HomeMy WebLinkAbout7-28-2022 Board PacketIf you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Jen Miller, Iowa City
Public Library, at 319-887-6003 or jennifer-miller@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
July 28, 2022
Iowa City Public Library
2nd Floor – Boardroom
Regular Meeting - 5:00 pm
Carol Kirsch - President
Tom Rocklin - Vice President
DJ Johnk - Secretary
Noa Kim
Claire Matthews
Robin Paetzold
John Raeburn
Hannah Shultz
Dan Stevenson
1.Call Meeting to Order .
2.Approval of July 28, 2022 Board Meeting Agenda.
3.Public Discussion .
4.Items to be Discussed.
A.Library Board of Trustees Annual Report.
Comment: The draft FY22 Board Annual Report is included for review and approval. Board
action required.
B.FY22 Strategic Plan Review.
Comment: This is a regularly scheduled agenda item. Board action not required.
C.Policy Review: 101 Bylaws.
Comment: This is a regularly scheduled agenda item. The proposed changes in the bylaws shall
be submitted ten (10) days prior to the meeting for their consideration. Board action required
in August.
D.Policy Review: Bereavement.
Comment: The City of Iowa City implemented a new bereavement benefit for permanent staff.
Board action required.
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If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Jen Miller, Iowa City
Public Library, at 319-887-6003 or jennifer-miller@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
E.Board Recognition Dinner Discussion.
Comment: Historically the Board has met annually in August. Board action not required.
5.Staff Reports.
A.Director’s Report.
B.Departmental Reports : Adult Services, Community & Access Services.
C.Development Office Report.
D.Miscellaneous .
6.President’s Report .
7.Announcements from Members.
8.Committee Reports.
A.Foundation Members. The FY23 Memorandum of Understanding between the Friends
Foundation Board of Directors and the Iowa City Public Library Board of Trustees.
9.Communications.
10.Consent Agenda.
A.Approve Minutes of the Library Board of Trustees June 23, 2022 Regular Meeting .
B.Approve Disbursements for June, 2022.
11.Set Agenda Order for Ju ly Meeting .
12.Adjournment .
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Iowa City Public Library – Board of Trustee Meetings
Agenda Items and Order Schedule
FY23
JULY 28, 2022 AUGUST 25, 2022 SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
Library Board of Trustees Annual
Report
Strategic Plan Review
Policy Review: 101 Bylaws (BOT/AD)
Policy Review: Bereavement (City)
Board Dinner Discussion
Departmental Reports: AS, CAS
MOA – ICPLFF/ICPL
4th Quarter Annual Statistics &
Financials
Departmental Reports: CH, CLS, IT
Policy Review: 101 Bylaws (BOT/AD)
Form Committee - Finance
Special Events:
Summer Reading Program Ends 8/14
Budget Discussion
Policy Review: 401 Finance Policy
(AD)
Policy Review: 801 Circulation and
Library Card Policy
(CAS)
Departmental Reports: AS, CAS
OCTOBER 27, 2022 NOVEMBER 17, 2022 DECEMBER 15, 2022
Budget Discussion
1st Quarter Statistics and
Financials - Review
Departmental Reports: CH, CLS, IT
Special Events:
Homecoming Parade
Appoint Committee – Director’s
Evaluation
Policy Review: 601
Collection Development
Departmental Reports: AS, CAS
Policy Review: 802 Confidentiality
and Privacy
Departmental Reports: CH, CLS, IT
Special Events:
Staff InService 12/9
JANUARY 26, 2023 FEBRUARY 23, 2022 March 23, 2023
Strategic Planning Update
2nd Quarter Goals/Statistics
Financials – Review
Policy Review: 703 Recording and
Streaming Policy (IT)
Departmental Reports: AS, CAS
Director’s Evaluation
Appoint Nominating Committee
Set Calendar for Next Fiscal Year
Dept Reports: CH, CLS, IT
Dept Reports: AS, CAS
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FY22 Library Board of Trustees Annual Report
LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The Iowa City Public Library Board of Trustees is a semi -autonomous body of nine persons
empowered by state law and city ordinance to act as the governing body of the Library.
The Board's specific list of legal responsibilities includes:
•Determi ne the goals and objectives of the Library in order to plan and carry out library
services .
•Determine and adopt written policies to govern all aspects of the operation of the Library .
•Prepare an annual budget and have exclusive control of monies appropriated by City Council,
earned income; monies secured through service contracts with Johnson County, University
Heights, Hills, and Lone Tree; monies given to the Library through gifts, bequests, grants , or
awards .
•Employing a competent staff to administer its policies and carry out its programs .
The Board is an arm of City Government with members appointed by, and its principal operating
funds approved by, Iowa City Council. The Board seeks, at all times , to work in harmony with City
area policies that are not in conflict with its statutory powers.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022
1.Voted and approved going fine free on all library collections.
2.Crafted and distributed a statement in support of Intellectual Freedom on behalf of the Library
Board of Trustees.
3.Advocated for the replacement of the Ped Mall stairs to ensure the safety of al l patrons.
4.Signed and approved the Iowa City Public Library’s accreditation.
5.Celebrated the 125th Anniversary of the Iowa City Public Library.
6.Welcomed and oriented three new Board members.
7.Kept abreast of current State of Iowa legislature that had potential to impact library work.
8.Set the FY23 Building Calendar.
9.Supported the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature; The Iowa City Book Festival and One Book
Two Book.
10.Formed a committee to evaluate the Library Director and held a closed session evaluation.
11.Approved all library expenditures and NOBU budget req uests.
12.Reviewed and updated the following policies:
a.103 Membership in Community & Professional Organizations
b.501 Authority for Administration of Personnel Policies for Library Employees
Agenda Item 4A-1
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FY22 Library Board of Trustees Annual Report
c.502 General Library Personnel
d.503 Administrative & Confidential Employee Benefits
e.505 Volunteers
f.601 Collection Development
g.801 Circulation & Library Card
h.806 Meeting Room & Lobby Use
i.813 Unattended Children
j.814 Library Copyright
k.817 Alcohol in the Library
ACCOMPLISHMENTS RELATED TO COVID-19
1.Returned to in person Board meetings.
2.Resumed pre-COVID library hours and reopened the library building to patrons.
3.Established new ways for the library and community to communicate by recording Iowa City
Public Library Board of Trustees meetings.
GOALS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023
1.Develop, adopt, and support a new Strategic Plan that represents the Iowa City Community
and its needs .
2.Complete the goals of the current Strategic Plan.
3.Ensure all employees, volunteers, board members , and donors are ready to uphold the work
of the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation and Iowa City Public Library as we
welcome a new Development Director.
4.Develop a plan of annual reporting to the City of Iowa City and Johnson County Board of
Supervisors .
5.Examine and revise Library Board policies on a three-year review cycle.
Board Members:
Carol Kirsch, President
Tom Rocklin, Vice President
Derek Johnk, Secretary
Kellee Forkenbrock
Daniel Keranen
Noa Kim
Claire Matthews
Robin Paetzold
John Raeburn
Hannah Shultz
Dan Stevenson
Agenda Item 4A-2
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Unshaded tactics have been
previously reported.
Shaded tactics have been updated
or added since the last report .
To: Library Board
From: Elsworth Carman
Date: July 28, 2022
Re: Strategic Plan Two-Year Update (FY23 First Quarter Report)
I am pleased to present a two-year update to ICPL’s Strategic Plan, which was implemented in July, 2020.
We are now two years into our three-year strategic plan. This plan asked staff to think and work differently
than previous plans, both because it was the first plan developed under my leadership and because it was
crafted during the early stages of the CO VID-19 pandemic.
The last Strategic Plan update to the Board was a Quarter 3 update, provided at the April (2022) Board
meeting. The items from that report have been added to the document provided here.
All updated tactics are shaded, which should make them easier to identify. Un shaded tactics have been
reported in previous updates.
I am proud of the work this update reflects . As we enter the final year of this plan, it is exciting to see the
progress that has been made, and energizing to see how much work remains. I am consistently amazed by
the work staff produce, and have been impressed by the way many staff have embraced this plan and worked
hard to align their daily projects and tasks with our shared goals and objectives, even when this takes
intentionality and effort.
Agenda Item 4B-1
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ICPL Strategic Plan Two-Year Update : July 2022
GOAL 1: Recovery and Renewal following the COVID -19 Closure
Objectives Tactics End of Year Report
1. Reimagine ICPL in
the community:
Evaluate the services
we offer and the ways
we offer them.
Create a schedule for public-facing
surveys focused on service delivery
as we “reopen” to get direct input
from patrons, including online, in-
person, and mailed collection tools.
Multiple online surveys were done related to library services during
the design and implementation of our phased reopening.
Create a programming schedule with
internal and external partners to
identify areas of overlap and/or gaps
in programming.
Successfully reached out to Prelude, Insight, Hope House, and the
Senior Center to promote a variety of services including At Home,
Deposit Collection, library card registration and app/tech support.
Established a shared, internal partner spreadsheet for better
internal communication. This tool helps each department identify
and narrow service gaps in the community.
Programming departments began meeting with other City
departments monthly to discuss possible collaboration and
overlap.
The Public Relations team has been expanded to include
department Coordinators, who attend monthly meetings a nd
contribute to marketing decisions, initiatives, and priorities.
Coordinators then report back to their departments as appropriate.
Retire old catalog. On March 1, 2022, we retired the old catalog. Several
improvements were made to the new catalog. Users can now filter
their searches by what is currently available at the library or on
order. Book reviews and excerpts were added to assist readers in
selecting materials. The reading history option was given an
Agenda Item 4B-2
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overhaul; patrons can now search, sort, filter, and export their
reading history information.
Add ways for patrons to explore the
collection from home by building out
digital browsing options.
Monthly featured collections are listed on the home page of our
website. A new “Browse the Shelves” page was introduced in
October, 2020, providing digital versions of recently returned
shelves, new shelf, and a “surprise me” feature , offering a
randomly-generated title. Instructional posts on how to use the
catalog as a browsing tool were featured on the new web page.
Increase bookmobile activity by 20%
by adding Fridays to regular
schedule.
The Bookmobile formerly operated on a Monday-Thursday daytime
schedule, with the exception of s pecially scheduled community
events (festivals, parades, etc.). After evaluating the community
reach of the Bookmobile, the schedule has been extended to
include Fridays, which allows for several new stops in lesser -
served areas of the community. This change was made without
increasing staff, and the effects of the additional service hours
have an impact across the library. This impact is being evaluated
along with the benefits of expanded services.
2. Identify carry-over
goals from third and
fourth quarters of FY20
strategic plan to FY21
plan; create new
timeline for completion.
Plan for changes to general
availability of compact discs and
DVDs.
A new streaming service, hoopla, was introduced in December ,
2021. The service offers music, movie s, television, comics,
eBooks, and audiobooks, widening the library’s digital catalog
significantly. Patrons can check out up to 8 titles per month.
Statistics for physical audiovisual materials are currently being
monitored.
Offer an interactive online readers’
advisory service.
Project completed. A Staff Picks...for You, a personalized reading
service was launched in July, 2021. Patrons fill out a form
indicating their reading interests and staff provide
recommendations and place holds (if requested).
Agenda Item 4B-3
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Introduce new catalog to the public. Our new catalog was introduced to the public in October , 2021.
Developed in-house by ICPL staff using VuFind open-source
software, the catalog provides more flexibility and allows us to
adapt to our community’s need s. The old catalog, Encore, was
retired in March, 2022. Improvements to the new catalog were also
implemented, including search result filtering by availability and on
order, inclusion of book reviews and excerpts, and an overhaul of
the reading history option, providing more usability to patrons.
Migrate Digital History Project (DHP)
content to new content management
system.
A new content management system was developed using
Islandora, an open-source software framework. We are currently
migrating existing DHP collections to the new system. A public
facing website design was drafted with outlines for improved
patron browsing and searching of collections. A new public website
will be introduced in FY23.
Plan and produce the Library’s 125 th
anniversary celebration.
Community-wide activities including installation of 40 Pole Banners
downtown July-October, 2021, featuring significant Iowa City
anniversaries and the Big Grove ‘Brary Birthday Bash. The Big
Grove event featured live music (including a special rendition of
“Happy Birthday” by Mayor Bruce Teague), games, food, the
Bookmobile, and a library birthday cake.
New anniversary Library Card designs have been made available
throughout the community.
A series of blog posts highlighting important events and people in
ICPL’s history (from 1897 to the present) were added to our
website throughout the celebration.
Explore circulation support offered
away from the Help Desk and
expand and/or provide training as
needed.
Adult Services, C ommunity Access Services, and Children’s
Services staff have been providing more extensive patron account
support since working remotely in March, 2020. A RFID pad was
installed at the Info Desk in 2021, allowing staff to check materials
Agenda Item 4B-4
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out from the desk. Training documents were created for staff
unfamiliar with the circulation processes, with more extensive in-
person training offered in FY22.
The Help Desk, Circulation, and Payment procedures were
updated and expanded to document changes and introduced as a
training tool for new Clerks and Pages. Bookmobile and Circulation
procedures were similarly updated and expanded. These
documents are available in the (internal) Shared File and are
scheduled to be reviewed every 2 -3 years.
Consider extending no fines to all
collections.
Permanently expanding “fine free” to include all ICPL collections
was included in the library’s annual department budget
presentation to Council on January 8 , 2022, and identified by City
of Iowa City Administration as a recommended change to the FY23
budget.
The Library Board unanimously voted to amend Policy 801:
Circulation and Library Card Policy to remove fines on non-
Children’s and YA collections as a permanent measure at its
February 24, 2022 meeting.
3. Prioritize public
health and safety in
designing and
delivering library
services.
Compete a detailed
reopening/phase document that
identifies benchmarks and transition
information for moving through the
phases of reopening after the
COVID-19 closure.
Initial draft completed and used through September 2020 ; second
draft presented at November, 2020 Board Meeting and used
through April, 2021. Final draft, reflective of variants, completed in
May, 2021.
Adapt selection and management of
collection in response to changing
Shifted FY21 collection budget to meet patron demand for digital
collections; revised print standing order plans; offered new digital
collections, including LinkedIn Learning, Creative Bug, and more
Agenda Item 4B-5
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patron demand and needs during
pandemic.
digital magazines and newspapers. Digital collection use increased
by 9.5% in FY21.
Continue to review and edit “ICPL
service guidelines” that reflect best
practices in COVID safety while also
allowing active service to the
community.
“Phasing” document replaced with general guidelines, which were
then recrafted into a model focused on staffing levels.
Determine ways to provide low
contact printing.
Staff reviewed mobile print features/limitations on a spreadsheet
created to compare different software products.
Identified preferred vendor and received quote for installation of
new computer management and printing software as well as print
release payment hardware for FY23 installation.
4. Assess and
implement improved
internal networks for
individual,
departmental, and
group/team
communication.
Purchase Microsoft Teams; provide
training to all staff.
Project completed. Staff from all departments are using Teams for
multiple projects.
Try different times and participation
options for “all staff” meetings.
Scheduled “all staff” Zoom meetings at various times to see what
worked best for the staff during C19 closure. Continued to offer
virtual participation in “all staff” meetings through FY22.
Identify communication gaps and
needs throughout organization.
Worked with external trainer to identify areas for improvement in
communication and communication expectations.
Create a staff committee to address
internal communication.
A cross-departmental committee was formed to determine and
define the role of existing communication tools, how these tools
should be used, and best practices for internal communication.
The committee will create a finalized plan for Inservice Day 2022.
Agenda Item 4B-6
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GOAL 2: Focus on Community Aspirations
Objectives Tactics End of Year Report
1. By FY2022, dedicate at
least 30% of resources
allocated to programming,
outreach, and collections
to services for and with
BIPOC.
Conduct a diversity audit of teen
and children’s fiction collections.
An audit of print materials was conducted using software from
Ingram, a library vendor. Results show that our collections (adult,
children’s, and young adult) are close in comparison to other peer
public libraries. We have a list of areas to focus on and improve.
We are also looking at ways to continually monitor collection
changes and progress using in-house methods.
Establish weekly in-person and
streaming bilingual Storytimes in
Chinese and Spanish
Two new Storytimes have been developed for young patrons and
their caretakers. Each week, bilingual Spanish/English and
Chinese/English Storytime sessions are presented by Children’s
Room staff. These—and all other Storytime —offerings were live
streamed until the building was fully reopened after the COVID -19
closure, so they could be enjoyed remotely, and are open to the
public for onsite attendance.
Maintain the Read Woke
Reading Program for all age
groups to participate in.
We continue to run this as a passive reading program on our
website, offer multiple related online book lists, and distribute
promotional bookmarks in the library.
Create, develop, and evaluate
tools to track resources spent on
programming, outreach, and
collections for and with BIPOC.
A new purchasing infrastructure/project code was created to track
FY22 expenditures, which will allow us to accurately code
expenditures.
Departments began actively tracking spending in FY22.
In Collection Services, selectors tracked purchases of new print
items that met diversity audit parameters. Titles were identified at
point of order and staff relied on publisher information and trade
reviews. Items attained through purchase suggestions and
duplicates were not included. Only 12% of new title purchases me t
the parameters; young adult and children’s materials either met or
Agenda Item 4B-7
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exceeded the goal. We are reviewing our initial results to compare
them with other identification methods (such as catalog record
subject headings).
2. Identify and address
human resources and
employment-related
barriers to establishing a
workplace that reflects the
community.
Update list of posting locations
for all positions with special
emphasis on nontraditional
posting sites in areas around the
community.
Expanded our physical and online posting locations, starting with
the PR Specialist and Coordinator of Administrative Services
positions; this practice will continue with open positions.
Reevaluate balance of
professional and volunteer
experience and educational
accomplishments in candidate
selection.
Worked with City HR to craft new language around “relevant
experience” in position descriptions and posting language.
Adjusted minimum requirements and preferences for open Library
Clerk position
Explored options of alternative requirements to ALA -Accredited
MLIS degree for select Hourly Librarian positions.
3. Establish new ways for
the community and library
to communicate, including
web-based, in-person,
and postal mail options.
Implement new ways for patrons
to communicate with library staff
and administration.
Introduced virtual readers’ advisory option, text access to library
director, remote printing, ways to “browse the stacks” virtually,
established welcome desk in library lobby.
“Director Access Hours” instituted; Library Director spends one
hour every week engaging with patrons in the Lobby and/or Gallery
area of the library.
Agenda Item 4B-8
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Introduce volunteer-staffed
“Welcome Desk” on first floor.
Currently evaluating first Welcome Desk model.
4. Create a programming
infrastructure for
community-led, library-
funded programs, with an
emphasis on historically
underrepresented,
marginalized, and
historically oppressed
populations.
Partner with other community
organizations to offer high profile,
popular author programs in an
accessible, low-barrier format
(Local Libraries LIT [Listen,
Initiate, Talk]).
The second season of Local Libraries LIT online programs
attracted hundreds of people in November, January and March,
2022. The programs featured award winning writers sharing their
diverse experiences, such as being a first-generation US college
student who was born to Cuban immigrants. The popular programs
were free thanks to support from a grant, donations, and
sponsorships from the seven public libraries in Johnson County,
the University of Iowa Libraries, and Kirkwood Community College
Library.
Create internal plan for
community-led programming
series for late FY22/early FY23
focused on amplifying the voices
of BIPOC community members.
Project postponed until FY23 .
5. Review select policies,
procedures, and practices
with community
representatives focusing
on restorative justice.
Evaluate and modify cataloging
practices.
To reduce bias in classification, a staff committee identified specific
parts of the children’s collection as an initial reclassification project.
In FY21, major reclassification projects included the holiday,
folklore, and fairy tale sections in the Children’s Room were
completed.
Adopted Juneteenth as a library
holiday.
City of Iowa City and AFSCME adopted agreement; Hours of
Service (812) and AFSCME contract amended to reflect changes
to holidays.
Agenda Item 4B-9
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6. Seek alternatives to
calling the police for
violations of the Library
Use Policy.
Use Inservice Day, FY21 to
provide learning opportunities
and training related to this goal.
A virtual Inservice Day to discuss this topic was held on February
26, 2021. Pre-recorded videos with community partners and
agencies were shared with staff. Brainstorming sessions with staff
evaluating the Library Use Policy (809) and Ban and Bar
Guidelines were held.
Connect with local partners to
learn and share best practices
and support options.
In discussion with CommUnity Mobile Crisis Outreach team to learn
what resources are available locally, including staff training and
supports for patrons in crisis .
7. Partner with other City
departments and
community groups to
create a comprehensive,
sustainable, shared
response to behavior
issues.
Increase staff presence in
partner spaces to build trust and
gain knowledge of how the
community is engaging around
behavior issues.
Partnered with Iowa City School District and CommUnity Mobile
Crisis Unit to offer Inservice Day information videos, which have
been retained for use in future trainings.
Our Teen Librarian has expanded outreach to new partner sites
and is spending time with teens in these spaces regularly.
Discussed behavior management strategies with Senior Center,
Parks & Rec, and Human Rights office for training ideas.
Contacted with Shelter House regarding specific patron bans to
coordinate help and library return options.
Engage with local agencies for
training and communication of
library return options for banned
patrons.
Agenda Item 4B-10
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8.Prioritize access to
information and materials
related to community
priorities like equity,
antiracism, and First
Amendment rights.
Collaborate with other area
libraries to develop a program
series featuring writers who
champion equity, antiracism, and
inclusion.
A unique group of staff from the public libraries in Coralville, Iowa
City, North Liberty, Oxford, Solon, Swisher, and Tiffin worked with
those from University of Iowa Libraries, and Kirkwoo d Community
College-Iowa City Library to organize and host three well-attended
Local Libraries LIT (listen, initiate, talk) programs. The second
LLLIT season featured acclaimed diverse writers in free online
presentations with time for questions from those in attendance. The
partnership expanded when a Kirkwood Community College
professor incorporated one of the Local Libraries LIT programs into
their curriculum.
GOAL 3: Resource Management
Objectives Tactics End of Year Report
1. Meet current and
anticipate future
community needs with
intentionally-collected
input from the community,
library staff, public
librarianship trends,
adjacent professional
fields, and other sources
of inspiration.
Create staff “survey committee”
to make regular inquiries about
staff morale and needs related to
PPE and other protective
measures.
Staff committee developed and analyzed three surveys.
Responses were integrated in reopening procedures.
Plan and compete World Films
reclassification.
Collection Services completed the reclassification of our collection
of films on DVD in other languages to "World Film." We previously
used the film industry term “foreign film” in our cataloging, labeling,
and shelving for this collection. This collection contains over 1,200
items, covering 67 different languages.
Add Adventure Pass program to
library offerings.
In response to patron requests, the Iowa Libraries Adventure Pass
program was introduced to patrons in June , 2022. Resident
cardholders can check out a free day pass to cultural attractions
and museums in Iowa, including the African-American Museum of
Agenda Item 4B-11
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Iowa, Blank Park Zoo, Figge Art Museum, and the Science Center
of Iowa.
2. Communicate
proactively and
consistently; maintain
transparency in decision-
making and process
internally and externally.
Hire new CAS Coordinator and
PR Specialist; audit current
internal and external
communication strategies.
New CAS Coordinator hired 9/14/2020; PR Specialist hired
1/6/2021. Internal and external communication strategies under
review.
Explore ways of engaging and
communicating with library staff
during periods of remote work
and while transitioning back into
the building
Adapted “all staff” meeting schedules to better me et staff needs
during the COVID -19 closure and early reopening in an attempt to
appropriately communicate changes and updates to all employees;
this included weekly meetings through most of the summer.
Developed departmental phasing plans that emphasized a safe
and comfortable return to onsite work.
Regular weekly update emails from the director sent to all staff,
started in FY22.
Focus on workplace
communication and culture at
annual Inservice Day 2021.
Terry Whitson, a training and development consultant, conducted
staff focus groups to identify themes around workplace culture and
communication. Whitson provided the results of her all staff, small
group discussions as well as training on change management at
Inservice Day in December.
3. Ensure all ICPL
employees, volunteers,
and donors are ready to
champion the changing
work of librarianship; seek
Join Urban Libraries Council for
increased access to relevant
training, education, and
networking opportunities for staff
and volunteers.
Urban Libraries Council membership active as of June, 2022.
Rollout to full staff will be completed in the first quarter of FY23.
Agenda Item 4B-12
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and allocate resources to
build and maintain
readiness and resiliency
for staff and volunteers.
Provide staff training on
intellectual freedom.
Intellectual Freedom training sessions were offered to all staff in
March, 2022. At the March staff meeting, we reviewed the concept
of intellectual freedom and why it is a value in public libraries and at
ICPL specifically. Katelyn Browne, Youth Services Librarian at
University of Northern Iowa and member of ILA’s Intellectual
Freedom Committee joined us to present a portion of “The
Unhappy Patron: A Choose Your Option Intellectual Freedom Story
Game.” Several sessions of "Intellectual Freedom at ICPL" were
held for staff to review library policy, discuss talking points, and
practice speaking with a patron about intellectual freedom issues,
especially where a patron might escalate in tone and manner.
Develop infrastructure for staff
and volunteer orientation and
training.
New staff orientation developed; Volunteer job descriptions
refreshed and updated.
The Volunteer Committee has established a strong workflow.
Traditional and new volunteer positions are being regularly filled. A
Volunteer Recognition Ceremony was held in Spring 2022.
Support staff mental health and
wellness.
Created a staff mental health space and began offering Headspace
mindfulness app in July 2022 to all library employees, regardless of
their benefit status.
4. Make choices informed
by data, evidence, and
research; practice
assessment and
evaluation.
Include defining measurements
for and indicators for success as
a step in developing strategic
plan goals.
Coordinators are working with departmental staff to develop skills
and interest.
Evaluate online resources
database collection performance.
Vendors contacted to obtain access to stats modules. Some
decisions already made regarding renewals and purchases of
databases. Parameters for analysis being developed.
Evaluate Reference standing
order collections.
Reference standing order list has been checked for currency, cost,
duplication, and usage.
Agenda Item 4B-13
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Extended computer session
length for second-floor public
access computers.
After monitoring computer use through the phases of reopening,
access was increased by allowing patrons to use computers for
longer daily sessions. Pre-COVID closure, each patron could have
one two-hour session per day, with manual extensions (made by
staff) possible if computers were available (patron would need to
notice their session was ending and approach staff to ask for more
time to get an extension). Now, patrons start with a two -hour
session that automatically rolls into three one -hour extensions—as
long as there are still machines available for use —with no action
needed by the patron, resulting in a session length of five hours.
Newspaper coverage Conducted a patron newspaper use study in June 2022 to
determine whether collection meets browsing needs. Identified
potential savings as well as need to add titles in some areas. Will
conduct a second study during Academic year 2022-2023 before
making changes.
5. Perform a building audit
to determine whether
spaces are compatible
with current and changing
needs.
Analyze second floor study room
availability.
Based on data prior to COVID -19, expansion may be warranted.
Potential for additional space by using staff workspace outside of
Board Room under consideration. Continue to analyze in FY2 3
after reopening.
Assess storm shelter needs for
patrons and staff.
A socially distanced storm shelter plan was created and
implemented while social distancing was recommended by the
CDC and local public health agencies. We are currently back to
using our pre-COVID safety plans, since City buildings have
reopened.
Evaluate computer layout. Identified a need for public access computers in other areas of the
second floor, promoted in-house laptop use and made plan for
FY23 to move some desktops to west end of second floor.
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6. Proactively maintain an
efficient, functional, clean
building and take pride in
our physical spaces.
Adjust cleaning schedules to
reflect best practices related to
management of COVID -19
transmission
Cleaning schedules continually assessed by Facilities
management; adjusted as needed.
Schedule and complete painting
and repair projects during
building closure to minimize
impact on library patrons.
Significant portions of the interior were deep cleaned and painted
ahead of schedule.
Evaluated furniture, shelving, and
general library tools, repaired
and replaced as necessary
Replaced end-of-life book carts, children's computer desks,
couches, and outreach carts.
Installed standing desks for staff to use at individual workstations.
Identified a need for Teen Center craft supplies storage; added
storage units. Removed existing bench/table structure in Teen
Center to make the room layout more flexible.
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101 ICPL Board of Trustees Bylaws
Proposal: A regularly scheduled review of Board Bylaws by an ICPL Board committee.
Issues: The committee’s members addressed three primary issues in its review: clarifying
Board policies related to the public comment portion of the monthly agendas; addressing the
issue of electronic participation by Board members; and addition of a section related to closed
meetings. Minor changes include specifying the place where regular monthly meetings are held
and refining the definition of a quorum for the transaction of business.
Committee Recommendations:
Action Required: Review and adopt as amended.
Prepared by Review Committee members: Hannah Shultz, Robin Paetzold, Carol Kirsch,
July 2022.
Article V, Section 3 Insert a new section to address the issue of a
closed meeting. This section does not address all
the possible reasons for a closed meeting spelled
out in Section 21.5 (1) (i) of the Iowa Code since
as a matter of course the Board uses this option
only for personnel matters.
Article V, Section 5 Replace “Regular meetings shall be in a place
accessible to persons with disabilities” with the
more precise reference to the Board Room.
Article V, Section 6 Change definition of a quorum from 5 members to
“a majority of appointed Board members.” This
allows for the occasions when the Board consists
of fewer than 9 members.
Article V, Section 7 Insert a new section to address the practice of
electronic participation. The Board has previously
permitted remote participation but post Covid
times have brought to the fore the need for
addressing the issue in the bylaws, especially in
light of the fact that Iowa law requires that a
majority must be physically present in order for the
Board to transact business.
Article VI, Section 3 Insert a new section to spell out Board
expectations related to the Public Comment
section of the regular meetings. The review
committee looked at the new City Council rules
regarding public participation and chose to adopt
some of their rules, particularly relating to time
limits on public comments and the expectation that
Board members will refrain from engaging with the
public during this time since open meetings laws
require that Board meetings be limited to
previously posted agenda items.
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IOWA CITY PUBLIC
LIBRARY
Board of Trustees
101 BYLAWS
ARTICLE I: NAME AND PURPOSE
Section 1. This organization shall be known as the Iowa City Public Library Board of
Trustees and shall operate a free public library for the City of Iowa City.
ARTICLE II: POWERS AND DUTIES
Section 1. The Board of Trustees shall have the powers and duties set forth in Title 11
of the Iowa City Code and as required by Chapter 392.5 of the Code of Iowa
(13).
Section 2. The powers, duties and procedures shall be subject to all changes or repeals
of state law and all such changes or repeals shall take precedence over these
bylaws.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Terms and Qualifications. The Board of Trustees shall consist of nine (9)
members, appointed for six (6) year terms by the Mayor of Iowa City and
approved by the City Council. All members shall be residents of the City and
shall be over the age of eighteen (18), except there may be one (1) non-
resident member if the library is receiving funds for a county-wide library
service on a contract basis. Appointments are approved by the City Council
except the non-resident member who is approved by the Board of Supervisors.
Section 2. Compensation. Members shall serve without compensation but may be
reimbursed for expenses incurred relating to official Library business.
Section 3. Vacancies. Any vacancy on the Board because of death, resignation, long-term
illness, disqualification or removal due to four (4) consecutive unexcused
absences from regular meetings shall be filled by appointment by the Mayor,
with approval of the City Council, or the Board of Supervisors in the case of the
non-resident member. The appointed trustee shall fill out the unexpired term
for which the appointment is made. Members are expected to give the Mayor at
least 30 days written notice of intention to resign.
Section 4. Orientation for New Members. Prior to the first regular meeting following their
appointment, new members shall be provided with copies of these bylaws,
pertinent sections of the City Code and other documents that would be useful
to Board members in carrying out their duties. They will also be given an
orientation briefing by the President of the Board and the Library Director or
their designees.
ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS
Section 1. Number. The officers of this Board shall be President, Vice-President and Secretary.
Section 2. Election and Term of Office. The officers shall be elected annually at the April
meeting and shall serve for one year beginning July 1. In February the
President shall appoint a
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nominating committee who will present a slate of officers at the April meeting.
Other nominations may be presented from the floor.
Section 3. Vacancies. In the event of the death or resignation of any officers, the Board
shall choose a successor at the first meeting following the vacancy and that
person shall hold office until the next regular election of officers.
Section 4. President. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board, appoint
committees, make appointments to the Friends Foundation Board, call
special meetings, execute all documents authorized by the Board and
generally perform all duties associated with the office. The President and the
Secretary shall sign all disbursement lists prepared by the Director.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these bylaws, a committee
appointed by the President for the purpose of searching and/or
recommending a Library Director shall require Board of Trustees’ approval.
Section 5. Vice President. In the event of the absence or disability of the President, or of
a vacancy in the Presidency, the Vice President shall assume and perform the
duties and functions of the President.
Section 6. Secretary. The Secretary and the President shall sign all disbursement lists
prepared by the Director. In the event of the absence or disability of the
President- or the Vice President, the Secretary shall assume and perform the
duties and functions of the President.
ARTICLE V: MEETINGS
Section 1. Regular Meetings. Regular meetings of the Board shall be held at the Library at
5:00 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month, January through October. In
November and December, the meeting shall be held on the third Thursday of
the month at the same place and same time. Any change in the regular
meeting time or date shall be approved by the Board at a previous regular
meeting.
Section 2. Special Meetings. A special meeting of the Board may be called at any time by
the President or at the request of any two Board members for the transaction
of business as stated in the call for the meeting. Such requests shall be given
to the Library Director who shall give notice as described in Section 3.
Section 3. Closed Meetings. In accordance with Section 21.5(1)(i) of the Iowa Code, the
Board may hold all or part of a meeting in closed session to evaluate the
professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring,
performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent
needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and that
individual requests a closed session.
Section 4. Notice of Meetings. Notice of regular meetings shall not be required; a special
meeting may be called upon written notice. Notice must be received not less
than twenty-four (24) hours before the meeting except for emergencies and
must include time, place, date and tentative agenda. News agencies will
receive notice via the City’s web site.
Section 5. Place of Meetings. Unless otherwise posted, meetings will occur in the
Board Room of the Iowa City Public Library.
Section 6. Quorum. A quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting shall consist
of a majority of appointed board members. TRUSTEES SHOULD REPORT ABSENCES
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TO THE PRESIDENT OR PRESIDING OFFICER IN ADVANCE OF MEETINGS.
SECTION 7. ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION. UNLESS IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE BOARD
MEETING MUST BE ENTIRELY ELECTRONIC, BOARD MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BE
PHYSICALLY PRESENT FOR ALL BOARD MEETINGS. HOWEVER, IT IS THE POLICY OF THIS
BOARD TO SECURE ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION BY ABSENT BOARD MEMBERS WHENEVER IT
IS PHYSICALLY FEASIBLE WHERE SUCH PARTICIPATION IS NECESSARY OR DESIRABLE BECAUSE
OF STATUTORY VOTING REQUIREMENTS OR THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT MATTER TO
THE PUBLIC. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS POLICY, A MAJORITY OF BOARD MEMBERS MUST BE
PHYSICALLY PRESENT FOR ALL BOARD MEETINGS. BOARD MEMBERS INTENDING TO
PARTICIPATE ELECTRONICALLY SHALL ALERT THE PRESIDENT OR PRESIDING OFFICER TO
THEIR INTENT AS SOON AS PRACTICAL.
Section 8. Procedural Rules. Proceedings of all meetings shall be governed by
Robert's Rules of Order, most recent edition.
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ARTICLE VI: ORGANIZATION OF BOARD BUSINESS
Section 1. Agendas. The President and the Director shall prepare the agenda for all
regular Board meetings. Agendas shall be posted and sent to Board members
and the media at least three (3) days prior to the regular meeting. Agendas of
all meetings must be posted at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the
meeting on the bulletin board in the Library lobby and on the Library and City
of Iowa City websites, as requested by the City Clerk.
Section 2. Order of Business. The order of business of each meeting shall be established by
the Board by motion made from time-to-time as the Board deems necessary. The
agenda shall be established and posted in advance of each meeting in accordance
with the requirements of the Iowa Open Meetings Law (Iowa Code Ch. 21).
Section 3. Public Comment. Members of the public may address the Board at the beginning
of meetings during the Public Comment agenda item. Individual comments are
limited to no more than five (5) minutes, and may be extended by presiding
officer. Library staff time will not be used to prepare materials for public
comment. Individuals addressing the Board must sign in with name and address. In
order to comply with open meetings laws and proper meeting procedure, trustees
cannot engage in discussion or debate during the Public Comment period.
Section 4. Minutes. Minutes of all regular and special meetings are to be prepared and
distributed to Board members and the City Council. The Library shall keep as a
permanent record copies of all minutes, including documents attached to the
minutes by Board action.
Section 5. Board Policies. All policy statements adopted by the Board shall be filed by
subject in. Each policy and each revision shall carry the date of its
adoption. Board policies are also available on the library website.
Section 6. Committee. Board committees and their composition, duties and terms shall
be designated by the President. All committees shall make progress reports at
each regular Board meeting. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in
these bylaws, a committee appointed by the President for the purpose of
searching and/or recommending a Library Director shall require Board of
Trustees’ approval.
ARTICLE VII: LIBRARY DIRECTOR AND STAFF
Section 1. The Board shall appoint a qualified Library Director who shall be the executive
and administrative officer of the library on behalf of the Board and under its
review and direction. The Library Director shall carry out policies adopted by
the Board and shall be held responsible for: employment and direction of
staff; the care and maintenance of the building and equipment; the efficiency
and effectiveness of the Library's service to the public; the provision of library
collections and the operation of the Library under the financial conditions set
forth in the annual budget. The Director or designee shall attend all Library
Board meetings and shall present a report at each regular meeting.
ARTICLE IX: RELATIONSHIP TO Iowa City Public Library FRIENDS FOUNDATION
Section 1. Membership. The membership of the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation,
a 501(c) 3 nonprofit corporation, consists solely of the Trustees of the Iowa
City Public Library. Each member of the Board of Trustees shall become a
Member of the Friends Foundation Corporation concurrently with becoming a
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member of the Board of Trustees and shall continue to be a Member of the
Friends Foundation Corporation as long as he/she is a Trustee of the Library.
Powers and duties of the Members are found in the bylaws of the Iowa City
Public Library Friends Foundation.
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Section 2. Friends Foundation Board of Directors. The President shall appoint two (2)
trustees to serve one-year terms on the Board of Directors of the Iowa City
Public Library Friends Foundation. The terms begin upon the adjournment of
the Annual Meeting of Members of the Iowa City Public Library Friends
Foundation. The President of the Trustees may serve as a Director. No Trustee
may serve more than six (6) consecutive terms as a Director of the Friends
Foundation.
ARTICLE X: AMENDMENTS
Section 1. These bylaws may be altered or repealed, and new bylaws adopted by the
members of the Board at any regular meeting or at any special meeting
called for that purpose. The proposed changes in the bylaws shall be
submitted in writing to the members of the Board at least ten (10) days
prior to the meeting for their consideration.
Adopted: 07/26/84
Revised: 12/17/87
Revised: 10/27/88
Revised: 12/14/89
Revised: 01/93
Revised: 01/95
Revised: 08/98
Revised: 01/05
Revised: 03/24/11
Revised: 11/21/13
Revised: 08/25/16
Reviewed: 05/23/19
Reviewed: 06/27/19
Revised: 07/25/19
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To: Library Board
From: Elsworth Carman
Date: July 28, 2022
Re: Discretionary Sick Leave and Bereavement Leave Benefit
Attached is information about changes to Discretionary Sick Leave and Bereavement
Leave for Administrative and Confidential and AFSCME employees . This policy was
approved by City Manager Geoff Fruin on July 5, 2022. Mr. Fruin and AFSCME
leadership signed a letter of agreement to add the policy changes to the AFSCME
contract as a side letter on July 5, 2022, as well.
These changes provide greater flexibility for staff after the death of a loved one, and I
recommend the policy be adopted by the ICPL Board of Trustees with no changes.
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Director’s Report: July 2022
Celebrating the End of Fiscal Year 2022
July 1 marked the first day of Fiscal Year 2023. The turning of fiscal years is always significant,
but this year it felt unusually celebratory, as we continue to see library patrons returning to fully
use our services. The end of the fiscal year brings substantial administrative duties, like end -of-
year reporting to the City and State, budget balancing, and generally tying up any last FY22
issues. This is the first year that Jen Miller has been in the Administrative Coordinator position,
and she is doing an amazing job learning as she goes through the often-complex end-of-year
processes and it has been great to see her developing some new ways to track and report some
of our statistics.
Library Coordinator – Development Position Update
The Library Coordinator – Development position was posted on July 1, and will close on July 29.
The hiring timeline is tentatively (and aspirationally) planned, with an offer date of August 23.
Since this position works closely with the Friends Foundation Board of Directors and general
membership, I spoke with Friends Foundation Board of Directors President Jenny Olson prior to
posting the position and provided an opportunity for her to suggest changes to the job
description. She and I agreed that only very minor chang es needed to be made. I anticipate a
Friends Foundation Board of Director representative involved in the interview process, as well
as the members of the ICPL Leadership Team, and a City of Iowa City representative. Due to
the nature of this position, I would also like to include a Trustee in some part of the interview
process; as the details are finalized I will reach out with a more specific request to the Board
President.
City Policy on Telecommuting and Flexible Work Schedules
The City of Iowa City implemented a new Telecommuting and Flexible Work Schedules Policy in
late June. This policy provides an explanation of how and why City staff may request flexible
scheduling, including work from home time, and outlines eligibility and authorization details. As
a semi-autonomous City department—with an independent, decision-making Board—the Library
has some options with this type of policy, including editing it to better serve our unique staffing
model or otherwise changing it. The Leadership Team s upports the policy and anticipates
adopting it as an administrative policy in the coming weeks, but we are still in discussion about
how best to apply it to our staffing model. This policy will be shared with the Board in its entirety
at a coming meeting (most likely the August meeting), but I wanted to address it now since it
was already adopted by the City and has been of significant interest to some library staff.
Fall Window Content about the Strategic Plan
This Fall, the Window will include an atypical message from me, as well as some detailed public
invitations for participation in future planning. After considering inflation-related costs of
individual mailings, as well as the established reach of the Window, we decided to embed initial
information about our next strategic plan into the Fall edition. This will include a “note” from me
about strategic planning, why we do it, and how critical input from the public is; a link to an
online survey; and a list of community feedback sessions scheduled throughout the month of
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September. I am excited to how this is received by the community; I very sincerely mean it
when I say general public input is critical to an effective (public library) strategic plan, especi ally
as we re-norm after our pandemic closure. We are working on plans to engage community
members of all ages and from all over the area to participate in our planning work.
Public “Open Hour” Added to my Weekly Schedule
For the past five months, I have held “open office hours” for staff twice a week. These times are
available for staff to drop in and chat about serious issues, fun topics, library news…whatever
they may need or want. I continue to have an open-door policy, and staff know they can come
and see me anytime, but these hours are truly low-barrier access for all staff and great for those
who would rather not try to schedule a meeting or drop by my office in the middle of the day.
Starting the second week in July, I added a public “open hour” to my schedule, and have been
spending an hour a week in the lobby and gallery area of the library, speaking with patrons.
This has been very causal so far, but I may start to introduce some conversation prompts or
questions to try to engage more people in conversation as the weeks go by. I love any chance
to interface with our patrons, and it’s a treat to meet neutrally and naturally as people go about
their library business.
Headspace for Work App Available for Library Staff
In our continuing efforts to find appropriate and effective ways library leadership can support the
mental health and general well-being of our staff, we reviewed a few mindfulness/meditation
apps to make available to library staff and selected Headspace. This app will be ava ilable to all
library staff (as opposed to the employee assistance program and in-person/telehealth mental
health services available only to staff who receive City of Iowa City medical benefits). With a
focus on mindfulness and meditation, this app is an optional tool that may help some staff avoid
or lessen feelings of burnout, fatigue, or similar job -related or job-adjacent issues. A formal
rollout of this app will happen in July, and while we are excited to offer it and eager to see what
kind of an impact it has, we have been (and will continue to be) very clear that this is not
intended to be a replacement for mental health care, and that our vision is that Headspace be
an optional resource for staff to explore and use as they see fit.
Masking Update
Johnson County remains in the “high” community level category for COVID -19 transmission.
We continue to offer masks at entry points and throughout the library building and Bookmobile.
Staff and patrons are welcome to wear a mask or not, depending on personal preference. This
model is working well for us and I have not received any negative feedback from staff or patrons
for over a month. Linn County, which had been in the “medium” community level for COVID -19
transmission, was escalated to the “high” level on Thursday, July 14. Starting Monday, July 18,
all City facilities in Cedar Rapids, including the Cedar Rapids Public Library, reinstated a
masking requirement for patrons over the age of two. At this time, City of Iowa City
administration is not planning to reimplement a masking requirement in our community.
Respectfully submitted,
Elsworth Carman
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Adult Services Department Report
Prepared for the July 28, 2022, Meeting of the Iowa City Public Library Board of Trustees
Jason Paulios, Adult Services Coordinator
Page Station Staff Update
This Summer two of our Page Station staff, Paige and Elizabeth, have left for similarly terrific jobs related to
literature. Paige will remain nearby at The University of Iowa’s Walt Whitman Archive and Elizabeth will be at
Georgetown University Press. We’re sad to see them go but excited that they are finding new careers in their
chosen fields of editing/literature. The posting closes on July 21st and we will have a few new employees to
introduce in my next report!
Statistics
June and July 2022 on the 2nd floor has finally felt like the bustling library we remember before COVID-19. I
was excited to dig into the 4th quarter stats to see if we were actually doing as much business as I felt like we
were. The following statistics will compare this year’s April-May-June period to the last “good” measure, the
same months of 2019 (FY19).
4th Quarter 2019 4th Quarter 2022 % Change
Info Desk – Ref
Questions 3,809 3,186 -16
Info Desk – Other
Questions 1,677 2,293 37
Info Desk – Total
Questions 5,486 5,479 0
SWB – Ref Questions 1,231 790 -36
SWB – Other
Questions 3,339 2,695 -19
SWB- Total Questions 4,570 3,485 -23
SWB – Total Calls 4,024 3,069 -24
2nd Floor PC – Minutes
Used 644,973 554,136 -14
While it is disappointing not to see a closer comparison in totals between these years, the comparison work
did show June 2022 with a sharp increase from May in all categories so that feeling of library vibrancy was
confirmed. We’ll keep an eye on these kinds of stats as we start to dig into Strategic Planning work to make
sure we’re allocating staff resources to places that will most benefit the community’s use of our building,
resources, and services.
Adult and Teen Outreach / Events
The Summer Reading programming packet was full of great offerings for teens and adults this summer. Successful
events have included outdoor hikes, a houseplant swap, felted animals for teens, and the bountiful community garden
with Grow: Johnson County. We’ve collaborated with some amazing community partners including IC Forestry Division,
PS1, Johnson County Conservation, 100 Grannies, UAY, Table to Table, UI Health Care's LGBTQ Clinic, and others! In
addition to the stellar programming, Adult Services staff alongside Community & Access Services staff have been visiting
the Iowa City Farmers Market on Saturday mornings this summer spreading the word about the Summer Reading
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Program, Online Resources, and answering questions and supporting visits onto the open Bookmobile. It’s been a
successful venture so far, reaching many new patrons and introducing the Bookmobile to our regular downtown library
visitors and their visiting friends and families. The crafts were also a welcome addition for families, we’re getting regular
demands for a return of Stacey’s Produce Photo Booth event.
1Participants at Craft Night in the Lab
2Stacey’s wildly successful Produce Photo Booth at Farmer's Market Outreach
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July 2022
Community & Access Services Report
Public Relations & Marketing
Outreach
CAS welcomed Yvonne Jiang as the ICPL's new Graphics Intern. Her talents and
expertise blend nicely with the team's skills in graphics, video, social marketing, and
public relations. Their work to share good library news continues to support the efforts
of selectors and programmers. Reports of increased database use due to daily posts
assigned to promoting the Digital Library are satisfying.
Reviewing year-to-year data reveals ICPL experienced some stunning social media
growth in participation, engagement, reach, and followers. Some unique circumstances
significantly contributed to these milestones (a few viral posts and the reopening of the
library), however, we continue to maintain numbers and steadily grow in 2022 despite
global and extensive drops in social media use.
ICPL Bookmobile averaged 65.5 visitors per hour during the first month of IC Farmers
Market outreach. Each Saturday in June, ICPL staff opened the Bookmobile for early
access browsing, holds pickup, and an activity/craft. Several visitors experienced the
Bookmobile for the very first time, registered for cards, and checked out items. CAS,
Adult Services, and Collection Services have collaborated to provide reference and
programming each week.
a glimpse at earlier access interest from the community
connecting staff and services with new audiences
ICPL presence at a large community event without the need to commute
providing selectors more time with the Bookmobile collection
an opportunity for staff to apply customer service, reference, and readers advisory
skills in an outreach setting
Benefits of Farmers Market outreach include:
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The Iowa City Public Library was present to celebrate IC Pride as well as Juneteenth in
the Neighborhood. We anticipate collaborating with the Public Libraries of Johnson
County for a booth at the Johnson County Fair. As summer reading winds down, we are
working with partners to ensure that the library is visible and taking services to the
community in the coming season. We look forward to what the fall will bring!
Inreach
Attached is a Johnson County report highlighting a training series that occurred in April
2022 for ELL students from all over the world who are now living within Johnson County
and learning English at Kirkwood Community College. Students were led by bus to
downtown Iowa City to visit the library. The series provided education on accessing and
using public transit and applying knowledge in-person on the bus including practicing
using the bus passes at the farebox.
Iowa City Public Library provided multiple tours to large groups and shared highlights
about the free services available to all. The majority of students registered for library
cards during these visits as well.
We anticipate continuing this partnership to provide tours and card registration for new
students in the fall. We are currently exploring ways to provide bilingual tours to the
community during Library Card Sign Up month in September and options for account
notifications in multiple languages.
Bookmobile
strategic plan tactics focusing service to marginalized communities
diversity in audience, geography, and partnerships
iterative methodology to circulation, outreach, and public relations
In June 2021, the ICPL Bookmobile extended service hours to include Friday stops.
Added stops enabled the Bookmobile Team to add monthly Pop-Up locations to test
the viability and impact of new locations.
We focused on experimental Pop-Up locations which would support:
1.
2.
3.
As an example, the Prelude Behavioral Services (430 Southgate Ave.) Pop-Up provided
a dedicated audience comprised of members typically at risk and/or underserved in
the community. Its success resulted into adding Prelude as a regular stop in the
following schedule.
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A presentation proposal about the ICPL Welcome Desk was accepted for the Iowa
Library Association Conference in October. Terri, Becky, and Sam will present on way-
finding services after C19 closures, welcoming the community back into their library
space, and restructuring the ICPL Volunteer Program to meet emerging needs and
community values.
Sam attended the American Library Association Annual Conference in June. They served
on ALA Executive Board and ALA Council to review and vote on resolutions, approve
operational, initiative, and awards budgets, report on national trends, and contribute to
the governance of the national association.
Sam worked with the Iowa Library Association, the Governor's Commission for the State
of Iowa Library, and the ACLU of Iowa to help clarify and communicate intellectual
freedom matters at the Vinton Public Library. Attached is the ACLU of Iowa statement.
Respectfully submitted,
The above graphs outline how stops have maintaining or grown in hourly door count. It
was important to add stops that would not pull away participation in established
locations. It is gratifying to see that additional Pop-Ups compliment rather than
compete with traditional Bookmobile stops.
I thank the Library Board of Trustees for their support and direction in exploring these
mindful approaches to services. The CAS Department will focus on sustainable growth
and learning together as a team as we continue this good work.
Sam Helmick
Professional Development
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69
Agenda Item 5B-19
70
Agenda Item 5B-20
71
Development Office Report
Prepared for the Board of Trustees
Iowa City Public Library
by Patty McCarthy, Director of Development
The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation will generate private resources to support the Iowa City
Public Library.
July 28, 2022
Thank You
Every financial contribution given to the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation (ICPLFF) shows how
much our generous community wants to help the Iowa City Public Library continue to excel. Amazing library
love comes in with every gift. Thank you to e veryone who donates!
During the fiscal year which ended on June 30, the ICPLFF raised more than $366,000 for the Library. That is
the unofficial gross income total. This success is due to the great ideas and enthusiastic work of the
community volunteers who serve on the ICPLFF Board of Directors and its committees, as Book End
volunteers, and as ICPLFF Corporate Members. All work together with Library Development Office staff in a
wonderful partnership.
The chart below looks at a portion of the gross income total. It focuses on undesignated gifts which can be
spent on what’s most needed by the Library. Undesignated funds primarily come from asking donors to give,
and inviting support of ICPLFF special events. The ICPLFF annual budget is based on the total of undesignated
gifts received in previous years.
Undesignated gifts
Fiscal
Year
Annual
Fund Total
Annual
Change
Average
Gift
Number of
Gifts
FY2022 $279,620
Up 40%
$80,308 $231 1,212
FY2021 $199,312
Up 7%
$13,737 $170 1,173
FY2020 $185,575
Up 7%
$11,861 $165 1,128
FY2019 $173,714
Down .4%
$770 $157 1,105
FY2018 $174,484
Up 3%
$4,666 $146 1,196
And My Thanks to You
It has been my joy and honor to work with each of you, your predecessors, our donors, and current and past
library staff as the Library’s Development Director for nearly 18 years. This is my last report to you before I
retire on August 19. As a library use r in every place I’ve lived, I believe that the Iowa City Public Library is the
best. It’s been amazing to connect with so many people who agree and give a lot of time, talent, and treasure
to ensure its continued excellence . Thank you for the fun opportunities and for sharing your expertise, care,
friendship, and support with me through the years. I look forward to continuing to hear about what you’re
reading when I see you again!
With heartfelt gratitude,
Patty McCarthy
Agenda Item 5C-1
72
Iowa City Public Library stops charging overdue
nes
Posted on Jul 1, 2022 by Paul Brennan
The Iowa City Public Library, 123 S Linn St — Jason Smith/Little Village
The Iowa City Public Library will no longer charge nes for overdue
books or other materials.
ICPL eliminated overdue nes on books for children and young adults
in May 2019. Now that no- ne policy will apply to everything on loan at
the library.
“Creating nancial barriers to public library use is counterproductive
and goes against the Library’s mission to encourage more use, not
less,” ICPL Director Elsworth Carman said. When nes for kids and
teens were canceled. “We want to remove barriers that stop people
from using the Library, and we’re pleased to have the support of the
City of Iowa City council members and our Library Board of Trustees
to do so.”
As ICPL noted in a statement on Friday, overdue nes
disproportionately a ect lower-income library users, and
discourage them from accessing available resources.
The movement to end nes to make libraries more accessible has been
building around the country for the past decade. In 2020, the Metro
Library Network in Linn County, which is made up of the public
libraries in Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha and Marion, eliminated nes.
Libraries in West Liberty, West Branch and Ely have also gone ne-
free.
ICPL’s new policy took e ect on Friday, July 1, the beginning of the new
scal year. It does not, however, o er amnesty to those who had a guilt-
inducing stack of overdue books as of June 30.
“The Fine Free change is not retroactive and does not eliminate unpaid
nes that patrons already had on their Library accounts prior to the
change going into e ect,” ICPL said in its statement on Friday.
“Cardholders will still be responsible for nes assessed prior to the
change.”
Agenda Item 5D-1
73
Clocking Out for Good: The Great Resignation’s
Impact on Local Government
Employees are quitting in record numbers. How can local governments keep them around?
By Jessie O'Brien | Jun 01, 2022 | PM MAGAZINE - ARTICLE
Over 38 million workers left their
jobs in 2020, and the quit rate
continued into 2021. More than
4.5 million Americans left their
positions in November, an all-time
high. The employee-employer
dynamic shift affects every
industry. But The Great
Resignation’s impact on local
government creates unique issues.
It has many rethinking how they
operate.
Allyson Brunette is one of the
many who put in her two weeks’
notice after nine years in local
government. Pandemic-related
staff shortages led to burnout that
crept into her home life. She
stopped doing all the things she
liked—cooking, walking the dog,
sleeping, and being, you know, hydrated.
“Even though I know I should stop mainlining coffee and have a glass of water, am I doing it? No,” she said. Caffeine became essential to
keeping up with an extraordinary workload at an extraordinary pace. The work itself didn’t change, but the volume did. “It was affecting
more than my 9-to-5. It was my whole 24 hours,” she said. Eventually, Brunette left for good.
Fields feeling the most pressure from the pandemic, like hospitality, retail, and healthcare, are seeing a drastic decline in workers. But
people are leaving the workforce across the board. In local government, job applications dropped off an alarming 32 percent over the past
two years, reports Route Fifty. And according to the Rockefeller Institute, quit rates nearly doubled from 2010 to 2020.
Why Workers Are Leaving Local Government
Benchmark data from National Research Center at Polco gives insights as to why. The National Employee Survey (The NES) measures the
local government workplace based on employee opinions. This nationwide database shows what matters most to job satisfaction.
Survey results point to work-life balance, morale, and fair compensation for why people are quitting in local government.
According to The NES, a meager 39 percent of respondents believe they are fairly compensated for their level of performance. Only 55
percent feel appreciated for their work. And while 65 percent report positive staff morale, this means 35 percent reported fair or poor
ratings. Addressing these areas could help prevent burnout.
Unfortunately, local governments don’t have the same agility as private businesses to curb dissatisfaction. “Unlike the private sector where
you can modify the work you take on to t your team, the work isn’t optional in local government,” Brunette said. “It’s either there, or it’s
not. There is a baseline level of services that you need to provide your residents, regardless of what your staf ng levels look like.”
Former city manager and CEO of local government executive recruitment rm SGR, Ron Holi eld, has been busy. He and his team are
working to ll a record-level of 100 positions due to a convergence of issues.
In local government, Holi eld said the staf ng gaps come from the spike of boomers who traded in their loafers for pickleball sneakers and
nally retired. COVID-19 and partisan politics exacerbated the issue.
“They are tired of the political abuse, and they are tired of hatefulness among citizens,” Holi eld said. “We’ve basically been in ght-or- ight
mode since the pandemic began, and so it’s just wearying.”
Agenda Item 5D-2
74
Holi eld describes many government workers as people who “want off the treadmill, but they don’t want to quit.” Some emp
especially parents, are making backward moves for a lighter workload. Number two positions are unwilling or underprepared to take on
more demanding roles, leaving more vacancies in upper management than a seedy roadside motel.
In a recent Politico interview, White House Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said, “Everyone talks about the Great Resignation, and I think
what we’ve seen there is not necessarily resigning from work but resigning from their jobs—a job that was not ful lling enough for folks.”
People are seeking more enrichment, more family time, or are taking the chance on entrepreneurship. That’s what Brunette did. She
started her own government consulting company and can now walk her dog any time she wants.
“If the pandemic has taught us nothing else, it’s that life expectancy is not a guarantee. I don’t want to live for 65. I want to squeak some joy
out of it in my 30s,” she said.
Today, local governments need to ll 928,000 jobs, reports the Rockefeller Institute. And there are over 10.9 million job openings total,
according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
The Great Resignation gave private-sector employees leverage to ask for exibility, better bene ts, higher pay, and remote work. But some
of these changes are at odds with how many governments typically operate. The optics of government employees staying home may look
bad to the public eye. That’s why so few municipalities have embraced remote work. But Holi eld and Brunette disagree with the
resistance to new normals.
“Local governments that are not willing to change how they think or get outside of the box are going to have an increasingly dif cult time
recruiting,” Holi eld said. “Because the best and the brightest are just saying, ‘No I am not willing to work the way my father did or my
mother did. I am going to have a balanced life.’”
Surviving Local Government Staff Shortages
Government positions possess a valuable quality: a meaningful job experience. Eighty-four percent of The NES respondents feel positive
about working for local government, and 86 percent said their values align with their work.
But meaning isn’t enough with all the stress that comes along with government careers. Brunette and Holi eld say local governments need
to embrace change if they want to retain high-performing staff members and survive the Great Resignation. “The whole system that has
been based on longevity—accruing bene ts over time—has been thrown out the window,” Brunette said. It’s one reason why Holi eld
predicts ex scheduling and bene ts are on the horizon.
Flexible scheduling is exactly what it sounds like, a life without a rigid time clock. “Flex bene ts” refers to different job perks for people at
different phases in their life. For instance, parental leave isn’t useful for empty nesters. But time off to take care of an aging parent is
valuable.
Holi eld also predicts there will be more contract work, job sharing positions, and other creative solutions. Job sharing allows two or more
people to tackle the same position so they can work fewer hours. Parents with kids can continue to work and take on a carpooling shift.
Brunette points out that local governments may be able to sh from a bigger hiring pond if they embrace remote work. Rush hour isn’t so
bad for staff who are not required to commute every day.
Beyond reshaping the job itself, Holi eld strongly suggests local governments change the descriptions on their job postings to create more
latitude. “If you say ‘must have’ [on a job posting], you’re putting arti cial barriers in place, and you’re gonna shrink the pool even further,”
he said.
Agenda Item 5D-3
75
How Data Can Help Employers Retain Local Government Staff
“Having a data-driven approach to identifying problems, and understanding what’s important to folks, is valuable so you can increase that
engagement before issues arise,” said co-creator of The NES and Polco’s vice president of innovation, Michelle Kobayashi.
She’s helped local governments leverage public and employee opinion for more than 30 years. “Being preemptive instead of reactive is
always better,” she said.
To successfully improve retention, local government employers must rst quantify the problems turnover causes. They must then nd the
source of the issue and develop a tailored retention strategy.
Employee surveys like The NES are effective in collecting the necessary data to create an informed plan. The survey unveils employees’
feelings toward their job—the good and the bad.
“Some people will not do employee surveys because they are so afraid of results. But just because you don’t measure dissatisfaction,
doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” Kobayashi said.
Kobayashi said governments often see surveys as an excuse for employees to complain or ask for more money. But they may be missing the
point when money isn’t the main driver behind job satisfaction in local government.
“I’ve found compensation is important, but often there are a lot of other levers that organizations can pull to increase employee
engagement that doesn’t rely on compensation,” Kobayashi said.
Those levers include adjusting job descriptions and allowing more overall exibility with bene ts, hours, and remote work. And considering
how many government employees feel underappreciated, a little recognition could go a long way.
The NES reveals what stressors impact employees the most, so managers can nd and prioritize the best solutions. The survey results can
be key to helping retain and attract skilled employees.
JESSIE O’BRIEN is a copywriter for Polco/National Research Center.
Originally published at https://blog.polco.us/great-resignation-local-government.
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Agenda Item 5D-4
76
2022 Urban Library Trauma Study
Final Report
Agenda Item 5D-5
77
Urban Library Trauma Study
Lead Researchers
Lauren Comito
Christian Zabriskie
Facilitators
Brynna Tucker
Djaz F Zulida
Research Fellows
Marissa Caico
Leah Dudak
Phyllis Heitjan
Alain Laforest
Shauna Modrow
Jack O’Malley
Darien Ostrander
Alexandra Pucciarelli
Carlos Rodriguez
Urban Librarians Unite
87 Richardson Street, 10c
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.urbanlibrariansunite.org
Sta
Lauren Comito, Executive Director
Board of Directors
Jennifer Manley, Chair
Rosemary Kiladitis, Secretary
Scott Jarzombek, Treasurer
Lauren Bradley
Brandon Je ries
Ricci Yuhico
Christian Zabriskie
Djaz F Zulida
Cover photo by Arieh Ress
Cover design by Latreash Designs Inc
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
3.0 Unported License.
ISBN 979-8-218-02015-6 (Paperback)
ISBN 979-8-218-02016-3 (PDF eBook )
Agenda Item 5D-6
78
Urban Library Trauma Study
Final Report
The Urban Library Trauma Study is a partnership between the New York Library Association,
Urban Librarians Unite, and St John’s University.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of
Museum and Library Services:RE-246392-OLS-20
The views, indings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report do not
necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Agenda Item 5D-7
79
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 3
Introduction 4
Methods 5
Literature Review 7
Survey 12
Focus Groups 18
Library Trauma Cycle 29
Forum 31
Ideas 39
Open Channels 39
Accreditation for Library Worker Trauma Support in Libraries 41
Do We Do That? - Online Database of Community Services 43
Creating a Trauma Informed/Centered Strategic Plan 45
Library Trauma Support Network 48
Recommendations 51
Library Worker Support Line 52
Standards for Healthy Library Workplaces 52
Policies and Procedures for Trauma-Informed Leadership 53
Peer-Led Support Groups for Library Workers 53
Conclusion 55
Works Cited 56
Appendices 58
2
Agenda Item 5D-8
80
Acknowledgements
A project the size of this study is never completed alone. We are grateful for the support of
the many people and organizations who have provided support and advice through this
process. We are particularly grateful to the current and past board members of Urban
Librarians Unite, the eternally patient sta at the New York Library Association, Kevin Rioux
at St John’s University, and Sarah Fuller at IMLS.
The time, labor, and creativity of our research fellows has been essential to this project. They
are amazing, self motivated and incredibly patient, if you have read this far you should hire
them forallthe jobs.
Finally, we are grateful to everyone who contributed to this project, by illing out the survey,
joining our focus groups or participating in the forum. Thank you for your time and
emotional labor. We know how much you have given of yourselves for this project. Thank
you for being willing to join us to create a better culture around trauma in urban public
libraries. This report wouldn’t exist without you.
Forum Participants
Amelia Eckles, Denver Public Library
Andrea Lemoins, Free Library of
Philadelphia
Becky Maguire, OCPL
Carry Blunt, OCPL
Casey Landau, Garden Home Community
Library
Christiana Parish, Queens Public Library
Elizabeth Portillo, Finkelstein Memorial
Library
Emerson Lane, Pima County Public
Library
Emily Collier, Lexington Public Library
Heather Boothby, Cedar Rapids Public
Library
Jessie Rodriguez, Denver Public Library
Kate Schiavi, Louisville Free Public Library
Khyra Lammers, Free Library of
Philadelphia
Krystal Smith, Spring ield-Greene County
Library
Linde Furman, Pima County Public Library
Liz Baldwin, New York Public Library
Mary Mink, Houston Public Library
Melbourne Delancy, Seattle Public Library
Rakisha Kearns-White, Brooklyn Public
Library
Rivkah Sass, retired
Samantha Gordano, San Marcos Public
Library
Sarah Preskitt, Anchorage Public Library
Simone Wellington, Queens Public Library
Theosa Ho eld, Lexington Public Library
Tor Loney, Albany Public Library
Virginia Wescott, Troy Public Library
Troy, NY
3
Agenda Item 5D-9
81
Introduction
This report was birthed in trauma. The idea came from the researcher’s experiencing
trauma in their own library work and looking at how it was impacting them as managers. As
they talked with friends and colleagues across the library profession, their experiences were
chorused back to them as people shared their own experiences and long term impacts. The
initial grant application was written as COVID-19 hit New York and just days before our
libraries shut down. The study was delayed and redesigned due to the pandemic. At the
same time we saw entirely new areas of trauma as COVID-19 disrupted entire swaths of our
society, libraries included.
The origin of this study was library trauma from before the pandemic, but any study of this
kind has to be reflective of the time of its creation. We witnessed entire systems within our
profession crack and often fail. We saw the worst in ourselves and the best in others, and the
other way around, and back again. Fundamental structures of trust in our institutions were
tested and a glaring light was shone on endemic injustices in how our colleagues of color are
treated.
This study was designed, researched, and written by and for frontline urban public library
workers. We spoke from a common core of trauma and shared experiences. These shared
experiences were essential to the trust needed for many of these incredibly raw
conversations. People throughout the study spoke to the importance of seeing others like
themselves, that they were not alone, that what happened to them was not their fault, that
their experiences mattered.
As we spoke with library workers during the study we realized that nobody had recorded the
full scope of the problem. It is literally an issue throughout people’s entire professional
lifetime from grad school through to retirement. Over the course of two years we had dozens
of conversations with urban library workers from cities of all types and sizes from across the
United States. This study is the result of their shared lived experiences. So often in the
course of the study participants told us that they thought that they were the only ones
experiencing a dif icult event or having a particular stressor in their library. This document
is a testament that they are not alone.
If awful things have happened to you while you worked in libraries we are sorry that those
things happened to you. It wasn’t your fault. It could have happened to anyone and
unfortunately it probably has. We can work to make things better together. Thank you for
reading this report and for being engaged in the work of making our libraries safe, better,
and happier places to be for everyone.
Please note, portions of this report can be dif icult to read. The Survey and Focus Group sections
contain raw and dif icult images and experiences. Please pace yourself.
4
Agenda Item 5D-10
82
Methods
The end goal for this study was to build a framework for addressing and mitigating
workplace trauma for library sta , so we worked to organize the study in a way that would
center the experiences and perspective of a ected sta . We chose design thinking as the
most appropriate method for intense community involvement.
Design thinking is a community and user focused process for problem solving. It is best used
for addressing ambiguous problems, as well as complicated problems with a lot of
stakeholders who aren’t necessarily acting in predictable ways. Trauma in library work is
absolutely an ambiguous problem, there is no one solution to it, and addressing it will need
to involve the work of a wide variety of stakeholders.
We committed to developing a study based loosely on the principles of emancipatory
research, and structured it using design thinking methods. This allowed us to set up the
study in a way that allows for meaningful codesign, and centering the experiences of public
facing urban public library workers. Library sta are the experts on their own experiences,
and by ensuring that their voices were the main driver of the study we ultimately created
more meaningful solutions.
The design thinking process is broken down into ive stages; understand, de ine, ideate,
prototype & test, and implement.
Understand - The irst stage of the design thinkingprocess is gaining an
understanding of the issues at hand and inding ways to empathize with the a ected
community. This often includes research, interviews, and surveys.
De ine - The de ine stage is where participants decidewhich problems they want to
address. What is the actual problem? Is it deeper than just an adverse event? How
many stakeholders are there? Who are they? What is the underlying world view that
allows these conditions to exist?
Ideate - In this stage, participants come up withas many ideas as possible, and then
begin to narrow it down. Think of it like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what
sticks. If you want to have anything sticking to the wall at the end, you’ll need to throw
a lot of spaghetti.
Prototype & Test - Here, participants build very simpleprototypes of their ideas,
then test them with their colleagues and users, seeking feedback on how they can be
changed and improved.
5
Agenda Item 5D-11
83
Implement - The prototypes that seem most feasible, and best meet the de ined
needs, are then implemented. This remains an iterative process with many
opportunities for feedback and change.
The study was organized in four phases; a literature review, survey, focus groups, and
national forum. The irst three phases combined to be our “understand” stage of the design
thinking process, and were intended to provide supporting information to the forum
participants. These materials were provided to the participants in written form and during a
virtual pre meeting where they could ask questions or clarify their understanding of the
research done to that point.
The fourth phase was a three day design sprint that comprised the next three stages of the
design thinking process; de ine, ideate, and prototype & test. During the forum in March
2022, participants worked in teams to build the ideas that form the basis of the
recommendations. As they followed the process, they arrived at a consensus around which
problems they would most like to solve, created a large number of ideas, narrowed those
ideas down, created basic prototypes, and tested them with their colleagues. Those
prototypes are the posters you will see later in the report.
The last stage in the design thinking process is implementation, and that comes next. Using
the prototypes from the forum we have created a series of recommendations for moving
forward to create a new professional culture. A culture that is based in meaningful sta
involvement, praxis over theory, and real models of community care.
6
Agenda Item 5D-12
84
Literature Review
Introduction
The perception of public libraries as quiet places where people read in silence has caused
problems for library workers. First, there is a lack of awareness of the reality that while
libraries are open public spaces and create the social infrastructure needed to have a
society, this creates opportunities for stress and trauma. Second, the perception of libraries
as quiet silent spaces of study leaves libraries with a lack of resources and solutions for the
trauma that can come with working with the public.
The Urban Library Trauma Study aims to create a practical framework for mitigating trauma
in the urban public library workplace. This is accomplished by involving public service
library workers in a multi-day forum where they used the information put together from
this literature review, surveys and focus groups to inform their work. This literature review
serves two purposes - it looks at the scholarly work already done in the area of library
science, while also looking at research on this topic in similar ields so that participants can
draw from those resources in exploring how to address the issue of workplace trauma in
libraries.
Approach to the review
While the library science ield has started to look seriously at trauma in public library work,
the scholarship around the issue is not as deep as in related ields. This literature review
looks at resources in the library science ield while also drawing from related ields like
health care, education and social work. In addition to looking for scholarly articles on the
topic of trauma in the workplace, we also collected and analyzed news stories about
potentially traumatic events in public libraries.
Themes
Several themes arose during the review of the literature. First, it reinforced that which our
lived experiences had already shown to be true - libraries have a problem. There is indeed a
documented issue of sta trauma in public library work. It exists, and needs to be
acknowledged. Furthermore, there is no systemic approach to solutions. A broad look at the
literature inds piecemeal attempts to solve burnout and trauma through self care,
boundaries, and mindfulness. The area of trauma informed library services comes closest to
acknowledging the depth of the problem, but even then mostly addresses it in the context of
providing a new paradigm of service to the broader community.
7
Agenda Item 5D-13
85
The themes we identi ied during our review of the literature include;
●The existence of trauma in public library work
●Self care and mindfulness
●Deescalation
●Mission creep and vocational awe
●Institutional responsibility
●Secondary traumatic stress (STS)
Findings and Conclusions
Key Takeaways
●Every person has a right to a safe workplace, yet public librarians are not given these
protections (Jordan, 2014) (Ettarh, 2018).
●Societal issues like homelessness (Dowd, 2018), racism (Helm, 2015), violence (Green,
2005), and homophobia (Felice, 2019) are part of the public library landscape and
they must be acknowledged (Reynolds, 2010) (Hallquist, 2011).
●Witnessing and experiencing violence is increasingly becoming the norm in public
libraries (Green, 2005) (Cullen & Hayes, 2012) (deGrandpre & Wang, 2017) (Skipworth,
2020) (Bell, 2018).
●Librarians are being forced to do the work of social workers and they are developing
secondary traumatic stress (STS) as a result (National Child Traumatic Stress
Network, 2011) (Center for Advanced Study in Child Welfare, 2012) (Becker & McCrillis,
2015) (Jordan, 2014) (Mele, 2016) (Ford, 2019).
○This stress and trauma is leading to burnout in librarians (Lindén, Salo, &
Jansson, 2018) (Peet, 2021).
Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS)
To expand, secondary traumatic stress “...also known as secondary trauma, compassion
fatigue, or vicarious traumatization, is beginning to be recognized in some disciplines and
professions as a signi icant occupational hazard” (Sloan, Vanderfluit, & Douglas, 2019, p. 1).
STS has been primarily associated with nurses (McGibbon, Peter, & Gallop, 2010) and social
workers (Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, 2012), but in recent years there has
been an increased discussion of STS and librarianship (Lindén, Salo, & Jansson, 2018).
Current research on STS and libraries is fragmented and in deep need for future study. This
is likely due to the lack of awareness of STS and how it appears in the ield and is a major
hole in the literature.
How other fields are approaching Secondary Traumatic Stress
It is vital to examine how other ields like medicine and social work are dealing with
secondary traumatic stress, to inform how libraries may deal with it going forward. While
these ields di er from librarianship, they share a similar form of trauma due to the nature
8
Agenda Item 5D-14
86
of dealing with people, serving communities, and lacking resources. But what makes these
ields more able to deal with trauma than libraries? The social services industry has a strong
infrastructure around STS and has strong ties to clinical and therapeutic psychological
frameworks (McGibbon, Peter, & Gallop, 2010) (National Association of Social Workers, 2013).
Burnout is a notable cause of high turnover in the social work ield, so there is also an
incentive for the industry to acknowledge and address this phenomenon (Knuckey ,
Satterthwaite, & Brown, 2018), but this same awareness does not currently exist in libraries.
While literature connects library issues to social work and draws the connections needed to
show how STS protocols are useful/critical for library workers (Sloan, Vanderfluit, & Douglas,
2019), there is still a hole in the literature. This gap fails to account for the fact that urban
libraries provide a lot of services for free that are not available anywhere else and whether
that represents critical, fundamental gaps in the social safety net.
How the issue specifically affects library workers
“The irst step in dealing with a problem is to identify the parameters” (Jordan, 2014, p. 303).
The stressors present in libraries such as excessive workload and deteriorating facilities can
be solved with very little e ort (Jordan, 2014). “The more challenging tasks are some of the
most common and highest-ranked stressors: problems with managers, problems with
co-workers, and the workplace environment. Addressing and solving these problems will
mean that some people have to acknowledge their actions are causing stress to others, and
then to be willing to change those actions” (Jordan, 2014, p. 304). Additionally, the precarity
of the job market must also be acknowledged as a form of trauma (Hahn, 2019).
When the stress librarians feel goes unaddressed and untreated there are high incidences of
burnout (Jordan, 2014). Compassion fatigue is another major issue for librarians.
“Compassion fatigue a ects those who enter the helping professions, including
librarianship, precisely because these are the people most likely to put themselves in the
place of others, to feel compassion and empathy for those they help” (Katopol, 2015, p. 2).
“Burnout is not a condition which will reverse itself quickly or easily. Librarians experiencing
this problem may need professional help to get past it, from an Employee Assistance
Program (EAP) or a quali ied therapist” (Jordan, 2014). Others believe that issues related to
burnout and compassion fatigue can be solved by librarians having a space to vent to people
that are empathetic to their experiences and lessening duties at home (Katopol, 2015).
"I'm Not a Social Worker": An Information Service Model for Working with Patrons in Crisis
proposes a framework for reference librarians to identify and serve the information needs
of patrons in crisis.
“The model presented in this article seeks to provide support for relevant reference
work by identifying speci ic strategies for interactions with patrons in crisis
situations. The underlying assumption is that relevant reference work serves
individuals more e ectively than refusing their information needs. The ambiguous
9
Agenda Item 5D-15
87
region between librarianship and social work needs to be embraced as a means of
helping high-need patrons. Information-and-referral programs are useful, but they
are not complete services. Each strategy in this model helps individual librarians ind
their own patron-centered service outcome” (Westbrook, 2015).
In this article introduces the tension within librarianship of serving persistently
under-served populations while speci ically not being trained for addressing trouble
outside the immediate realm of information services. As evidenced by many anecdotal
news stories, homelessness plays a large part in dif icult situations which arise in public
libraries, and The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness:An Empathy-Driven Approach to Solving
Problems, Preventing Conflict, and Serving Everyone provides several useful tools in
navigating these situations. Because homelessness is exacerbated in urban areas, this text is
especially useful for urban public libraries and their sta , to ensure library sta are well
equipped to handle the complex issues that arise alongside homelessness. As can be found
in many of the news articles describing traumatic events in public libraries, the opioid
epidemic has a large part to play in the security (or lack thereof) of the public library.
Libraries and the substance abuse crisis: Supporting your community provides helpful
information for sta that are navigating this issue, which is especially prevalent in urban
environments. This includes directly addressing library security, helping sta to better
understand addiction and how it functions, and organizational approaches to this issue.
The case for trauma protections for urban libraries
To date, there has not been any attempts to validate reasonably abundant anecdotal
evidence describing traumatic violence in libraries quantitatively and on a large scale, based
on our preliminary review of available resources. However, we did ind sources that, when
looked at together, corroborate what cannot currently be con irmed more scienti ically. For
example, Saulny & Culotta’s 2009 New York Times article connected increased crime and
friction in libraries with the economic recession. This artical not only speculates about the
relationship between material conditions in communities and increased usage and tension
in libraries, but also made explicit that the American Library Association does not track
incidents in libraries. Neither do crime statistics. What is the viability for the tracking of
incidents in libraries through a participating network of institutions/librarians? Does the
industry even want these statistics to exist?
Lynn Westbrook’s 2015 article in Library Quarterly outlined a framework for reference
librarians serving patrons in crisis and draws from social work practice. To set up her
framework, she begins by examining librarianship's historical treatment of structural issues
a ecting patrons’ lives. In this she cites literature that argues for expanded understanding of
libraries’ roles and services, research on common troubles faced by library users (e.g.
homelessness). Additionally, she refers to the activities of the ALA’s Social Responsibilities
Round Table in the 1990’s regarding hunger, homelessness, and poverty. If patrons are so
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broadly understood to be navigating traumatizing circumstances, then extreme trauma is
ever present in the library even prior to a major incident.
Patricia Katopol’s 2015 article, “Enough Already: Compassion Fatigue”, touches on building
support mechanisms for library workers experiencing compassion fatigue, both in
leadership and those reporting to them. Kaetrena Davis Kendrick in 2021 published a
qualitative study on low morale in public librarianship, which provides quotes of
participants’ narratives that in some cases detail traumatic events. While these are framed
as examples of various kinds of abuse experienced in libraries, it fails to speci ically address
trauma or trauma response. Rather, it centers discussion around measures that react to
abuse, including greater collaboration with the social work ield, rather than looking at the
root issue - trauma.
Finally and perhaps most obviously, the recent prominence of literature recommending the
application of a trauma-informed approach to librarianship is one of the strongest
arguments promoting the need for rigorous trauma responsiveness in libraries from an
organizational perspective. Social work literature frequently refers to the well-established
phenomenon of “vicarious trauma” and documents its damaging e ects. Explicitly
connecting the dots between library literature’s stated need for a trauma lens and the social
work ield’s acknowledgment of the risks of vicarious trauma is one of the most important
things this study can accomplish.
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Survey
Introduction and Process
The ultimate goal of the survey was to collect information that could be used by forum
participants to inform ideas for potential solutions to the issue of workplace trauma in
urban public libraries. The survey questions were drafted to draw out the broader trends of
adverse experiences and trauma in libraries, while also eliciting descriptions of events and
impacts on public service sta . Questions were selected for the survey based on
preliminary results from the literature review and the lived experience of the researchers.
All questions on the survey were optional.
The survey was distributed as a google form between August 7 and September 29, 2021. In an
attempt to reach as many people as possible, the survey was distributed via Urban Librarians
Unite’s social media platforms, the state library and associations listservs that we had
permissions to post on, sent to the ULU mailing list and posted on ULU’s website. We
received 568 responses, of which 435 were from urban public library sta .
Once the survey responses were collected, research fellows iltered out rural, suburban,
academic, school and special library responses as out of scope. While those libraries are also
exposed to many of the same issues, this study is narrowly focused on urban public libraries.
We then coded the responses to the narrative questions to allow them to be quanti ied and
shared more easily, and redacted identifying information in the narrative responses. The
research fellows then created data visualizations of the responses to each question.
Survey Questions and Results
We have created a document of the survey data presented as summaries and visualizations
which you can use to start getting a broad idea of the scope of the issue. Both the survey
questions and visualizations are available in the appendices of this report. Trauma in urban
public libraries is a complex issue that is dif icult to fully measure in a survey, so we used the
survey results to inform our focus group facilitation where we were able to go more in depth
on the issues presented in the survey.
Summary of the Data
Survey respondents represented a wide spectrum of urban public library workers from
pages to executive directors, with half of the responses coming from librarians. Responses
were predominantly from individuals who self-identi ied as female (78%) and they came
from all across the United States. Respondents were also generally well-established in their
ields (with the majority of respondents having worked in libraries for at least 5-10 years)
and they overwhelmingly indicated that, in general, they feel daily stress at their libraries.
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In terms of how physically safe respondents feel at their library workplaces, responses were
almost evenly split between feeling not at all safe in their libraries and feeling very safe in
their libraries. The majority of responses (68.5%) indicated that the library worker had
experienced violent or aggressive behavior at their libraries from patrons, but a signi icant
percentage of responses (22%) indicated that they experienced violent or aggressive
behavior from their coworkers.
Question 9: Experiences of violent or aggressive behavior
Respondents frequently said that they felt supported by their colleagues during dif icult
work situations, and that many of their colleagues had shared their own workplace trauma
experiences with them at some point. Survey data indicated that traumatic experiences
happened frequently for many respondents, and that many of the incidents involved verbal
abuse, physical assault or abuse, or harassing or inappropriate behavior. When these
situations arose, respondents were most likely to receive help from their coworkers, security
personnel, or police. Although a majority of libraries do o er some sort of workplace mental
health resources (64%), only 20 respondents out of the data set of 435 speci ically indicated
that they had actually utilized any available resources.
When asked to describe workplace trauma in the library in their own words, responses
centered on fear, danger, violence, aggression, mental illness, and noted the frequency of
these events. When asked to describe what would help respondents to better address
workplace trauma, responses revolved around creating a supportive environment at work,
addressing staf ing issues, providing training and education for workers, and increasing the
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overall safety and security of their buildings. Of the 255 respondents who chose to describe a
speci ic traumatic experience, they once again described experiences involving verbal
abuse, physical assault or abuse, harassing or inappropriate behavior, situations relating to
drugs or alcohol, sexual assault or harassment, secondhand trauma experiences, or
situations involving a person’s mental health.
Themes
Analysis of this survey did not aim to draw decisive conclusions from the data – that was
what our hope was for the collaborations that would arise during the forum. However, after
analyzing over 400 surveys from urban public library workers across the country, there
were certain themes that stand out. What was surprising about the survey responses was
that although many of the incidents of trauma in the library were directly related to larger
culture issues that stem from outside of the library(e.g., racism, sexism, substance abuse,
etc.), the trauma that was incurred by many respondents was often a result of how the
situation was handled inside of the library. Respondentsfrequently described situations
where sta were not supported during or after an incident, where they were made to feel
forgotten, neglected, were not believed by managers or administrators, where they were
frustrated by the lack of communication and understanding, or the inconsistent or unequal
application of policies and procedures. The predominant themes of survey respondents
revolved around library power dynamics (e.g., communication between organizational
levels, decision-making power, administration being out of touch with everyday library
work, etc.), having (or not having) a supportive work environment (e.g., support from
management, administrators, and coworkers, space to speak openly and honestly, incident
debrie ing, proper training and education, etc.), addressing staf ing issues (particularly by
increasing the number of sta and security personnel), and creating worker-centered
library policies and procedures (e.g., streamlined and equally applied incident reporting,
timely follow-up to incident reporting, quicker resolutions to worker complaints or
concerns, etc.).
Respondents reported feeling that library administrations would not back them up and
support them in stressful situations or harassment. In some cases, respondents reported
that their experiences were downplayed or overlooked. In one such case a respondent
reported that a patron had aggressively approached a sta member while drunk on multiple
occasions shouting at them, the response from their director was as follows,
“What was totally astounding was that after this, the library Director was angry at ME,
and told me that every customer deserves a "fresh start every day" and that if I had
only stood there and talked to him instead of walking away, the man wouldn't have
been angry. He told me it was "poor customer service" to walk away! I was still
technically on my dinner hour when this happened, so I was excused "this time" but
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admonished that I had to serve this man in the future.”
-Survey Respondent 66
Several respondents reported being expected to deal with weapons in the library as though
it was a normal event. They expressed feeling unsupported by library administration, which
triggered long term e ects for the workers.
“I've had a teen patron pull a gun on me and physicallyassault a colleague. I felt like it
wasn't taken seriously by library administration. I still have nightmares about it two
years later.”
-Survey Respondent 131
“We have had multiple patrons come in with weapons, everything from large sticks to
guns and knives. We try to call the police as little as possible so that everyone feels
comfortable in using the Library, but when this sort of thing happens we need to
protect sta and other patrons. Frontline sta are having these very disturbing
confrontations, and at the same time are getting push back from the Library
Administration about calling the police. We need to support our sta better in these
situations and not make them feel like they did something wrong for calling the
police to remove someone with a weapon after they have asked the patron to leave
and they have refused.”
-Survey Respondent 359
Some survey respondents reported experiencing long-term stress from not having the
power to help patrons or meaningfully intervene in dangerous situations.
“I responded to an overdose at the library, which I had trained to do on my own time.
There was narcan on site for security of icer use which I administered. I also called
our security dispatcher for back up. The security of icer who arrived was aggressive
with me and the person who overdosed. Afterwards he followed up to complain that I
was interfering by continuing to interact with the person who overdosed after he
arrived. The narcan was then removed from all buildings without onsite security
because non-security sta were not authorized to use it. I felt competent to handle
the emergency response but completely traumatized by the institutional response.”
-Survey Respondent 204
“Once there was a naked man in the bathroom. He was an older gentleman who
must have had a medical situation and found himself covered in feces. He was trying
to clean himself o . At the time, there was a security guard stationed in our building.
The security guard asked the man if he needed medical attention, but he declined.
When I wanted to call, I was told that I wasn't legally allowed to..”
-Survey Respondent 84
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It can also be stressful not to be able to assist with regular patron needs outside of a violent
or medical context. Respondents reported experiencing second hand trauma in
communities with high needs and low resources.
“Even though the physical events towards us are traumatic, we also experience
second hand trauma through the lives of our patrons. We witness our community
members struggle through poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, mental illness, and
oftentimes we do not have the resources to help them. As a library sta members it
can be stressful to not be able to help patrons in need and even more stressful to
punish patrons for something beyond their control (i.e. asking them to leave for the
day because they are carrying too much luggage, sleeping on property, or causing a
disturbance due to mental illness).”
-Survey Respondent 93
Question 16: What are the three things that would help you in your place of employment
when it comes to avoiding, experiencing or dealing with workplace trauma?
A supportive environment was one of the most frequently identi ied supports that would
help with traumatic events. 19% of respondents said that it would be helpful, and yet it’s not
the current reality. While respondents reported being supported by their immediate
colleagues, many respondents reported feeling unsupported by upper administration. This
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was also identi ied in the responses to question 13 on the survey. 83% of respondents
reported receiving support from a colleague during a tough situation at work, and only 11%
stated that colleagues were not supportive.
“Based on my position, I am often the one who is called in to deal with the dif icult
situations. When this happens, other sta step in to 1. Control any crowd that may be
forming 2. Call law enforcement when needed 3. Check in with me afterwards to
make sure I'm ok.”
-Survey Respondent 84
“Having the administration acknowledge it. Many times things happen to sta and
admin ignores it and doesn't share any information to help others avoid it or words of
comfort. “ - Survey Respondent 105
Conclusions
As noted in the literature review, libraries have a problem with stressful events and how we
handle them as institutions and as a profession. While the existence of libraries and the
dedication of librarians alone will not be able to stop endemic cultural problems such as
racism, sexism, and homelessness, it is clear from the survey responses that there is plenty
that can be done internally within libraries to reduce the traumatic impact that library work
has on library workers. If libraries were to choose to tackle any one of these predominant
themes, it is very likely that the trauma experienced by public library workers would be
greatly diminished - even if the root causes of the traumatic events themselves may be
uncontrollable.
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Focus Groups
Introduction
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the issue of workplace trauma in urban public
libraries we followed up the survey with a series of focus groups. The focus groups enabled
us to have conversations that dove more deeply into the areas of concern raised by the
survey.
Process
The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated moving the focus groups onto Zoom rather than
holding them in person. Researchers facilitated 6 focus groups during the week of
September 27th, 2021 with a total of 58 participants. Each focus group was conducted by
video conference and was approximately one hour long. Participants were drawn from a
diverse array of libraries, including Albany Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, LA County
Libraries, Las Vegas Clark County Library District, Leroy Collins Leon County Public Library,
Lexington Public Library, Madison Public Library and Queens Public Library. They also
represented a variety of job titles, including librarians, middle management, clerical sta ,
and security of icers.
Traumatic experiences at work are a sensitive topic and often dif icult to talk about. Given
that, the impersonal nature of video conferencing presented a particular challenge. We
decided to focus on creating a psychologically safe environment for participants so they
would feel and be safe while sharing their experiences. Creating that space was a priority in
all stages of the focus group preparation and facilitation. While organizing the focus group
cohorts, we took advantage of the video conferencing format to separate sta from
supervisors at their institutions as much as possible. We also requested that
administrations at participating libraries allow for a private space for sta and an hour o
the public service desk immediately following the session. We have since been informed
that this time was not always provided.
Prior to the focus group sessions each participant received a care package in the mail. The
care package included a squishy idget, notebook, pen, tea and chocolates. The package was
a big part of building the shared experience and an acknowledgement of the dif iculty in
talking about these issues. We observed participants using the squishy idgets during the
sessions and several reported that they had already eaten the candy.
Video conference meetings can feel very impersonal and disconnected. To help mitigate
that feeling we made a point to acknowledge the distance that video conferencing creates at
the start of each session. We also requested that participants keep their cameras on so that
we could monitor the emotional states of each participant and make adjustments to our
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facilitation if needed. Each session included a few empty breakout rooms that participants
could use if they needed a few minutes alone away from the main meeting. These breakout
rooms were used a few times during the sessions.
Following the focus groups we made calls to individual participants who seemed like they
might need support. We have also kept the recordings, transcripts and notes private, and will
continue to do so in the future.
The questions and flow of the focus groups were designed to help build a deeper
understanding of the trends we observed in the survey answers and to draw out potential
areas to be addressed. The questions for each session followed a pattern of; getting to know
each other, building rapport, taking a tour through a process or event, and reflecting on what
we had discussed or heard during the session. The reflection time during the groups was
very helpful in bringing up ideas for future improvement. The facilitation guide is available
in the appendices.
Following the focus groups, researchers processed the notes and focus group recordings by
going through each group and writing down individual ideas and statements on Post It
notes. Each focus group session was given a di erent color and was grouped together. Once
each individual idea was collected on a Post It note, there were approximately 350 notes.
Ideas that were written down by both researchers were marked with a dot sticker.
After we had covered every wall in the of ice with Post It notes we sorted them into broad
categories and documented how they were grouped. Then the notes were broken down and
sorted into more granular categories in a second round which was also documented.
Because each focus group had its own designated color you can clearly see where ideas
repeated across cohorts. The Post It notes are the only raw data we are providing from this
part of the research in order to protect the con identiality of participants. The notes from the
second round of sorting are available in the appendices.
Initial findings
Each of the focus groups was an intense and emotional experience. Library workers self
selected to participate in the focus groups, and in the survey, were likely to have experienced
an adverse event at work. An overarching theme of the group was the feeling of helplessness
and being alone. Many participants reported thinking that the event they experienced was
only happening to them and feeling like they should be able to manage their feelings about it
without external support.
Trauma was consistently reported across the focus groups and the commonalities and
shared experiences between individuals at di erent institutions and across di erent focus
groups was often stark. Sexual harassment is rampant, particularly with patrons but not
exclusively. Participants reported harassment from colleagues, supervisors, and board
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members as well. Racial abuse is common and often tacitly tolerated by white colleagues
and management. Both of these situations represent a gap in current best practices. There
are no practical and widely disseminated guidelines or standards for addressing these
issues in the public library workplace.
Societal failures encroaching on public libraries have created a new level of stress. As the
social safety net has been dismantled and underfunded libraries have been left to pick up
the slack without the appropriate resources to do so. The stress this is placed on library
workers has not been matched by a commensurate increase in institutional support or
cultural change in the profession.
For the purposes of this study we will be framing our indings in three categories: external
issues, organizational culture, and individual issues.
External Issues
Many of the stressors reported by focus group participants were external. While many
participants see libraries as an important tool for community good, they also reported that
the needs of the community causes stress. In many cases the need of the community
exceeds the resources available, leaving sta unable to assist patrons in the way they would
like. Communities with intense needs for social services pass those needs o onto library
workers as a matter of course. One participant remarked that “we are the only therapy they
(patrons) can a ord”. Social workers are in high demand and are seen as an e ective irst
step in addressing the broader issues that libraries are being asked to address. There was
some discussion about mission creep, but not in every focus group session.
Additionally, there was a noted di erence between high need patrons and abusive patrons.
Many urban library users bring their trauma through the doors and those individuals can
present unintentional challenges to sta . While they can take extra e ort these individuals
are not the cause of the majority of trauma. The issue of intention gets involved when we go
from high-need to abusive patrons. Many abusive patrons are well aware of the societal
power structures they are abusing when they mistreat sta . Participants felt that this
intentionality is a big part of the feelings they had about events after they occur.
In discussing their interactions with the public, one participant referred to what they called
“endemic incivility.'' Another referred to a “culture of casual cruelty.” As service workers,
library sta are expected to provide excellent customer service in the face of racist and
sexist abuse. The philosophy of “The customer is always right “ has caused a lot of damage to
library workers. An inability to set appropriate and consistent boundaries because of
institutional policies, culture, and support leave sta vulnerable to abuse. Participants
reported feeling on alert and not knowing when the next instance of abuse would come or
from where. This feeling has been exacerbated during the current pandemic crisis when you
never know which patron is going to come in and not want to wear a mask. There is no social
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or personal fallout to being rude to a library employee and people often avail themselves of
the free space to vent. Sta regularly experience huge responses to small annoyances as a
way for patrons to transfer aggression to a perceived safe space without consequences.
Recent mask enforcement conflicts have only exacerbated these issues with library sta
experiencing constant daily stress around patron masking. Library workers often have a
great deal of responsibility without the power necessary to support or enforce the decisions
they make as part of these responsibilities.
A signi icant number of participants of color reported receiving racist abuse. In many cases,
they were referred to with racial epithets like the n-word. These sta felt like they were
expected to endure this abuse without consequences for the patrons or community
members inflicting it upon them. In one case a Black sta member reported being told “you
should be used to this” as though being referred to as the n-word was something she should
brush o and move on from. Participants who had experienced racial abuse also reported
not feeling supported by their colleagues or administration. They reported a lack of policies
regarding racist abuse and often had to continue helping the patron who had abused them
in accessing library resources.
Sexual harassment toward library workers, particularly women, was shown to be extremely
common. This harassment in our focus groups ranged from being constantly asked out on
dates, to patrons exposing themselves. One participant talked about being a young woman
and being expected to ask male patrons visibly watching porn to move to computers out of
line of sight from the children’s program, and that she was then expected to help get the
patron set up on the other computer. The prevailing professional attitude is that this is just
part of the job. This harassment can come from all levels including management and the
board. Another focus group participant reported repeated low level harassment from a
board member even after she brought it to the attention of administration. While patrons
watching porn in the library is not the only form of harassment library workers face, it is a
frequent one. Indeed, people watching porn in the public library has become a cultural joke.
Sta from multiple areas of the country expressed that confusion about the legal
requirements around patrons viewing porn in public libraries when it has directly
contributed to the harassment of library sta .
There were noticeably high levels of branch, neighborhood, and community loyalty from
library sta who serve high-need, high-risk communities. This creates an apparent
feedback loop of both primary and secondary trauma. Their convictions fuel their
engagement, which motivates further opportunities for trauma in communities which, by
their very nature, present high levels of stress and trauma. Economically disadvantaged
communities which are experiencing higher than average rates of crime and poverty create
a background of trauma for library workers whose branches serve these communities. Some
participants reported that getting to and from work can be an exhausting process even
before they open the door to the public. These branches often do not get as much attention
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or resources for their physical plant. The branch/admin disconnect can be particularly
pronounced since admin may not visit these library locations as often as others and as such
may be unaware of issues there, particularly with buildings, resources, and physical plant.
Organizational Issues
A consistent theme throughout the focus groups was a lack of trust. This lack of trust seems
to go in both directions, from front-line sta to administration, and from administration to
frontline sta . In many ways it seems that frontline sta and administration aren't having
the same conversation. This was exacerbated by working conditions during COVID. Some
sta saw themselves and their colleagues expected to return to the library while library
leadership continued to work from home.
There is a greater need for general responsiveness from library management and
administration around these issues. Sta want to see things happening after an incident.
They want to feel the validation of having their experience heard. “Nobody did anything”, was
a common sentiment from sta who experienced trauma in the workplace. These
sentiments were negatively reinforced when events which could have been avoided were
repeated at other locations or with di erent workers because no actions were taken on
behalf of management. Inactive administration can cause a secondary level of trauma as
sta feel that the organization is disengaged from their negative experiences.
Decisionmakers are often seen as isolated and complaints about the “Ivory Tower” were
common. If leadership is infrequently present in the branches then when they do come out
sta can feel judged and put on the spot. Libraries are less safe when there is a lack of
communication between admin, sta , and security.
Incident reports, as typically done, are ine ective as a response to sta trauma. Filling out
an incident report causes both professional stress and forces sta to reexperience trauma
as they try to summarize it to it into a few paragraphs for their boss to read. Training on
these reports is inconsistent, and are often one of many new forms and responsibilities that
sta encounter suddenly when they get a promotion to irst tier management. Sta seldom
interact with this form except when they are under stress responding to an emergency. Sta
are typically trained to keep incident reports fact based and so these documents can miss
nuances of perceived threat or emotional responses by all parties involved. When that
happens sta feel their genuine lived reality diminished.
Institutions use incident reports in di erent ways. Some sta feel discouraged from
submitting incident reports either by branch level management or by higher
administration. Not illing out an incident report was seen as an easy way of sweeping a
security incident under the rug. If there is no incident report, was there ever an incident at
all? Incident reports are often not widely shared. In many cases they go to management only.
They are not always shared between branches and when that is the case patrons are free to
repeat problematic behaviors across di erent library locations. In some cases patrons
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accrue ban after ban as they lose privileges at one branch to immediately go to another
library in the same system and engage in the same patterns of disruption and harassment.
Sta also felt that the “three strikes, you’re out” rule is enforced inconsistently. If nobody is
keeping track of patrons racking up incident reports then nobody ever knows if they have
two strikes already or ive.
Many focus group participants reported a lack of communication after a stressful or
traumatic event. This contributed to a feeling of loneliness and that they were supposed to
handle this stu on their own. As institutions, libraries should work to enact procedures that
contribute to a community and culture of care. At a basic level this could look like calling a
branch to see if sta are okay after an incident report was received. Sta reported needing to
talk to someone after an event happened and not having anyone available to speak to.
Library policies around trauma and security are seen as disconnected from the reality of
front line sta . They take a long time to craft and implement and if they are a reaction to a
given situation or event then they are often too late to be of substantive use. There is often a
sense that policies are written to protect the institution and administration often at the
expense of the sta . Participants wanted more decisive policies that o ered them more
clarity about what their options were in a given situation regarding banning a patron, calling
the police, or closing and locking the library doors. Sta would like a greater say in how
policies are made and have better transparency in why decisions were made. Not all policies
are perceived to be equally enforced.
Another consistent theme in the focus group sessions was workplace bullying. As shown in
the survey many participants reported having abusive interactions with supervisors and
co-workers. One reported being told that they had to continue to work with the person who
had verbally abused them because if they refused then they were being insubordinate. Often
participants discussed feeling as though supervisors and administrators just didn't want to
deal with the conflict brought up by workplace bullying.
Internal Issues
Library sta have created a culture of normalization around traumatic events. Participants
were unanimous in their feelings that they are expected to go through this kind of
experience and that it is all part of the job. Getting a full time library job is often such a
dif icult and time consuming process that people are loath to speak up for themselves for
fear of putting their hard won job at risk. Some library sta feel so lucky to have inally
gotten a job that they will put up with anything. There was discussion of how this is both a
point of pride and pain in the profession, particularly in the urban public sub specialty.
“Street librarianship” is valued but also exhausting. People didn’t want to complain about
“things that everyone goes through on the job.”
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This normalization leads to gaslighting, hypervigilance, and burnout. Sta reported being
told that incidents “weren’t that bad”, that “it’s what we signed up for” and “it’s just another
beautiful day at the public library”. They hear this from supervisors but also from one
another and from the larger community at large. Police do not consider library events
emergencies even when there are drunk and disorderly patrons because “how dangerous
could the library be?” If sta are constantly on the lookout for the next awful thing then they
begin to expect awful things all the time and hypervigilance sets in. This feeling of always
being on guard makes interactions with patrons and other sta challenging and contributes
to burnout. Once sta are burnt out it is often impossible to reset their engagement with the
work and their community. Transfers to other locations, moves away from direct public
service, and people leaving the institution or the profession are often the only solutions.
There is a deeply felt disconnect between frontline sta and library administration.
Participants were distrustful of the power structures of organizational hierarchy. Even when
sta were o ered opportunities for giving anonymous feedback they avoided it for fear that
it was not truly anonymous, an assumption that proved true in the experience of one focus
group participant. Human Resources was not seen as helpful and the general perception
was that they are there for the organization not the workers. Library administrators were
similarly seen as being motivated by serving the institution and the board over the sta .
People felt that they would love to be as well cared for and highly-thought of as the patrons
are. Library power structures were seen as wanting to cover their ass irst and foremost and
anything unpleasant that could be swept under the rug would be. Administrators were seen
as having the power to do whatever was needed to ix the library, indeed the community, if
they were so motivated. While this is obviously not accurate there are numerous instances
where better oversight from administration would be invaluable. Keeping track of repeat
o enders and outstanding bans would show a commitment to practical security in libraries.
There was one participant who shared an experience where a traumatic experience for a
colleague could have been avoided had administration been more transparent and followed
through with a problem patron.
Sta were not routinely given time to decompress after traumatic events. While most library
institutions o er some kind of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) support, these were
rarely recommended at the point of trauma when a given incident happened. The vast
majority of respondents in the focus groups were aware of EAP o erings but did not make
use of them no matter what level of trauma they experienced at work, often out of concern
that it would get back to their chain of command. Library workers feel at risk after traumatic
events for fear that what happened was their fault. More kindness, empathy, and support are
needed for sta after signi icant traumatic events.
Solutions
Participants in the focus groups agreed that they need time to decompress and move on
from traumatic events. They want to have processes in place for them to take time for
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mental health and for that to be genuinely accessible at point of need. We documented a
constant pressure on front line sta due to staf ing issues, meaning that sta often cannot
take time to recover from an event without causing signi icant disruption in library service
including potential closures. Participants felt that their experiences were dismissed and
unaddressed by library administrations. In many cases there was little follow-up or time o
to recover, and sta reported returning to the service desk immediately following an intense
stressful event. When sta needed time o after a clearly traumatic event like an assault
they were almost universally required to use their earned vacation or sick leave. One
participant reported that they have mental health days, but are required to schedule them in
advance. They suggested that systems should be put in place to make the process of taking
time to recover easier and more transparent.
Empathy and emotional intelligence were considered the two most e ective ways to
respond to trauma in the library workplace. Participants suggested that these skills should
be cultivated at all levels of leadership and practices must be put in place to support them. If
reaching out to call after a bad incident is not second nature then it should be part of the
procedure. It was noted that it is important that when checking to see if someone is alright
to remember that the answer might be that they are not and there may be more follow up
needed in days and weeks to come. It is also important to not micromanage sta reactions to
immediate stress and trauma. Library workers interviewed for this study reported getting
immediate phone calls after a traumatic event to tell them how they should have handled it
better.
Traumatic experiences take a considerable toll on sta and it is crucial that their
organizations recognize this and take it seriously. Sta need to know that these problems
are taken seriously and that their organization has their back. Focus group participants who
had follow up, felt heard, and saw an institutional response reported considerably lower
lingering trauma from dif icult events. One participant said “trauma is what happens after.”
Another participant talked about how after her institution did a particularly good job of
responding to an awful experience she didn’t feel any residual trauma at all and had very
e ectively moved on with her life thanks to the support she received.
There were examples of good library leadership in the groups. People felt that
administrators who are reactive and engaged in the safety of their sta are good at their
jobs. It meant a lot to participants when managers acknowledged sta ’s experiences and
feelings and made space for recovery with time away from the desk and programming to
recharge. Administrators should realize that sta carry trauma home from work. One
participant described a situation she was involved in at work that led to her being called to
court as a witness. Her director, whom she did not know or work directly with, showed up
and sat with her in the court all day. This was lauded by the participants of that focus group
and one of the best leadership responses to trauma that was reported in the study.
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Training was a commonly discussed topic. People want more training, but they have
suggestions about what that training should entail. Participants wanted practical training
which has direct application to their work. Mental health irst aid, de-escalation, and cultural
competency were all in high demand. There was a sense that sta were getting training to
hypothetically prepare for things that nothing could prepare you for. Training focused in
trauma work and security were seen as valuable however imperfect it may be. There was a
general observation that library school does not prepare library workers for any of these
aspects of the work. Anecdotal observation from this study suggests that this lack of training
and the disparity between the theory and practical reality of public library work contributes
to early career burnout.
Sta were looking for toolkits they can apply immediately to problem situations. They want
to know what to do in various high stress situations to take care of the problem without
having to make a response up on the fly. They also want tools to process incidents after they
happen. They asked for useful guidance on handling trauma both ongoing in their
workplace and what they bring home to their personal and family life as a result of the work
they do in the library every day.
There is little formal support for trauma in the larger library community at this time. While
it is a growing topic of professional conversation there is little by way of working responses
or structures in place. Unions are not seen as engaged in this work nor are the professional
organizations in the ield. There were no practices reported to be in place for persons
entering the ield with pre-existing trauma.
These changes will take time and a commitment from leaders at all levels of libraries. Time
and budgets are seen as the hallmarks of where organizations put their priorities. These
issues will not be ixed quickly or patched easily. It will take a cultural change in the
profession at every level to address these core issues of library work.
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Trauma Is
We asked focus group participants the question, “When we say trauma in regards to work,
what does that mean to you?” All of the responses below are directly taken from the focus group
sessions.
●after the event has happened
●a whole jambalaya of stress &
worry
●lack of processing attributes
●aggression/sadness overload
●undermines my ability to do my
job
●dark jokes about a patron coming
back with a gun
●can’t let go of it and it leads to
insecurity
●long term impact
●sticks with you
●evokes a bad experience
●anything I have to process a week
later
●lasting worry
●reliving old wounds that were
never healed properly
●an interaction that leaves an
emotional scar
●stu that one carries & doesn’t
process in healthy ways
●can’t get past it
●deteriorating your ability to work
safely and e ectively
●the numbness is upsetting
●people who are resigned
●giving up
●emotional e ects and being
helpless to change it
●disturbing that it doesn’t bother
you over time
●numbness that deteriorates your
ability to tell if danger is present
●events that leave me demoralized
& helpless
●disappointment & distrust
●makes me feel alone
●how people talk to us
●verbal abuse, emotional abuse
●daily confrontations & constant
stress
●interactions gone wrong
●a drunk person with a knife who
will not leave the library
●a major event or incident
●“I got a good right hook to the chin
I’m told”
●anticipating bad things
●high alert
●something unexpected that they
don’t have the training or
experience to deal with
●an event that disrupts the nervous
system & kicks in “ ight, flight, or
freeze”
●unknown confrontation: what will
happen next?
●uncertainty
●something unexpected & out of
context
●today is the day I will be assaulted
●an act with ongoing disruption
●anticipating bad things
●high alert
●a space of fear
●fear
●always being afraid and with good
reason
●if there’s a solution then it’s not
traumatic
●things go unresponded to with no
support
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●a bad experience without a
conclusion
●the environment & neglect of my
people
●layered e ect
●stacked: community, patrons, sta
●stacked trauma
●expected to take it on the chin &
ride it out
●it’s acceptable to have all this
●secondary trauma
●mastering traumatic events
●witnessing what other people are
going through
●carrying the burden of others
●not being able to help
●public needs not being met
●limited ability to help
●3 strikes you’re out never being
tracked or enforced
●slurs with no recourse
●microaggressions
●white oversight/solidarity issues
●systemic racism & barriers
●cops showed up the next day
●police took 30 minutes to respond
●emotional manipulations & verbal
abuse
●after the event happens
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Library Trauma Cycle
The Library Trauma Cycle is a model for understanding how library sta experience
traumatic situations in the workplace and how that trauma is perpetuated or resolved. The
cycle was created based on an analysis of survey and focus group data. In our analysis of that
data we identi ied a common set of experiences, feelings and responses existing across
library and sta titles.
Library Trauma Cycle Model
The Library Trauma Cycle has three stages;
1.Outside stressor - An adverse event external to thesta member. This can be a
variety of types of event, including, but not limited to, assault, sexual harassment
verbal abuse, racialized abuse, witnessing violence, workplace bullying, witnessing or
assisting with a health incident, and secondary trauma like being faced w/patrons
who have intense needs the sta member is unable to meet.
2.Professional Community Response - The response orlack of response from your
coworkers, supervisor, administration, and professional community.
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3.Internalization - Without support, many library workers begin to feel as though the
events are their own fault, or that they are alone in their experiences. They then hold
on to the stress and bring it into their next patron or coworker interactions.
So we have a model for how these events can progress. Now what? The thing about a cycle is
that it can spin on forever, or it can be broken. Each of the three distinct stages in the Library
Trauma Cycle are an inflection point at which the cycle can be broken.
If the initial event doesn’t occur, then the cycle can’t start. As a facility that is radically open
to the public, the public library will always have an inherent risk of stressful events. However,
since much of the verbal or physical abuse stems from society’s failure to care for vulnerable
people, if there were adequate community resources for mental health care, jobs, food
access, and community to lessen loneliness, perhaps there would be fewer such events. In
the case of abuse or harassment from coworkers, if the institution creates an environment
where that behavior isn’t tolerated it would be less likely to happen. Given the amount of
societal influence here the outside stressor stage is the stage that the library as an
institution has the least control over.
In the professional community response stage, the impact of that response can also either
break or continue the cycle. The library ield has a longstanding culture of pretending that
things are ok, accepting abusive behavior in the name of public service, and sta “earning
their stripes”. This culture leads to sta having their experiences dismissed or
inappropriately normalized. This stage is the part of the cycle with the most opportunity for
positive systemic impact. Study respondents indicated that when they received support
from colleagues and supervisors, they didn’t have the same lingering e ects. By
implementing collective care practices, we can break the trauma cycle at this stage and
avoid moving on into the next.
The internalization stage provides another opportunity for interruption. While relying on
the individual sta to engage in self care is not a substitute for a systemic approach, it can
help. If a ected sta have easy access to professional support, or engage in self care
practices, hobbies, or other wellness activities they can resolve their stress and avoid
bringing it into their next interactions.
Having a mental model to understand how library workers experience traumatic events and
vicarious trauma at work is vital to creating e ective solutions. As we move forward with
those solutions and tools, we can hold this cycle in our minds, looking for the places where
we can best interrupt it.
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Forum
The Urban Library Trauma Forum was held on March 9- 11, 2022 in Brooklyn, New York.
Thirty ive participants, organizers, and volunteers gathered to work through the design
thinking process to create practical solutions for issues surrounding trauma in library work.
We designed the forum, activities, and schedule in a way that we hoped would both meet the
needs of the study and be as emotionally safe as possible for the participants while also
being energizing and motivating.
Participant selection
The most important factor in the success of the forum was the work, life experiences, and
knowledge of the participants. As such, it was vital to ensure that the plurality of forum
participants were public facing library workers who were solution driven and willing to
spend 3 days of their time working on an emotionally dif icult topic.
We drafted and shared the forum call for participants in January 2021. The call for
participants was shared through the Urban Librarians Unite email list, social media like
Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and through the state association listservs we were able
to access. We also invited several of the focus group participants to attend. Forty two library
workers responded, and we selected twenty eight participants based on a combination of
factors with a goal of creating a broadly representative team with the potential to work well
together. To meet that goal, we looked at job title, geographic location, ethnicity, and the
applicants' narrative answers on the form. The cohort was made up of librarians, clerical
sta , security, programming sta and a few administrators. Participants came from a variety
of cities, including NYC, Syracuse, Philadelphia, Seattle, Pima County, Denver, Anchorage,
and Lexington.
Preparation
In order to help the forum participants be fully informed about the topic and have them all
start from a similar baseline we created a preparatory packet for them. This packet can be
found in the appendices. All of the participants received preparatory materials detailing the
results of the irst three stages of the study a month ahead of the forum. The packet also
included hotel and travel information, a description of the forum process, reflection
questions and suggested readings from the literature review.
A week prior to the forum we held a virtual pre-meeting to allow the forum participants to
meet each other and ask questions about the research. During the pre meeting we
introduced participants to each other by having them work together in groups to design the
perfect breakfast sandwich using Jamboard. We then presented the basics of the research
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and introduced the Library Trauma Cycle and allowed time for questions about the research,
travel and the process of the forum.
During the forum
Icebreakers and Community Building
Each of the ten volunteers received a facilitation guide binder with a detailed schedule and
instructions for all of the activities. On the irst day of the forum we allowed for a soft
beginning to the forum, hosting informal icebreaker activities. As participants arrived we
handed out their participant packets and had them settle in and start the ULU Bingo card.
We also set up large posters for a Headlines from the future activity in which participants
wrote headlines that would be possible if the forum was a success.
Once most of the participants arrived we broke into teams and started o a game of the floor
is lava. Each team worked together to cross the floor from shape to shape while dodging
flying tissue paper lava balls. Both the schedule and topic were intense so we wanted to
intentionally spend time on community building activities to help the group get to know
each other.
Before we began the discussion and idea creation portion of the forum we went over our
community agreements and participant, Casey Landau, led us through an introductory
exercise where we introduced ourselves and shared our access needs for the day. This
exercise was a major part of creating the cohesive cohort. It helped us to set the tone of the
forum and be open about our individual needs as we moved through the process.
Developing a shared understanding
Continuing the understand phase of the design thinking process, we introduced a dialogue
about the readings with the whole group around the research done up to this point in the
study. Participants then broke into small groups to identify as many issues from the
research as possible and write them out individually on Post Its. They were asked to examine
the research while considering the following questions.
●What are the problems introduced?
●What are the needs it recognized?
●What was missing?
The groups then clustered and narrowed their notes, combining those with similar or
duplicate ideas. They then engaged in a democratic selection process to select the ideas they
felt most engaged with so they could report back to the whole group. When they came back
to the larger group, we asked each team to share back, but this time categorizing their ideas
into the categories of Internal, External, Organizational, and Other/Outlier.
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As the issues were introduced, each individual participant determined if they were
●An expert in this area and want to do the work to develop the prototype
●An expert in this area and want to remain an ally from a distance
●Not an expert in this area and want to work to develop the prototype
●Not an expert in this area and want to remain an ally from a distance
For each of the categories, each participant decided which area they wanted to focus on.
Once everything was categorized into Internal, External, Organizational, and Other/Outlier,
those who self-selected to be in each one sifted through all of the ideas and started pulling
themes. As themes were revealed, teams determined what theme they wanted to focus on,
whether their group needed to be split into two groups, and whether they needed to
combine more than one theme. The next morning the teams gathered together to decide on
their structure and names before moving into the next stage, de ining the problem.
Defining the problem
As part of gaining a full understanding of the issue of trauma in library work we did an
iceberg model exercise. The iceberg model provides a framework for looking at a problem in
its entirety. Each participant was given a blank worksheet of the iceberg to think through the
underlying system and structures surrounding a stressful event at work. The top of the
iceberg above the water is the event itself. This is where participants wrote in the acute event
they wanted to analyze. Then below the water they looked at the patterns and trends causing
that type of event, underlying structures supporting those trends, and inally the mental
models holding it all up.
Multiple participants, across groups, looked at the issue of patrons coming to the library
with needs that a library is not set up to meet. In these models the patterns and trends
included the defunding of social services leaving the library as the last place for patrons to
attempt to get help. Underlying structures included capitalism, Reagan-era ideas around
social services, and the lack of a ordable housing. The mental models included
dehumanization of people in need, racism, sexism, and, again, capitalism.
In one example, a participant analyzed a few types of abusive incidents, including having a
stapler thrown at them. The patterns and trends included abusive patrons returning and
repeating behavior, colleagues leaving, and short staf ing as a result of sta leaving.
Underlying enabling structures included a three strikes rule for banning that was rarely
followed, a divide between the branches & central library, and a lack of addressing issues.
The mental models supporting the iceberg were the idea that library work is easy, that
librarians are quiet and harmless, and the idea that as a public servant abuse is to be
expected.
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This activity allowed participants to think deeply about all of the aspects of our work and
structures that provide the sca old holding up the traumatic events and patterns.
How Might We…
The How Might We… exercise allowed us to identify portions of a larger issue to then focus
on. This exercise allows us to think about what might be possible and create a design
challenge to get there. The “How” assumes that solutions exist, it enables us to be optimistic.
“Might” is a freeing concept, it means that the idea doesn’t have to work and the concept may
be wrong, but that is ok. “We” means we are working together to come up with a collective
solution to the ideas we identify.
Examples of How Might We Statements
●How might we restructure management/sta relationships?
●How might we give sta more agency that relates in action?
●How might we make an MLS worth having?
●How might we support sta after traumatic events?
●How might we create a sta trauma team?
●How might we listen and respond to stakeholders equitably?
We then used some of these “how might we” statements as a basis for the idea generation
activities. We asked that participants choose a few to solve for in the next series of activities.
Idea generation
The idea generation portion of the forum consisted of several ideation exercises. We used
the crazy 8s, bad idea, and social innovations pathways methods with a goal of coming up
with as many ideas as possible. Once participants came up with ideas we narrowed them
down into a few for each team to work on.
Crazy 8s -The crazy 8s exercise is designed to helpdraw out as many ideas as
possible in a very short amount of time. We had participants choose one HMW (how
might we) per exercise sheet, set the timer for 8 minutes, and had them write down
as many ideas as they could in that time. We did this exercise three times, alternating
with the two other exercises.
Bad Ideas -The bad ideas exercise was meant to helpparticipants come up with
ideas they would probably not write down otherwise. To do this exercise, we allocated
ive minutes for participants to write down all the absolute worst solutions to their
HMW that they could think of on cartoon trash cans. Sometimes participants can
come up with fabulous ideas that they might have felt insecure about in another
exercise structure.
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Social Innovations Pathways - The social innovations pathways exercise was
intended to help generate ideas based on the type of resources and expertise that are
available for the project along with the scale of the intervention. The worksheet is set
up as a nine square grid where the y axis represents the scale of engagement from
stand-alone interactions to cultural change. The x axis represents the range of
expertise from the solo designer to a cross sector group. This exercise is more
complex so we gave it around ten minutes.
After inishing the exercises we had participants transfer their ideas over to Post It notes for
the next step. All of the handouts from our exercises are available in the facilitation guide in
the appendices.
Idea Selection
Forum participants clustering and sorting their ideas
Photo credit - Brynna Tucker
The next stage in the ideation phase of the design thinking process is narrowing down the
ideas that the groups want to prototype. Working within groups, participants put all of their
idea post-it notes up on the wall. They then worked together to cluster similar or duplicate
ideas. Once the ideas had been grouped the teams evaluated each idea (using dot stickers),
based on three criteria.
●Red - how well does this idea meet the need?
●Green - how novel is the idea?
●Yellow - is it feasible in three years?
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The groups then chose their top three ideas based on how well the ideas meet all the criteria.
Prototyping
The teams took each of their three ideas and created basic prototypes of them using the idea
canvas handout. The idea canvas was designed to provide space to think through all the
elements of the project so that the groups could have a good idea of what is feasible and a
solid basis for moving on to the prototyping stage. Each canvas provides space for
identifying the project and a team. The teams also had space to create a logo, identify the
speci ic problems they were solving for, space to list stakeholders and decision makers,
resources needed, and potential challenges. There was also space for a sketch of the idea.
Idea Canvas - Library Trauma Support by Hard Left Turn
The Hard Left Turn team created a very thorough idea canvas for their Library Trauma
Support idea. They wanted to solve the issue of a lack of support for sta experiencing
trauma by creating a platform for peer support. They identi ied needed resources like
funding, trauma experts, and volunteers. They also point out challenges like sustainability,
time, and getting buy-in and trust.
Once the teams completed their idea canvases they repeated the dot exercise within their
groups to choose the most feasible project for the feedback stage.
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Feedback
Groups soliciting feedback on their idea canvases
After the groups completed their idea canvases we moved into our feedback sessions. The
groups were paired together to present their ideas and receive feedback then rotated
through with di erent groups. One person in each group was designated to record the
prototype feedback, looking at the positive things that were working, any negative feedback
for things that needed work or development, and recommendations for change or
improvement.
Poster Prototypes
On the third day of the forum participants began creating their posters using the feedback
from the previous day. They then presented their posters and ideas to the full group and
answered questions about their projects.
Closing
To close out the forum we engaged in a group reflection and conversation, giving us an
opportunity to check in with ourselves and our colleagues at the end of an intense
experience. We asked how their idea of trauma had changed or solidi ied, what they planned
to take back to their own library, and if there were any other thoughts that they would like to
express. We then formally closed the forum.
The ULTS Forum was an intense, high-energy space where participants were expected to
remain hyper engaged and create large amounts of intellectual output in a very short period
of time. ULU made great e orts to support our participants making choices for high quality
food, accommodations, and meeting space. Participants used these spaces to churn out
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massive amounts of creative thought about a wide variety of practical aspects of trauma in
public libraries.
A huge amount of mental work was done at a very fast rate and most participants felt
exhausted and mentally wiped out at the end of day three as they were heading home.
Forum participants are going to be an important cadre of innovators as the practical
applications of this work begin to spread more widely. Many of the participants have
continued to keep in touch with each other through the Slack channel we set up. We hope
these conversations continue, enabling the work to go on.
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Ideas
Open Channels
Team Name: Badmin to the Bone
Open Channels poster
Description
This group tackled the disconnect that can be found between administration and frontline
sta by creating programs for embedded administration and open communication. First,
open communication channels can be formed by bringing administrators into locations to
do regular frontline shifts. In bringing administrators to a location, they are able to better
meet and see the sta , while also experiencing what the front line sta encounters at work.
The second step is to create communication partnerships, pairing administrators with
frontline sta to meet regularly over a six month to one year period, creating rapport and
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communication. This partnership would entail regular meetings, and give sta the space,
time, and comfort of being able to express themselves.
For this communication initiative, library sta and administrators would create a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) so that everyone knows what to expect, while also
creating an opportunity for both parties to be radically vulnerable with each other. The
measure of this process would be asking sta if these interventions are working for them, or
potentially o ering an open channels communication certi ication.
Challenges
Just like with any project this one has its challenges, the irst being willingness of both
administration and sta to participate. This initiative requires all parties involved to be
vulnerable and open with each other, which may be dif icult if sta are fearful or have a lack
of trust in administration. Administrators may fear that con idences or concerns shared
here would undermine their ability to lead. Additionally, both sta and administration would
have to ind time for this project, something libraries typically do not have enough of. Time
would be needed on both the sta and administrators end to create, attend, and implement
meetings, along with any training for desk duties. While there are other challenges as well,
they may di er from location to location, but the main challenges remain time and
willingness to participate.
Potential for Impact
If implemented, these ideas would help to create an open line of communication while
helping administrators to gain awareness and empathy for the work that sta do for the
library, while also helping administration to become more responsive to the needs of sta ,
potentially catching problems early on. Having a continued presence also allows
opportunities for praise and recognition of what sta members do, internal promotions, and
better relationships. Even implementing some of the ideas from this group, would be a step
forward in helping frontline library sta feel seen, heard, and validated to help create a
better work culture for the library.
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Accreditation for Library Worker Trauma Support in Libraries
Team Name: Fighting Rage
Accreditation for Library Work Trauma Support poster
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Description
Fighting Rage focused on the fact that library workers are often treated as superheroes,
which causes library sta to not be given much needed help. To provide support to library
workers and push against the notion that library workers are infallible superheroes, this
group created a library trauma accreditation to encourage libraries to create better work
environments. The more supportive the organization, and the better care library workers
receive, the more equipped workers are to do their jobs. Libraries are an important part of
community care.
For a library to become accredited, they must o er localized support such as group support,
peer support, or group therapy. For these support sessions the time used must be paid and
protected by the library, to encourage workers to participate. Additionally, the library can
direct library workers to a larger, national support network that o ers virtual trauma
support groups, a trauma hotline, as well as support and tools for local groups. Once
accredited, this national group would maintain a record of accredited libraries as well as
holding libraries accountable to keep their accreditation up to date.
Challenges
As with many of these projects the main challenges is creating buy-in and getting libraries
invested in these ideas, especially since there is not much quantitative data regarding
trauma in libraries. Also, like many of the projects, creating an accreditation process and
providing resources to library sta will take time and money by both the library and the
national oversight group, which will need to be created to oversee the accreditations. Along
with the oversight group, there are challenges to inding funding, o ering services, and
coordinating across various time zones, locations and communities.
Potential for Impact
Besides the obvious impact of giving library workers opportunities for support and mental
health resources, the accreditation would also give library workers a way to advocate for
themselves by pressuring organizations to work towards accreditation. Additionally,
accredited libraries would be able to promote their accreditation to help them recruit library
sta . Finally, the national arm of this project would be open to all library sta , allowing
support and discussion around trauma, regardless of library accreditation status.
Ultimately, the accreditation is a way to ensure that library sta receive support and
resources that are needed to deal with trauma and library work.
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Do We Do That? - Online Database of Community Services
Team Name: Team Awesome is Good
Do We Do That? poster
Description
Since libraries work with and refer people to many community services often library
workers ind themselves wondering, “do we do that?” In this project, a database is created as
a multi agency, social services website that is owned and maintained by the library, where
searching for services would be like searching for a book in the catalog.
This intuitive, collaborative, database could be used by the community as well as library
employees. For the community, there would be a public view, allowing for a simpli ied way to
look for social services, while also having a back end that will be edited, maintained and
updated by library sta in collaboration with various community agencies. Library sta and
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community agencies would be able to create pages with information that can be searched,
allowing the database to be customized to the library and community it serves.
Challenges
The main challenges for this project, as identi ied by the group, are ease of access for both
the community and the library sta , as well as stakeholder buy-in, and funding. The
database needs to be intuitive - easy to search and to add information (without much tech
know-how), as well as adaptable to the individual library. Library sta also need to ind value
in the database, not only to use the database, but to give sta time to continually edit,
update, market, and maintain it. The cost of the sta time, as well as servers and technology
may also pose a monetary challenge.
Potential for Impact
The impact for a community services database can be seen both in the library and in the
community. First, having a database allows for libraries to be able to more easily refer
patrons to resources outside of the library. Both helping patrons connect with resources
they need, while also recognizing that libraries cannot meet all the needs of its community.
In creating this database, the library would also foster relationships between community
services organizations, allowing for more collaboration, resource sharing, and
communication. Most importantly, having a database would help patrons get connected
simply and quickly, without having the frustration or run around of trying to ind resources.
Finally, helping patrons connect to resources seamlessly, reinforces the library as a place for
information and a community hub.
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Creating a Trauma Informed/Centered Strategic Plan
Team Name: RE-ST (Recovery, Recognition, Reform, Safety, Toxicity and
Trauma)
RE-ST - Creating a Trauma Informed Strategic Plan poster
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Description
RE-ST considered six main concepts around trauma in libraries and decided to build a plan
around them. The concepts are - Rest, Recovery, Recognition, Reform, Safety, Toxicity, and
Trauma. From these concepts the group decided to tackle library trauma from the
foundations of a library - the strategic plan. The proposed strategic plan takes
trauma-informed principles and injects them into other library plans and documents like
mission and vision statements, assessments, future planning, organization direction,
objectives, mapping, initiatives, performance measures and more. Instead of simply having
a trauma statement, this initiative would inject trauma-informed care for library sta into
all elements and documents of the library. So that rather than trauma being a separate
thing, compassion would be a vital part of the governing documents of the library.
The group even created a sta mission statement as an example (seen below):
RE-ST holds an unwavering commitment to a culture of healing. We support our sta in
continuous growth and recovery from trauma and its impacts. We honor the many
challenges they face in their work. We recognize the e ort, time, dedication, and energy
they invest in uplifting our organization and community.
We hold sacred the emotional, physical, and psychological safety of our sta members.
We consciously move away from a toxic culture that expects sacri ice. We move toward
the bright future of mutual respect, action for change, open dialogue, and flattening of
power di erentials.
We celebrate the diversity of our sta and the life experiences they bring to enrich our
lives and provide us with wisdom in our service. We are dedicated to a workforce of
thriving individuals so we may also have a community that thrives.
Challenges
The irst major challenge for this project would be the cultural shift that statements like the
mission statement above would require. Placing this focus on library workers' wellbeing in
such a strong way may come up against reluctance from the community, board members,
administration and even sta .
While integrating these ideas into library documents there may be some discomfort
between frontline sta and administration in creating these policies and phrases, and
administration could easily take control. Additionally, this initiative relies on sta emotional
labor and vulnerability to be able to communicate with administration their needs. So, like
many of these projects, honest communication without retaliation is key in creating realistic
values and policies.
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Potential for Impact
In adding RE-ST concepts into the policy of the library, respect and care for library workers
will become an important part of the governing documents for the library. Not only does it
create accountability for administration and boards, it also allows library sta to have
something concrete to directly point to for advocacy. This initiative also allows for libraries to
create support systems and worker initiatives as needed. Additionally, the idea of making
trauma concepts a part of the regular library documents, as opposed to a separate
statement, highlights the integral part that library sta health plays in the work that libraries
set out to do.
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Library Trauma Support Network
Team Name: Hard Le Turn
Library Trauma Support Network poster
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Description
You can’t self care your way out of a broken system, so this initiative proposed support
networks for library workers experiencing trauma. Team Hard Left Turn proposed both local
and national support groups to help build comradery, support, connection, and healing for
library workers.
First, monthly support groups would be localized in regions to allow people from di erent
libraries to connect. To support the regional groups, there would be a national network to
provide information, workshops, discussion groups, and more. These two di erent
modalities aim to foster connection, documentation, resilience building, and healing as well
as connecting library workers with resources, workshops, tips and more.
Organizationally, both national and local groups would be peer driven, independently
governed, and not be traditionally administrated or rely on external organizations. The
initiative would be for library workers, by library workers.
Challenges
In this project there are two main challenges - money to maintain the national and local
support groups, and peer support/labor to run both of the groups. Since this initiative is fully
peer run, there is a need for volunteers, an organizational structure, and people to give their
time. Since many people who may be interested in helping with this, have most likely
experienced trauma themselves, it could lead to burnout or further trauma. Additionally,
money is needed for the initiative, especially since the goal is to be independently
sustainable, so it can remain library worker focused and not be swayed by any outside
forces. Money is needed for technology, trauma experts, assistance, and to help compensate
individuals for their time.
Also since this program is for library sta , and not administration, the group will need to
establish who quali ies to be a part of this group, which addresses another concern - that of
retaliation. The fear of retaliation, or one’s administration inding out, also may hinder
support and trust in the organization. Finally, while not a challenge per say, issues of
diversity, equity and inclusion must be considered when creating committees, discussing
issues, and organizing groups.
Potential for Impact
The primary impact for this initiative would be to connect library workers, because the
forum brought to light that many workers think they are alone in their struggles. With
connecting, these groups would allow for individuals to meet more people in the library
world and connect. In this connection, there could also be an opportunity to begin to create a
collective library worker voice for advocacy. In this way, the group coalition building can not
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only advocate for workers but for the profession as well, something that is dif icult to do
when libraries are siloed. But, as with many of these initiatives, the main goal is to create
happier library workers, who feel supported in their work.
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Recommendations
This report makes it very clear that there is a crisis of unresolved trauma in urban public
library work. It is present at every level and impacts how sta interact with colleagues and
patrons alike. MLIS education does not prepare people for the trauma of the job.
Management and administration exacerbate trauma in work culture and organizational
norms. Library workers shift trauma over to colleagues and attack one another in break
rooms, on social media, and in professional organizations as a reaction to the trauma, both
primary and secondary, that they encounter on a regular basis.
Identi ication of the issue is an important start but work needs to be done immediately to
begin to address this crisis. This report makes four major recommendations which will
make a start on the issue but all of them will require further support as well as buy-in from
the larger library profession. It will be important to have engagement with LIS education,
professional organizations, and libraries of all types and sizes as we move forward towards
healthier library work.
These are just a few of the solutions which should be tried out to address this issue across
library work. Openly addressing this problem is new in library work and any e orts to move
the needle on this will take time, e ort, resources, and engagement beyond the working
group of this study.
4 Recommendations
1.A National Library Worker Help Line where libraryworkers can call for
immediate support during mental health crises and burnout.
2.A set of standards for healthy library work environments built by a coalition
of worker-led library organizations.These standardswill allow library workers to
ask for better conditions and library administrators to point to organizational
successes and commitments.
3.A collection of policies & procedures written from the perspective of
trauma-informed leadership.These policies will o erenough speci icity and
nuance to be usable but will be written with the intention of being “plug & play” for
administrators and library leaders who want to incorporate them into their
organizations.
4.A series of peer-led support groups made up of library workers which allow
workers at all levels to o er and receive support from colleagues at other institutions
who can empathize and understand the unique challenges associated with library
work. These will be online and workers will be able to opt into groups that match their
interests, issues, and level of work (ie. workers of color, administrators, pages, etc.).
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Library Worker Support Line
The need for informed mental health support came up time and again in the research for
this report. It can be dif icult for library workers to access mental health care for a variety of
reasons including inancial, limited healthcare coverage, lack of healthcare for part time
workers, and a host of other barriers to access. Even where EAPs are available many library
sta were afraid to use it for fear that their concerns and issues would make it back to
management, or that it would be an issue if management found out they were accessing
those resources. When they do make use of these services the interactions were typically
brief and unsatisfying because mental health workers lacked context around library worker
stress and trauma.
Urban Librarians Unite will seek funding to work with mental health care providers,
consultants, and project managers who can help us set up an independent mental health
line for library workers. Caseworkers who answer the phones will be familiar with the kinds
of primary and secondary trauma that library workers face in their workplace both from
patrons and colleagues. They will be trauma-informed and tied to anti-racist and allyship
focused care for any and all library professionals who call in. This will be a non-judgemental,
library-informed, anonymous service.
This project will take approximately three years to bring up to speed on a national level.
There will be a year needed to research the scope of the product, and ind allies and
partners. It will take a year to develop the tool and create the training and scripts for
caseworkers. In the third year the project will slowly come online with a series of soft
openings to work out any issues while not overwhelming the burgeoning new systems. The
project will be closely monitored for long term viability and real impact. All calls shall be
strictly con idential at all times throughout every stage of the development and launch of
this new tool.
Standards for Healthy Library Workplaces
Going forward, the authors of this study will work with other library worker focused
organizations to set up standards for healthy workplaces and practices. These standards will
be disseminated widely and will be used as a yardstick to talk about the trauma that already
exists within organizations and how they support workers who experience and carry that
trauma. Standards o er more flexibility than a formal accreditation in this context.
Organizational culture can change quickly due to leadership changes, budget cuts, or
structural changes. Certifying a library as a trauma informed workplace could quickly
become out of date for a variety of reasons. Also, creating a series of standards recognizes
that it is a journey not a race, the process of making healthy non-toxic spaces for our sta
and patrons is going to be an ongoing process for many years to come. We cannot simply
tick o a series of boxes and call the work done.
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These standards will address issues like security, support for sta trauma, agreements on
respectful boundaries for sta and administration, as well as suggestions for how libraries
can improve communication across groups, which are often seen as in opposition, a hard
dichotomy that deepens the disconnect within the organization. This document will provide
suggestions of how to reconcile past trauma and build systems which will help sta avoid
trauma where possible and help process it when it does happen. Current and prospective
employees will be able to reference it when they advocate for improvements in their work
environment. Administrators will be able to point to it as a strong commitment to
improvement and engagement in response to workplace trauma.
It will take approximately a year to set up this coalition, agree upon standards, and publish
the inal standards and suggestions for best practice. More funding will be needed to
produce this work. There will be costs associated with publicizing and promoting these
standards. Funding must also be applied to compensate individuals and organizations for
their work. One constant source of stress and trauma associated with library work is
uncompensated labor along with emotional labor, this project asks for both. It is important
that this work be valued enough to be funded in development and subsidized in publication
to make it available to as wide an audience as possible. They should be accessible free of
charge for libraries to use as one tool in their processes of self-evaluation and improvement.
Policies and Procedures for Trauma-Informed Leadership
Creating a manual of policies to help guide organizations in engaging with trauma-informed
management in library work could make trying out new organizational norms a lot easier
for administrators. Library administrators have work days that are typically dominated by
either meetings or crises. It can be dif icult to dedicate the time to research and carefully
craft policies and procedures even if the desire to try out new practices is there.
Our workgroup is proposing that we develop a manual of best practices, policies, and
procedures which libraries could adapt to their particular use. These are inspired by the
classic NoLo legal form books so often utilized at reference desks. The goal is to have
standardized policies that can be easily adapted, which are designed as plug and play for a
variety of trauma prone situations. Incident reports came up time and again in the study and
are a great example of the kind of granular document which can change the way an
organization looks at trauma situations and its response to them. Again, funding will be
sought to support the development of this project, research and write policy/procedure
templates, and design and publish this policy manual both electronically and in print.
Peer-Led Support Groups for Library Workers
Urban Librarians Unite will work with partners to develop a series of peer-led support
groups. These will be largely modeled on meetings in the recovery community where peer
driven meetings are often the norm. Standards of behavior and meeting rules will be set to
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allow a wide range of library workers to both o er and receive support from their colleagues
and fellows.
It will be important that standards of honesty, anonymity, and trust are established early
and are reinforced as core precepts of the groups. There will be support literature which will
set out standards and expectations of conduct. Isolation was a constant problem highlighted
in this study. Library workers across the country are experiencing identical traumas and
each believes themselves to be alone in their experiences. The focus groups for this study
were raw, dif icult, and often brutal conversations. Despite all this, people commented often
that just having the conversation was helpful and made them feel less isolated. People felt
that their trauma had been validated even if it didn’t go away in that hour.
This will be a two year project to launch with a longer slow growth period of approximately
ten years if the initial two are successful. The irst year will be spent developing the support
literature and codes of conduct for the groups. These will be heavily reliant on the norms
from the recovery community for initial structures and conventions.
Once a basic framework has been set up the second year will be spent setting up groups on a
small scale to test the processes and iron out details. Capacity will be built out based on
success and need in the library community. If the program is able to successfully establish
itself for two years and legitimately help people, then it should be allowed to grow on a
repeat 5 year evaluation cycle so it has time to grow and ill out organically and as people
need it in di erent and changing ways.
Resources will be important to support the development of the standards and codes of
conduct. Sta will be needed to coordinate the various groups during the irst year of
development. While these groups will always be anonymous, it will be important to collect
data and feedback during the initial launch phase and in the irst ive year cycle after that.
This kind of structured administration is dif icult to do in peer-driven support where the
focus should be on shared recovery from trauma and improved mental health. It will be
important to have sta to promote and study this program to make it e ective and have a
long term impact on library work and mental health.
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Conclusion
This report is the product of two years of research and is representative of the work,
perspectives, and experiences of over 600 people. It is clear that there is a crisis of trauma in
urban public libraries and the evidence for this is so overwhelmingly compelling that it
seems likely that trauma impacts work in libraries of all types across the profession. It is
also clear from the literature search and the conversations that created this report’s
conclusions that the library profession is starting to wake up to this deeply corrosive crisis.
The last few years have dropped trauma on everyone. Our colleagues, our bosses, our
families, our boards, our patrons, our vendors, every person, every institution we interact
with will be coming from a place of trauma. We will be approaching them with our own
trauma, hurts, and hesitations. That’s OK. We are all on the same footing and knowing that
we are there together is a step toward approaching others and ourselves with the tools we
will need to heal.
We have worked to make as much of that source research available to other researchers as
possible. There are large sets of data and brainstorming notes available to anyone who wants
to delve into them. We welcome you to try our ideas. We welcome you to use our research to
try ideas of your own. We ask that you just please try something.
There are a lot of conversations about “what’s next” and “returning to normal”. We don’t
know what’s next and that is normal now. COVID-19 disrupted everything. As we rebuild and
recreate our profession there are things that shouldn’t come back or ever be normal.
Trauma, safety, trust, these are things we need to build new structures for everyone working
in libraries.
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Works Cited
Becker, R. W., & McCrillis, A. (2015). Health sciences librarians, patient contact, and
secondary traumatic stress. Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA, 103(2),
87–90.https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.103.2.006
Bell, K. (2018). Suspect in California librarian's murder had frightened library workers in St.
Louis area, police say. St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suspect-in-california-librari
an-s-murder-had-frightened-library-workers/article_89e6582e-51a3-5fa0-9a41-2d
5d7f92e26d.html
Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare. (2012). Secondary trauma and the child
welfare workforce.
http://cascw.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/CW360_2012.pdf
Cullen, T. M., & Hayes, M. (2012). After Queens library assault, call for stricter laws. QNS
Queens News and Community.
https://qns.com/2012/10/after-queens-library-assault-call-for-stricter-laws/
deGrandpre, A., & Wang, A. B. (2017). 16-year-old faces murder charges in New Mexico library
shooting. Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/28/two-dead-four
-injured-in-shooting-at-new-mexico-library/
Dowd, R. J. (2018). The librarian's guide to homelessness: An empathy-driven approach to
solving problems, preventing conflict, and serving everyone. ALA Editions.
Ettarh, F. (2018). Vocational awe and librarianship: The lies we tell ourselves. In the Library
with the Lead Pipe.
http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/
Ford, A. (2019) Toward a Trauma-Informed Model. American Libraries.
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/06/03/toward-trauma-informed-model
Green, M. (2005, Mar 19). Man assaults woman at haven library. The Ledger.
http://queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.queens.ezprox
y.cuny.edu/newspapers/man-assaults-woman-at-haven-library/docview/390194578/
se-2?accountid=13379
Hahn, A. (2019). A collective e ort: Healing, trauma, and precarity in public librarianship.
Katopol, P. (2015). Enough already: Compassion fatigue. Library Leadership & Management,
30(2), 1–4.
Davis Kendrick, K. (2021). The public librarian low-morale experience: A qualitative study.
Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research,
15(2), 1-32.https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v15i2.5932
Knuckey, S., Satterthwaite, M., & Brown, A. (2018). Trauma, depression, and burnout in the
Human Rights ield: Identifying barriers and pathways to resilient advocacy.
http://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/ iles/2018/07/49.3.4-Knuckey- inal.pdf
Lindén, M., Salo, I., & Jansson, A. (2018). Organizational stressors and burnout in public
librarians. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 50(2), 199– 204.
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McGibbon, E., Peter, E., & Gallop, R. (2010). An institutional ethnography of nurses’ stress.
Qualitative Health Research, 20(10), 1353–1378.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732310375435
Mele, C. (2016, Dec 8). Libraries become unexpected sites of hate crimes. The New York
Times.
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sition=1
National Association of Social Workers. (2013). Guidelines for social work safety in the
workplace.
https://www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx? ileticket=6OEdoMjcNC0%3D&portalid
=0
National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Secondary Traumatic Stress Committee. (2011).
Secondary traumatic stress: A fact sheet for child-serving professionals. National
Center for Child Traumatic Stress.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdhhs/secondary_traumatic_tress_507838_7.
pdf
Peet, L. (2021). Kaetrena Davis Kendrick on Low Morale Among Public Librarians. Library
Journal. Kaetrena Davis Kendrick on Low Morale Among Public Librarians
Skipworth, W. (2020). Columbia man serving 20 years for sex assault and cameras in library
restroom. Columbia Missourian.
https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/columbia-man-serving-20-years-
for-sex-assault-and-cameras-in-library-restroom/article_1ba 276-a9bd-11ea-b165-
2f572ea3904f.html
Sloan, K., Vanderfluit, J. & Douglas, J. (2019). Not 'Just My Problem to Handle': Emerging
Themes on Secondary Trauma and Archivists. Journal of Contemporary Archival
Studies, 6(20).https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol6/iss1/20
Westbrook, L. (2015)."I'm not a social worker": an informational service model for working
with patrons in crisis. Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 85(1)
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Appendices
All of the documents listed below can be found at http://www.urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults
Proposal
Full Project Narrative -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-project-narrative
Literature Review
Annotated Bibliography -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-annotated-bibliography
Survey
Survey Questions -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-survey-questions
Survey Visualizations -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-survey-visualizations
Focus Groups
Focus Group Facilitation Guide -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-fg-facilitationguide
Focus Group Notes -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-fg-notes
Forum
Pre meeting facilitation guide -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-pf-facilitation-guide
Participant prep material -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-forum-prep
Forum facilitation guide -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-forum-facilitation-guide
Forum Documentation -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-forum-documentation
Forum Posters -https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults-posters
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Agenda Item 5D-64
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The Urban Library Trauma Study is a partnership between the New York
Library Association, Urban Librarians Unite, and St John’s University
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of
Museum and Library Services: RE-246392-OLS-20
Urban Library Trauma Study
9 798218 020163
90000>
ISBN 979-8-218-02016-3
Agenda Item 5D-65
137
The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation will generate private resources to support the Iowa City Public Library .
Memorandum of Understanding Fiscal Year 2023
between the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation Board of Directors
and the Iowa City Public Library Board of Trustees
The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation Board of Directors approved the attached Fiscal Year
2023 (FY23) budget on June 9, 2022. The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation agrees to pay the
Iowa City Public Library a total of $117,500.00 in undesignated use grants for FY23 for needs approved
by the Library Director. Payments will be made on the first day of e ach quarter of fiscal year 2023:
July 1, 2022; October 1, 2022; January 1, 2023; and April 1, 2023.
In addition, the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation agrees to fund a portion of salaries and
benefits of the staff of the Iowa City Publ ic Library Development Office. The Iowa City Public Library
Friends Foundation agrees to pay up to an estimated $180,000.00 in FY23 as determined by the budget
for salaries and benefits. Payments to the Iowa City Public Library wi ll be made on the monthly schedule
determined by the Iowa City Public Library/City of Iowa City .
Thus, as outlined above , the total grants, salaries and benefits payable to the Iowa City Public Library
and City of Iowa City from the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation for FY23 is $297,500.00
Funds will be payable from current and past year annual gifts, current and past year unrestricted
spendable earnings, and, if necessary, unrestricted equity.
__________________________ __________________________
Carol Kirsch, President Jenny Olson , President
Board of Trustees Board of Directors
Iowa City Public Library Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation
_________________________ _________________________
Date Date
Agenda Item 8A-1
138
The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation will generate private resources to support the Iowa City Public Library .
Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023) ICPLFF
Ordinary Income/Expense
Income
Book End
$12,000
Contribution Income $246,295
Gifts & Bequests (passthrough) $50,000
Interest/Dividends $5,000
Special Events $28,875
Transfer in from Spendable Acct/Savings $35,000
Total Income $377,170
Expense
Administrative Expense $54,870
Book End Expense $1,000
Fundraising Expense $153,800
Gifts & Bequest (passthrough) $50,000
Grants to Library $117,500
Total Expense $377,170
Net Ordinary Income -
ICPLFF Board approved 6/9/2022
Agenda Item 8A-2
139
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Jen Miller, Iowa City
Public Library, at 319-887-6003 or jennifer-miller@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
June 23, 2022
Iowa City Public Library
2nd Floor – Boardroom
Regular Meeting - 5:00 pm DRAFT
Members Present: Claire Matthews, Robin Paetzold, John Raeburn, Tom Rocklin, Hannah Shultz, Dan
Stevenson.
Members Virtual: DJ Johnk.
Members Absent: Noa Kim, Carol Kirsch.
Staff Present: Elsworth Carman, Anne Mangano, Patty McCarthy, Jen Miller, Brent Palmer, Jason
Paulios, Angie Pilkington.
Guests Present: None.
Call Meeting to Order . Rocklin called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM. A quorum was present.
Approval of June 23, 2022 Board Meeting Agenda . Paetzold made a motion to approve the June 23,
2022 Board Meeting Agenda. Shultz seconded. Motion passed 6/0.
Matthews joined the meeting at 5:01 PM.
Raeburn was introduced as a new Trustee of the Iowa City Public Library Board. Raeburn was formerly
a University of Iowa professor and is an active user of the Iowa City Public Library . The Trustees and
Director introduced themselves to Raeburn.
Public Discussion . None.
Items to be Discussed.
FY23 NOBU Budget. Carman explained each year two budget requests are made ; one for the
operating budget and the other for the NOBU budget (or Non-Operating Budget). The operating
budget covers operational costs each fiscal year. Operating budget requests occur in October for the
next fiscal year. The NOBU budget is a combination of unres tricted gifts raised by the Iowa City Public
Library Friends Foundation and s tate funds , such as Open Access & Enrich Iowa . These funds are
board-controlled and roll over from one fiscal year to the next.
Agenda Item 10A-1
140
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Jen Miller, Iowa City
Public Library, at 319-887-6003 or jennifer-miller@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
Carman shared that while we don’t yet know State funding totals for the upcoming year, we do know
they are trending down. Due of this, the FY23 NOBU request is smaller than last year’s request and
are a combination of standing requests and other smaller projects the operating budget does not
cover. Carman feels strongly that having acces s to NOBU funds allows ICPL to be flexible and
maintains our reputation as a responsive community library. These funds are a huge benefit to our
community and Carman is extremely thankful to have access to them. Carman gave a brief summary
of the FY23 NOBU requests and shared an error was made on the last page, the fiscal year should
state FY23.
Matthews inquired about the stair repairs and asked if they are paid from the NOBU budget. Carman
shared the repair is handled by a budget amendment that the City Council approved. Rocklin shared
this is reasonable as the stairs don’t belong to ICPL.
Raeburn inquired about the definition of undesignated passthrough gift funds. Carman s hared these
are undesignated gifts from the Friends Foundation with no restrictions . Raeburn asked if there are
strings attached to the s tate support the Library receives . Carman said this relates to ICPL’s
accreditation level. The Iowa City Public Library has the highest level of accreditation and receives
Enrich Iowa funding which is calculated by the State Library of Iowa . As of July 1st, ICPL is newly re -
accredited for the next three years.
Rocklin asked about the current balance of NOBU reserve funds and Miller replied this can be
supplied. Carman shared work is being done to recraft the balance documentation. Carman stated
with Miller in place we are working to compile multiple sources of data into one authoritative place. It
is a good time to be working on this with new Finance staff to ensure it is reflected appropriately.
Carman stated in the past the NOBU budget has been approved in July but a t the request of a Trustee
it was moved to the June agenda this year. Rocklin inquired to the distinction between ongoing
expenses and project related expenses and asked if they could be flexible. Carman replied yes .
Paetzold asked if Rocklin was concerned about the label or the actual expenditure line ; Rocklin stated
the label. Paetzold discussed changing the language to continued or repeated expenses on the NOBU
request. Rocklin suggested changing the wording next year. Paetzold felt it was important to reword
the term annual so it doesn’t appear to be sustained. Paetzold commented that these funds wouldn’t
be available if it weren’t for the support of the Development Office and Friends Foundation. Paetzold
acknowledged that many programs at the library wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for this support.
Carman feels the work of the Development Office and the Friends Foundation supports the reputation
of ICPL. Paetzold acknowledged community donors and how their support benefits our community.
Paetzold made a motion to approve the FY23 NOBU budget. Stevenson seconded. Motion passed 7/0.
Staff Reports.
Director’s Report . Carman shared new Friends Foundation members and Raeburn were all recently
oriented. Carman di scussed his plans for strategic planning through the State Library of Iowa and
asked Becky Heil from the State Library to meet with the Leadership Team. Carman and the
Leadership Team were all very pleased with the breadth services they offered. Carman believes this to
be a very practical solution. There is no cost for this service which is a significant financial benefit to
ICPL.
Departmental Report s
Children’s Services. Pilkington shared an updated report with Summer Reading Program data .
Pilkington share the Children’s Room participation is back at Pre-COVID levels and staff have been
very busy. On June 23rd, just under 500 kids participated in programs alone. Pilkington believes the
Agenda Item 10A-2
141
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Jen Miller, Iowa City
Public Library, at 319-887-6003 or jennifer-miller@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
Teen Room has very full participation as well. There are currently 2,400 people signed up for the
Summer Reading Program.
Paetzold asked about the behavior of patrons in the Teen Room as this was a difficulty pre -COVID.
Paulios s hared behavior has not been a problem. Teen Librarian, Victoria Fernandez, has been holding
two teen activities per day with video games available in between programs. Paulios said because
there is always something going on in the room it keeps patrons busy. Fernandez has put in a lot of
effort to recruit volunteers and add programs . Paulios said it has been great to see the response and
parents are happier too. Paetzold was impressed and felt this was a great solution. Carman said
Fernandez has built a new service and is doing exceptional work. Fernandez was hired during a
challenging time and has embraced challenges positively. Paulios shared Fernandez has been building
community connections and described an event with Public Space One as an example. Paetzold would
like Fernandez to present to the Board and would love to hear how this problem was resolved.
Carman is very happy with the service Fernandez has provided with limited resources and can’t say
enough positive things about the work she is doing .
Johnk commented that his children enjoyed cardboard painting at Arts Fest and thanked Pilkington for
the program.
Collection Services. Rocklin thanked Mangano for sharing the work that Natalie Holmes & Matt
Dubberke do. Mangano commented that staff are very busy with new books coming out. Holmes and
Dubberke have been working very hard to get these titles out as fast as possible .
Matthews inquired about the Adventure Pass article by Little Village that mentioned fines and fees .
Mangano commented that Little Village did not contact ICPL. Mangano shared ICPL hasn’t announced
going fine free yet. The Blank Park Zoo has been the most popular Adventure Pass location and there
was discuss ion about the rules for borrowing passes. Rocklin commented it was a great program.
IT. Rocklin and Johnk appreciated the hearing loop information. Paetzold asked how the extreme heat
has affected ICPL facilities . Carman s hared upgrades to the building have helped and patrons are using
services . There has been a slight increase in patrons laying down in the library and staff have made an
effort to do walk throughs more frequently. Gehrke has made upgrades to the heating and cooling
systems and all seems to be working well. Carman shared there was patching done on the roof but the
repair was minor. Carman shared the Facilities team are in tune to what is needed. In the coming
years ICPL will require some bigger replacements but there are none currently. Carman mentioned
that extending computer sessions to five hours instead of two has helped patrons in the building
during extreme weather.
Development Office Report . McCarthy s hared sidewalk sales are returning and the new Foundation
Board Members were recently oriented.
Miscellaneous. None.
President’s Report . None. Kirsch absent.
Announcements from Members. None.
Committee Reports. ICPLFF Board. Schultz said there was a meeting June 9 th where the $337,000
operating budget was approved. Officers were elected and new members were approved July 1st.
Schultz shared that McCarthy announced her retirement on August 19 th, 2022.
Agenda Item 10A-3
142
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Jen Miller, Iowa City
Public Library, at 319-887-6003 or jennifer-miller@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
Communications. None.
Consent Agenda. Matthews made a motion to approve the consent agenda . Shultz seconded. Motion
passed 7/0.
Set Agenda Order for Ju ly Meeting . Rocklin clarified that the Trustees do not need to vote on the
MOU between ICPL and ICPLFF at the next meeting. Rocklin stated the next agenda will have
department reports and the Bylaws will be reviewed.
Adjournment . Rocklin adjourned the meeting at 5:44 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Miller
Agenda Item 10A-4
143
CITY OF IOWA CITY
Library Disbursements: June 1 to June 30, 2022
ACCOUNT/VENDOR INVOICE PO YEAR/PR TYP S WARRANT CHECK DESCRIPTION
10550110 Library Administration
10550110 432080 Other Professional Services
014353 ONE SOURCE THE BACKG PLUS4649-20220531 0 2022 12 INV P 124.00 061022 32538 BACKGROUND CHECKS F
014353 ONE SOURCE THE BACKG PLUS4649VOL-20220531 0 2022 12 INV P 480.00 061022 32538 BACKGROUND CHECKS F
604.00
ACCOUNT TOTAL 604.00
10550110 435055 Mail & Delivery
010473 UNITED PARCEL SERVIC 000068774R212 0 2022 12 INV P 43.97 061022 271842 Admin/3 Internet Sh
010473 UNITED PARCEL SERVIC 000068774R222 0 2022 12 INV P 14.92 061722 272050 Admin/UPS Internet
58.89
012264 MAILBOXES OF IOWA CI 60122 0 2022 12 INV P 60.00 061722 271997 Admin/#2 Bubble Mai
ACCOUNT TOTAL 118.89
10550110 443020 Office Equipment R&M Services
011736 KONICA MINOLTA BUSIN 280199548 0 2022 12 INV P 701.35 061022 271758 Admin/Quarterly Mai
ACCOUNT TOTAL 701.35
10550110 445140 Outside Printing
010050 TRU ART 118256011SRP 0 2022 12 INV P 2,113.37 061722 272044 EIA,CAS,ADM/ 58,020
ACCOUNT TOTAL 2,113.37
10550110 469320 Miscellaneous Supplies
010125 BLICK ART MATERIALS 256123 0 2022 12 INV P 142.32 061722 271924 Admin/Staff Mental
ACCOUNT TOTAL 142.32
ORG 10550110 TOTAL 3,679.93
10550121 Library Bldg Maint - Public
10550121 438030 Electricity
010319 MIDAMERICAN ENERGY 20220601133551 0 2022 12 INV P 6,976.03 060322 32458 MidAmBilling 060120
ACCOUNT TOTAL 6,976.03
10550121 438070 Heating Fuel/Gas
010319 MIDAMERICAN ENERGY 20220601133551 0 2022 12 INV P 3,223.23 060322 32458 MidAmBilling 060120
ACCOUNT TOTAL 3,223.23
10550121 442010 Other Building R&M Services
015241 ALL WINDOW CLEANING 43295 0 2022 12 INV P 3,300.00 062422 32665 Window Cleaning Ser
ACCOUNT TOTAL 3,300.00
Agenda Item 10B-1
144
ACCOUNT/VENDOR INVOICE PO YEAR/PR TYP S WARRANT CHECK DESCRIPTION
10550121 442020 Structure R&M Services
010823 SCHUMACHER ELEVATOR 90550809 0 2022 12 INV P 625.21 062422 32700 Elevator Maintenanc
010823 SCHUMACHER ELEVATOR 90553328 0 2022 12 INV P 625.21 061022 32547 Elevator Service MA
1,250.42
ACCOUNT TOTAL 1,250.42
10550121 445330 Other Waste Disposal
010004 A-TEC RECYCLING INC 220518-55087 0 2022 12 INV P 455.86 061722 271909 FAC/ Material Recyc
ACCOUNT TOTAL 455.86
10550121 452040 Sanitation & Indust Supplies
010290 LENOCH AND CILEK ACE 372045/3 0 2022 12 INV P 834.82 061022 271761 FAC/Sanitary Suppli
010290 LENOCH AND CILEK ACE 372187/3 0 2022 12 CRM P -31.99 061022 271761 FAC/Sanitary Suppli
010290 LENOCH AND CILEK ACE 372225/3 0 2022 12 INV P 130.00 062422 272228 FAC/Sanitary Suppli
010290 LENOCH AND CILEK ACE 372303/3 0 2022 12 INV P 849.13 062422 272228 FAC/Sanitary Suppli
1,781.96
ACCOUNT TOTAL 1,781.96
10550121 463040 Water/Sewer Chemicals
010290 LENOCH AND CILEK ACE 372333/3 0 2022 12 INV P 359.40 062422 272228 FAC/60 pkg Water So
ACCOUNT TOTAL 359.40
ORG 10550121 TOTAL 17,346.90
10550140 Library Computer Systems
10550140 438140 Internet Fees
011937 AUREON COMMUNICATION 0789007015.22.06 0 2022 12 INV P 300.00 061722 271916 JUN 2022 INV
ACCOUNT TOTAL 300.00
ORG 10550140 TOTAL 300.00
10550151 Lib Public Services - Adults
10550151 432080 Other Professional Services
016363 STRONG, KALMIA 61622 0 2022 12 INV P 100.00 062422 272269 AD/Honorarium for I
ACCOUNT TOTAL 100.00
10550151 445140 Outside Printing
010050 TRU ART 118687011 0 2022 12 INV P 93.50 061722 272043 CHI&AD/SRP Game Car
ACCOUNT TOTAL 93.50
10550151 469320 Miscellaneous Supplies
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59710087 0 2022 12 INV P 71.54 061722 271975 LIBRARY MATERIALS A
Agenda Item 10B-2
145
ACCOUNT/VENDOR INVOICE PO YEAR/PR TYP S WARRANT CHECK DESCRIPTION
ACCOUNT TOTAL 71.54
ORG 10550151 TOTAL 265.04
10550152 Lib Public Services - Children
10550152 432080 Other Professional Services
015231 HOME EC WORKSHOP LLC 53122 0 2022 12 INV P 150.00 061022 271733 CHI/Comic & Cookies
015483 TORRALBA, ANN M 62322 0 2022 12 INV P 450.00 062422 272274 CHI/Family Night: L
ACCOUNT TOTAL 600.00
10550152 445140 Outside Printing
010050 TRU ART 118687011 0 2022 12 INV P 374.00 061722 272043 CHI&AD/SRP Game Car
010373 PIP PRINTING 109795 0 2022 12 INV P 49.39 062422 32696 CHI/1 Children's De
ACCOUNT TOTAL 423.39
ORG 10550152 TOTAL 1,023.39
10550159 Lib Public Srvs-Comm Access
10550159 435055 Mail & Delivery
010468 U S POST OFFICE ACCT 061322 0 2022 12 INV P 5,144.47 062422 272279 Bulk Mail Reimb. Ap
ACCOUNT TOTAL 5,144.47
10550159 445140 Outside Printing
010050 TRU ART 118256011SRP 0 2022 12 INV P 9,821.00 061722 272044 EIA,CAS,ADM/ 58,020
010050 TRU ART 118566011BKM 0 2022 12 INV P 535.00 061022 271837 CAS/2,500 Summer BK
010050 TRU ART 118677011SRP 0 2022 12 INV P 188.00 061022 271837 CAS/2,000 SRP Bookm
10,544.00
ACCOUNT TOTAL 10,544.00
10550159 469320 Miscellaneous Supplies
010510 DEMCO INC 7136163 0 2022 12 INV P 497.62 061722 271943 CAS/265 Folding Dis
ACCOUNT TOTAL 497.62
ORG 10550159 TOTAL 16,186.09
10550160 Library Collection Services
10550160 435010 Data Processing
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C NS22050257 0 2022 12 INV P 750.00 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010537 INNOVATIVE INTERFACE INV-INC31551 0 2022 12 INV P 2,400.00 062422 272211 COL/Data Indexing
011068 OVERDRIVE INC MR0137022179334 0 2022 12 INV P 205.00 061722 272016 LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACCOUNT TOTAL 3,355.00
Agenda Item 10B-3
146
ACCOUNT/VENDOR INVOICE PO YEAR/PR TYP S WARRANT CHECK DESCRIPTION
10550160 445270 Library Material R&M Services
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 200055052022V 0 2022 12 INV P 1,469.34 061722 271919 LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACCOUNT TOTAL 1,469.34
10550160 469110 Misc Processing Supplies
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C H659787DM 0 2022 12 INV P 6.70 062422 272187 LIBRARY MATERIALS P
010546 MIDWEST TAPE 502190318 0 2022 12 INV P 806.56 062422 272234 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011252 ENVISIONWARE INC INV-US-59898 0 2022 12 INV P 6,205.00 061722 271955 COL/ 33,000 RFID Ta
ACCOUNT TOTAL 7,018.26
ORG 10550160 TOTAL 11,842.60
10550210 Library Children's Materials
10550210 477020 Books (Cat/Cir)
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036718976 0 2022 12 INV P 94.91 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036722468 0 2022 12 INV P 702.10 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036740284 0 2022 12 INV P 342.21 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036744277 0 2022 12 INV P 44.56 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036747651 0 2022 12 INV P 98.92 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036747662 0 2022 12 INV P 307.02 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
1,589.72
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59433287 0 2022 12 INV P 51.42 061022 271739 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59496009 0 2022 12 INV P 10.40 061022 271739 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59593083 0 2022 12 INV P 31.11 061022 271739 LIBRARY MATERIALS
92.93
ACCOUNT TOTAL 1,682.65
10550210 477070 Downloadable-eBooks
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22171582 0 2022 12 INV P 235.45 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACCOUNT TOTAL 235.45
10550210 477250 Downloadable Media
015034 KANOPY INC 3000173 0 2022 12 INV P 125.00 061022 271754 LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACCOUNT TOTAL 125.00
ORG 10550210 TOTAL 2,043.10
10550220 Library Adult Materials
10550220 477020 Books (Cat/Cir)
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036722462 0 2022 12 INV P 155.20 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036731208 0 2022 12 INV P 251.67 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
Agenda Item 10B-4
147
ACCOUNT/VENDOR INVOICE PO YEAR/PR TYP S WARRANT CHECK DESCRIPTION
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036744304 0 2022 12 INV P 134.12 061722 271919 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036744417 0 2022 12 INV P 94.76 061022 271681 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010509 BAKER & TAYLOR INC C 2036768625 0 2022 12 INV P 1,461.56 061722 271919 LIBRARY MATERIALS
2,097.31
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59433287 0 2022 12 INV P 219.34 061022 271739 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59496009 0 2022 12 INV P 412.13 061022 271739 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59593083 0 2022 12 INV P 218.58 061022 271739 LIBRARY MATERIALS
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59710087 0 2022 12 INV P 111.51 061722 271975 LIBRARY MATERIALS A
961.56
ACCOUNT TOTAL 3,058.87
10550220 477070 Downloadable-eBooks
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22170273 0 2022 12 INV P 1,015.16 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22171503 0 2022 12 INV P 9.99 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22171581 0 2022 12 INV P 510.05 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22180767 0 2022 12 INV P 1,180.47 061722 272016 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370DA22168886 0 2022 12 INV P 934.18 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
3,649.85
ACCOUNT TOTAL 3,649.85
10550220 477220 Multi-Media/Gaming
010536 INGRAM LIBRARY SERVI 59593083 0 2022 12 INV P 57.46 061022 271739 LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACCOUNT TOTAL 57.46
10550220 477250 Downloadable Media
010546 MIDWEST TAPE 502193582 0 2022 12 INV P 2,707.93 061722 272004 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22170291 0 2022 12 INV P 252.43 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22171503 0 2022 12 INV P 116.72 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22171581 0 2022 12 INV P 65.00 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370CO22181148 0 2022 12 INV P 2,130.36 061722 272016 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370DA22168886 0 2022 12 INV P 477.46 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370DA22168887 0 2022 12 INV P 190.00 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
011068 OVERDRIVE INC 01370DA22171851 0 2022 12 INV P 95.00 061022 271793 LIBRARY MATERIALS
3,326.97
015034 KANOPY INC 3000173 0 2022 12 INV P 2,451.00 061022 271754 LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACCOUNT TOTAL 8,485.90
10550220 477350 Online Reference
014521 LINKEDLN CORPORATION 10111576689 0 2022 12 INV P 13,125.00 061722 271995 LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACCOUNT TOTAL 13,125.00
Agenda Item 10B-5
148
ACCOUNT/VENDOR INVOICE PO YEAR/PR TYP S WARRANT CHECK DESCRIPTION
ORG 10550220 TOTAL 28,377.08
FUND 1000 General TOTAL:81,064.13
____________________________________________
Carol Kirsch, President
____________________________________________
DJ Johnk, Secretary
Agenda Item 10B-6
149