HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 05.12.2020MINUTES
CITY OF LAUREL
Library Board
05/12/2020 06:08 PM
Laurel Library
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
X Dixie Feller, Board Chair
X Bill Hanson, Vice -Chairman
X Nancy Schmidt, Secretary
Emilie Eaton
OTHERS PRESENT:
1. Public Input
X Arthur Vogele
X Samantha Barnhart—on phone
X Clair Killebrew—Foundation Liaison
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. Arthur stated that he had been sent a letter from Mayor Nelson asking if he was
interested in being reappointed to the Library Board for a second term. Arthur is
currently the Chair for South Central Federation and would like to remain in his
position.
2. General Items
a. Arthur motioned the Library Board minutes for March 2020 and April 2020 be
accepted as presented, Bill seconded the motion; motion passed.
b. Ray Wells made a donation to the library in the amount of $50.00. Eileen Burton
also donated to the library in the amount of $100.00 for the purchase of the rest
of the books in the "Poldark" series.
c. Circulation Report -Traffic: down 54%; circulation: all items circulated totaled
1,462 (including 570 eBooks), book circulation was down 17.3%, media
circulation was down 919%, eBook checkouts for this month was 41% of total
book circulation, we circulated 0 items to partners and 0 items from other
libraries — courier service has been siloed until further notice; computers:
internet use was down 1900%, children's use was down 130%, wi-fi use : up
273% (not a typo); patron cards: city registrations made up 60.1% of library
users, county patrons 38% and non-resident registered patrons 1%. There were 0
official tech assists in May.
3. New Business
a. Nancy has applied for a -rate funding this year (2020) to help offset internet and
phone costs for the next fiscal year. We are waiting for approval to find out how
much we will receive off our Spectrum bill.
b. There hasn't been any information about the budget except a cc'd email from
Mrs. Langve to Fire Chief Peters stating that Mayor Nelson has given her his
instructions, but we needed to be patient about receiving our budgets from her.
Dixie recommended that we work on the numbers and present what we have to
the Council in June.
c. The Summer Reading Program maybe going digital this year. The Lego Guy that
had arranged to participate this summer has cancelled his show because of
COVID-19 restrictions.
d. Montana Correction Enterprises has been asked to give a quote on new shelving
in the library. The Foundation is looking at pursuing grants to update the
shelving in the library along with the circulation desk and the conference table.
Part of updates will be in honor of former librarian Margaret Freund. As soon as
we have more information, we will share it with the Board.
e. Bob Engel has been in to ask about the status of resuming library activities.
Board members discussed plans to resume activities and decided that none
should resume until the end of Mayor until Governor Bullock moves to Stage 3
reopening procedures. Arthur motioned that we follow the Governor's
guidelines for reopening, Samantha seconded the motion; motion passed.
4. Old Business
a. COVID-19 guidelines for the library will involve staying with limited hours until
the end of May (or longer) and not resuming activities and programs as
discussed in last topic.
b. The School Lunch Program will continue for until the end of Mayas it is currently
running -3 days a week with multiple meals being given at a time to each child.
When school is dismissed for the summer there may be some changes made to
how, and when, the meals are served. We will post new information on our
website and Facebook page.
c. The South Central Federation meeting was held twice this spring: Saturday,
March 14'^ at the Laurel Public Library and online April 16'. There will be 2 sets
of minutes to submit for approval at the next Federation meeting being held in
Red Lodge on September 12, 2020.
d. The Foundation is not able to hold its regular spring meeting this year due to
COVID-19 guidelines. The suggestion was made that we set up the ability of
patrons to make donations online in lieu of a book sale — giving them a letter of
receipt to use for taxes or as credit on the next book sale.
e. Invoices for Marchand April 2020 were reviewed. There were no questions
about the expenditures. Bill motioned that the invoices be accepted as
presented for payment, Arthur seconded the motion; motion passed.
f. The library received over $500 in memorials from 12 donors in honor of Marilee
Wold. These monies will be used toward expenses from MCE items.
g. Montana Library Association was cancelled but the classes are being posted
online as free webinars. Anyone that signs up through ASPeN can attend the
webinars.
h. Nancy attended the Network Advisory Council meeting online. The NAC
members voted to authorize the State Library to use CARES money for library hot
spots, MontanaLibrary2Go funding, and online reading program. Each public
library will receive at least 2 hot spots to loan to patrons for a 14 -day period. This
will include the data contract to run the hot spots. MontanaLibrary2Go will
receive over $80,000 in funding to help purchase more electronic content for
patrons. The program, ReadSquared, will be made available to public libraries
that wish to participate for the Summer Reading Program. This will be all online
and we will have access to it for 2 years — all year long.
5. Other Items
a. Arthur stated that it was time to address the non-attendance and lack of
participation in library affairs of the Board members. To date, there is one Board
member that has seeming stopped attending the board meetings and hasn't
helped promote the library in any way over the last 12 months. The voting Board
members further discussed the lack of said participation and unwillingness to
attend trainings at length. Arthur motioned that the membership of Emelee
Eaton be revoked and removed as a regular member of the Library Board of
Trustees. Bill seconded the motion; motion passed.
b. Clair Killebrew expressed an interest in returning to the Board if we are unable to
fill the open seat now vacated by Emelie Eaton.
c. Upcoming Items:
The library will be closed for the Memorial Day weekend Friday, May 22nd
through Monday, May 25". Staff will take vacation days or remaining
personal hours for this weekend.
6. Announcements
a. Next regular meeting is Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 6:00 pm in the Community
Room of the Laurel Public Library.
Bill motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:36 pm, Arthur seconded the motion; motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy L Schmidt
Secretary for the Board
NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of
listed agenda items.