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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 10.08.2019MINUTES CITY OF LAUREL Library Board 10/08/2019 06:00 PM Laurel Library COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: X Dixie Feller, Board Chair X Arthur Vogele X Bill Hanson, Vice -Chairman X Samantha Barnhart—via phone X Nancy Schmidt, Secretary X Clair Killebrew — Foundation Liaison Emilie Eaton OTHERS PRESENT: 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. Dixie Feller addressed the Board as Chair. She stated some concerns that have arisen lately with regards to the library budget. As we progress into the new year, we may have to think of other funding methods for the library to compensate for the drastic budget cut we experienced this year. She will research grants for libraries and report her findings. 2. General Items a. Arthur motioned the Library Board minutes for August and September 2019 be accepted as presented, Bill seconded the motion; motion passed. b. The only correspondence received was Nancy's recertification certificate from the Montana State Library. The short trip to Sidney gave her the final 6 hours of CE needed for recertification. c. Circulation Report -Traffic: up 1.9 %; circulation: all items circulated totaled 4,426 (including 496 eBooks), book circulation was up 9.3%, media circulation was up 25.5%, eBook checkouts for this month was 13.5% of total book circulation, we circulated 842 items to partners and 163 items from other libraries; computers: internet use was down 34.7%, children's use was up 61.8%, wi-fi use was up 82%; patron cards: city registrations made up 62.8% of library users, county patrons 32.4% and non-resident registered patrons 4.8%. There were 75 tech assists in September. 1 3. New Business a. It's time again for annual statistics. As soon as Nancy receives the itemized expenses that she requested from Bethany, she'll set aside a couple days to complete the statistics and send them to Helena. b. The fall Federation meeting was held in Big Timber at the Carnegie Public Library. Clair, Arthur and Nancy attended the meeting. There was significant discussion concerning the 2020 Census. The Montana State Library is starting census training for all public libraries. The census will only be available online for citizens to complete. Those areas that are most likely to experience a low number count will be contacted by an enumerator in person (i.e. reservations, low income, elderly, etc.). Library certification will be changing over the next year. Pam Henley stated that many long-term libraries don't feel the current administrator track fits most of them with the needed requirements compared to their actual job duties. The amount of money sent out by the State Library will be increased slightly over last year AND we will receive the per capita monies this year. The next Federation meeting will be held in Laurel on March 14, 2020. c. The PLD/ASLD Fall Retreat at Chico Hot Springs will be held October 13th & 14tH Carpool will be leaving about 8:15 am to make the 11:00 am membership meeting. d. Under Foundation business: the t -shirts have been designed and we are ready to place an order. We will order 12 long-sleeved and 12 short -sleeved in medium, large, extra -large, and 2XL. Library staff have also asked for a new book cart (the weight of the books on the beige cart has damaged the wheels) and a nice table/chairs for patrons that would allow taller patrons to sit more comfortably while reading. Clair has okayed the t -shirt order since it was discussed at an earlier meeting. She would like to talk to her Foundation Board about the cart and table/chair. e. Even though she had registered for the RIPL conference in Billings, Nancy did not attend. Since there wasn't any cost to attend the conference, there was not money lost, just opportunity. f. Mike has been making some detailed changes to the library website. Many of the changes made were enhancements to the mobile aspects of the site. Log in to see what is different. Mike has the list if you would like to compare that to the updates on the site. g. We have a young volunteer that will be helping at the library — Akeena. She will be helping Mike and Chris in the evenings after school. Anything you can think of that she may need to help with, please let us know. h. The fall book sale will be held Tuesday through Saturday, October 22nd -26th with same hours as always: Tues - Thur 9-7; Fri 9-5; Sat 9-3 - again using the donation system. 4. Old Business a. There were no questions about the invoices submitted for payment for September 2019. b. Library staff still has not received their personal time on their pay as a benefit. Since the signature form was still in Emelie's box at City Hall, Nancy removed it and asked Dixie to please send a letter to Kelly (Payroll Clerk) stating that this benefit was voted upon by the board and unanimously passed by those present. c. The library is hanging on — barely — financially. We are looking into getting any type of grant that will help us meet the needs of our patrons. d. We are counting the Summer Reading Program as a success again this year. We had over 90 participants sign up. We gave away 50 prizes (most popular were Pizza Hut and HCC gift cards). There was over 3,500 total hours spent reading this last summer. e. There were 2,064 meals served at the library during the summer lunch program. This program ran two weeks shorter than last summer AND we had the summer school kids coming for lunch most of the summer. It appears to be a success. We will continue to host the program as long as we are eligible. 5. Other Items a. Upcoming Items: NAC meeting in November —14th Holidays —the library will not be closed on the Saturday after Thanksgiving; we will close early on both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. 6. Announcements a. Next regular meeting is Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 6:00 pm in the Community Room of the Laurel Public Library. Arthur motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:29 pm, Bill seconded the motion; motion passed. Respectfully submitted, Nancy L Schmidt Secretary for the Board 3 NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of listed agenda items.