HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - LB - 2020.09.151
Burlingame Library
Approved Board of Trustees Minutes
September 15, 2020
I. Roll Call
Trustees Present: Kristin Capkin, Danielle Garcia, Mike Nagler,
Randi Murray, Elisabeth Ostrow
Staff Present: Brad McCulley, City Librarian
Sidney Poland, Recorder
Council Member: Emily Beach, Mayor of the Burlingame City
Council
Equity Team Members: Megan Wong, Technical Services & IT Manager
Elaine Tai, Reference Librarian, and Ray
DeLara, Circulation Supervisor
II. Library Board of Trustees Minutes
The Trustees unanimously approved the minutes of the August 18, 2020
Board of Trustees Meeting. M/S/C Murray/Nagler
III. From the Floor
No one from the public attended the meeting.
IV. Equity Committee Presentation
Each member of the Equity Committee reviewed a specific section of the
Library Racial Equity Plan power point. The entire power point has been
incorporated into the minutes.
V. Open Discussion of Presentation
The Trustees and Mayor expressed their appreciation to the equity team
for taking on the difficult subject of racial equity and developing a
program to help staff, Trustees, Foundation members, City Council and
other City departments understand the seriousness of racial equity and
also provide ways in which racial equity can be implemented not only
within the library but all city departments, as well as the City itself.
A. Action A - Action A of the Racial Equity Plan is to develop an equity
training framework. Ray De Lara is working on a readiness survey for
staff, Trustees, and Foundation Board members. The purpose of the
survey is two fold: 1) provide a path for each person taking the survey
to assess where they are in accepting a racial equity plan and 2)
results of the survey will help define the areas where the training
should be focused.
B. Action B - Action B of the Racial Equity Plan is to revise and
reevaluate internal and external policies to demonstrate racial
equity.
• The Trustees approve library policies. The process begins with
the City Librarian, who will write the policy and then send it to
the City Attorney to make certain all aspects of the policy are
legal. The City Manager may or may not review the policy. In
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either case, the proposed policy will then be brought before the
Board of Trustees for final approval.
• Trustee Murray requested that all policies approved by
previous Board of Trustees be complied and placed in a file to
be accessible for future reference.
C. Equity Audit - The Trustees suggested that it would be
important to have an equity audit which would give further insight
into where the current library policies and procedures stand in
comparison to the goals of the proposed Racial Equity Plan. The
Equity Team is researching possible consultants that could perform
the audit to recommend to all parties
D. Role of Trustees - The Equity Team emphasized how important it is
for the Trustees to actively participate in supporting their Racial
Equity Plan. The Trustees discussed areas where they might be able
to take positive action.
• Striving to increase diversity on the Board of Trustees by
communicating with the City Council about under-represented
demographics; advocating for the Library to the City Council
about equity issues and initiatives in general.
• Possibly funding an equity audit, and helping to choose who
should conduct it.
• Providing funding for equity related trainings.
• Attend some meetings of the Equity Team.
E. Programming - The library is considered a neutral venue. The
Equity Team noted that programs have become more diverse than
in the past and is encouraging future programs to regularly have
people of color as presenters.
F. Challenges and Difficulties to Implementing a Racial Equity Plan
In answer to Trustee inquiries regarding challenges and difficulties
associated with having a successful Equity Racial Plan, a few of the
replies from the Equity Team follow.
• Internal management needs to become more diversified. Hourly
staff, which is currently furloughed, has more staff of color and
therefore has a greater percentage of equity then management.
The library needs to create a pipeline to success for hourly
staff to advance within the organization.
• Support of the equity plan by all staff members and
stakeholders is key to its success.
• Each staff member is in a different place with regard to their
exposure to racial equity theory. All staff must participate in
the racial equity training.
• The library staff needs to create an environment where BIPOC
patrons feel welcomed, safe, and appreciated when coming to
our library.
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G. Board of Trustees - "Who We Are"
Trustee Murray and Ostrow will work on a form that suggests
various factors for Trustees to put in a short narrative about
themselves including the skills that they bring to the Board o f
Trustees. The data will be put into a spread sheet.
VI. Action Items
• Brad will provide the Trustees with library policies that have been
approved by past Board of Trustees.
• The Trustees requested that "7 Member Board of Trustees" be
placed on the October 20th agenda.
VII. Announcement
Mayor Emily Beach has asked the library to participate in hosting the
United Against Hate event. The time frame for this event is
November 30th - December 6th. Details will follow.
VIII. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00pm. The next meeting of the Library
Board of Trustees will be held on October 20, 2020 at 5:30pm. The
Trustees will be provided with the link to attend the Zoom meeting.
Respectfully Submitted
/S/
Brad McCulley
City Librarian
City of Burlingame