The Ainsworth Library Board held its monthly meeting on August 7, 2024 at the Ainsworth Public Library. This meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, over the radio, and posted on the library’s website and Facebook page. The meeting was called to order at 5:03 p.m. Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act. Roll call showed all five members present. They included Todd Flynn; Stacey Gilliland; Luke Hitchcock; Phyllis Leach; and Alane Lentz. 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. Luke Hitchcock moved to approve the claims for payment. Alane Lentz seconded this with all members voting in favor of. The Monthly Library Report for July was shared as well as the list of titles purchased. It was noted that the four new computers are up and running. The budget spending sheet was shared with the Board.
Public library accreditation was worked on by the Board. We have had 28 surveys submitted so far. The responses were reviewed. The survey will run until the end of August. Items needed for the Community Needs Response Plan were shared. The community profile summary has been started and the board looked that over. We will need to do the strengths/weaknesses of the library as well as threats/opportunities from outside the library before we start on our goals. It was noted that the Board still needs two more hours of continuing education hours before the end of September for Board certification. Phyllis Leach completed 1 hour of continuing education on July 26, 2024.
The Board reviewed the changes to the By-Laws as discussed at the last meeting. Luke Hitchcock made the motion to approve the By-Law changes with the date of the meeting and adding more description to the Conflict of Interest section. Alane Lentz seconded this with all members voting in favor of.
It was noted that the City will hold a budget workshop on August 27th at noon to work on the budget of 2024-2025. The City Clerk stated that our budget request looked good and really did not think that there would be many changes to it.
An update was given on the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge. We have a total of 17 readers and they have a total of 5,718 minutes so far. The challenge will end on August 31st. A storytime/party is being planned for in September.
An update was given on the Book Club for 2024-2025. The first title will arrive next week and the discussion on it will be held on September 16th.
The information from the North Central District Health Department on the Emergency Pantry Project was shared with the Board. The Board was not interested in this project. The library director will inform the NCDHD on this decision.
Board member, Phyllis Leach, turned in her resignation letter from the Library Board. Stacey Gilliland motioned to approve the resignation and Luke Hitchcock seconded this. All members voted in favor with Phyllis Leach abstaining from the voting. The Board thanked Phyllis for her many years of work on the Board. Board members suggested names of people that they thought might make a good board member. The list of names will be forwarded to the Mayor for his selection. Phyllis will also be resigning from the Library Foundation Board. We need one member from the library board to be on the Foundation Board. Luke Hitchcock stated that he would be willing to be on that Board.
Election of officers were held. Alane Lentz nominated Stacey Gilliland as President and Luke Hitchcock as Vice-President for a two year term. Phyllis Leach seconded this with all members voting in favor of.
Reviews were given on workshops/meetings attended by library staff and board members. It was noted that the Director had attended the July 11th Thursday Director’s zoom meeting; the Nebraska State Advisory Council on Libraries Board meeting on July 19th; and the community conversation with Northeast Community College on August 1st. Phyllis Leach watched one hour of CE for board certification with the NCompass Live: Helping students be google aware on July 26th. It was noted that the Library Foundation Board meeting would be held on August 14th.
Under correspondence, a thank you note was shared from a girl that had attended our Summer Reading Program. The new NebraskAccess passwords were shared with the Board. An update from Overdrive on the new Libby app release was shared. Several articles of interest from various library newsletters/journals were shared.
The next meeting date will be on September 11, 2024 at 5 p.m. Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m.
