The Ainsworth Library Board held its regular monthly meeting on March 6th at the Public Library. This meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, radio, and posted at the Library.
The meeting was called to order at 5:06 p.m. by President Traci Ganser. Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act.
Roll call showed three members present. They included Todd Flynn, Traci Ganser, and Phyllis Leach. Members Alane Lentz and Pedro Bordes were absent. Library Director, Gail Irwin, was also present for the meeting.
Phyllis Leach made the motion to approve the minutes. Traci Ganser seconded this with all members voting in favor of. Todd Flynn moved to approve the claims for payment. Phyllis Leach seconded this with all members voting in favor of. The Monthly Library Report for February, the OverDrive Circulation statistics for February with the checkouts of Advantage copies owned by other libraries to our patrons, and the list of titles purchased were presented. The director noted at this time that the roof is having an ice jam by the back door. Both the front entrance and back door has water running over the rain gutter as the gutter has frozen water in it and it is making the sidewalks very icy. We may have to add more insulation or roof vents to stop the icicles from forming.
An update was given on the “Blind Date with a Book” held the whole month of February. We had 18 different books selected for the program. All of them were checked out at least once. We had a total of 25 books checked out. Most of the readers had a favorable commit on the Rate Your Date Slip. The winner of the basket with the two books and candy was Marsha Fuchs.
An update was given on the Library Innovation Studio Grant. Our library will need to complete quarterly surveys until the Library Commission makes its final report to IMLS. This quarter’s survey was completed and revolved around sustainability of our project, did you purchase any equipment, are you fundraising for equipment, etc. A discussion was held on purchasing some S.T.R.E.A.M. items for our Makerspace. The Brown County Foundation is currently accepting grant applications until the end of March and it was felt that this project would be a match to the grant objections. Traci Ganser made the motion to apply for the grant to purchase some S.T.R.E.A.M equipment. Todd Flynn seconded this with all members voting in favor of.
The Summer Reading Program was discussed. It was noted that the Library signed up for the STAR Net’s “Summer of Space” program. It will provide a newsletter, programming, STEM activities and more. The Space Science Institute will be giving away NASA space books to the first 500 libraries that sign up. Our library signed up for this. Pricing for programs from the Edgerton Explorit Center in Aurora was shared. They have limited dates to book. The Middle School Summer Programing was shared. The System is trying to do a bulk purchase on Breakout EDU kits. Our library expressed interest in purchasing this. It was felt that we could do an escape room with this age group if we get this kit. Another event will be hands on/demonstration of the STEAM items from the library system. Staff will be attending the SRP workshop at the end of the month to get more ideas of crafts and programming for the summer.
For Read Across America Day, the library held a Dr. Seuss Hour on March 1st. We had a total of 15 attend. The kids made a Fox in Socks puppet, played a Cat in the Hat toss, as well as enjoying lots of Seuss stories. Each child went home with a medal to wear.
Possible activities to be held during National Library Week (April 7-13th) were discussed. A box/sack book sale will be held all week long. A story time for the kids, a relax with coloring day, plus a no fine day will also be held.
Phyllis Leach and Traci Ganser gave an update on the Library Foundation Board meeting held on Feb. 28th. Library director gave an update on the Big Talk From Small Libraries 2019 online sessions held on Feb. 22nd. It was noted that the Director will be in Lincoln for the Nebraska State Advisory Council Meeting on March 12th. Two staff members plan to attend the Summer Reading Workshop in Ravenna on March 29th. It was noted that Traci Ganser had submitted two different CE programs that she attended: Reclaim your success: Lessons from Disrupters and Strategies from women who break the mold and GIS in your classroom-what is new, contests, and cool stuff. On Feb. 27th, Traci had attended the Emerging cyber-attack trends and defensive tactics which should supply a total of 7 CE credits.
Under correspondence, items from the Library Commission was shared that included information on the Public Library Accreditation, One Book One Nebraska 2019 title, the new State Poet, and the OverDrive Magazines Subscription. Articles of interest were shared from library newsletters and journals.
The next meeting date/time was set for April 3rd at 5 p.m. Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:42 p.m.
