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
• Julie Bartley, Bartram Trail Branch Manager

Others Preset:

William Upham, citizen
Caroline Dow, President of Bartram Trail FOL

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approval of Minutes: Ms. Hayes made a motion to approve the Minutes from the April meeting; seconded by Mr. Cellucci; approved unanimously.
4. Public Comment (Non-Agenda Items Only): Mr. William Upham, interested in running for Congress, introduced himself to the Board and spoke about why he was getting into local politics.
5. Conversation with Bartram Trail Library FOL: Caroline Dow, Bartram Trail FOL President, spoke about their current bargain sale and discussed various future sales in their plans. There was a brief discussion about giving a discount to other Library FOL members.
6. Commissioner Comments: N/A
7. Board reports:
   1. Mr. Cellucci spoke about the good turnout for the groundbreaking at Nocatee. He reported that the Ponte Vedra FOL recently gave a scholarship to a local student, that there will be a shredding event scheduled for May 16th, and the renovation in the Children’s Area is moving quickly. He also let the Board know that Kim Odom, Ponte Vedra Library Branch Manager, would be speaking at the Veteran’s Council in August about the Veteran’s Kiosk located in the Ponte Vedra Library lobby.
   2. Ms. Shaw-Stillman said that Anastasia Island has been quiet as they get ready for the summer reading program. There will be a Hurricane Emergency Prep Program on May 21st and an Audubon Walk and Talk is planned; patrons can get a Birding Backpack for the event from the Library of Things. Anastasia Island was the branch chosen to host the SJC Citizens Academy this month, which featured the Library and Animal Control departments. Chelsea Bottinelli, Library Programmer, was chosen as Outstanding Staff Member of the Month for her continued work with the Reading Therapy Dogs group. They now have (8) participating dogs.
   3. Mr. Andrews introduced Julie Bartley, Branch Manager of Bartram Trail, and since this was her first LAB meeting, asked her to give the update on Bartram Trail Library. Ms. Bartley said that she started in her position November of 2025, at the same time Ms. Dow was elected FOL President and they have been working together on the next chapter at Bartram Trail. The staff has been working hard to learn the new County Workday program and they have been focusing on their new hires. They have replaced their Youth Services Librarian, programming help and two new Library Assistants so they will have a full team in time for Summer Reading. “Stars, Stripes and Stories” is the theme for Summer Reading Program and Bartram will be decorated in red, white and blue. Last year they gave out over (3,000) books as prizes and are projecting over 4,000 this summer. There was a brief discussion about the Summer Reading program and how fast the Library is growing.
   4. Ms. Hayes reported that 1,754 people visited the Bookmobile in April and they expect the number to keep growing. She shared that since residents at the Addison Community cannot navigate the steps of the Bookmobile, staff have created a curated collection for the group. She applauded the Bookmobile staff saying that every time an issue arises, they adjust and make things work for the patrons. There was no April FOL meeting. The FOL will be voting in a new president and since their current membership is mainly in Nocatee, they are trying to hold their meetings in different areas to foster interest from other parts of the county. They will also be holding an interest meeting for a library in the WGV area. Ms. Meikle asked about the requests for bookmobile stops and discussion ensued.
   5. Ms. Meikle said the Southeast FOL will be holding their next book sale in June. Their Facebook page is up, and they are working with a member to keep it updated. The library is receiving a (2) year old baby grand piano. The FOL will pay for the moving cost, and it will reside on the meeting room stage. The Summer Reading program will be starting soon, and Southeast will be the first library hosting Mark Allen the Magician this summer. Jason Black has come on as the new Reference Librarian and has taken over one of the book clubs. This year the FOL is giving out two scholarships, one High School senior and one student from St. Johns River State College with the caveat of contributing (50) hours of library service. The Teen Advisory Board hosted a beach clean-up, the Sheriff’s office gave the branch a security presentation, and the Garden Club had a Flower and Bonsai show that included a library pond clean-up. The March Poll, “Would you rather be in a romcom with your worst enemy or a horror movie with your best friend?” had 440 participants with 315 choosing the horror movie and 125 choosing the romcom.
   6. Mr. Greco said Hastings FOL is anxiously awaiting the new building to open and are planning Grand Opening Events every Saturday after the library opens that include a game warden and a Gospel choir. Brad Powell, Hastings Library Branch Manager, gave a tour of the site to the staff and the Supervisor of Elections group. There are no updates on the parking lot and Ms. Gibson said that they are working on the manhole in Main Street to improve drainage of the site. The table event at the Hastings Cabbage, Potato and Bacon Festival yielded $400.00 from book sales. Erin Masters, FOL Board Member, has been speaking with local businesses and received a $5000.00 donation.
   7. Mr. Longo said that Main FOL had their April meeting and announced their book sales garnered $1,377 and the bookstore took in $770.00 for the month. The FOL gatherings have been successful, and they are discussing giving other FOL’s discounts in their bookstore. He joined Krista Joseph, County Commissioner, in an interview at the groundbreaking for Nocatee and spoke about how helpful the individual FOL’s are to the Libraries. Main has just opened their seed library and are trying to increase their work with the FSDB. The new bookshelves in the Youth area are in and the Library and Bookstore are looking good. The bookstore is now using Venmo, and discussion ensued on the different applications the FOL’s are using for payment.
8. Library System Director Report:
   1. Monthly Statistics and Expenditure Reports: Ms. Gibson discussed the new version of the April expense and monthly statistics reports. She said that the new expense report is more in alliance with current expenses, so it gives a clearer picture of what is going on with the library. Ms. Meikle asked about the change in the Bookmobile stats and Ms. Gibson said that was due to pre-Covid day care and Senior Citizen community stops. The current focus is on individual patrons, and Ms. Ackerman mentioned that the bookmobile stats are always going to be fluid as stops are added or discontinued. Bookmobile patrons have longer due dates and accrue fines if the patron is registered with a particular library. Mr. Greco inquired about Hastings’ collection and Ms. Ackerman said that they will have a combination of new materials and supplement material from other branches with Ms. Gibson stating that it was the perfect opportunity to hone the collection.
   2. Other Business: n/a
9. Unfinished Business –
   1. Update on new library projects: Ms. Gibson said they are making great progress at Hastings with property drainage the last hurdle to cross. Shearwater is also making great strides with hopes of completion by December. Greenbriar is slated for an FY27 opening and Nocatee has a FY28 date. She mentioned that Nocatee has a lot of fill dirt to truck in before construction can begin.
   2. Review of Library FY27 Budget Hearing: Ms. Gibson attended the County Budget hearing yesterday and said that since there were no specific time slots and Human Resources ran long, the library was bumped to afternoon. She felt it went well, without too many questions and thanked those LAB members who attended. Since we will have to wait until after the legislative session to know about any property tax reforms, they focused a lot on sustaining current services as opposed to adding new services. There will be follow up conversation in July and the public hearings will be on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays in September. Ms. Gibson asked for any questions and discussion ensued that included the new library tier system, how the departments compete for tax dollars and how those dollars can be used.
   3. Other Business: n/a
10. New Business:
    1. FY27 Annual Plan of Service Mid-Year Update: Ms. Heather Sostrom, Public Services Manager, gave a mid-year update on the Annual Plan of Service. She discussed the (6) organizational goals including working on core competencies and staff skills that will translate into a learning plan in FY 27. The Library tier models were discussed. She then discussed volunteer services in collaboration with Human Resources and using volunteer service for teenagers. There was a brief discussion about volunteers when Mr. Greco asked how they were used in the library setting. Ms. Sostrom assured the Board that they do not interact with patron records and the County pays for background checks before they can volunteer. Ms. Bartley mentioned that a lot of our job applicants are library volunteers. Ms. Sostrom said that items marked in yellow still had a lot of work left to do. She discussed the different surveys the are currently using and have several ways to obtain staff feedback.
    2. Non-Resident Usage Report: Amy Ackerman, Support Services Manager, discussed the Non-Resident Usage Report included in the packet which gave a breakdown of patron types. She added that they are making a concerted effort to find out if the branch that patrons are using matches the home branch indicated on their library card. They are beginning to track attributes and are starting to track outreach events to see where the cards are coming from and if they have been used after issuance.
    3. Libby Survey: Ms. Ackerman then gave a presentation on the survey on Libby and eBook users. The plan is to run the report quarterly with each presentation reflecting the previous quarter. Currently, it shows that Libby use is increasing. There was a brief discussion on what was included in the statistics. Ms. Ackerman said patrons will soon be able to register for a library card online and a discussion on how they are going to market that ensued. Ms. Gibson added that the Database of the Month is also posted on the County Message Board, a County employee sharing site.
    4. Tech Demo: LinkedIn Learning: Amy Delgado, Resource Trainer, presented the new LinkedIn Learning application. It is a platform containing over 24,000 classes, mostly geared to professional development and some creative endeavors. The application is related to the LinkedIn site and owned by Microsoft.
    5. Other Business: n/a
11. Final Comments: None
12. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Greco; seconded by Mr. Cellucci and approved unanimously to adjourn at 11:27 am.

Next LAB Meeting: June 10, 2026 Anastasia Island Library