St. Johns County Public Library System Library Advisory Board Meeting

May 2026 Minutes

Staff Present

• Debra Rhodes Gibson, Library Director
• Jae Bass, Assistant Library Director
• Heather Sostrom, Public Services Manager
• Amy Ackerman, Support Services Manager
• Niki Johnson, Admin Coordinator
• Amy Delgado, Tech Associate-Resource Trainer
• Sarah Scholten, Anastasia Island Branch Manager

Others Preset: n/a

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 9:02 AM.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Greco made a motion to approve the Minutes from the May meeting; seconded by Ms. Shaw-Stillman; approved unanimously.
4. Public Comment (Non-Agenda Items Only): n/a
5. Conversation with Anastasia Island Library FOL: Ms. Meikle reported on behalf of the Anastasia Island FOL. Their Mahjong fundraiser was very successful, raising $975.00 and they are considering having other Mahjong events during weekends or evenings. They will be holding their 2nd Saturday Collector’s Corner pop-up book sale for members only. Their FOL is a rolling membership renewal schedule. They currently have 126 members with 229 people subscribing to their email list. They gave out their first $1000 scholarships to a St. Augustine High School senior and a First Coast Tech Center student. They are scheduling their large book sale event at the end of August, and they continue to have FOL volunteers tabling at the St. Augustine Amphitheater Saturday Market.
6. Commissioner Comments: N/A
7. Board reports:
   1. Ms. Shaw-Stillman said that while the Anastasia Island Summer Reading program is a success, with attendance up from 95 in 2025 to 124 in 2026, their Hurricane Preparedness program had only one participant. Staff has continued their programs with the middle school and welcomed Kimber Minshew from Staffing of St. Augustine who will serve as their temporary summer program assistant.
   2. Mr. Greco reported that Hastings has slowed down for the summer and the FOL has been working on the new donor wall which will be a recognition tree with engraved leaves. They have been working hard on the Grand Opening events that will take place every Saturday from August 22nd through November 7th. Ms. Gibson let everyone know that Pat Laurencelle’s memorial plaque has arrived and will be installed that week outside the Children’s area. There was a brief discussion on the custom cabinets and end caps installed at the new Hastings Library.
   3. Mr. Cellucci said that when he returned from vacation, he was treated to a tour of the new Children’s Section at Ponte Vedra Library. They will have a soft opening in the next few weeks and a donor reception is planned. Mr. Cellucci reported that the Summer Reading Program is going strong, but the shredding event did not go well due to the simultaneous Iron Man event and the traffic jam it created. He was proud to announce that the Veteran’s Kiosk in the Library lobby now contains some women’s military experiences.
   4. Ms. Meikle reported Southeast Library story times have been packed and 13 people attended the May Author’s Talk. The FOL will have a Lobby Book Sale the entire month of July but will not have any meetings throughout the summer. Programmer Karen Vieira and Asst. Branch Manager Lisa Calvert put together boxes for the Parks and Recreation Summer Camp Programs and after training at other libraries, Jason Black, the new Southeast Librarian, ran his first successful book club meeting. Emilie Portz, a Southeast teen volunteer, will be the temporary assistant from Staffing of St. Augustine for the summer programs. The Teen Advisory Board is still going strong with 20 members and Mr. Greco said the Southeast Teen Advisory Board is going to help with Hastings Teen Advisory Board when the Library opens. Ms. Meikle said that this month’s poll is “What is your favorite thing to do at the beach?”.
   5. Ms. Hayes reported that the Bookmobile hit several records – they had 16 months with no canceled stops, 830 holds at one stop and a 210 patron stop. Then they topped that with 251 patrons on June 3rd at Nocatee. The May FOL meeting had members focusing on gaining interest from the World Golf Village (WGV) area and are trying to find a location for staging a WGV interest event.
   6. Mr. Andrews said summer is busy at Bartram Trail. There was a tiny art show, a Mother’s Day program, and a history of spy novels. Mr. Andrews said the library has become an interactive experience with art that could rival any set designer. Ms. Gibson talked about the tiny art show and how many pieces were on display.
   7. Mr. Longo said Main Library kicked off summer with Mark Allen the Magician and even the adults had fun during the show. They have started planning for next year’s 40th Anniversary and are trying to have the library legally named Main Library. All the redecorating in the library will be finished by July 15th. He reported that the issue that came up at the last FOL meeting was what would be lost if the new property tax bill passes and whether the FOL should be active in helping to defeat the ballot.
8. Library System Director Report: Monthly Statistics and Expenditure Reports:
   1. Ms. Gibson presented the expenditure report asking for any questions from the Board. There was a brief discussion about the statistics with Ms. Ackerman explaining why things were added or removed. Mr. Andrews commented that the LinkedIn numbers were good considering it was a debut month of the database.
9. Unfinished Business –  
   1. Update on library surveys: Ms. Sostrom discussed the Library User Survey that will run from July 15th through Sept 15th and the 8 question Shearwater survey due out on June 15th . She explained that the surveys are part of the annual plan, and the goal is to find out what residents really need and want from the Library. Ms. Meikle asked about some new questions in the survey and Ms. Sostrom said they were based on their feedback. Mr. Andrews asked what numbers their goal with the surveys were and Ms. Sostrom said that the Non-User Survey brought back 400 and they would like to see at least 4,000 replies from the User Survey. Ms. Sostrom said the difficult part will come when they begin analyzing the results.
   2. New Library Projects Update:
      1. Hastings Library – They are making progress inside the building and hopefully staff will be moving into the library in July. They are still working on exterior of the building and will have another walk-thru shortly. Ms. Gibson said while they cannot open to the public, they can start moving things in soon. Mr. Longo asked about the drainage and Ms. Gibson said they are still working on it and believes that they finished the manhole issue in the middle of Main Street. The current fire hose water pressure would not pass inspection.
      2. Shearwater Library – Progress is moving along, and hopefully will be completed by the end of the year. Ms. Hayes passed around an article about the Nocatee groundbreaking.
   3. FY27 Budget Update:
      1. State Library Budget: Ms. Gibson said there is no news on State Aid or the Nocatee grant.
      2. Property Tax Reform: Ms. Gibson gave an overview on the proposed property tax referendum on the ballot in November. She explained that if approved, they expect the County could see a 50-million-dollar deficit in the budget the first year. Hiring has been frozen so the Library cannot recruit for vacancies or the new buildings coming online. There are no new purchase orders going through for contract items or any new items. She reported that while the recession affected all departments equally, this referendum will affect specific departments. General discussion ensued about what areas will be affected and what patrons want versus what we will be able to provide. Ms. Gibson said that they can get the word out through the FOL’s but the staff cannot advocate. Discussion ensued on generating fees such as raising the cost of a non-resident card to $125 to ensure priority is given to St. Johns County residents. Ms. Gibson said that raising fees would just generate monies for the General Fund and not specifically for the Library.
   4. Other Business: n/a
10. New Business:
    1. Review and Approve Revised Overdue Materials Policy: Ms. Gibson talked about the policy, and that once finished today, it will go to BCC on July 21st and will be implemented in August. There was a brief discussion on how need for a government ID affects computer use and how it affects unhoused patrons. Ms. Meikle then made a motion to accept the amended Overdue Materials Policy; seconded by Lou Greco and was approved unanimously.
    2. Tech Demo: Libby: Amy Delgado, Resource Trainer, presented Libby Audio Book database. Ms. Hayes brought up the possibility of having someone from the library do tech help for senior citizens in the north end of the county. Discussion ensued and a how-to video was suggested.
    3. Other Business: Mr. Longo brought up an article about a program in Denmark called The Human Library. Volunteer subject experts bring people together who sit together to discuss differences. Harold George, Anastasia Island Librarian, has done some similar programs for SJCPLS.
11. Final Comments: None
12. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Andrews; seconded by Ms. Meikle and approved unanimously to adjourn at 11:54 am

Next LAB Meeting: July 8, 2026 Southeast Library