June 14 2023 Board Meeting Minutes

Prince Rupert Public Library

Library Board Meeting



June 14, 2023

Present: Ronald Braun (RoB), Richard Butler (RiB), Carolina de Ryk (CdR),Teri Forster (TF), Kate Lyon (KL), Brendan Turner (BT), , Joe Zelwietro (JZ, Chief Librarian)

Regrets: Tiffany Prystay (TP)


Meeting commenced at 7:07 pm. Vice-Chairperson CdR became Acting Chairperson

• Territorial acknowledgement by CdR
• The minutes of the May 24, 2023 PRL Board meeting were removed from the Consent Agenda for discussion.
• BT joins meeting and resumes Chairperson role.
• Discussion about changes to the format of the Agenda
1. add a ongoing place holder to the end of the Agenda called 'Open Forum'
2. add a second page to the Agenda entitled: 'Matters under Consideration'
• #1 is added to agenda in order to give all trustees the space to bring up any matter that is not explicitly mentioned in the Consent or Discussion sections of the agenda
• #2 is added to provide a ongoing list of matters that are of concern to the Board but have not been resolved by a motion or dismissal
• Motion by RiB, seconded by RoB to accept the above two changes, passed.
• BT started the conversation about a couple of the activities by the Library in celebration of National Indigenous History Month and the National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21)
• BT referred to the non-fiction book display and the associated social media promotion by the Library staff.
• CdR and JZ mentioned that the Library is promoting the CBC podcast The Urbariginals in which much of the material was recorded at this Library.
• The near-completion or our new external Library sign "Wap Liistx" which will be hung on the McBride St. side of the building
• Our attempt at getting the microfilm collection of "William Duncan Correspondence" for our patrons. This is an important collection concerning the development of the two Metlakatlas (Old Metlakatla BC and New Metlakatla Alaska)
• CdR asked about the status of the indigenous carving project that we had been working on for our centennial year (2022). JZ answered that the project has been delayed due in part to the artist presently not having access to a carving facility. TF may be able to obtain more information about access to the carving shed in town and how it is managed. TF will let the Board know how that goes.
• Motion to accept the remaining elements of the Consent Agenda (May 2023 Financial Report, May Circulation report and Registered Charity Information Report submission to CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) by RiB, seconded by BT, passed.
• Our Deputy Librarian was not able to present her Collections Development session tonight due to illness
• BT asked if our Library had experienced any threats or otherwise challenging letters or complaints about items in our Library as was happening in other public and school libraries in BC and across Canada. JZ answered that there have not been any challenges but there was one letter from a patron asking the same question who was supportive of the Library and the right to disseminate books about matters that offend some people but help others.
• The Board then went into an in-camera session to discuss matters relevant to Collective Agreement (CA) negotiations.
• Once the in-camera session ended JZ informed the Board that email invitations were sent to the City (Prince Rupert) Manager and Northern Health re: the items in the agenda, but that there had not been any responses yet.
• In the first 'Open Forum' session the following matters were discussed
• Trustees were reminded that there would not be a regular Board meeting until September 2023 although there will probably a special meeting regarding completion of CA negotiations in July.
• We have to figure out the best trustee training options that work for most of the trustees and do them. We are considering zoom training through BCLTA. Another option is to combine our training dates with Terrace Public Library (because they have a significant number of new trustees as well) and have an in-person training workshop with a BCLTA trainer. Also as BT is PRL's representative on the North West Library Federation (NWLF) he will ask Kaitlyn Vecchio (NWLF coordinator) if she is aware of any trustee training opportunities.

Motion to adjourn by TF, seconded RiB, passed.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:45pm. Next regular Meeting at 7pm Sept. 13, 2023.