LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS / Cleveland Heights – University Heights Public Library Board meeting highlights [online 2-15-2016]

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

• Centennial celebration update
• Check Us Out redesign
• Presentation on training and development activities
• January public service report highlights

All board members were present.

Centennial celebration update

[Author] Mary Doria Russell will be the speaker at the May 1 kickoff event at Coventry Village Library. Winners of the K-8 Centennial Poster Art Contest will be announced then. The contest, soon to be underway, will culminate in a gallery show. An online, interactive library history/timeline will include audio interviews with retired staff and others. Limited edition centennial library cards will be available March 1.

Check Us Out redesign

Sheryl Banks, marketing manager, announced that the spring issue of Check Us Out has been redesigned into a larger format with a more readable font. There is now more room for graphics, partner logos and internal ads about library programs.

Presentation on training and development activities

Heather Howiler, training and development manager, talked to the board about her department’s mission, including service to both staff and customers. For staff, the focus is on skills and competencies. Jackie Mayse, technology librarian, and five tech assistants supervise the public computer classes. Tech outreach has included the Heights Senior [Activity] Center and Musicians Towers. The library has a mobile computer classroom and has scheduled visits by the Ohio State Library bookmobile and OverDrive’s digital bookmobile, a 47-foot long bus with five rooms and a gadget gallery. Computer coding for kids has been a popular program.

January public service report highlights:

• The Cleveland Play House Script Club discussed the civil rights drama, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall.
• The Science and Nature Study Group, in partnership with the Harold T. Clark Library of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, began a four-part series examining the wonders of outer space. The first program, NASA Mission to Mars, discussed plans to send humans to Mars among other topics.
• Maggie Kinney and Kathy Franzinger, youth services librarians, held the second transitional housing outreach for 23 people in collaboration with Forest Hill Presbyterian Church and Family Promise of Cleveland.
• Preschoolers from home-based daycare programs, under the auspices of the Head Start preschool program of the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland, visited the library.
• The youth services department offered a self-defense seminar led by professionals from Aikikai. They taught some of the principles of Aikido, which promotes nonviolent de-escalation of situations and conflict resolution. The seminar was popular with participants who enjoyed practicing moves.
• The training program hosted a Foundation Center class on “Finding Scholarships for College and Graduate School” for 21 participants.
• University Heights Youth Services Librarian Hannah Van Jura hosted a trivia night at Pizzazz on the Circle for 20 participants. This outreach is aimed at emerging adults in our community, thus the location near John Carroll University was chosen.
• Librarians Anne Tisch and Kathy Franzinger led a sensory storytime for children at the Monarch Center for Autism. They led a similar program at Church of the Saviour’s quarterly program for special needs children.
• [Library] associate Tamara Murray held a question and answer session with homeschooling parents to determine how the library could meet their needs. Feedback has led to planning programs for 2016.

LWV Observer: Anne S. McFarland.

These meeting summaries are abstracted from LWV observers’ written reports. The summaries have been edited and prepared by Anne McFarland, Charlene Morse and Maryann Barnes. To receive e-mail postings of full reports, send an e-mail to mbarnes9515@gmail.com or join through Google groups using “lwv-chuh observer reports” as a search phrase.

These reports contain member observation and selected highlights of public meetings and are not official statements of the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland. This disclaimer must accompany any redistribution of these reports.