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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 08.09.20221 MINUTES CITY OF LAUREL Library Board 08/09/2022 06:14 PM Laurel Public Library COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: X Katie Fjelstad X Arthur Vogele, Board Chair X Kate Manley X Lela Schlitz X Nancy Schmidt, Secretary Vacant Clair Killebrew – Foundation Liaison OTHERS PRESENT: None 1. Public Input Citizens may address the committee regarding any item of city business not on the agenda. The duration for an individual speaking under Public Comment is limited to three minutes. While all comments are welcome, the committee will not take action on any item not on the agenda. a. Addressing the Board - None 2. General Items a. Minutes for July 2022 were presented. Kate motioned to accept the minutes as read, Lela seconded the motion. Motion passed. b. The library received a $25 donation last month from Ray Wells. c. Circulation Report - Traffic: down 41.5%; circulation: all items circulated totaled 4,115 (including 535 eBooks), book circulation was down 0.0002%, media circulation was up 51%, eBook checkouts for this month was 14.8% of total book circulation, we circulated 831 items to partners and 193 items from other libraries; computers: internet use was down 30.5%, children’s use was up 77.4%, wi-fi use up 7.9%; patron cards: city patrons make up 62.9% of registered users, county 28.5% and out of county users make up 8.6%. There were 28 tech assists in July (Eli says he’s getting that good ). 3. New Business a. Arthur, Kate and Nancy attended the MLA Tri-Conference in Missoula. Aside from the few issues with food and rooms, it was a pretty informative meeting. They reported on the workshops they attended and what was most informational for each of them. Kate turned in a written report and Nancy & Arthur gave verbal reports on their workshops. More information may be shared later. b. Nancy brought forth the idea that it is time to consider a dedicated library mill levy for Laurel. After some discussion, it was decided that most of the September meeting would be devoted to 2 further discussion. Kate stated that she would do some preliminary research to share with everyone in September. c. Library staff have reported some patron issues with the Hot Spot program. It seems that once a patron checks them out, they don’t feel they should return them “until they are finished with them”. The typical checkout period is 2 weeks with a two-week renewal. Eli has to repeatedly ask for the device access to be suspended in order to get certain patrons to return the hot spot. We’ve even had one patron that demanded that we give them the email for our board chair so they could ‘complain’. The question from library staff whether we want to keep offering them if the issues continue. We will monitor the success/failure of the program to decide at a later date. 4. Old Business a. Nancy presented her final budget that she turned in to the Clerk/Treasurer’s office for Council consideration. This includes the 2% raise for union employees. Arthur asked if the 2% raise for the director was included. Nancy stated that she did include that amount for her wages as well as putting Darlene at a flat rate for her cleaning at the library. Kate motioned that the budget be accepted as presented, Lela seconded the motion. The budget was accepted. If changes needed to be made because of council action, that would be at the director’s discretion. b. The Summer Reading Program presented in partnership with Laurel Schools’ Book Buzz was very successful again in July. There were 288 littles and 162 bigs that attended on three separate Wednesdays. Next year the library is going to ask for a reading grant from Town Pump to help with programming costs for the reading program. c. The lunch program served over 700 meals in July. There were 510 lunches and 229 breakfasts handed out during the month. The breakfasts were added in response to requests from parents wanting to be able to add more food to their tables. 5. Other Items a. Upcoming Items: MT Arbitrator’s Training in Great Falls – August 30th – September 1st, 2022; Nancy is planning on attending. Federation meeting in Red Lodge – September 10th, 2022; Kate, Arthur & Nancy are planning on attending. Coordinator’s/Commission meeting in Helena – October 11th/12th, 2022; this is for Nancy to attend, she may take someone with her. MLA Fall Retreat in Chico – October 2nd-3rd, 2022; Nancy is planning on attending. 6. Announcements a. Next regular meeting is scheduled for September 13, 2022 at 6:00 pm in the library community room. Kate motioned that meeting be adjourned, Lela seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 7:33 pm. 3 Respectfully submitted, Nancy L Schmidt Nancy L Schmidt Library Director Secretary for the Board NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of listed agenda items.