Operations Minutes - December 07, 2021

Capital Projects 
 

Belle Isle Renovation/Addition – Drywall work is 95% complete and some painting has begun.  Rooftop packaged HVAC units are installed, the units should be working soon. They are currently projecting construction completion by the end of January 2022, with a completion of punch list items by February 15^th.  Several members of the leadership team were able to tour the library in its current state on Friday December 3, 2021. The next meeting to discuss move in and grand opening is on January 5^th.

New Almonte Library – The preliminary report was approved by OKC City Council on October 26^th and notice to proceed with construction documents has been delivered. This phase of the project is expected to take at least 120 days (about 4 months). However, the city will not sell bonds (receive funds for construction) until May 2022.

Ralph Ellison- There are no immediate plans for any work to address intermittent drainage issues experienced during heavy rainfall at this time on library grounds. We will continue to monitor the situation and address any actual interior leaks if they develop. We have visited Public Works as recently as October 22^nd to get an update on any planned work and for now there are not any immediate plans to move forward. Recently, we had correspondence with Library management regarding the desire for beautification of the front entrance area with a monarch weigh station. We have given the go ahead to move forward with the project which will be community/volunteer driven.

Wright Library Renovation – The drawings for Wright Library interior improvements have gone to Oklahoma City Council and were advertised. Bid opening will be on December 9^th. We should be looking for construction to begin in 6 to 8 weeks. This will require a library closure, but the exact timing is to be determined after bid opening.

Community Libraries ADA Restroom Assessment – We are working on a plan of execution to address these issues before the end of FY2022.The business office has requested a quote from Studio Architects for prep of the specs and drawings so we can go out to bid for ADA compliance updates at the libraries.

Downtown and CH signage project – The contract for construction was awarded to Homeco and they have completed the electrical prep work before installation of the scaffolding that will be used for the project. The projects will not interfere with normal public access to the library as most of the work is either outside or in the far west stairwell downtown facing Hudson Street and on the vacant second floor of the Capitol Hill Library. The work should be complete on both signs by mid-January 2022.

Facilities Maintenance Related Projects

Midwest City – Maintenance is working to make sure the chiller is working correctly with the new compressor.

Ralph Ellison – Maintenance has completed repairs to the boiler and it is now operational. We are working to schedule a new inspection.

Choctaw Library sensory garden brick repair – Masonry repairs are complete.

Northwest Library – Recent roof leaks were reported on September 30, 2021, and in the past few weeks with intermittent rain. Maintenance has been in contact with the City of Oklahoma City regarding the recurrent leaks and we will provide further updates as soon as possible.

Luther Library – A new split unit has been installed and is operational. The inspection was completed on Thursday, December 2, 2021.

Custodial flooring work – Our janitorial vendor, SourceOne, will be scheduling waxing of solid surface floors over the course of the next month. We will share with Library managers once the dates are finalized. The waxing will take place overnight, and there should be no issue with staff arriving in the morning as the wax will have set by then.

The waxing of solid surface floors began on September 13 at the Downtown Library. Due to staffing issues/staff shortages with our vendor, this work has not yet been completed. The custodial vendor has one more office to complete for waxing and buffing at the Downtown Library and should be completed with that this evening, December 7, 2021. They will begin buffing and waxing of hard surface floors at Capitol Hill after they complete Downtown Library.

Del City Library – We continue to monitor warranty items and communicate them to the General Contractor. There have not been any recent concerns/developments regarding any humidity issues at the library.

Edmond Library – The City is working to obtain quotes to determine the needed repairs for the masonry and other surfaces impacted by the collision with the vehicle during the high-speed police chase. The last update we were provided with was there were challenges getting vendors to respond to quotes and they continue to work through this process.

Permanent curbside signs – Maintenance has started installation of permanent curbside signs at all MLS locations. The mobile stands have been sent to each library. The materials needed for anchoring the poles in the concrete have been received. Maintenance is working to schedule installation as soon as possible.

Removing exterior electrical outlets – Maintenance has started the process of removing and disconnecting exterior electrical outlets at MLS locations. We will not disconnect outlets on enclosed porches or other areas that are not readily accessible to the public after Library operating hours. Maintenance will be in contact with managers about this and to discuss any requests regarding which outlets they may or may not want to disconnect.

Landscaping/Maintenance – We received proposals from Northwest Lawn Maintenance to address Landscaping needs at many of our library facilities in the amount close to $36,000. All of the landscaping material has been ordered and nearly all items have been obtained, with a few remaining items to be received this week. Northwest Lawn Maintenance will begin the beautification projects by the end of this week into the following week of December 6.

FY2022 Facilities Related Projects – Several improvement initiatives are in the FY2022 budget to include installation of bottle filler water fountains, flood sensors for mechanical areas, LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting upgrade for the Midwest City Library, carpet replacement at Warr Acres and the Choctaw Library. We are in the process of putting together plans/timelines to address these items and some may require separate workgroups to work through the details of purchasing and/or the improvement project details.

Security Related Projects

Capitol Hill - Access Control installation is ongoing.

Bethany - Access Control installation is complete.

Northwest – Working with Maintenance on a high–angle procedure to access the Adult Patio to replace the cameras there. Other cameras replaced or domes repaired.

Wright – TriCorps installation agreement is with Legal. Upon acceptance the monitored cameras/talk down speakers will be installed. Walking site with IT on 11/30/21 to see feasibility of changing the small number of cameras onsite to the Milestone platform.

Multiple Locations – New cameras installed, existing damaged cameras replaced or repaired.

Security Review – Security Review presented. Larger distribution to PS Management Group complete. Next steps evaluate acceptance and initial timeline for execution of recommendations. Several items are budgetary, or policy related and will have to be worked out over time. The items that Security and Maintenance can complete or being listed for action.  

PITS Snapshot – The table that follows shows the high-level view of incidents and informational categories for MLS to date (11/29/21 Submission date). Note that counts are compared to last year, last month and gives the count for month to date.

Marketing/Communications/Public Relations Updates

This month, we are back to normal on earned media with approximately 16 articles and spots on the news stations. The majority of this was because of the new additions to the Experience Passes - the Museum of Osteology and the Oklahoma History Center. We also got a few aside mentions from the news stations since Sarah Brown, Engagement Manager at Downtown Library, will feature book readings at the First Americans Museum Xchange Theater on Dec. 4 and 5.

We are on pause with tv/radio advertising in December to gear up for advertising the Winter Reading Challenge in January and the return to the library in February, however, I am currently working on creating two :15s ads for the Winter Reading Challenge to start running on Jan. 1. I am also meeting on Thursday with SMS agency to talk about doing a new commercial for the reopening in February. We will be having a short meeting with the RDs on Tuesday about the messaging for the reopening.

For Marketing news:

The Check It Out newsletter is going out today to all customers who have used their library card in the last 18 months. It features the Ralph Ellison centennial, Tailored Skills, Info December magazine, 31 Days of Christmas and the Kiosk at Mitch Park.

The January issue of Info Magazine will go to the designer on Wednesday after I write the introductory forward message, put together the calendar section, write the table of contents and find photos for the designer.

The January issue of Library By Mail was sent to Kim Rickey on Tuesday, November 23 for proofing before it goes to the printer.

Logos were designed by our freelance designer, Rick George, for the new program called Living Traditions, but DOES is waiting on approval from the Oklahoma Arts Council on the name, Living Traditions, before it goes any further.

Printed half-sheets, posters, flyers, and other associated printed deliverables for local library programming with a projected attendance of fewer than 100 people are not being serviced until further notice. The reason for this change is that we are having to temporarily redirect our limited marketing staff time and resources to be able to manage broader reaching and system-wide initiatives until further notice.  Due to current circumstances, we have had to pivot and focus on primarily system-wide impact deliverables such as Info Magazine, Check it Out Newsletter, Library by Mail Newsletter, and other system programs/initiatives. 

Library staff should redirect the public/your library customers to our Info Magazine and/or the library website for local programming specific event information. Also, there are internal marketing resources that can help local library staff market local programming in the routinely requested formats. These marketing templates were prepared in the past and are editable and might be useful for printing at the library location: https://my.metrolibrary.info/drupal/marketing-template-gallery

Next meeting: Tuesday, January 4 at 2:00pm