shout out to our staff.

So I'm going to go through here and recognize our staff Star Warder winners.

Uh patron services was James Brook from Garfield Park.

Peer support is Gwendolyn Simmons from accounting.

Community involvement is Robin Hanks from East 38th Street.

Paige Excellence is Noelle Fisher from Central Library.

Other duties assigned, Kayla Duff from Central Adult Services, volunteering partnerships is Cecilia Morse from Pike and Committee's choice is Tess Bellamy from Michigan Road.

Can we give them a round of applause?

And upcoming events, we have the Indy Library Store Book Sale, Half Price Day, Library Service Center, April 13th from 12 to 7 p.m.

Uh, hopefully on your calendar.

I think Angie sent it to all the board members, the heart of every neighborhood at East 38th Street branch is Monday, April 13th from 5 to 6 30 p.m.

And then the librarians film screening with WFYI is going to be a central on Tuesday, April 21st.

Um so uh Angie will make sure that she sends invite to all the board members, and we hope to see you there.

And that concludes this portion of my presentation.

Does anybody have any questions?

Thank you so much, Gregory.

Uh, just deeply appreciate it.

Other questions?

I have some, but I want to ask you questions.

I don't have any questions, but thank you for thoroughport.

Um, it's just very warm.

Hate that I missed the meet the artist, um, but thank you for pulling us into that.

And I just wanted to call attention to your verbiage.

You use things like um, it is uh it is a uh I can't remember, I think it said a daily destination that stood out to me, and then how you call our patrons neighbors.

I think that matters, and um, you sharing all of the program and reiterating that I think is extremely helpful.

So thank you very much, Mr.

Hill.

Thank you.

Other comments or questions?

Other comments or questions.

Um vaccination clinics.

Are we still doing those?

I was over at um we haven't I don't think we have done any recently, but that is something that we normally do.

We do the flu and and the covet vaccination as well.

And the I was over today at um Martindale Brightwood, and the importance of our addressing the digital divide is tremendous.

And I'm so glad you bring that forward, and we're continuing to be supportive.

The numbers of individuals who rely on the library for our services and computer services.

I want to thank the team that Shanika lead leads and the kind of work that they do to make sure that our neighbors that our neighbors get the kind of computer support that they need and the technology.

I know it's constantly being updated and renovated, but it makes a big difference.

And when I was there this morning, you know, I saw every computer station filled.

It was tremendous.

So thank you.

And thank you for addressing that.

And I just want to reiterate again.

Uh, thank you to the executive leadership team.

You guys are amazing.

Uh, thank you to the staff.

Uh, every day you guys uh bring uh so much joy to a lot of patrons.

Um I really do appreciate everything that each and every one of you do every single day.

So thank you.

And that concludes my report.

Thank you so much.

Unfinished business.

Any other items?

New business.

I see everybody wants to go ahead and get out of here by 7:30.

Did you see that?

Yeah, everybody went.

You want to get out here by 7:30, too.

Okay.

Future agenda items.

I have one that I wanted to ask about.

You cited bilingual story time and how important it is with ASL, of course.

Bilingual story time makes a big difference.

Can we highlight some more about what we're doing to address bilingual um things?

That would be great.

Future agenda items, any other ones?

We will have the uh manager CBLC will come to give the presentation up.

I don't know if it's gonna be next month, but it'll be the the next month after that.

So we'll get her.

Oh, that'll be great.

This time is made available for discussion of items not on the agenda, which are of interest to the library board members.

I just brought up some things.

Do any of the other board members have any other things that you want to make sure that we address?

Dr.

Riola?

Palasio, White, Johnson?

Oh notice of any special meetings.

The notice of the next board meeting is April 27th.

I've got thank you, Mary Barr, for making sure I've got the right text here.

And I didn't screw up anything from Ray Bieterman.

April 27th, Decatur Branch.

We're gonna see more folks there.

This meeting is officially.

Can I say it now?

Adjourn.

Woo!

Thanks, everybody.