HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 04.08.2025 MINUTES
CITY OF LAUREL
04/08/2025 06:06 PM
Laurel Public Library
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Katie Fjelstad X Arthur Vogele—via Zoom
X Kate Manley—Board Chair X Paige Farmer
X Nancy Schmidt, Secretary Mary Nelson
X Clair Killebrew—Foundation Liaison—via Zoom
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. Wait until the next meeting to approve minutes and discuss circulation report to
accommodate board members illness.
b. Correspondence—The library received the ELSA (Excellent Library Service Award)for
this year.
c. Circulation Report—(compared to the same time period as last year) Traffic: up 18.2%;
circulation: all items circulated totaled 5,164 (including 556 eBooks), book circulation
was down 4.8%, media circulation was up 51.8%, eBook checkouts for this month was
12.3% of total book circulation, we circulated 957 items to partners and 269 items from
partner libraries; computers: internet use was up 35.3%, children's use was down 7.7%,
wi-fi use was down 39.6%; patron cards: city patrons make up 61.3% of our registered
patrons, county is 29.3%and state/out of county has 9.6% of our registered patrons.
There were 77 tech assists in March.
3. Old Business
a. Trustee learning videos—2 very prominent women from Montana that were extremely
critical in the future of libraries. One was about Sheila Cates who worked for the state
library. The other was Alma Jacobs, the first black librarian in Montana. She was the first
director at Great Falls Public Library for over 20 years. We can discuss any videos that
have been sent as part of our trustee learning at any of the future meetings.
b. Nancy gave her report on attending sessions at Montana Library Association. She
attended training on CANVA (maybe purchase for staff use?), managing budgets and
which funds should be part of the library monthly reports (revenues, expenditures, cash
balance, budget vs actuals), creating library levy campaigns (make sure the city is on-
board with this),Trust For Montana Foundation (future of libraries in Montana),
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cooperative purchasing through the state for local libraries, and statewide programming
such as the courier & partner sharing groups. Our keynote speaker was from the
University of Kentucky. She talked about the value of trustees in the library.
c. There was a brief update on the foundation funds. It was suggested that as we do more
fundraising, we should consider having the funds moved into money-market accounts
and have it overseen by accountants. It was also suggested that we produce a list of
"needs" for the library and pass it along to the foundation board for consideration.
Shelves were mentioned as well as remodeling for extra space. Updates will be provided
as they become available.
4. New Business
a. The book sale is starting at the end of the month. Nancy had the wrong dates last
month. Instead of April 21s'through May V, it will be April 28th through May loth. We
welcome anyone that would like to help with setting up and working the sale. Sign-up
sheets will be available at the circulation desk.
b. The policy review for this month is the Internet Use Policy. It will be sent out for the
next meeting along with the Computer Usage Guide.
c. The South-Central Federation meeting is Saturday, April 12th, 2025, in Big Timber. Crazy
Peak Boutique is providing the luncheon. We will report on the meeting next month.
Kris Goss, lawyer/librarian from Helena, will be the guest speaker.
5. Other Items
a. Board concerns—Should we close for 4-day weekend over Memorial Day. We have done
it both ways in the past. This will help library staff use up vacation and personal time
that is on the books.
6. Announcements
a. The next regular meeting is May 13, 2025, at 6:00 pm in the library community room. A
Zoom link will be added to the next agenda.
Meeting adjourned at 6:46 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
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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.
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