The Ainsworth Library Board held their monthly meeting on June 2, 2021 at the Ainsworth Public Library. This meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, on the radio, on the library’s website plus posted at the library. President Phyllis Leach called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act. Roll call showed four members present (Todd Flynn, Stacie Gilliland, Phyllis Leach, and Alane Lentz). Member Luke Hitchcock was absent due to a work meeting. Library Director, Gail Irwin, was also present for the meeting.
Stacie Gilliland moved to approve the minutes. Todd Flynn seconded this with all members voting in favor of. Stacie Gilliland made the motion to approve the claims for payment. Phyllis Leach seconded this with all members voting in favor of. The Board spent a few minutes reviewing the budget spending for the year. The Monthly Library Report for May was presented as well as a List of Titles Purchased this month.
The Board spent some time discussing the Covid-19 restrictions. Discussion was held on opening the library up with more hours and putting the children’s puzzles, puppets, Lego’s, etc. back on the shelves. The Board said to wait on these items and see what happens with the virus in the next month.
The Summer Reading Program was discussed. The program will run all of June. We have a total of 50 children enrolled. We will try to keep it to 10-12 children in our five different groups on Tuesday and Thursday. The K-4th Grade groups will keep tract of their reading time on Reader Zone. Prizes for reading will be given out after July 1st. The Library plans to do some Stem/Steam with the Middle School Students in July. We would like to run a movie time on Friday afternoon also.
Jeff Quinn’s Magic Show will be at our library on June 14th at 4 p.m. He will do a presentation in Atkinson in the morning and one in Bassett right after lunch. Due to our three library’s sharing this date, we all received a discount on the cost. No extra charges for mileage or prizes.
A review was given on the Book Signing for Katie Nelson Rau held on May 25th from 3-6 p.m. with her new title of “The Best Discovery”. Becky Schelm was the winner of the free book and stuff quail.
The Library Foundation will be doing a fundraiser soon. They want to sell note cards with photographs of our local area. We are asking for people to submit photographs in two different categories in either color or black and white. Deadline will be June 10th. The Foundation Board will decide which photos to use. A local printer will be used. It is hoped to have them available for sale by June 25th.
The proposed budget for 2021-2022 was worked on. We only received one bid for repairs that need to be taken care of. Board asked Director to try to get at least one more bid and get the repairs done by September. Phyllis made the motion to approve the proposed budget and to add $10,000 for cost of repairs if needed. Alane Lentz seconded this with all members voting in favor.
Discussion was held on the need to hire a new part time person. Josie Voss contacted the Library on June 1st stating she has a medical issue and not able to work. Board directed the Director to begin the process of hiring a new part time person.
Information was shared on Nebraska Library Commission grants which will be opening up very soon with American Rescue Plan Act funding. There will be a direct payment to legally established public libraries. We will need to request this grant and submit a plan for how the funds will be spent. A base amount of $3,750 plus $0.275 per capital will be allowed. No match is required. They will also have two other competitive grants similar to the Library Improvement Grant and the Youth Services Grants. Library staff is currently thinking of ways to use this funding if we are awarded.
Workshops/meetings that staff attended were reviewed. It was noted the Director had attended the Thursday Director’s Zoom Meeting on May 6th, 13th, and 27th and the NCompass: Update Website with Word Press on May 26th. Wanda Raymond had attended the Young Adult Literature with STEM on May 6th, and the four hour class of Teaching Technology on May 12th. President Leach reported on the Library Foundation Board Meeting on May 19th. She shared information on the upcoming fundraiser and the soaker system which is to be installed soon.
Under correspondence, information was shared on the Nebraska Library Association’s statement on a Nebraska school that removed a title from its school library, by passing its own policies on how to deal with challenged material as well as proposed changes by the Nebraska Department of Education accreditation rules which could end libraries/librarians in public schools. It was also noted that the Nebraska Library Commission has the 2020 Public Library Survey Data now available on its website. A letter was shared from Rep. Adrian Smith on the Build American Libraries Act. Items of interest from various library newsletters and journals were shared with the Board.
The next meeting date was set for July 7th at 5 p.m.
Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 6 p.m.
