The Ainsworth Library Board held its regular monthly meeting on August 3, 2022 at the Ainsworth Public Library. This meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, over the radio, and posted at the Library. 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. They included Stacey Gilliland, Luke Hitchcock, and Alane Lentz. Members Todd Flynn and Phyllis Leach were absent. Library Director, Gail Irwin, was present for the meeting.
Stacey Gilliland moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Alane Lentz seconded this motion with all members voting in favor of. Alane Lentz made the motion to approve the claims for payment. Luke Hitchcock seconded this with all members voting in favor of. The monthly library report for July was presented as well as a list of titles purchased.
It was noted that the Youth Grant for Excellence Final Report is currently being worked on. It will be submitted the first part of September.
Plans for the Book Club for 2022-2023 were discussed. The book selections were shared with the Board. The One Book One Nebraska title will be featured in October. The author, Jonis Agee, will be doing a Humanities Nebraska program titled “Bones of Paradise: A Novel Examined” on October 20th at 5 p.m. The Central Plains Library System will be covering the $50 speaker fee for this presentation.
The upcoming budget was discussed. Since the City has changed insurance companies, that line item will have a smaller number in it. There has been no word on when the City will be holding its budget hearing. The County has not said anything on the budget yet. Director will keep the Board informed on this matter.
The Board was informed about Makerspace Resources on the Nebraska Library Commissions website. The information included access to the Nebraska Makerspace Database, organizations loaning makerspace equipment kits to schools, mobile trailer labs, World-Wide Makerspace Directory, how to plan your space, policies and use & liability forms, and training materials. Information on the Library Innovation Studios Grant project is also listed such as Final Report & Evaluation Summary, equipment featured in project, communications templates, and more.
The renewal agreement for OverDrive for the participation year running October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023 at the cost of $500 was discussed with the Board. The form included a place for libraries’ to donate additional funds to the consortium collection development budget above and beyond their annual participation fee. Luke Hitchcock made the motion to contribute $200 of additional funds to the collection development budget. Stacey Gilliland seconded this with all members voting in favor of. The total cost for OverDrive will be $700.
A review was given on the Director’s Thursday Zoom Meeting on July 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. The Nebraska State Advisory Council on Libraries Board Meeting has been set for August 19th in Lincoln.
Under correspondence, an article titled “De-Escalation Techniques for Real-Life Programming Scenarios” was shared with the Board. A thank you note from Eli Beel was shared on the Summer Reading Program and prizes won. The Nebraska Library Commission’s Public Library Accreditation process has started up again. The accreditation is now valid for five years, rather than three. Due to this change, accreditation expiration dates for many libraries needed to be changed. Our library’s accreditation expiration year has changed from 2023 to 2024. A new Public Library Accreditation certificate has been presented to our library, showing the new expiration date. Articles of interest from library journals and newsletters were shared. The Central Plains Library Systems newsletter had an article and some photos from the Ethan Boggs Balloon Program at our library.
The next meeting date was set for September 7th at 5 p.m. Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
