President Kathy called the meeting to order at 12:15. Guest pianist Sandy Roeger, mother of Rotarian Jeff Roeger, led today’s patriotic song, “America the Beautiful,” followed by the invocation by Randy Smith and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Today’s Song: Sandy Roeger played Oh Rotary, My Rotary which is set to the tune of Oh Tannenbaum. The singing was led by former Rotary Octet members Tom Myers and Jim Myers (no relation).
Visitors: There were no visiting Rotarians and no guests at today’s meeting.
President Kathy welcomed one of our newest members, Andrew Popp, who is attending his first in-person meeting. Welcome Andrew.
Announcements:
- President Kathy thanked Amanda Senn and Rachel Kerns for arranging today’s lunch options.
- She also noted District Governor Larry Lohman’s induction ceremony, which was held on Wednesday of last week, and pointed out the new banner hanging announcing “Home Club of District 6630 District Governor.” Congratulations DG Larry.
- District Governor Larry thanked those who attended his induction noting that all will receive credit for a makeup. He also explained that, instead of speaking at a meeting for each club, which is traditional for District Governors, he will participate in a service project at each club and produce a report at the end of his year.
- Past President Randy announced that our club has received the AZ Baker award for the recent year ending in June.
- Next week’s lunch options will include BarBQ and will be served buffet style for #12.
- The Shirts committee meets Wednesday, the 22nd at Coleman at 4 pm. President Kathy is looking to have another woman join the team.
- On August 24, we will meet either on Zoom or offsite, possibly at Stanton Middle School, to welcome incoming Kent City Schools teachers. More information to follow.
- Thursday, July 22 will be District 6630 End Polio night at Progressive Field. About 280 people have signed up already. Contact DG Larry or President Kathy for signups and raffle tickets.
100-Year Anniversary Moment:
A transcript of Jim Myers’ 100-year moment is available elsewhere on this bulletin.
Today’s Program:
Asad Khan introduced today’s speaker, our own Rotarian Stacey Richardson, Director of the Kent Free Library, who told the story of operating a public library during a pandemic.
Stacey graduated from Hiram College with a Batchelor’s degree on French and Art History and from Kent State University with a graduate degree in Library Science.
Kent Free Library is a “school district library” serving the same area as Kent City Schools and governed by seven trustees appointed by the Board of Education of Kent. The area includes about 34,000 residents, but there are almost 36,000 card carrying members of KFL indicating that many outside our district value what our library has to offer. KFL is one of 251 public libraries in Ohio. Funding comes from the State of Ohio Public Library Fund, a local continuing tax levy, and by member’s fines and fees.
During the pandemic year of 2020, when KFL was completely closed for weeks and subsequently operated with many restrictions. Visitation, community events including story time for children, and items borrowed all dropped double digits as compared with the previous year. For example, in 2019, about 215,000 people visited the facility; in 2020, only 107,000 visited, a decrease of 49%.
The pandemic created three distinct phases of library operation so far:
March-April 2020 – Unknown
May-June 2020 – Curbside Service
June 2020-March 2021 – Library Express
During the Unknown phase, when we were figuring out how to navigate through a unique and confusing period of time, the facility was closed and staff were at home. All fines and fees were waived and no items were due to be returned. The 3D printers on site were used to produce face shields and many were donated locally. Zoom meetings were established and plans were made for virtual programming.
During the Curbside Express phase, a process was created to deliver contact-free services for patrons. Library patrons could request items in advance, pull into the parking lot, and get them delivered to their cars.
During the Library Express phase, limited in-building access was available with a “grab and go” approach. Returned items were quarantined.
Since that time, KFL has reduced restrictions as vaccinations have enabled a return to normalcy. Many of the successful virtual and self-serve programs will be retained as we go forward. Current plans are for normal operations to resume in the Fall.
Past President Randy Smith offered the response thanking Stacey for her excellent work guiding the Kent Free Library and staff during unexpected and difficult times and for her many contributions to our Rotary club.
We ended the meeting by reciting the Four Way Test. President Kathy encouraged everyone to bring guests to our meetings.
Respectfully submitted
Thomas Hatch
