Ainsworth Public Library

The Ainsworth Library Board held their monthly meeting on May 5, 2021 at the Ainsworth Public Library.  This meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, over the radio, at the Library as well as on the library’s website and Facebook page.  President Phyllis Leach called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.  Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act.  Roll call showed three members present:  Todd Flynn, Stacey Gilliland, and Phyllis Leach.  Members Luke Hitchcock and Alane Lentz were absent.  Library Director, Gail Irwin, was also present for the meeting.

Stacey Gilliland made the motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting.  Todd Flynn seconded this with all members voting in favor of.  Todd Flynn moved to approve the claims for payment.  Stacey Gilliland seconded this with all members voting in favor of.  The Monthly Library Report for April was presented.  It was noted that several business men have looked at the area needing repair work done and will present a bid/estimate.  List of titles purchased was shared with the Board.

An update was given on the Book Club.  The April meeting was the last discussion until the group restarts in September.

A review was given on Covid-19 restrictions at the library.  Starting May 17^th, the library will open up both restrooms, have people return items inside the building instead of using the outside Book Return, and move the two computers from the meeting room back to their regular area.   We will still ask people to use hand sanitizer in the front entry.  Masks are recommended but it is up to the person if they wear a mask or not.  We will still social distance as much as we can.  The Board decided to wait until June on the decision to open up more hours or not.

The Summer Reading Program was discussed.  A flier that went home with students at the school was shared with the Board.  Sign up will run from May 1^st to May 15^th.  They may register with the form on the website or the library’s Facebook page.  We will also sign children up at the library.  We will be using the Reader Zone program for the grade school students to keep track of time read and titles of books from June 1^st to June 30^th.  Prizes will be handed out after July 1^st.  The Atkinson Library will have a Magic Show on July 14^th    in the morning.  Jeff Quinn has contacted our library about scheduling a show in the afternoon.   After a discussion, the Board told director to contact the presenter and see if he was still available.

Katie Rau is scheduled for a Book Signing on May 25^th from 3-6 p.m. with her book The Best Discovery.   It was illustrated by local artist, Shelly Strand.   Promotional work will be done for this event in the near future. 

It was noted that the Library had several displays at the library during April.  We had a display from the Bright Horizon on abuse.  The Ainsworth Art Guild held their Annual Spring Art Show from April 16^th to May 1^st. 

The proposed budget for 2021 to 2022 was worked on.   We have one line item to add yet on building maintenance.  We are waiting for several bids/estimates on some repair work that we need done.  We will complete the budget request at the June meeting.

The letter on our State Aid for fiscal year 2021 was shared with the Board.  We will receive a total of $1,238.  The award was determined using the following formula:

            Base amount:  $565

            Per Capita Pay:  $163

            Accreditation Bonus: $400

            1% Incentive Pay:  $110

A review was given on the various meetings/workshop attended by staff.  This included the Thursday Director’s Zoom Meeting on April 1^st, 15^th, 22^nd, and 29^th; the Book Repair On-Line Workshop; and the Reader Zone On-Line class. 

Under correspondence, a thank you note was shared from the American Legion Auxiliary on the library letting them do a zoom meeting of the District 1 Meeting on April 10^th.  A letter from the White House was shared on thanking the library for thoughts about the infrastructure policy. A letter was shared from Nebraska OverDrive group on using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for adding videos to the Nebraska collection.  The Nebraska Historical Society sent a letter with information on digitization of newspapers.  They will be partnering  with Newspapers.com to scan their newspaper for free.  In exchange, they have agreed to allow this company to have the ability to make scans available on their website for the next three years.  After that, the images will be given to the State Historical Society so they can make them searchable on their website for free.  The Historical Society will no longer provide shipping runs of microfilmed newspapers to outside vendors for digitization.

The next meeting date and time was set for June 2^nd at 5 p.m.   Since there was further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:48 p.m.

AINSWORTH LIBRARY BOARD MEETING will be held on May 5, 2021 at 5 p.m. This meeting is open to the public!

AGENDA

1.         Call meeting to order

2.         Notice of the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act

3.         Roll call

4.         Approve minutes of last meeting

5.         Approve claims for payment/Budget spending review

6.         Monthly Library Report/List of Titles Purchased

7.         Update on Book Club

8.         Review of Covid-19 restrictions at Library

9.         Summer Reading Program

10.       Rau/Strand Book Signing-May 25^th

11.       Displays at Library:  Bright Horizon and Ainsworth Art Guild’s Spring Art Show

12.       Proposed Budget for 2021-2022

13.       State Aid for Fiscal Year 2021

14.       Workshops/Meetings:

            a.         Thursday Director’s Zoom Meeting (April 1^st,15^th, 22^nd, & 29^th)

            b.         Book Repair On-line

            c.         Reader’s Zone On-Line

15.       Correspondence:

            a.         Thank you card on hold District 1 American Legion/Auxiliary Zoom meeting

            b.         Letter from the White House on infrastructure policy

            c.         Nebraska OverDrive: add videos with ARPA funds

            d.         Nebraska Historical Society: Newspaper Digitalization & Newspapers.com

16.       Set next meeting date/time

17.       Adjournment

The Ainsworth Library Board held its regular monthly meeting on April 7, 2021 at the Ainsworth Public Library.  This meeting was advised in the local newspaper, over the radio, at the Library, and posted on the library’s website and Facebook page.  President Phyllis Leach called the meeting to order at 5 p.m.  Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act.

Roll called showed four members present.  They included Todd Flynn, Stacey Gilliland, Phyllis Leach, and Alane Lentz.  Member Luke Hitchcock was not present. Library Director, Gail Irwin, was also present for the meeting.

Alane Lentz made the motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting.  Phyllis Leach seconded this with all members voting in favor of.  Stacey Gilliland moved to approve the claims for payment.  Todd Flynn seconded this with all members voting in favor of.  The Monthly Library Report for March and a list of titles purchased were shared with the Board.  It was noted that Gail plans to take a week of vacation the last week of April.

An update was given on the Book Club.   The March selection of “Big Little Lies” discussion was moved back several days due to snowy weather.   The group loved this book and had lots to talk about.  The April title is “Zoo Nebraska” by Carson Vaughan. The group will meet on the 19^th to share thoughts on it.  This will be the last meeting until the fall.

Take and Make Packets were discussed.  Two packets were handed out in March with a Dr. Seuss theme (Horton’s Ear headband and Wocket in my Pocket).  The two packets for April will include the Bubble Wand and the Pinch Diver Toy. 

A review was given on the Read Across America/Dr. Seuss Day held the first week of March.  We held “Name That Dr. Seuss Book” on the library’s Facebook page. We posted an illustration each day of the week from a Dr. Seuss book and people listed which book it was from.  If they answered correctly, they won a set of Dr. Seuss Book Marks. 

The Board discussed the Covid-19 restrictions at the Library.  No changes were made at this time other than we will recommend wearing masks now and not require them.  We will continue to do social distancing and having items returned in the Book Drop outside.  Having more open hours and more computers open to the public will be addressed next month.

Plans for National Library Week (April 4-10) were shared.  We will do a GO FISH: READ A BOOK all week long.  People may take a fish out of the fish bowl and then check out the title listed on the fish.  We have three different age groups for people to fish.  Monday, we will feature the Bubble Wand Take and Make Packet #1.  Tuesday, will be Movie Check-Out Day.  If you check out a DVD, you will get a packet of microwave popcorn and a popcorn bag to make.  Wednesday, is No Fine Day.  Thursday will be Book Character Day.  If you visit the Library in a Book Character Costume, you get to pick out a free book to take home.  Friday will be Color Your World Day.  People will pick out a coloring page/bookmark to color at home or at the library. 

The Library will be promoting D.E.A.R. Day (Drop Everything And Read) on April 12^th.  An article will be in the newspaper, on the library’s website, and posted on the library’s Facebook page to encourage everyone to stop whatever they are doing and read for an half hour on this day.

Discussion was held on the Summer Reading Program.  Concerns were voiced on the highway construction this summer and having large groups in the meeting room.  The theme is Tails and Tales.  We will use the Reader Zone Online Program again this year to keep track of time/books read.  We can also do some activity programs now with this program.   The children will read from June 1^st to June 30^th.  We will not have a Toddler Program this summer.   The program will be for children in preschool to 4^th grade.  Sign up will be from May 10-15^th.  We will plan to have the children at the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays in June.  We will have each level/grade come for 45 minutes where we will read several books, do a game or activity, check out books, and hand out a packet for an at home craft.  If Covid-19 cases increase, we may do away with the programing on week days. 

The library was approached by a local author to do a reading with children on her new Christian book.  Director had informed her that the library was not doing any in person programming with children right now but would visit with the Board about this.  The Board did not want lots of children inside the library at one time yet.  They felt it would be safer to do a Book Signing where the people could come and go when they liked.  It would keep the gathering to a small amount of people and still promote the book.  The director will contact the author and illustrator and see if we could get a date set for a book signing.

The proposed budget for 2021-2022 will be worked on at the next meeting.

Reviews were given on various workshops/meetings that staff has attended.  Items discussed at the Thursday Director Zoom Meetings on March 4^th, 18^th, and 25^th was shared.  Information from the Niche Academy Training on March 9^th was shared.  Director had attended the Nebraska State Advisory Council on Libraries Board Meeting on March 19^th.  It is hoped that the July Meeting could be in person in Lincoln.  It was noted that Wanda Raymond had been attending a Mental Health and Libraries On-Line Course.  Gail Irwin had signed up for a Nebraska Public Employees Financial Wellness Program On-Line Course which starts the first of April. 

Under correspondence we shared information from OverDrive/Libby on the removal of color books due to burden of print pages; library performance on Goggle; information on a state-wide survey of all court users from the State of Nebraska Judicial Branch; and on President Biden’s infrastructure plan that fails to include funding for library facilities.  Director has sent letters out to the President and to the four Nebraska Senators and Representatives in D.C.  Items of interest from library newsletters and journals were also shared with the Board.

The next meeting date and time was set for May 5^th at 5 p.m.  Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:47 p.m.

OverDrive recently removed coloring books from the OverDrive Magazine collection. This was done after receiving feedback from libraries around the country about the additional technical burdens the coloring books placed on libraries when patrons sought printing assistance.Printing functionality isn’t built into OverDrive or Libby. This meant that when patrons wanted to print coloring pages, libraries/patrons needed to resort to various technical workarounds, requiring 3rd party software, in order to get pages printed, and even when they succeeded in doing so the results (resolution) were often unsatisfactory.