The Ainsworth Library Board meeting was held on September 2, 2020 at the Ainsworth Public Library. This meeting was advertised on the radio, in the local newspaper, and at the library. President Traci Ganser called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act. Roll call showed four members present. They included Todd Flynn, Traci Ganser, Stacey Gilliland, and Phyllis Leach. Member Alane Lentz was absent due to sickness. Library Director 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. Phyllis Leach moved to approve the claims for payment. Todd Flynn seconded this with all members voting in favor. The Monthly Library Report for August was presented. It was noted that 50 advantage copies was checked out this past month on our OverDrive account.
Discussion was held on Library Board terms. Stacey Gilliland was welcomed to the Board and will complete the term of Pedro Bordes. Traci Ganser informed the Board that she would be moving out of the city limits in October and we would need to find someone to complete her term. The Board members listed some people that they thought would be a good member. These names will be forwarded to the Mayor.
An update was given on the proposed budget for 2020-2021. The City Clerk made a couple of changes to it. Health insurance is going up 22% instead of the 15% we planned on. That line item was changed from $19,729 to $21,864. To make up the difference, worker comp was changed from $2,730 to $595. This will leave the bottom line the same amount. No update has been received from the county.
It was noted that we had handed out ten job application forms with only three being returned for the part time library aid position. Two of these will be called in for an interview. Several board members stated that they could be here for the interview. We may need to re-advertise for this position until it is filled.
Discussion was held on the COVID-19 restrictions and if we should make any changes to the current rules. Due to the rise of COVID cases in our area and surrounding counties, no changes were made. The REALM test 3 showed that after five days of quarantine in an unstacked configuration, the rigid plastic containers and cassettes all showed detectable virus. The library will keep these types of materials back longer than we had before. Notice has been sent out that a number of publishers will extend permissions for Read Aloud since remote learning looks like it will be in play this fall.
Board members noticed that the exhibits on the 19th Amendment Centennial is currently on display. The displays include “Rightfully Hers: American Women and Vote” from National Archives; “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” from Smithsonian, and the “Women’s Suffrage Book Set for Youth” from the American Library Association.
The Library is working with the Ainsworth Chamber of Commerce to start Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for our area. Children under the age of five in Brown County will be eligible. People will notify the Chamber any time that their address changes so the books can keep on arriving. Sign-up was held on August 29th at the Back to School BBQ Bash at East City Park. 19 children were signed up there. The Library and Chamber continued to sign up more children this week.
A total of 350 readers completed the August Nebraska 1,000 Minute Challenge on Reader Zone. Each reader will receive an exclusive vinyl sticker and a chance to win a Kindle White Reader. The library with the reader winning the Kindle will also receive a Kindle. The Nebraska Library Commission has released information stating that they used some CARES Act money to provide year-long access to Reader Zone free of charge for Nebraska libraries (9-1-20 to 8-31-21). This access is for public libraries, school libraries, and academic libraries. Patrons can keep track of the reading they do, either by minutes, pages, chapters, and/or books. This would be great to use if a classroom teacher wants to have a reading competition (girls vs. boys or Mrs. Smith class vs. Mr. Jones Class).
Library Card Sign-Up Month will be honored all of September. Our library will promote this on Facebook and on the library’s website. A special bulletin board is currently being developed to encourage library card sign-up.
Under workshops and meetings, a review was given on the weekly Thursday Director’s Zoom meeting on August 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th. Topics covered included keep staff and hiring during COVID-19; Budgets & Cuts; Staff Quarantine List; Reclosing of libraries and putting restrictions back in place; Reader Zone; Surveys and seeing what people want/need from libraries right now. The Ainsworth Library Foundation Board meeting was held on August 26th. They have purchased a Cricut Machine and items for the Clara Mae’s Activity Bags. Bev Whitney has resigned from the Foundation Board and Teri Soles will complete her term. The Board was informed of the Joint Youth Services Retreat being held virtual on September 3rd. The ARSL 2020 Virtual Conference will be held Sept. 28th-Oct 2nd. Wanda has a grant to attend and Gail has applied for one also.
Under Correspondence, a notice was shared from OverDrive to discontinue support for devices that use the outdated TLS 1.0 and 1.1 Security Protocols in October. Thank you cards from Eli and Olivia Beel were shared. Articles of interest were shared from library journals and newsletters.
The next meeting date was set for October 7th at 5 p.m. Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
