Dallas Municipal Library Board adopts city report, reviews Friends’ 75th plans and winter shelter role

The Municipal Library Board of the City of Dallas adopted its annual report to the city and spent its planning-session meeting discussing outreach goals, the Friends of the Dallas Public Library’s 75th-anniversary activities and the library system’s role during recent inclement weather.

Board members voted to adopt the report with the edits discussed at the meeting. Pam (board member) moved to adopt the report and Donna (board member) seconded; the board chair called for the ayes and announced, “The ayes have it.”

The adopted report updates the board’s stated outreach to council members. Anne Burbank, serving as temporary chair for the meeting, said it is acceptable for board members to be politically active but cautioned about using board titles: “It is okay to help campaign. It’s okay to endorse a candidate. Just don’t use your title of Municipal Library Board.” Burbank also noted recent city council term-limit amendments and said those changes prevent Council Member Atkins from running again.

The board discussed two suggested edits before the vote. Member Amy recommended replacing a previous goal of holding quarterly in-person meetings with council members with a more practical objective to send regular email updates about Dallas Public Library matters. Member Gerri recommended adding an objective to encourage attendance at the Texas Library Association conference in Dallas; the board agreed that recommending attendance might be appropriate but that funding or formal adoption of that objective could be a separate consideration.

Burbank said the Friends of the Dallas Public Library will mark their 75th anniversary with several events across the year, and she identified a literary luncheon scheduled for Wednesday, April 9, at the Arts District Mansion (formerly the Belo), with author Ben Fountain listed as the featured speaker. She said the Friends plan elevated fundraising tied to the anniversary and encouraged members to share big-donor contacts with the organization’s executive staff.

The board also discussed partnering with other city boards and agencies on library projects, citing the Park Forest (Park Forest/Pitt Forest as discussed) new branch project as an example of mixed-use development that could involve economic development and parks staff. Members said cross-agency coordination could help library planners connect with literacy and early-childhood organizations.

In the director’s report, library leadership described procedures the system used during the recent cold-weather event. The library director said managers begin outreach to staff at about 7 a.m. to assess who can report, with staffing information consolidated into spreadsheets by about 7:30 a.m. The director said, “We start collecting that information via spreadsheets at about 7:30,” and described the system-wide approach of allowing frontline staff who can travel to report to any open branch to maximize coverage.

The director also described the library’s role in the city’s emergency response: library facilities are included in shelter planning but are considered last-resort sites because they lack the plumbing capacity to house large numbers for extended periods. “We are essentially the last resort site because we don't particularly have sufficient plumbing in this building to house 250 people on our first floor day in and day out for an extended period,” the director said. The director credited partnerships—naming The Stewpot, which sent vans during the event—for helping transport library patrons to designated shelter sites, and said the system opened with varied schedules (for example, an early close Thursday and late openings Friday and Saturday) while keeping most buildings available.

Board members asked operational questions about staffing levels during extreme weather; the director said branches normally require three staff to open but can operate with two under inclement-weather protocols. Members also discussed volunteer roles; the director said volunteers are more useful when directed to formal emergency-shelter operations rather than substituting for trained staff at branches.

The meeting concluded after the report was adopted and the director’s update; no additional formal actions were taken.