The Ainsworth Library Board held its regular monthly meeting at the Library on April 13th. The meeting was called to order at 5 p.m. Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act. Roll call showed three members present: Todd Flynn, Stacie Gilliland, and Alane Lentz. Members Luke Hitchcock and Phyllis Leach were absent. Library Director, Gail Irwin, was also present for the meeting.
Stacie made the motion to approve the minutes which Todd had seconded. All members voted in favor of. Alane moved to approve the claims for payment. Stacie seconded this with all voting in favor of. The Monthly Library Report for March was presented as well as a list of titles purchased.
Updated were given on the grants. It was noted that the Youth Grant for Excellence has purchased all the needed items. An S.T.E.M. Open House was held on 4-7-22 with all the items out for people to see and try out. We had around 12 attend. We plan to hold a weekly Monday S.T.E.M. Time for 4-5 p.m. The final report still needs to be completed and submitted. The Library Improvement Grant now has all of the Makerspace equipment and supplies ordered on hand. Plans are in the works to hold a Makerspace Open House on May 5th from 4-5 p.m. We will have one on one training sign-up sheets by each item. The Final Report needs to be completed in June. The Formula Grant is still being worked on. It was noted that the funds for the $500 Teachers Grant came in and S.T.E.M items ordered. The fort building, books, Makedo, and Visual Clock will be used on our Monday S.T.E.M. time. Final report for this grant included copies of receipts plus photos of the items.
National Library Week was honored from April 4-9th with the theme of “Connect at your Library”. We promoted this week on FaceBook, our website, in the newspaper, and radio. Gifts were received from different people: relish tray/dip; flowers, and vase full of candy. We held our S.T.E.M. Open House during the week.
The Summer Reading Program was discussed with dates and time for each group from Toddlers to 4th Grade. The flier was shared with the Board that the school students will be getting. We will be using Reader Zone to keep track of time read. It was noted that a Balloon Twisting Program by Ethan Boggs would be held on June 13th from 2:30-3:30 p.m. The program will be held in 26 libraries and is being paid for by the Central Plains Library System with ARPA funds.
It was noted that the NebraskAccess has a new password. The new business card with all the needed information was handed out to the Board members.
OverDrive has discontinued the OverDrive app and transitioning to just the Libby app. Staff has attended several zoom meetings on this issue. There was a survey for the public to take on the OverDrive website in regard to this. It was noted that the libray’s website had the OverDrive app information removed and the new Libby app posted instead. It still remains a problem on Kindle books and Amazon working with Libby but it is being worked on.
The Ainsworth Art Guild currently has the Spring Art Show on display. The show went up on the 8th and judging done on the 9th. Art work will be here till the end of the month. Bright Horizons had a display which will be up from April 11-16th.
We need to find a new cleaning person for the Library due to our cleaning lady going to college. The Job Description was reviewed and approved by the Board. We would use the application form from the City. The City Clerk would like to continue the use of a Form 1099 at the end of the year to show earning if possible. The Board directed the director to place an ad for two weeks. The Board would review the applications at the next meeting and decide whom to hire at that time. If no applications come in, we will keep on advertising the position until filled.
Public Librarian Certification for Wanda Raymond was received and renewed till 3-23-2025.
The Budget for 2022-2023 was postponed until the next meeting.
Various meetings and workshops that staff attended were shared with the Board. They included the Director’s Thursday Zoom Meeting on March 10th, 17th, and 31st; the Aquatic WILD on March 8th; NCompass Live Importance of Chit Chat in the Library on March 9th and If you build it they will come on March 15th; Transitioning to Libby on March 15th; Nebraska 4H S.T.E.M. Reading Connection Workshop on March 13th; Nebraska State Advisory Council on Libraries on March 18th; City Safety Meeting on March 31st; and How to Train Your Community on Libby on April 7th. Upcoming workshops include the Reluctant Readers Workshop by zoom on April 21st; Golden Sower Reading Day in Kearney on June 3rd; and Games People Play in Hastings on June 16th.
Information was shared under correspondence on the release of the 1950 Census records and the Stroke of Genealogy: Searching U.S. Census Bureau Records course on the Library Commission Website. The library received 196 bookbags/books from the Early Development Network Free Books Literacy Project. We plan to hand them out during Children’s Book Week which is May 2-7th. An email was received from the Library Commission on the State Aid for 2022. Our library will receive a total of $1,237. The amount was determined using the following formula: Base amount of $565; Per Capita Pay $162; Accreditation Bonus $400; 1% Incentive pay $110. The State Advisory Council on Libraries was made aware of what was happening in the State Legislature on LB 1213 and LB 75. Articles of interest from journals and newsletter were shared.
The next meeting was set for May 4th at 5 p.m. Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
