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2025-12-10 LB MeetingSOUTHLAKE LIBRARY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, December 10, 2025 Location: Southlake Training Center 307 Parkwood Dr. Southlake, Texas Time: 6:30 p.m. Agenda: 1. Call to Order 2. Consent A. Approval of the Library Board minutes from the September 24, 2025, meeting 3. Consider A. The Library Board members will set a calendar of meeting dates for the new fiscal year. B. The Library Board members will elect a Vice-Chair 4. Discussion A. Employee Engagement Survey B. Library Holiday Events 5. /LEUDULDQ¶V5HSRUW 6. Library Foundation of Southlake Update 7. New Business 8. Public Forum 7KLV LV WKH SXEOLF¶V RSSRUWXQLW\ WR DGGUHVV WKH Board about non-agenda items. During this proceeding, the Board will not discuss, consider or take action on any item presented. We respectfully ask that anyone stepping forward to speak during Public Forum to please limit remarks to three minutes or less.) 9. Adjournment A quorum of the City Council or any board, commission, or commitee may be present at this meeting. CERTIFICATE I hereby certify that the above agenda was posted on the official bulletin boards at Town Hall, 1400 Main Street, Southlake, Texas, on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, by 6:00 p.m. pursuant to Chapter 51 of the Texas Government Code. Amy Shelley, TRMC City Secretary If you plan to attend this public meeting and have a disability that requires special needs, please advise the City Secretary 48 hours in advance at 817.748.8016. Reasonable accommodations will be made to assist you. CITY OF SOUTHLAKE SOUTHLAKE LIBRARY BOARD MEETING: December 10, 2025 LOCATION: 307 Parkwood, Southlake, Texas Southlake Training Center TIME: 6:34 p.m. SOUTHLAKE LIBRARY BOARD PRESENT: Will Doby, Cicely Nelson, Lauren Green, Janet Theaker, David Treichler, and Lori Burr. SOUTHLAKE LIBRARY BOARD ABSENT: None. STAFF PRESENT: Cynthia Pfledderer, Deputy Director of Library Services. OTHERS PRESENT: None. 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Doby called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. 2. CONSENT A. APPROVE MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR SOUTHLAKE LIBRARY BOARD MEETING HELD September 24, 2025 APPROVED Motion: Theaker Second: Burr Ayes: Doby, Nelson, Green, and Treichler Nays: None Abstain: None Vote: 6-0 Motion Carried. City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the December 10, 2025, Southlake Library Board Meeting Page 2 of 6 3. CONSIDER A. THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS WILL SET A CALENDAR OF MEETING DATES FOR THE NEW FISCAL YEAR APPROVED Approved dates are as follows: January 28th, 2026; February 25th, 2026; March 25th, 2026; April 22" d, 2026; May 27th, 2026; August 26th, 2026; and September 23rd, 2026. Motion: Doby Second: Theaker Ayes: Nelson, Green, Burr, and Treichler Nays: None Abstain: None Vote: 6-0 B. THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS WILL ELECT A VICE CHAIR. L The Board members indicated a desire for City Council to ask for input for Board Chair designation. Lauren Green moved to nominate Lori Burr for Library Board Vice Chair. Motion: Green Second: Treichler Ayes: Doby, Nelson, Nays: None Abstain: None Vote: 6-0 4. DISCUSSION APPROVED Theaker, and Burr A. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY City Librarian Pfledderer presented to the Board the responses for the biennial City Employee Engagement Survey. This report included library employee input only and was collected as a Gallup survey. Managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement. In current trends, there is declining global engagement with managers feeling overwhelmed with the economic shifts. The City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the December 10, 2025, Southlake Library Board Meeting Page 3 of 6 survey looks at four general areas: basic needs met (knowing what is expected, having the tools and materials needed), individual contribution (opportunities to do their best, recognition, and having someone care about them), teamwork and growth (someone encouraging their development, opinions validated, having mission connection), and purpose and belonging (they have friends at work, opportunities to learn, and are feeling valued). The library works to create an environment where all library staff feel supported and valued. This healthy work environment has a direct impact on customer experience. One of the ways that the library recognizes achievements is through staff led matrix teams that celebrate graduations, certifications, life achievements, etc. Additionally, the library uses Clifton Strengths to best engage the strengths and talents of every person on the team. The library is in the 98 percentiles for engagement in the country for our industry. The one area that was not scored as high, but still in the green, was that of having the materials and equipment needed to their work. Will Doby asked if not having a new/standalone library having was the cause of this percentage change. Pfledderer stated that that was not likely the cause of it, and the library has spread its reach throughout the City. She said it's more likely to do with the technology in the library. David Treichler circled back to equipment issues mentioned in the survey, and what specifically is the issue. Pfledderer expanded on the various types library specific technologies and systems that are used, and how they all must interface with the City's systems and operations. David also asked about the uptick in the `I have a best friend at work' question, and to what she attributes that increase. She notes that they do pay attention to staff and if they have a buddy on staff. They make a point to create opportunities for staff to connect and work together. B. LIBRARY HOLIDAY EVENTS City Librarian Pfledderer presented to the Board the holiday events provided by the library, including the Book Blizzard Bingo which is presented by the Library Foundation. As of the date of the meeting, there were 122 registrations for Bingo. The library has been heavily promoting it in marketing through the eBlasts. The Holiday Open House will happen on December 18th, Mrs. Claus will visit the library on December 22"d, a holiday juggling show on the 23rd, a musical retelling of a Visit from St. Nick on the 26th, a reptile show on the 29th, and the Noon Years Eve Countdown Celebration on the 31st. Janet complimented the Fika program that was held on December 4th, and said it was a lovely program that the library did a fantastic job on. The library will also be hosting an employee holiday cookie exchange for City staff to engage with other City departments. City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the December 10, 2025, Southlake Library Board Meeting Page 4 of 6 5. LIBRARIAN'S REPORT City Librarian Pfledderer presented to the Board the statistics for the month of October. We started out with a 4% decline in print circulation. The closing of major library vendor Baker and Taylor has significantly impacted book deliveries. This is our busiest time of year for publishing, and the library typically does a massive order. As of this meeting, the library had only received a little more than 100 books, and were consistently reaching out to Brodart to inquire on the status of the other book orders. Digital circulation for Libby and cloudLibrary was down 3% for the month. The other digital usage is showing a decline as well. She noted the change in budget for digital usage as a factor. She also noted that there has been a drastic drop in usage for BookFlix and is evaluating it for discontinuation. She is also considering dropping World Book due to decline. EBSCO is also under review due to the high cost of providing access to this resource at $9000. She also noted that the Carroll ISD librarians for the high school and the senior high have been replaced by library aids. This is expected to lead a decline in research skills development and diminished demand for research resources. Lower performing resources will be discontinued if budgets are reduced. This prevents budget reduction for the higher demand physical materials, digital books, and programming. Library cards are about flat for the month. Library traffic was down 11 %. Digital traffic is down 10%. Cloud down 4%. Libby up 35%. NewsStand had increase of 69% for the month. Computer usage is up 8%, but study rooms down 6%. Almost 300 people attended adult programs, which is a 22 % increase for the year. There was a 39% increase in youth. Story Time continues to decline at 4%. Volunteers are going through a transition phase with the veteran volunteers moving on, and new volunteers coming in. There has been a marked increase in no-shows for the volunteers. In years past, the reference librarian was almost the sole person that interacted and worked with library volunteers. Now that she has retired and the reference desk is staffed by all library staff on rotation, there's not the consistent face for our volunteers to get to know. Library volunteer coordinator Rebecca Conkle is also working one on one with special needs teachers and students at Carroll ISD to provide volunteer opportunities for those students to challenge but not overwhelm them. The goal this coming year is to spend more time with the volunteers to build a rapport with them, as well as to make them feel appreciated. Lori asked if we were seeing no-show with our special needs volunteers, who take a good amount of staff time for training and assessing. Pfledderer let her know that we do not see this issue with these volunteers, as they often come in with a teacher aid and are carefully scheduled. Staff take the time to provide them with tasks that challenge them and are not just cleaning toys or shredding papers. City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the December 10, 2025, Southlake Library Board Meeting Page 5 of 6 Interlibrary loans will see a decline in numbers as the library begins to buy the requests rather than request and ship them. It is often more cost effective to find a secondhand copy. The Board asked if the hour requirements from the high schools have changed over the past few years, and if that is the reason for the volunteer drop-off. Pfledderer theorized that it is because they're finding new ways to get their hour requirements, as the library is still being inundated with requests from high schoolers asking to serve in unique volunteer opportunities. Lastly, she shared that the library has two new staff members. They are Adrien Alcazaz, who recently served in the Marines, and is going back for his master's in music librarianship, and Sydney Boudreaux who is our new twelve hour library assistant and is also going back for her master's in library science. 6. LIBRARY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHLAKE UPDATE Board member Lori Burr shared with the Board that the Foundation an updated on the Book Blizard Bingo which will be going on till January 6t1 and is currently going well. 7. NEW BUSINESS Will Doby asked if they had any new business that they wished to discuss. David Treichler asked if there have been any conversations about possible school closures due to falling enrollments. Pfledderer replied that among City Staff, not that she is aware of, but staff are aware of declining enrollment. He further asked if the City could then look in to purchasing the property of a closed school for a future library. In response, Pfledderer shared with the Board that the City selected a contractor to develop a master plan for the Parkwood property for a library, Veterans Memorial, and an all -abilities playground. If the plan is approved, there will a survey of the community and a full concept of the project for consideration. But nothing has been approved at this time. David shared that he has experience in this situation as a former school superintendent in New York state that also faced downsizing. He had overseen the repurposing of school buildings into other city services, including a library. He indicated that he would reach out to the Mayor to discuss this idea. Will Doby had heard that the school was considering consolidating how the school grades were grouped. Treichler asked if it was possible for the Board to make an official comment/recommendation to City Council about reaching out to the school district if a school is closed for library purposes. Pfledderer let them know that that is not something that could be voted or decided on at this juncture in the meeting, but that it could be added to the next meeting agenda. City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork Minutes of the December 10, 2025, Southlake Library Board Meeting Page 6 of 6 8. PUBLIC FORUM The public forum was opened at 7:32 p.m., and being no public present, it was closed at 7:34 p.m. 9. ADJOURNMENT The next meeting is scheduled for January 28, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. at the Parkwood Training Center. The meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m. Will Do b , Ch r Cynthia Pfledderer, City Librarian City of Southlake Values: Integrity ♦ Innovation ♦ Accountability ♦ Commitment to Excellence ♦ Teamwork