* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] WE ALIGNED THOSE OBJECTIVES. [*This meeting was joined in progress.*] [Municipal Library Board Meeting on November 18, 2025. ] , GREAT, THANK YOU. APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE. AND THEN WE TOOK EACH OF THOSE OBJECTIVES AND WE ALIGNED THEM WITH VARIOUS GOALS OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN. SO THE FIRST PAGE, LET ME WALK YOU THROUGH WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. OBJECTIVE, REIMAGINE THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. YOU HAVE THE PROJECT LEAD. THAT'S WHO OWNS IT. THAT'S WHO OWNS THAT OBJECTIVE. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT'S THE PERSON WHO DOES ALL THE WORK. THOSE PEOPLE, AS YOU NOTICE, THAT'S ME, THAT'S MELISSA, THAT'S SEAN, THAT'S HIGH LEVEL FOLKS AT THE ORGANIZATION. THEY OWN IT. AND THEN LEAD OTHER PEOPLE TO DO A LOT OF THESE TASKS. AND THEN YOU HAVE THE KEY DELIVERABLES, AND UNDERNEATH THAT YOU HAVE THE STRATEGIC GOAL ALIGNMENT. SO YOU'RE GONNA SEE THAT REPEATED FIVE OR SIX TIMES. AGAIN, HERE'S THE GOALS. THEY DIDN'T CHANGE. AND THEN I SAID THIS ALREADY. HIGH LEVEL OBJECTIVES WITH KEY DELIVERABLES, AND THEN ALIGNING WITH MULTIPLE STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS. BECAUSE A LOT OF WHAT WE DO IS SORT OF A, ACROSS THE ENTIRE LIBRARY SYSTEM. SO I FOUND IT, I FIND THIS AN EASIER WAY TO THINK ABOUT THE STRATEGIC PLAN. THAT THE WORK WE DO SUPPORTS ALL OF OUR GOALS OR MANY GOALS, RATHER THAN JUST ONE WITH TASKS UNDERNEATH. OKAY, SO LET'S GET INTO THE MEAT OF IT. AND THE FIRST ONE, AS YOU CAN SEE, IS REIMAGINING THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. NONE OF THESE SHOULD BE NEW TO YOU. THESE ARE ALL THINGS I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT SINCE I STARTED. UH, WE NEED TO DO A DATA REVIEW THAT'S FIGURING OUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING IN THIS BUILDING, THE RESOURCES THAT THEY'RE USING, HOW THEY'RE INTERACTING WITH THE SPACE. WE NEED TO ASSESS THE DEFERRED MAINTENANCE COSTS OF THIS BUILDING. THAT'S, THAT'S PRETTY CRITICAL. AS YOU SIT IN THIS WARM ROOM, , I THINK YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THAT'S SO IMPORTANT. WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT SMALL CAPITAL RENOVATIONS PROJECTS. WHEN I SAY SMALL, I MEAN PRETTY SMALL IN SOME CASES. THE FIRST FLOOR BEING WHAT WE'VE DONE ON THE FIRST FLOOR, BEING THE FIRST EXAMPLE WHERE WE TOOK OUT THE COMPUTERS AND THE SEATING BROUGHT IN BOOKS INSTEAD, I WOULD CONSIDER THAT A SMALL RENOVATION. AND THEN LOOKING INTO CO-LOCATION OPPORTUNITIES. YOU'VE HEARD ME SAY MORE THAN ONCE THAT THIS BUILDING IS VERY LARGE. WE HAVE A LOT OF EMPTY SPACE. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH. THERE IS NOTHING BUT OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER IN THIS BUILDING, TO BRING IN OTHER AGENCIES, NONPROFITS, EVEN UH, OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS, WHICH WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST. WE COULD BRING THAT BACK IN. AND THEN YOU CAN SEE UNDER THAT THE STRATEGIC GOALS THAT, THAT THIS OBJECTIVE ALIGNS WITH. AND IF YOU DON'T MIND, I'LL GET THROUGH ALL OF THESE AND THEN WE CAN GO BACK IF THAT WORKS. THE NEXT ONE IS TO IMPLEMENT A REGIONAL SERVICE MODEL. AGAIN, NOTHING SHOULD BE NEW ON HERE. WE NEED TO DEVELOP THE EVALUATION MODEL. THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE WORKING ON IN REAL TIME RIGHT NOW. THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY THAT'S HAPPENING ALL THE TIME. BUT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT AS SOMETHING WE NEED TO DO. UM, THIS IS REALLY, OH, THAT SHOULDN'T SAY LEAD. MELISSA. I'M SORRY. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ALL TITLES. GENERIC , ALL GENERIC TITLE. NOT REALLY. MELISSA. YEAH, WE RAN INTO THAT ONE WITH HEATHER RIGHT AWAY WITH HER LEAVING. UM, SO THIS IS REALLY, UM, INSIDE BASEBALL KIND OF ONE, REALLY THINK ABOUT HOW WE STAFF THIS BUILDING, WHAT POSITIONS WE HAVE ON EVERY FLOOR, WHAT POSITIONS WORK THE DESK, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THEIR TIME THAT, THAT SORT OF THING. UM, AND, AND HOW WE THINK ABOUT SERVICES IN A REGIONAL FLAGSHIP LIBRARY VERSUS THE NEIGHBORHOOD BRANCHES. UM, THIS IS WHAT EVERYONE WILL SEE AT THE END OF THE DAY. THE HOURS OPEN, THE STAFFING, AGAIN, DEFERRED MAINTENANCE. WE NEED TO DO THAT WITH THE REGIONAL MODEL. SAME THING. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT AND SMALL SCALE NOVATION PLAN. THERE MAY BE SOME SMALL RENOVATIONS WE NEED TO DO TO MAKE SOMETHING A REGIONAL FLAGSHIP. UM, MOVING DESKS AROUND, CREATING MORE SEATING. MAYBE THE STAFFING AREAS NEED, UM, PARTNERSHIPS AND PROJECTS. THIS ISN'T SOMETHING WE TALK ABOUT VERY OFTEN, BUT THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TO REALLY HELP GREEN UP DALLAS. I THINK THE BEST EXAMPLE OF ONE THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING IS WITH THE NEW PARK FOREST LIBRARY, WHERE THERE IS A CORNER OF THE NEW LIBRARY LAND THAT IS A POCKET PARK THAT'S BEING RUN BY THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND. AND SO THE MORE WE CAN DO TO HELP GREEN UP THE CITY, I THINK THE BETTER. THE NEXT ONE IS AROUND SAFETY AND SECURITY. WE NEED TO LOOK AT OUR INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM. AGAIN, THAT'S PRETTY INSIDE BASEBALL, BUT THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF RUNNING SAFE AND WELCOMING FACILITIES. WE ALWAYS NEED TO BE LOOKING AT OUR CODE OF CONDUCT AND, UH, SUSPENSION REVIEW. UH, THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE ON YOUR RADAR, BUT WE DO SUSPEND PEOPLE ON A REGULAR BASIS FOR NOT FOLLOWING OUR CODE [00:05:01] OF CONDUCT. IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT LEVER THAT WE USE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE ELEMENTS IN OUR BUILDING THAT WE WANT TO HAVE AND WE MAINTAIN A WELCOME AND SAFE FACILITY. AND THEN THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING. UM, THIS WAS PART OF OUR ENHANCEMENT REQUEST FOR THIS YEAR. WE RECEIVED ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO HAVE A HIGHER LEVEL OF SECURITY IN A COUPLE OF OUR HIGH INCIDENT LOCATION. OAK, OAK LAWN, VICKERY PARK AND MILKEY. NO, JUST OAK LAWN AND VICKERY PARK. JUST THOSE TWO. UM, HIGHER LEVEL OF SECURITY MEANS MORE MONEY BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE MORE HIGHLY TRAINED. THE NEXT ONE IS TO PROVIDE DATA-DRIVEN COMMUNITY RESPONSIVE PROGRAMMING. AGAIN, THIS ONE IS OWNED BY MELISSA. I WILL SAY THAT THIS ONE SHE FOUGHT VERY HARD FOR AND WANT IT IN HERE, SO I DON'T KNOW IF SHE WANTS TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT. BUT REALLY LOOKING AT OUR PROGRAMMING, PRIORITIZING WHAT WE OFFER, MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE OFFERING WHAT OUR COMMUNITY WANTS. WE NEED A VISION FOR YOUTH SERVICES. THAT WAS, THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT ONE TO BOTH OF US. WE DON'T REALLY HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW. WE, WE OFFER CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS AND YOUTH SERVICES, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE INTENTIONALITY OR THE STAFFING THAT WE NEED. SO MELISSA AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS QUITE A BIT. AND THEN WE NEED A VISION FOR CENTRAL LIBRARY PROGRAMMING, WHICH OVERLAPS REALLY WITH THE, THE FIRST OBJECTIVE. THE LAST ONE IS RIGHT SIZING THE COLLECTION FOR THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY. I KNOW THIS FIRST BULLET MIGHT SCARE YOU, BUT I DON'T WANT IT TO, LET ME GIVE YOU THE EXPLANATION AROUND REDUCING SHELVING SPACE THAT IS NOT A REDUCTION IN THE COLLECTION. LEMME SAY THAT AGAIN. THAT IS NOT A REDUCTION IN THE COLLECTION SIZE. THAT IS, IF YOU'VE WALKED INTO ANY OF OUR BRANCHES, YOU WILL SEE THAT OUR SHELVING IS REALLY MOSTLY HALF FULL. AND WE HAVE A LOT OF IT BECAUSE MANY OF OUR BRANCHES WERE, WERE DESIGNED AND BUILT DURING A, A TIME WHEN PEOPLE READ MORE PHYSICAL BOOKS THAN THEY'RE READING NOW. AND WE WEREN'T FLOATING. SO WHAT THIS MEANS IS CONSOLIDATION OF COLLECTION INTO SMALLER NUMBER OF SHELVES. SO WE CAN TAKE THOSE SHELVES OUT AND CREATE MORE SEATING. A GREAT EXAMPLE OF A BRANCH THAT NEEDS THAT IS KLEBERG RILEY. THEY HAVE NOTHING BUT INCREDIBLY HIGH SHELVES AND NOT ENOUGH PLACES FOR PEOPLE TO SIT. SO IF WE CONSOLIDATE THE COLLECTION, WE CAN CREATE MORE GATHERING PLACES FOR PEOPLE. UM, WE NEED A SPENDING MODEL THAT IS LONG TERM, THAT IS STRATEGIC AROUND PHYSICAL VERSUS E MATERIAL. AS I'M SURE EVERYONE KNOWS, WE DO NOT GET TO JUST GO TO THE KINDLE STORE AND BUY KINDLE BOOKS FOR $10. WE HAVE LICENSING AGREEMENTS FOR OUR E MATERIAL THAT MAKES OUR EBOOK SUBSTANTIALLY MORE EXPENSIVE THAN WHAT THE PUBLIC IS ABLE TO PURCHASE. THAT CAN BE 80 TO $150 FOR ONE TITLE. SO OUR E MATERIAL COSTS US A LOT MORE THAN OUR PHYSICAL, AND MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE CONSUMING EBOOKS AND E MATERIAL THAN PRINT. SO WE ARE, WE REALLY HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS STRATEGICALLY, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT OUR MATERIALS BUDGET HAS NOT GONE UP IN QUITE A LONG TIME. MY HOPE IS THAT IN A COUPLE OF YEARS, WE CAN ACTUALLY GO TO THE CITY WITH AN ENHANCEMENT REQUEST FOR MONEY FOR E MATERIAL. OR MAYBE THAT'S FUNDABLE. I DON'T KNOW. SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT. . UM, THE SUN SETTING A MATERIAL TYPE, AGAIN, I DON'T WANT THAT ONE TO SCARE ANYONE, BUT LIBRARIES ALWAYS HAVE TO BE TALKING ABOUT SUN SETTING MATERIALS TYPE. THAT IS WHY WE DON'T HAVE VHS TAPES FOR A CHECKOUT. THAT IS WHY WE DON'T HAVE CASSETTE TAPES FOR CHECKOUT. WE DON'T HAVE, UM, VINYL FOR CHECKOUT. THERE IS ALWAYS VINYL. WE MIGHT, WE DO VINYL COLLECTION. THAT'S TRUE. I'M NOT USED TO BEING IN A LIBRARY THAT HAS VINYL. UM, IF THAT CAME BACK AROUND, VINYL HAS CAME BACK AROUND AND THE LIBRARY IS A HUGE, UM, VHS IS PROBABLY NOT GONNA, I DON'T THINK IT'S COMING BACK, BUT WE CANNOT BUY ALL FORMATS ALL THE TIME UNTIL THE END OF TIME. SO WE ALWAYS HAVE TO BE LOOKING AT THIS ISSUE. LIBRARIES TEND TO HANG ON TO FORMATS MUCH, MUCH LONGER THAN A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK IS NECESSARY. BUT IF WE DON'T DO THAT, WE DO LEAVE PEOPLE BEHIND. SO THERE'S A MOMENT WHEN WE SUNSET A MATERIAL TYPE, BUT WE OFTEN HOLD ON A LOT LONGER THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT. BUT THAT ALWAYS NEEDS TO BE A TOPIC OF CONVERSATION. AND THEN THE LAST IS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO COLLECTION MATERIAL. UM, THIS IS REALLY JUST FIGURING OUT HOW TO BRING LIBRARY MATERIAL INTO MORE PLACES. THIS COULD BE WHERE THE BOOK VENDING MACHINE IDEA, LIZ, FOR EXAMPLE, THIS IS WHERE WE HAVE SOMETHING CALLED MINI DPL, WHERE WE HAVE ESSENTIALLY LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES AROUND THE CITY WITH GIVEAWAY BOOKS. HOW DO WE [00:10:01] INCREASE ACCESS THROUGH INNOVATIVE AND DIFFERENT WAYS THAT ARE NOT JUST STANDALONE BUILDINGS? SO THAT IS OUR PLAN FOR YEAR TWO. WE ARE STILL WORKING ON THE TRACKING MECHANISM. THIS WAS GOING TO LIVE UNDER HEATHER LOWE'S POSITION. AND SO WHEN SHE LEFT, WE JUST HAVEN'T REALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO TRACK IT. BUT THESE HAVE BEGUN AND I AM HAPPY TO COME BACK AND GIVE, UH, PROGRESS REPORTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IF YOU WOULD LIKE. SO WITH THAT, I WILL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE. WOULD YOU CARE TO ADDRESS THE RUMOR GOING AROUND TOWN THAT YOU'RE SELLING THIS BUILDING? SURE. . SURE. SO THE QUESTION WAS ABOUT THE RUMOR THAT IS SWIRLING ABOUT SELLING THIS BUILDING. UM, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, THE CITY IS NOT CONSIDERING SELLING THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. I HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD THAT THE CITY IS CONSIDERING IT. IT CAME UP AS A PART OF THE CONVERSATION ALONGSIDE THE SALE OR THE POSSIBLE SALE OR THE POSSIBLE MOVE OUT OF CITY HALL. UM, I, I THINK THAT PEOPLE SEE THESE AS SISTER BUILDINGS, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT. UH, BUT IT, BUT WHAT I'VE BEEN ASKED TO DO, AND I HAVE BEEN VERY CLEAR SINCE I WAS HIRED, WAS TO REIMAGINE THE CENTRAL LIBRARY AND THAT THAT IS WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO. SO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, CITI IS NOT SELLING THIS BUILDING. AND BY REIMAGINE YOU MEAN MAKE BETTER USE OF THE SPACE IN THIS BUILDING? YES. YEAH. YES. AS IS DEFINED HERE. AND I HAVE SAID MANY TIMES THAT, UM, YES, WHAT WE'RE DOING ON THE FIRST FLOOR, I, I WOULD LOVE TO TACKLE THAT CHILDREN'S AREA. I DON'T KNOW THE LAST TIME YOU WERE ON THE CHILDREN'S FLOOR. IT'S BEEN OVER 20 YEARS, OR ABOUT 20 YEARS SINCE THE CITY AND, AND OPPO, UH, FUNDED THAT RENOVATION. IT'S STARTING TO LOOK A LITTLE OLD AND TIRED. I THINK WE CAN BRING IN A LOT MORE KIDS IF WE HAD A MORE DYNAMIC AND EXCITING CHILDREN'S AREA. SO THINGS LIKE THAT. I'LL GO INTO REIMAGINING THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. I HAVE A QUESTION. SURE. WHY DID YOU REFUSE A, AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS? I, SAM I THINK WE SHOULD KEEP IT GERMANE TO THE TOPIC, BUT THAT'S VERY RELEVANT. THERE WAS AN, THERE WAS AN ARTICLE BY ROBERT ABOUT THE, ALL THESE RUMORS THAT ARE FLYING AROUND ABOUT THE SALE OF THE LIBRARY. UH, ACCORDING TO WHAT HE WROTE, HE, HE TELEPHONED OR EMAILED MANA FOR AN INTERVIEW, BUT THE INTERVIEW WAS NOT GIVEN. I WONDER WHY. THAT'S BECAUSE THE CITY COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT WANTED ME TO GIVE HIM A STATEMENT, WHICH I DID. UHHUH . SO DID THEY FORBID YOU TO GIVE AN INTERVIEW? SO I AM A CITY EMPLOYEE AND WE HAVE A COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT. IF THEY PREFER THAT, I GIVE HIM A STATEMENT RATHER THAN AN INTERVIEW. THAT IS THE DECISION THAT IS MADE IN THE DIRECTION TO ME. I SEE. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT CAN YES. EXCUSE ME. NO, NOT ABOUT, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY ABOUT THIS. IT'S, YOU MENTIONED THE JANUARY 20TH MEETING, UH, FOR THE, AT THE CITY COUNCIL. SO, SO MY CITY COUNCIL PERSON HAD SOME QUESTIONS FOR ME. AND THEN WHAT, I GUESS THESE WILL BE ANSWERED AT THAT JANUARY 20TH MEETING. OR CAN YOU IT'S, IT'S LIKE WHAT THE ME I, I SAID THE, THE REGIONAL MODEL BEST I CAN TELL IS, IS THEY'RE COMING MM-HMM . IT'S PRETTY MUCH GONNA HAPPEN. AND SO, WELL, IT'S BEING PRESENTED TO COUNCIL AND COUNCIL WILL DECIDE IF HAPPEN. COUNCIL WILL DECIDE. RIGHT. IT'S NOT, WELL, THE REGIONAL MODEL WAS ACCEPTED AS PART OF BUDGET ADOPTION FOR FY 27. YES. AND JUST TO BE CLEAR, THE, THE JANUARY MEETING IS THE QUALITY OF LIFE QUALITY YES. COMMITTEE, NOT THE FULL QUALITY, QUALITY OF LIFE. CORRECT. IT'S QUAL QUALITY OF LIFE, ARTS AND CULTURE. IS THAT THE FULL NAME OF IT? WILL THIS BE THE MEETING WHERE THE SPECIFIC LIBRARIES THAT MAY BE RECOMMENDED TO BE CLOSED WILL BE TALKED ABOUT? SO THAT IS THE INTENTION. NOW, THINGS OF COURSE COULD ALWAYS CHANGE, BUT THAT IS WHAT WE ARE INTENDING TO DO, IS TO TALK ABOUT THE EVALUATION MODEL. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE QUESTIONS ARE, BUT, AND TO PRESENT THE LIBRARIES THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING TO BE THE REGIONAL FLAGSHIPS AS WELL AS THE LIBRARIES WE'RE RECOMMENDING FOR CLOSURE. OKAY. SO, SO HE WAS, I GAVE HIM WHAT I KNEW ABOUT THE METRICS AND YOU KNOW, I'VE NEVER SEEN IT WRITTEN. I JUST KIND OF REPEATED WHAT I, WHAT I'VE HEARD WITH THE, THE GATE COUNT, THE RENEWALS, THE COMPUTER USE, UM, AND I SUPPOSE THE, THE STAFF SENDS IN HOW MANY PEOPLE COME TO EACH, THE PROGRAMS MM-HMM . AND THEN THERE'S OTHER SOCIOECONOMIC, RIGHT? CORRECT. SO, SO IF THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE THAT, THAT'S ALL TO SAY FOR NOW. OKAY. WE SPENT HALF A DAY WITH THE, OH, I HAVE THEIR PEN DATA ANALYTICS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE [00:15:01] DEPARTMENTS AT THE CITY LAST WEEK. MM-HMM . WE SPENT A HALF, WE DID A HALF DAY RETREAT WITH THEM. THEY'RE THE STATS PEOPLE FOR THE CITY. SO THEY HAVE TOOLS AND KNOWLEDGE THAT WE DO NOT HAVE. MM-HMM . WE PRESENTED THEM WITH OUR DATA, INCLUDING LI TRADITIONAL LIBRARY METRICS. WE TALKED THROUGH DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND THEY ARE PUTTING TOGETHER, UM, A SCOPE OF WORK FOR US, AND THEY'RE GONNA HELP US DETERMINE WHICH LOCATIONS TO RECOMMEND. SO WHEN I SAY IT'S HAPPENING IN REAL TIME, IT REALLY IS. THERE ISN'T ANYTHING TO SHARE YET BECAUSE WE ARE WORKING ON IT NOW. SO, SO THERE'S A, I DIDN'T GET THE NAME OF THE DEPARTMENT. SO THERE'S A DEPARTMENT YES. WHO IS MAKING THESE DECISIONS? NOT DECISIONS. THEY'RE HELPING US CRUNCH THE DATA OKAY. SO THAT WE CAN MAKE THE BEST RECOMMENDATIONS. OKAY. CALL IT THE DATA ANALYTICS DEPARTMENT. YEAH. IT DID. DATA THAT DEPARTMENT PLEASE. DATA ANALYTICS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE, , THEY, UM, THEY HELP ACROSS THE CITY. THEY HELP DEPARTMENTS. SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE ONE THAT, THAT THE DIRECTOR USED WITH US WAS THEY HELP THE CITY DETERMINE WHERE TO PUT CERTAIN, YOU WORKED ON IT, SEAN, CERTAIN TYPES OF FIRE STATIONS. IT A WILD, A WILDLAND FIRE RESPONSE. THEY NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND WHERE TO PLACE THAT EQUIPMENT SO THAT THEY COULD BEST RESPOND TO THOSE TYPES OF CALLS. SO THEY TAKE A LOOK AT ALL OF OUR CALL VOLUME AND THEN MAKE A DETERMINATION BASED ON THE DATA. YES. SURE. AND THAT'S LEAVE MEETING. SO WE JUST YEAH, GO AHEAD. I'M JUST STOPPING THE CHAIR SO PEOPLE CAN SEE. OH, SO WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE TIME? HE ASKED ME ABOUT THE TIMELINE? I, I SAID, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS. THE TIMELINE. JANUARY 20TH IS WHEN WE WILL BE SHARING, PRESENTING TO QUALITY OF LIFE. OKAY. I CAN'T MM-HMM . AND THEN YOU'LL, AT THAT TIME, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SAY IT'S, WE'RE RECOMMENDING CLOSING THESE BRANCHES AND MAKING . THAT IS, THAT IS THE CURRENT PLAN. OH, OKAY. YES. AND THEN WILL, UH, WILL THERE BE ANY SCHEDULED TOWN HALL STYLE MEETINGS FOR THE PUBLIC TO COMMENT OR? SO, AS WE'VE DISCUSSED BEFORE, I AM SHYING AWAY FROM TOWN HALLS BECAUSE I DON'T, MY GOAL IS TO WORK WITH STAKEHOLDERS TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK, STAKEHOLDERS LIKE MLB TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK THAT'S FULSOME. AND MY CONCERN ABOUT TOWN HALLS IS PEOPLE ARE JUST GOING TO COME IN AND, AND SAY, DON'T CLOSE MY LIBRARY. UM, WHICH I UNDERSTAND AND I APPRECIATE, BUT THAT DOESN'T REALLY HELP MOVE THE CONVERSATION FORWARD WITH, WITH HOW TO DEAL WITH THE, THE SAVINGS THAT WE STILL HAVE TO FIND IN THE BUDGET. MM-HMM . I WILL SAY THOUGH, IF I'M, IF I'M DIRECTED BY THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TO HOST TOWN HALLS, IF IT COMES, IF IT GETS TO THAT POINT, THEN OF COURSE I WILL. ALRIGHT. AND THEN WHAT KIND OF SAVINGS WOULD WE HAVE TO REALIZE TO NOT CLOSE LIBRARIES? $2.6 MILLION. AND THAT WOULD BE TO MAINTAIN THE CURRENT LEVEL OF SERVICE WITHOUT ANY KIND OF CORRECT. IMPROVEMENT ENHANCEMENT INNOVATION, CORRECT. YES. THAT WOULD BE FLAT ESSENTIALLY TO WHAT WE ARE NOW, FLAT ON SERVICE. FLAT ON EVERYTHING. BUDGET. FLAT ON BUDGET. FLAT ON BUDGET. MM-HMM . MY ONLY, AND I THINK CITY COUNCIL WILL BE HOLDING TOWN HALL MEETINGS ON THIS ISSUE, IS THAT WITHOUT THE COMMUNITY FEELING, AND I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE SAYING PEOPLE WILL JUST COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS IS HAPPENING. THAT'S NOT A PRETTY PICTURE TO ME. UH, WITH PEOPLE NOT HAVING THE ABILITY TO HEAR THIS AND TO HEAR THE 2.6 AND TO HELP UNDERSTAND IT. UM, I JUST, AND I'M SURE THE CITY COUNCIL PEOPLE WILL BE HAVING TOWN HALL MEETINGS IN THEIR AREAS TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE, BUT SOMEHOW A LACK OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE COMMUNITIES CONCERNS ME. UNDERSTOOD. AND SO I, I ASSUME THAT THE, THE LIBRARIES THAT WILL BE DECOMMISSIONED AT THE END OF 2026 FISCAL YEAR, IS THAT, YEAH. SO THE QUESTION WAS, I DIDN'T KNOW IF PEOPLE COULD OH, I'M FINE. NO, NO. HERE ON HERE. UM, SO THE QUESTION WAS WHEN THE LIBRARIES WOULD BE DECOMMISSIONED, AND IT WOULD BE SIMILAR TO SKILLMAN, IT WOULD BE AT THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THE MONEY WOULD, UM, WOULD GO AWAY AND THE POSITIONS WOULD BE TAKEN OUT OF OUR BUDGET. I DO SEE A COUPLE OF HANDS, I DON'T KNOW WHO RAISED THEIR HAND FIRST. I'M SORRY. BETWEEN IKA AND DEBRAH. GO AHEAD, MS. YEAH. UM, I WILL LET YOU FINISH BECAUSE I KNOW THAT YOU WERE, UH, FINISHING UP SOMETHING. OKAY. NO, MA'AM. I WAS DONE. OKAY, SOUNDS GOOD. SO A QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, I KNOW THAT YOU SAID THAT THE DATA IS BEING ROLLED OUT IN PRESENT DAY AND THAT THIS WAS ACCEPTED FOR THE FY 27 YEAR, UM MM-HMM . I BELIEVE THE, AND [00:20:01] I ALSO KNOW THAT YOU'VE STATED THAT, YOU KNOW, TO HELP SUPPORT THE LIBRARY, WE NEED TO LOVE LOUD. UM, AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I REALLY WANNA DO IS HELP GIVE POWER BACK TO THE COMMUNITY. AND PART OF THAT IS ALSO SEEING HOW WE CAN, UM, GAIN ACCESS TO THE FY 24 AND FY 25 DATA, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS AND KIND OF SEE, UM, JUST KIND OF HAVE SOME LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING AS TO POTENTIAL BENCHMARKS THAT THESE LIBRARIES ARE BEING GRADED ON. MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT, THAT, BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS SO IN THE PRESENT TIME, UH, IT DOESN'T HELP GIVE THE COMMUNITY ANY LEVEL OF LEVERAGE OR ADVANTAGE TO KIND OF PREPARE INFORMATION OTHER THAN, HEY, I DON'T WANT MY LIBRARY TO CLOSE. BUT OF COURSE, THEY WOULD LOVE TO HAVE INFORMATION SUCH AS, I DON'T WANT THE LIBRARY TO CLOSE BECAUSE OF X, Y, AND Z BACKED DATA. AND SO HOW CAN WE HELP THE COMMUNITY? BECAUSE I'VE SPOKEN TO PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT DISTRICTS AND THEY'RE JUST LIKE, I WANNA HELP. BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY TANGIBLE INFORMATION TO PROVIDE, TO BRING TO TOWN HALLS OR TO BRING TO, UH, MEETINGS AS WELL. I APPRECIATE THAT, MSIKA. I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION TO ASK. I WANNA SPEND A, A, A COUPLE MINUTES AND THEN MAYBE, SEAN, IF YOU WANNA SPEAK TO YOUR EXPERIENCES. UH, DATA HAS BEEN A LITTLE FRAUGHT HERE, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU. WE COLLECT IT AND IT LIVES SOMEWHERE, BUT WE HAVEN'T DONE THE BEST JOB OVER TIME OF EVALUATING IT. AND, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT SEAN HAS BEEN DIGGING INTO THE LAST MONTH. BUT PRIOR TO THAT, I, I COULDN'T HAVE SPOKEN TO THE PERFORMANCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL BRANCH. WHAT I WAS SEEING WAS, WHAT YOU SEE ONCE A MONTH, WHICH IS THAT, UH, DATA SHEET THAT CATHERINE MENTIONED WOULD BE EMAILED OUT NEXT MONTH. SO THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WE BROUGHT IN THIS OTHER DEPARTMENT IS BECAUSE OUR LIBRARY DATA CAN BE REALLY OVERWHELMING. UM, AND IT CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT IT OBJECTIVELY BECAUSE THE NUMBERS ARE SO HIGH. SO I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. A THOUSAND PEOPLE A DAY COME INTO THIS BUILDING ON AVERAGE, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A REALLY BIG NUMBER FROM EXPERIENCE. I CAN TELL YOU FOR A CENTRAL LIBRARY OF THIS SIZE, IT SHOULD BE HIGHER. BUT I COULD OVERWHELM YOU WITH REALLY BIG NUMBERS. AND SO WHAT WE'RE ASKING THE DATA ANALYTICS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT TO DO IS TO TAKE THE LIBRARY DATA, WHICH IS SO BIG, AND THEN CROSS IT WITH DEMOGRAPHIC DATA SO THAT WE CAN REALLY HAVE A SCORE, IF YOU WILL, FOR EACH BRANCH THAT HELPS INFORM THE POTENTIAL OF THAT BRANCH. BECAUSE I, AND I'VE SAID THIS TO THIS GROUP BEFORE, IF WE ONLY LOOK AT TRADITIONAL LIBRARY DATA, CHECK OUT VISITOR COUNT, WE WOULD CLOSE MOST OF THE LIBRARIES IN THE SOUTH, THEY DO NOT HAVE THE CHECKOUT. THEY DO NOT HAVE THE GATE COUNT, THE VISITOR COUNT THAT THE LIBRARIES IN THE NORTH DO. MM-HMM . AND SO WE NEED TO TAKE A MORE NUANCED VIEW, AND I'M HAPPY TO SHARE DATA. WHAT I CAN'T DO IS TAKE, AND BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO HAVE EVERYONE EMAILING ME ASKING FOR, CAN I HAVE THIS MONTH AND THIS BRANCH AND THIS DATA, LIKE WE JUST, WE DON'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DO THAT BECAUSE WE'RE NOT, OUR DATA'S NOT SET UP TO BE LOOKED AT THAT WAY. UM, SEAN, DO YOU ADD ANYTHING TO THAT? WHAT I WOULD ADD IS JUST THAT, UM, TO YOUR POINT, MSIKA, WE ARE NOT LOOKING AT THIS IN ONE, IN ONE FISCAL YEAR AS THE BASIS FOR A DECISION THAT WE ARE MAKING SURE TO IDENTIFY DATA THAT WE KNOW IS STRONG, THAT IS CONSISTENT, AND THAT ALSO HAS MORE THAN ONE YEAR OF, OF A SAMPLE SIZE TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION. ALSO, WHEN IT COMES TO DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION THAT WE'RE USING THE BEST AND, AND, AND MOST, UM, YOU KNOW, HELPFUL STUDIES THAT, THAT PROVIDE THE, THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEED, THAT'S PEER REVIEW. UH, REALLY OUR COMING TO THE, THE, THE DBI DEPARTMENT, WHICH IS YEAH, SMALLER ACRONYM MM-HMM . WAS OUR BEST FAITH EFFORT [00:25:01] TO SAY TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, WE KNOW LIBRARIES AND WE HAVE A PRETTY GOOD SENSE OF OUR COMMUNITY, BUT WE ARE NOT SMES WHEN IT COMES TO DOING THIS HIGH LEVEL ANALYSIS. AND THESE FOLKS HAVE PHDS IN SOME CASES, MASTER'S DEGREES. I MEAN, THIS IS THEIR WORLD. YEAH. AND THEY JUST, AS MANY FOLKS AS WE HAVE SITTING HERE, THEY HAD THAT EQUIVALENT OF STAFF, AND THEY'RE TACKLING THIS. AND SO THEY'RE LOOKING AT IT HOLISTICALLY, THEY'RE GONNA MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS IS, IS OUR APPROACH MAY NOT BE THE DIRECTION THAT THEY RECOMMEND THAT WE GO, BUT THE OUTCOME WILL STILL BE THE SAME TO BE ABLE TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION FOR A PUBLIC CONVERSATION SURROUNDING THIS ISSUE. UH, ULTIMATELY IT'S UNDERSTOOD WHETHER IT'S BRANCHES OR ANY, ANY OTHER APPROACH, WE HAVE TO ARRIVE TO A BUDGET SAVINGS OF $2.6 MILLION. AND WE ARE WORKING TO IMPLEMENT A REGIONAL MODEL. UM, SO I, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT FULLY ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION, BUT I JUST KNOW THAT THIS, THIS COMMITTEE MEETING IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF WHAT'S GONNA BE A YEAR LONG BUDGET CONVERSATION. UH, TOWN HALLS THAT WE HOLD HOST IS ONE THING, BUT THERE'S ALSO THE BUDGET TOWN HALLS THAT ARE ALREADY PROGRAMMED IN THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS. MM-HMM . WE WILL BE HAVING A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS SURROUNDING THIS, I IMAGINE, ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH ADOPTION. YEAH. I THINK THE MORE, THE MORE TRANSPARENCY YOU CAN HAVE WHEN YOU CAN GIVE IT ABOUT THE PROCESS THAT WAS USED, THE OBJECTIVE DATA THAT WAS USED, ALL OF THE CRITERIA, THAT'S GONNA BE REALLY HELPFUL IN MAKING PEOPLE FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE DECISIONS. YEAH, I AGREE. I THINK WE'RE IN THAT, THAT TIME RIGHT NOW WHERE IT SEEMS LIKE NOTHING IS HAPPENING AND THAT'S CAUSING PEOPLE A LOT OF ANXIETY. BUT THE TRUTH IS, IS WE WE'RE REALLY COMMITTED TO DOING THIS RIGHT. AND DOING IT RIGHT TAKES A LOT OF TIME. AND SO WE, IT IS ALL IN, IN MOTION RIGHT NOW WITH THAT GOAL OF JANUARY 20TH. YES. I, I THINK THE REASON FOR THE CONCERN IS I KNOW THAT THE REGIONAL MODEL HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP SINCE I BELIEVE JUNE OR JULY, AND I KNOW THAT, LIKE YOU STATED, THAT THERE IS A TEAM OF INDIVIDUALS WITH MASTERS AND PHD, AND THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER. UM, BUT I THINK BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS AND TO THE PUBLIC, UM, THERE'S NO SENSE OF CLARITY OF HOW THEY CAN EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY MOBILIZE THEIR LIMITED TIME OUTSIDE OF WORK AND FAMILY TO COME TO TOWN HALL TO REALLY ADVOCATE. UM, I THINK THAT'S WHERE MY CONCERN IS, IS THE WINDOW KEEPS GETTING SMALLER, UM, AND INDIVIDUALS WANT TO ADVOCATE, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE ANY FORM OF DATA TO HELP PUSH THE NEEDLE FORWARD IN TERMS OF SUPPORTING THE LIBRARY. UM, AND I THINK THAT'S JUST BEEN THE CONCERN OF A LOT OF CONSTITUENTS, AND I'M SURE PART SOME MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AS WELL. I, I APPRECIATE THAT. MSIKA. TECHNICALLY THIS WASN'T REAL UNTIL OCTOBER ONE. MM-HMM . SO IT'S BEEN A MONTH AND A HALF THAT IT'S BEEN REAL, AND WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE DATA SINCE THEN. I UNDERSTAND IT HASN'T BEEN SINCE JULY. WHEN DID THE CITY MANAGER RELEASE HER BUDGET? AUG? AUGUST WAS WHEN SHE RELEASED IT, BUT, BUT IT WASN'T FINAL UNTIL BUDGET ADOPTION, AND THEN IT DIDN'T, IT DIDN'T REALLY BECOME REAL UNTIL OCTOBER ONE. SO I APPRECIATE THAT. UM, AND, AND I PROMISE WE ARE, WE ARE, WE ARE DOING THE BEST THAT WE CAN TO TRY TO BRING TOGETHER A LOT OF DATA. MM-HMM . IS THERE A WAY THAT WE CAN HELP ADVOCATE AND SUPPORT YOU WHILE ALSO PUTTING SOME PRESSURE IN A SENSE TO THE TEAM THAT IS ANALYZING THE DATA, SO THEN THAT WAY WE CAN GIVE ENOUGH RUNWAY TO SHOW CONSISTENT ADVOCACY FOR THE LIBRARY? I APPRECIATE THAT. I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYTHING YOU COULD DO WITH THE DATA ANALYTICS DEPARTMENT. I MEAN, WE JUST MET WITH THEM LAST WEEK. THEY ARE WORKING ON IT. BUT I WILL SAY THAT IF YOU'RE ASKING WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SUPPORT US MM-HMM . UM, HELPING KEEP PEOPLE'S ANXIETY IN CHECK WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL TO LET THEM KNOW THAT WE'RE WORKING ON IT. THAT WE'RE, WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS A JANUARY 20TH, UH, PRESENTATION WHERE THINGS WILL BECOME PUBLIC. I, I'M NOT ALLOWED TO GET OUT IN FRONT OF ELECTED OFFICIALS WHEN IT COMES TO RELEASING INFORMATION. SO I, I, I, I CANNOT SAY, UM, EVEN OBVIOUSLY, I WILL KNOW WHAT'S BEING RECOMMENDED BEFORE JANUARY 20TH. I HAVE TO SUBMIT DRAFTS AND THAT SORT OF THING. BUT I, I JUST, IT IS THE NATURE OF MY JOB THAT I, I CANNOT RELEASE THAT BEFORE THEN. SO THAT REALLY IS THE DATE. UM, AND [00:30:01] IF PEOPLE CAN GIVE US SOME GRACE AND SOME PATIENCE, WE ARE, WE ARE WORKING ON IT, AND WE ARE COMMITTED TO DOING THIS, THIS. RIGHT. NO ONE WANTS TO GET THIS WRONG. UH, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO. DEFINITELY. SO JUST TO CONFIRM THE DATE, THE CURRENT EXPECTED DATE FOR INFORMATION TO BE PUBLIC WOULD BE JANUARY 20TH? OR WOULD THAT BE THE DATE THAT YOU WERE STATING THAT, THAT, UM, LIKE MLB SPECIFIC OR LIKE CLOSED? NO, NO, NO. IT'S MM-HMM . THAT IS THE DATE THAT, I THINK IT'S THE 20TH, NOT THE 19TH, BECAUSE IT'S A HOLIDAY. RIGHT. PUBLIC MEETING. IT'S A PUBLIC MEETING ON JANUARY, JANUARY 20TH, WHERE I WILL BE PRESENTING TO A COUNCIL COMMITTEE MM-HMM . UM, AND THAT IS THE PRESENTATION WHERE IT IS PLANNED THAT THE NAMES OF THE LIBRARIES WILL BE MADE PUBLIC. NOW, MY HOPE IS THAT I CAN DO SOMETHING SIMILAR WITH YOU ALL THAT I DID WITH THE BUDGET, THE RELEASE OF THE CITY MANAGER'S BUDGET, WHERE I EMAILED YOU, IF YOU RECALL, I EMAILED YOU IMMEDIATELY AFTER SHE RELEASED HER BUDGET AND FEDAL AS WELL, AND THE STAFF TO LET YOU ALL KNOW WHAT WAS IN IT. MM-HMM . BECAUSE THAT IS THE SOONEST THAT I CAN LET ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING. SO, UH, AN EMAIL GOING OUT TO EMMA BEING AND TO OPPEL ON JANUARY 20TH AS I'M GETTING, AS I'M GIVING THE PRESENTATION. OKAY. WELL, I'D HOPE THAT WHEN WE DO THAT, OH, SORRY. HELLO? YES. MM-HMM . SO I HOPE WHEN WE, WHEN THAT IS PRESENTED, THAT YOU HAVE A VERY DETAILED EXPLANATION THAT FOR THE COMMUNITY ON WHY THEIR LIBRARY WAS, IS GONNA BE CLOSED. BECAUSE PEOPLE ALWAYS ARE CONCERNED THAT THINGS ARE DONE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. AND WE, WE'VE JUST GONE THROUGH THIS WITH THE, THE PROPOSED HOMELESS SHELTER ACROSS FROM MY LIBRARY IN OAK CLIFF, WHERE EVERYTHING WAS DONE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, AND THE, THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS UP IN ARMS VERY AGGRESSIVELY BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT WAS HANDLED. SO WHEN YOU'RE MAKING YOUR PRESENTATION, I HOPE THAT IT'S ALSO PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC IN THE SAME WAY AS A THOROUGH EXPLANATION OF WHY THESE PARTICULAR BRANCHES HAD TO BE CLOSED. BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE CITY HALL BLOWN UP PRACTICALLY BY IRATE LIBRARY USERS BECAUSE UNDERSTOOD. YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S LIKE CLO UH, CLOSING YOUR FAMILY HOME OR SOMETHING. I UNDERSTAND. THANK, THANK YOU, STAN. UM, DE I THINK YOU'VE BEEN WAITING WHILE, SO, UH, I KNOW NEIGHBORS OFF SOMEBODY ELSE TALKING. IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT. THERE NEEDS TO ON STREET MAKING 50 HOUSES. SANDRA, YOU WALKED AROUND BEFORE WE BOUGHT A HOME. WE BOUGHT THE SO WEEK. THERE'S SOME FEEDBACK IN THE BACKGROUND. THANK YOU. DE YOU'RE ON MUTE NOW, BUT IF YOU WANNA COME OFF. YEAH, GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY. UH, DERON ARMSTRONG, UH, DISTRICT SIX, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, CADENA. SO HAVE A MEETING SCHEDULED TO COME BACK AND LIKE JUST KIND OF SHARE, UM, SOME THINGS WITH HER COMING UP. I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE I'M WELL INFORMED, INFORMED DURING THAT. UM, MAN, I APPRECIATE YOU GOING AROUND AND HAVING THE ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS. UM, THAT WAS HELPFUL. I THINK, UM, I'M HEARING LOUD AND CLEAR THAT DATA, THE DATA SITUATION AT THE DALLAS PUBLIC LIBRARY ISN'T IDEAL. ONE. TWO, Y'ALL HAVE A TEAM COMING IN TO DO SOME LIKE ROBUST ANALYTICS. AND THEN THREE, THERE'S A MEETING COMING UP WHERE A LOT OF THESE DECISIONS ARE GONNA BE MADE. I'M WONDERING IF THE ANALYTICS TEAM HAS LIKE A CERTAIN FRAMEWORK WHERE THEY ARE PRIORITIZING DIFFERENT, UM, LIBRARY METRICS, CAN THAT BE SHARED? LIKE MAYBE, UM, CERTAIN CIRCULATION DATA MIGHT NOT BE RELEVANT TO, UH, A NORTHERN LIBRARY THAT IT IS TO A SOUTHERN LIBRARY VERSUS LIKE OTHER TRANSPORTATION OR ACCESS TO OTHER THINGS MIGHT BE MORE RELEVANT. SO I'M WONDERING, HAVE THEY, HAVE THEY ALREADY STARTED THINKING ABOUT THAT? AND IF SO, IS THAT A FRAMEWORK THAT CAN BE SHARED, AT LEAST WHEN WE'RE GOING BACK AND TALKING, SAYING LIKE, THEY HAVE A PLAN AND THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THEY ARE LIKE REALLY ZOOMING IN ON AS THEY'RE LIKE, PRIORITIZING WHICH BRANCHES SHOULD BE CLOSED OR WHICH ONE SHOULD BE OPEN. YEAH, THANKS FOR THAT QUESTION. SO WE HAD HALF A DAY WITH THEM LAST, HAS IT EVEN BEEN [00:35:01] A WEEK? I DON'T THINK IT'S BEEN A WEEK. AND SO THEIR NEXT STEP IS TO COME BACK TO US WITH BASICALLY THE FRAMEWORK THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. BUT WHAT WE DID IN THE COURSE OF THAT HALF DAY WAS THEY REALLY PICKED OUR BRAINS AS LIBRARY EXPERTS ON THE DATA. SO THEY'RE NOT GOING, THEY'RE NOT GONNA MAKE A DECISION ABOUT LIBRARY DATA AND WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAT'S REALLY ON US. AND SO I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, DERON, I SAID, AND I'VE, I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR AT LEAST A MONTH NOW, THAT TO ME, VISITOR COUNT DATA IS THE MOST IMPORTANT METRIC THAT WE HAVE BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY DATA POINT THAT CAPTURES EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT COMES IN THE DOOR. SO I'LL, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT THAT MEANS. IF SOMEONE COMES IN AND USES THEIR LAPTOP AS WE SEE IT SOMEWHERE LIKE FOREST GREEN ALL THE TIME, THEY WALK IN WITH THEIR LAPTOP, THEY SIT AT A TABLE FOR TWO HOURS, AND THEY USE THE WIRELESS WITH, IF WE DON'T USE VISITOR COUNT, THAT PERSON IS NOT COUNTED AT ALL BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T USE ONE OF OUR COMPUTERS AND THEY DIDN'T CHECK ANYTHING OUT. SO IN THE ROOM, I SAID THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PRIORITIZE VISITOR COUNT AS THE MOST IMPORTANT METRIC BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY ONE THAT CAPTURED. SO THAT WAS THE KIND OF CONVERSATION WE HAD WITH THEM. AND THEN WE TALKED ABOUT DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND WHICH DEMOGRAPHIC DATA IS MOST IMPORTANT. UM, WE HAD A LOT OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ON OUR LIST, BUT REALLY IT ROLLS UP AT THE END OF THE DAY TO POVERTY METRICS AND LITERACY METRICS, EVERY SINGLE THING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, WHETHER WE WERE LOOKING AT SOMEONE'S AGE OR WE WERE LOOKING AT CAR OWNERSHIP, OR WE WERE LOOKING AT ENROLLMENT IN PRESCHOOL, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE ROLLED UP TO EITHER LITERACY OR UM, POVERTY. AND SO WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS THEY'RE REALLY HELPING CRYSTALLIZE FOR US THE MOST IMPORTANT METRICS TO BE USED. SO THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS YES, BUT WE HAVEN'T SEEN THAT YET BECAUSE THEY'RE IN THAT PROCESS RIGHT NOW WHERE THEIR NEXT STEP IS TO GIVE US, UH, THE SCOPE OF WORK AND THE, AND THE FRAMEWORK. AND JUST TO CLARIFY, WHEN YOU SAY THE LIBRARY HAS A PROBLEM WITH DATA, YOU MEAN YOU HAVE GREAT DATA, IT'S A CHALLENGE FOR YOUR STAFF TO ANALYZE IT, NOT THAT THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THE DATA. EXACTLY. I APPRECIATE YOU. YEAH, THANK YOU. THANK FOR THAT WAS THAT QUESTION. YES. IT'S NOT BAD DATA. NO, WE DON'T HAVE BAD DATA. WE ALMOST HAVE AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF DATA THAT WASN'T BEING ANALYZED. SO I'LL, I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE FROM, FROM THIS BUILDING. MY UNDERSTANDING IS EVERY 15 MINUTES, MELISSA STAFF ON THE, FOR A HALF HOUR OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, STAFF ON THE FLOOR WALK AROUND AND COUNT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ON THE FLOOR. AND THEN THEY PUT IT INTO A SPREADSHEET AND IT GOES INTO A FOLDER, AND THEN NO ONE EVER LOOKS AT THAT SPREADSHEET EVER AGAIN. MM-HMM . AND WE HAVE EXAMPLE AFTER EXAMPLE, AFTER EXAMPLE OF THAT. WE HAVE NOTHING BUT DATA, BUT WE HAVEN'T DONE A GREAT JOB OF ANALYZING IT. AND SO WE HAVE ONE DATA PERSON ON STAFF, AND SHE SPENDS ALL OF HER TIME REALLY TRYING TO COORDINATE THAT DATA TO PRODUCE THE REPORTS THAT YOU SEE THAT ARE REALLY ROLLED UP AND SYSTEM WIDE. BUT THIS IS ON ANOTHER LEVEL, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE HERE AND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO EVALUATE. UH, THIS REALLY TAKES EXPERTS IN, IN STATISTICS AND, AND ANALYZING DATA. UM, SO THAT'S WHY WE, WE WENT TO THEM AND, AND I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE CITY MANAGER SENT THEM TO US TO HELP US. SO THIS IS A, A CITYWIDE EFFORT THAT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THIS HAS TO BE DONE. RIGHT. AND WE ALSO KNOW, TO STAN'S POINT, WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN THE NAMES COME OUT. I, I AM NOT NAIVE ABOUT THAT. WE HAVE MORE. OH, OKAY. I NEVER RECALL WHO WAS FOR STAN. YEAH. ONE QUESTION ON YOUR DATA, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT VISITOR COUNT, IS THAT THE GATE COUNT? BECAUSE I KNOW SOMETIMES THE GATE DOESN'T WORK AT SOME OF THE BRANCHES I GO TO. YEAH. SO THAT'S, I JUST TRY NOT TO USE JARGON. AND TO ME, GATE IS, IS LIBRARY JARGON. SO YES, THAT IS GATE COUNT. WE DO HAVE SOME GATES THAT, UM, ARE FAULTY RENTER, FRANKFURT BEING A GREAT EXAMPLE WHERE WE'VE BEEN HAND COUNTING. SO THAT IS A, I DIDN'T KNOW RENOLD, FRANKFORT EVEN HAD A GATE . SO THERE YOU GO. IT'S A COUNTER. IT'S THE THING THAT BUZZES WHEN YOU GO THROUGH WITH YOUR BOOKS YEAH. TO KEEP YOU FROM STEVE. RIGHT, RIGHT. THAT'S A SECURITY GATE. BUT WE ALSO HAVE COUNTERS. UM, SO THAT IS AN ISSUE THAT WE BROUGHT TO THE DEPARTMENT AND WE SAID, WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FILL THIS IN. AND SO THAT IS SOMETHING THEY'RE TAKING, THEY'RE TAKING ON. THERE ARE WAYS [00:40:01] STATISTICALLY TO FILL IN GAPS LIKE THAT, AND THEY ARE WORKING ON THAT FOR US. MYSTICA, ARE YOU, SO, UH, BECAUSE MY SYSTEM WAS ACTING UP A LITTLE BIT, SO THE TOP METRICS AS OF RIGHT NOW, AND THIS IS A LOOSE, UH, LIST THAT I HAVE. UM, IT WOULD BE POVERTY METRICS, LITERACY METRICS, UM, IN-PERSON METRICS OF VISITOR COUNT. UM, AND WAS THERE ANYTHING ELSE SUCH AS, UM, GENERALLY GOING MORE FOR, UH, PHYSICAL, UH, THINGS THAT ARE CHECKED OUT IN CIRCULATION? I, I WOULD RATHER TAKE A HIGHER LEVEL VIEW AND SAY WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS ENTIRE TIME, WHICH IS WE HAVE THREE BUCKETS FOR CONSIDERATION. THE FIRST ONE IS TRADITIONAL LIBRARY METRICS. THAT WOULD BE THE THINGS YOU ALL THINK OF AS THE LIBRARY BOOK, CHECKOUT, UH, PROGRAM ATTENDANCE, COMPUTER USE. AND THEN WE HAVE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, AND THEN WE HAVE BUILDING CONSIDERATIONS, AGE OF BUILDING MAJOR MAINTENANCE, WHETHER THEY'RE A-D-I-S-D PARTNERSHIP LIBRARY, WHETHER THEY DO OR DO NOT HAVE A BLACK BOX THEATER, THAT KIND OF THING. SO FROM THE VERY BEGINNING WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THESE THREE BUCKETS THAT WILL INFORM THE RECOMMENDATION. NONE OF THAT HAS CHANGED. OKAY. SO SORRY, JUST TO CONFIRM, THE THREE BUCKETS ARE TRADITIONAL LIBRARY METRICS, IE BOOK, CHECKOUT PROGRAM, ATTENDANCE, UM, AND THEN I KNOW THE SECOND ONE THAT I HAVE IS THE AGE OF BUILDING AND KIND OF LIKE, UH, UPKEEP. AND THEN, WHAT WAS THE THIRD ONE? DEMOGRAPHICS. DEMOGRAPHICS. OKAY. SO THIS IS BACK TO THE NUMBER OF VISITORS WHO COME TO THE LIBRARY. UH, THE DOWN THE CENTRAL UHHUH, . YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE, YOU COULDN'T REQUEST A BOOK. YOU HAD TO GET ON A BUS AND COME DOWN AND GET THE BOOK. SO LIKE THIS MORNING I REQUESTED A, A BOOK FROM THE CHILDREN'S SECTION, UH, THE CHILDREN'S FLOOR, BUT I DIDN'T COME INTO THE BUILDING. SO DO THEY TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE REQUESTING? WHERE DID YOU, WHERE DID YOU CHECK IT OUT? FROM CENTRAL. I'M SORRY? FROM THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. SO YOU CAME NO, NO, I'M SAYING I DIDN'T, I DID IT FROM MY COMPUTER. AND WHERE ARE YOU HAVING IT SENT TO LAKEWOOD. THAT'S WHO GETS THE CREDIT. SO THE LI BECAUSE, AND THEN THE BOOK GOES BACK TO CENTRAL. YES. SO THE LIBRARY DOESN'T GET ANY, THE CENTRAL DOESN'T GET ANY CREDIT. WE'RE HAVING THIS FAST COLLECTION. WELL, THAT PEOPLE ARE PULLING WITHOUT COMING TO THE LIBRARY. CENTRAL GETS CREDIT IN A LOT OF WAYS, BUT IN TERMS OF USAGE, YOU USE LAKEWOOD. SO FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS EXERCISE, WE MEASURE THAT USAGE FOR LAKEWOOD. OKAY. BUT I MEAN, I'M JUST SAYING I WOULD, I WOULD HAVE TO COME DOWN HERE AND GET THE BOOK PHYSICALLY, YOU KNOW. OKAY. DO YOU HAVE THIS BOOK? OKAY. I'LL BE, AND I'LL BE, ISN'T THAT THIS 1001 VISITOR? RIGHT. WHO, WHO WOULD COME? I'M JUST SAYING THAT THERE'S MORE, I DON'T KNOW. IS THAT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION THAT PEOPLE ARE PULLING THAT, THAT THE STAFF ARE, ARE PULLING BOOKS OFF AND SENDING OUT? THAT IS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION IN A LOT OF WAYS, NAMELY STAFFING COLLECTION, BUT IT IS NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT AS A PERSON USED IT AT CENTRAL. OKAY. BECAUSE A PERSON DIDN'T USE IT AT CENTRAL. OKAY. YOU ARE THE PERSON AND YOU USED IT AT LAKEWOOD. OKAY. AND THEN ONE MORE QUICK QUESTION. SURE. SO THE, THE QUALITY OF LIFE BEING IS JANUARY 20TH. AND DO YOU KNOW APPROXIMATELY WHEN THE CITY COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON, UH, WHAT MONTH THEY'RE GONNA VOTE ON IT? OR WILL THEY I DON'T KNOW THAT THE CITY COUNCIL IS, OH, VOTING. I MEAN, THEY ALREADY VOTED TO APPROVE THE REGIONAL MODEL. OKAY. THEY'LL VOTE ON NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET IN SEPTEMBER. IN SEPTEMBER THEY VOTE ON THE BUDGET. THIS IS THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATION. OKAY. AND THEY ACCEPTED THIS BUDGET RECOMMENDATION AND VOTED ON IT LAST SEPTEMBER. OKAY. I HAD AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION, IF YOU DON'T MIND. SO, UH, THE REGIONAL MODEL DECISION SOUNDS LIKE JANUARY 20TH. THAT'S THE DATE THAT WE'RE BUILDING UP TO. WHEN DOES THE, UM, FIGURING OUT THE, THE OBJECTIVE OF PROVIDING DATA-DRIVEN COMMUNITY RESPONSIVE PROGRAMMING, WILL THAT BE BASED ON THE LIBRARIES THAT ARE CLOSED AND THE, AND THOSE LOCATIONS TO DETERMINE THAT PROGRAMMING? OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S ALREADY LIKE IN PLAY? AND WE'RE THINKING ABOUT ALSO, I NOTICED THAT YOU, UM, SET LITERACY RATES WITH ONE OF THE METRICS THAT Y'ALL WERE LOOKING AT, WHICH IS, WHICH IS, WHICH IS GREAT AS A LITERACY ADVOCATE. UM, AND THEN HOW MUCH OF THAT WILL BE TIED TO THE NEW PROGRAMMING? I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS, DO Y'ALL FIGURE OUT LIKE THE REGIONAL MODEL FIRST AND THEN COMES THE PROGRAMMING? OR Y'ALL ARE WE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT, UM, THE PROGRAMMING AS WELL? [00:45:01] I HEAR YOU. I APPRECIATE THE QUESTION. UM, WE ARE ALWAYS DOING PROGRAMMING AND WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING THESE STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS. WHEN YOU LOOK AT SOMETHING LIKE PROGRAMMING OR SECURITY, THOSE ARE HAPPENING ACROSS THE LIBRARY SYSTEM. THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY RELATED. UM, ONE, ONE THING THAT, THAT MELISSA AND HER TEAM WILL TAKE ON IS ASKING THE QUESTION, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A FLAGSHIP LIBRARY IN TERMS OF PROGRAMMING? SO YES, IT PLAYS INTO IT, BUT WE'RE NOT WAITING FOR JANUARY 20TH, IF THAT MAKES SENSE. I'M, I MIGHT NOT BE COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDING YOUR QUESTION, DERON. YEAH. I GUESS I WAS ASKING HOW MUCH OF THE PROGRAMMING WILL BE DEPENDENT ON LIKE THE COMMUNITY, IT'S SERVING GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION, I COULD IMAGINE MAYBE MM-HMM . DIFFERENT REGIONAL LIBRARIES MIGHT HAVE DIFFERENT NEEDS JUST OF COURSE, BASED ON FROM THE COMMUNITY. AND SO, YES. YEAH. SO I, I THINK THAT'S WHAT I EVERY YES. YES. I APPRECIATE THAT. EVERY LIBRARY OFFERS DIFFERENT PROGRAMS BECAUSE THEY OFFER PROGRAMS THAT, THAT MATCH WHAT THEIR SERVICE AREA IS LOOKING FOR AND NEEDS. OKAY. MSIKA, I'M SORRY, GO AHEAD. NO, GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD. UH, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THAT MSIKA, WHAT YOU WROTE IN THE CHAT UNDER NUMBER THREE, IT'S NOT JUST AGE OF BUILDINGS. IT, THERE'S MANY CONSIDERATIONS. AND UNDER BUILDINGS AGE IS JUST ONE. I ALSO MENTIONED DISD PARTNERSHIPS, UH, BLACK BOX THEATERS. THERE'S LOTS OF THINGS THAT ARE GOING INTO THE BUILDING BUCKET, NOT JUST AGE. OKAY. SO I'M, I'LL UPDATE THAT. WELL, WHEN YOU ISD WE ALSO REALIZED THAT WE'VE GOT RSD AND SOME OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT ARE WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS THAT COULD PARTNER ALSO. OH, YES, ABSOLUTELY. PATTY, THANK YOU FOR THAT. WHAT I WAS REFERRING TO IS WE HAVE TWO BRANCHES THAT ARE ACTUALLY SHARED BUILDINGS WITH DISD, AND WE RUN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY AND MANAGE THE SCHOOL LIBRARY STAFF AS A PART OF THAT PARTNERSHIP. YEAH. IN THE SAME PHYSICAL BUILDING. YES. MM-HMM . DERON ASKED HAMPTON, ILLINOIS IS ONE OF THEM. YES. AND IT HAS A BLACK BOX. MM-HMM. IT IS HAMPTON, ILLINOIS AND ARCADIA PARK ARE THE 2D ISD PARTNERSHIP LIBRARIES. OKAY. THANK YOU. MANIA. ALSO, I, I DID WANNA PUT A PLUG. I APPRECIATE YOU CALLING ATTENTION TO THE ISSUE OF, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT YOUTH AND CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING. UM, AND WE DEFINITELY, IF YOU'RE TRACKING CITIES SURROUNDING US, WHAT THEY'RE DOING, A LOT OF THEM HAVE REIMAGINED THEIR LI CENTRAL LIBRARIES AND HAVE QUITE A BIT OF REGIONAL ATTRACTION CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING. AND SO I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THAT UP AS A FOCAL POINT TOO. SO, UM, BUT MOVING ON, WE HAVE THE OTHER STAFF. YES. THANK YOU. SO I DON'T HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL REPORTS, SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO SEAN TO GIVE A FACILITIES AND BOND UPDATE. UH, THANK YOU EVERYONE. UH, JUST VERY QUICKLY FROM THE LAST MEETING, UM, YOU KNOW, AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE HAD OUR PRESTON ROYAL PUBLIC KICKOFF MEETING JUST THIS PAST WEEKEND. SO THAT WAS, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE WERE VERY EXCITED TO GET GOING ON. AND WE ARE VERY MUCH, UM, IN THAT WORLD NOW. SO WE'RE, WE, WE'RE MEETING WITH THE ARCHITECTS, UH, I BELIEVE IT'S EVERY TWO WEEKS RIGHT NOW, HAVING INTERNAL DESIGN PHASE DISCUSSIONS. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ALL WHAT THEY CALL IN THEIR WORLD OF ARCHITECTURE PROGRAMMING, THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS TO CONSIDER FOR THE BRANCH. UH, WE'RE HAVING THOSE INFORMED CONVERSATIONS SO THAT THEY CAN BEGIN WORKING ON THEIR ACTUAL DESIGN OF THE FACILITY, UM, THAT IS HAPPENING AS WE SPEAK. AND THEN THE NORTH OAK CLIFF AND PARK FOREST BRANCH, AS YOU KNOW, WE WENT TO COMMITTEE, UH, ABOUT, UH, SOME WEEKS AGO TO OVERVIEW THE POSSIBILITIES WITH CBRE. MM-HMM . THE, THE OUTSIDE CONSULTANT. UH, THE NEXT STEPS WERE FOR THEM TO COME TO US WITH, UH, SOME DISCUSSION POINTS ON THE FEASIBILITY OF ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING SOMETHING THAT WAS A MIXED USE TYPE FACILITY. UH, WE'VE HAD SOME INTERNAL DISCUSSIONS ON WHAT SOME OF THEIR MODEL NUMBERS ARE SHOWING. UH, BUT THAT'S VERY HIGH LEVEL AT THIS POINT. UH, THE NEXT STEPS ARE STILL TO HAVE THOSE PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS. I STILL BELIEVE WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, JANUARY FOR THE NEXT COMMITTEE DISCUSSIONS ON THAT. BUT ULTIMATELY IT'S SURROUNDING THE, THE ACTUAL, WHAT THE MARKET'S SAYING IS POSSIBLE FROM A NUMBER STANDPOINT, A DOLLARS [00:50:01] AND CENTS STANDPOINT FROM THOSE PROJECTS. UM, WE ALSO DID HAVE THE A DA BATHROOM RENOVATION PROJECTS. SOME OF THOSE ARE SOON TO BEGIN HERE IN THE COMING WEEKS. UM, WE WILL BE KICKING THOSE OFF AND, UM, HOPING TO GET THE, THOSE SIX FACILITIES COMPLETED HERE BY THE END OF MARCH. MM-HMM . UM, THAT WAS THE BATHROOM, SEAN, THAT, THAT WAS THE BATHROOM YOU JUST SAID BATHROOM. YEAH, IN THE BATHROOM. LET ME ADD SOMETHING TO THE, TO THE BATHROOM JUST AS A HEADS UP. AND IF THIS IMPACTS ONE OF YOUR BRANCHES, YOU WILL HEAR FROM ME AS I EMAIL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER. UM, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE LOCATIONS THAT WILL BE WITHOUT PUBLIC RESTROOMS, UH, WHICH IS TOUGH. I GET THAT. IT'S TOUGH. SO WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THAT RIGHT NOW, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT ALTERNATIVES FOR PEOPLE. UM, WE HAVE SOME LOCATIONS THAT, FRANKLY, WE JUST CANNOT PUT A PORT OF POTTY THERE FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY REASONS. UM, SO, AND WE MAY ALSO HAVE A COUPLE THAT WE CLOSE FOR A FEW DAYS DURING DEMOLITION BECAUSE WE KEPT A BRANCH OPEN DURING DEMOLITION. WE KEPT SKYLINE OPEN DURING THE RENOVATION FOR A FEW DAYS. AND, AND, UH, THAT WAS NOT, THAT DID NOT END UP BEING THE RIGHT DECISION. AND SO IF, IF YOU ARE IMPACTED BY THAT, YOU WILL HEAR FROM ME AS SOON AS I HAVE MORE INFORMATION ALONG WITH YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER. SORRY, SEAN. I'M, I'M GLAD YOU WENT INTO THAT DETAIL, STEPHANIE. SO, UM, AND THEN ALSO IN THE WORLD OF BATHROOMS, WE STILL ALSO HAVE THE FIRST FLOOR HERE AT CENTRAL, AND WE'RE GETTING PROPOSALS BACK FROM OUR JOB ORDER CONTRACT VENDORS HERE. WE'RE GONNA BE RENOVATING THE, THE MEN AND WOMEN'S RESTROOM IN THE CENTER OF THE FIRST FLOOR, UH, HERE AT CENTRAL HERE. AND THE HOPE IS TO GET PROPOSALS BACK IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, AND THEN A NOTICE TO PROCEED WOULD FOLLOW. AND WE'RE HOPING TO HAVE THIS KICKED OFF BEFORE THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR. OKAY. A QUICK QUESTION, SEAN. IS IT, UH, ANOTHER MEETING WITH CBRE FOR THE NORTH OAK CLIFF, THE MIXED USE? OR WILL IT BE ANOTHER PUBLIC MEETING? HOW IS THAT, WHAT'S THAT GONNA LOOK LIKE? SO WE HAVE AN INTERNAL MEETING WITH THEM. WAS THAT LAST WEEK? CORRECT. AND, AND THE, THE DIRECTION IS THEY'RE STILL TRYING TO TEST THE MARKET TO FIGURE OUT THIS IS EVEN POSSIBLE AND THEY'RE MOVING FORWARD. SHAW, DID YOU HEAR THAT THEY'RE PRESENTING AT QUALA IN, IN JANUARY. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE INTENT IS THAT THEY WOULD COME BACK, BUT MAYBE NOT TO, MAYBE NOT TO NOT NECESSARILY QUALIT. RIGHT. BECAUSE THIS IS, THIS IS SUCH AN INTERESTING PROJECT AND THE CITY HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. AND SO FIGURING OUT WHO OWNS IT, IF YOU WILL, IS, IS ONE OF THE BIGGER PROBLEMS. RIGHT. BECAUSE IT IS, IT INTERSECTS WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS. UM, SO THEY MAY GO TO A COUNCIL COMMITTEE THAT'S NOT QUALITY OF LIFE. THAT'S, UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT YET. THEY, THE LAST WE HEARD THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT MAYBE EVEN IN DECEMBER OF THE LIFE. SO, SO JUST KIND OF JUMPING AHEAD, CBRE WILL MAKE ANOTHER PRESENTATION RECOMMENDATION YES. WHAT THEY, THEIR FINDINGS ABOUT TO MIXED USE. OKAY. THANK YOU. YES. AT SOME POINT AND WHEN I KNOW YOU WILL KNOW, THINK ABOUT THAT. YEAH. THAT'S WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW. YES. UM, CATHERINE, CAN I INTERJECT REAL FAST BECAUSE I NEED TO RUN TO A MIDDLE SCHOOL? HOLD ON ONE SECOND. YES, PLEASE. THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT. . WONDERFUL. THANK YOU. UM, JUST ONE, ONE QUICK NOTE. UM, AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WELCOMING ME HERE. WELCOMING ME HERE. MM-HMM . AND, UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING TO KNOW ALL OF YOU AND TO THE POINT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE MEETING AND EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING, UM, THE FRIENDS IS ABLE TO SPEAK TO CITY COUNCIL AND TO SPEAK TO PEOPLE IN, UM, IN DEPARTMENTS AT THE CITY. AND WE VERY MUCH, UM, ARE WORKING ON THAT STRONGLY TO GET PEOPLE OUT SUPPORTING LIBRARIES AND SUPPORTING, UM, THE WAY THAT WE ARE SEEING EVERYTHING GOING. SO IF YOU OR PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE WITH WOULD LIKE TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE FRIENDS ADVOCACY COMMITTEE, WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN. YOU DON'T NEED TO BE ON THE BOARD, OR YOU CAN JUST COME WITH US. WE WILL, UM, GET ALL THE INFORMATION THAT'S NEEDED TO EVERYONE WHO NEEDS TO HAVE IT TO HELP US TO BE A, AS, WHAT IS IT? LOVE, LOVE LOUD FOR THE LIBRARIES ACROSS THE CITY AS TIME GOES ON. SO, UM, SO THAT IS DEFINITELY AN OPTION, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO, UM, TO TALK TO EVERYONE AND WELCOME EVERYONE IN THAT SPACE. SO I'M GONNA OKAY. HEAD OUT. SO THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, DENISE. OKAY. UM, I THINK WE'VE REACHED THE END OF THE MEETING. SO THE, [00:55:01] SINCE I'M SORRY, I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION, SEAN. OH, OKAY. DO WE, HAS HAS THERE BEEN ANY PROGRESS ON THE, ON THE MURAL HOME? WE DON'T HAVE AN UPDATE OKAY. AT THIS. OKAY. OKAY. THANK, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR JOINING US ONLINE AND IN PERSON. UM, THE MEETING IS ADJOURN ADJOURNED. UH, 6:08 PM THANK YOU. WE MEETING IN DECEMBER. OKAY. MEETING IN DECEMBER. MR. YES. I HAVE, I HAVE ONE LAST THING. SO I KNOW THAT WE LEARNED, UM, I'M SORRY. I KNOW WE LEARNED A QUICK, OH, SORRY. GO AHEAD. I THINK, SORRY. I, I, I THINK I WAS JUST ASKING IF WE'RE GETTING TOGETHER ON THURSDAY. ARE WE CONFIRMED FOR THAT? YES. OKAY, GREAT. YES. THE LAST QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, I KNOW THAT SOMEONE ON THE BOARD ASKED A QUESTION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IF, IF I HAD A BOOK THAT HAD TO BE HELD IN A LIBRARY CLOSEST TO ME, BUT IT WAS PULLED FROM CENTRAL, WHICH LIBRARY IT WOULD COUNT TOWARDS. I THINK THINGS LIKE THAT WOULD BE SO AMAZING FOR THE COMMUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT HOW THEY CAN ADVOCATE FOR THESE LIBRARIES. SO IF YOU HAVE MORE SPECIFIC METRICS LIKE THAT, I KNOW IT'S GONNA TAKE A WHILE, SO, YOU KNOW, DECEMBER, UM, THAT'LL BE GREAT. OR EVEN JANUARY. THAT'LL BE GREAT TO KNOW, BECAUSE I KNOW A LOT OF HERE, BUT WE'LL PASS ANOTHER ONE, BUT IT MIGHT BE TOO DARK. UM, USUALLY YEAH. DO MIND. OKAY. UH, OKAY. I THINK I ADJOURNED THE MEETING AT SIX. OH, YES. WE CAN, I CAN EMAIL YOU. YEAH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU EVERYONE. YES. UHHUH. I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WE'LL SEE EVERYONE. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.