HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 09.09.2025 MINUTES
CITY OF LAUREL
09/09/2025 06:05 PM
Laurel Public Library
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
X Katie Fjelstad Vacant
X Kate Manley—Board Chair X Paige Farmer-online
X Nancy Schmidt, Secretary Mary Nelson
X 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. The library board minutes from June,July, and August 2025 were presented to the
members for approval. Katie motioned to approve the minutes as presented, Paige
seconded the motion. Motion carried.
b. Circulation Report—(compared to the same time period as last year) Traffic: down 10.2%;
circulation: all items circulated totaled 4,943 (including 762 eBooks), book circulation
was down 1.7%, media circulation was up 29%, eBook checkouts for this month was
17.5%of total book circulation, we circulated 1,053 items to partners and 260 items
from other libraries; computers: internet use was up 16.9%, children's use was down
108.7%, wi-fi use was down 4.5%;patron cards: city patrons make up 61.2% of our
registered users, county is 28.8%, and state/out of county has 10%of our registered
patrons. There were 36 tech assists in August.
3. Old Business
a. The LPL Internet Use Policy and Library Use Rules Policy still need some revision. Kate
suggested that library staff give input on these policies before we review them and vote
on approval.
b. The Summer Reading Program was once again a success at the library. We had 360
children and 166 adults attending the programming put on by both the school librarians
and public library staff members. Final count: 526 attendees over an 8-week period.
1
4. New Business
a. The fall South Central Federation meeting will be held Saturday, September 13th in
Lewistown. Kate and Nancy are planning on attending. They will share highlights from
the meeting at the next board meeting.
b. Montana State Library will be presenting a Trustee Director Training in Great Falls next
week, September 15th & 16th, 2025. Nancy is planning to attend and will share
information at the next board meeting.
c. Nancy will also be attending the Montana Arbitration & Labor Relations Training in
Bozeman September 29'through October 2"d, 2025. Again, she will share information
that may be important to the library and its staff members.
d. The Fall Retreat at Chico Hot Springs is being held Sunday, October 5th and Monday,
October 6th, 2025. Nancy will attend the retreat and then travel directly to Bozeman for
the Federation Coordinator and MSL Commission meetings.
e. A Memorandum of Understanding needs to be created for the Laurel Public Library
Board of Trustees and the Laurel Public Library Foundation Board of Directors to make
sure that we have definitive guidelines to follow for future projects and funds dispersal.
This item was tabled until a later date.
5. Other Items
a. Board concerns: Kate asked if we had anew board member yet. Nancy stated that she
should be joining us next month after she is approved by the Council tonight. Nancy
shared the latest budget update with board members.
6. Announcements
a. The next regular meeting is October 14th, 2025, at 6:00 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
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.
2