Minutes of September Library Board Meeting

The Ainsworth Library Board held its regular monthly meeting on September 11, 2024 at the Ainsworth Public Library.   This meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, over the radio, posted at the library, and on the library’s website and Facebook page.  The meeting was called to order at 5:02 p.m.  Notice of the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act was given.  Roll call showed four members present (Stacey Gilliland, Tammy Hancock, Luke Hitchcock, and Alane Lentz).  The board welcomed Tammy Hancock to the board.  We are still short one board member.  The Mayor/Council is currenting working on appointing a person.

Stacey G. moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting.  Alane L. seconded this motion with all members voting in favor of.  Alane L. made the motion to approve claims for payment.  Luke H. seconded this with all members voting in favor of.  The monthly library report for August was presented as well as a budget spending sheet and list of titles purchased.  It was at this time that the board discussed what to do with the old computers and tv set.  A person is interested in taking them.  There really is no place to recycle them here.  Places out of town will take used technology items for a recycle fee.They are currently sitting around taking up space.  The board said to let the interested person take them after they are cleaned off.  We would then be done with them and not have to pay a recycling fee.

We had an update on the budget for the new year from the City Clerk.  She stated that she had incorporated the budget we had proposed and that is what is slated for the budget adoption on September 11th.

A change in the NebraskAccess Authentication was received from the Nebraska Library Commission.  IP authentication and Nebraska driver’s license/state ID authentication are no longer available.  Users are now required to enter the password assigned to our library.  The library has business cards available with all the needed information.

A review was given on the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge held from July 21st to August 31st.  We had a total of 17 readers in the program.  Each reader was challenged to read 720 minutes during this time.  The group read a total of 19,732 minutes.  Each reader was invited to the birthday party on the 10th of September and received a Pizza Hut certification.  Smokey the Bear was present at the party with several other firemen with tools they use to fight fires.  They had the water fire truck at the library and kids were able to climb inside. We had a total of 27 people attend.  They listened to several stories on Smokey, played a bear game, handed out reading certificates, did a drawing for several prizes, and enjoyed some birthday cake.  Each person was able to take home a party bag filled with Smokey items.

Upcoming events were discussed.  Book Club will be held on September 16th with the title of  “Destiny of a Republic: A tale of madness, medicine, and the murder of a president” by Candice Millard.  Storytime will restart for the school year with a fall theme on September 17th from 4-5 p.m.   We will try to hold a story two times each month. It was noted that September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month.  The library will promote this in hopes of getting some new library card holders.  Banned Books Week will be held from Sept. 22nd-28th.  Wanda is making a special display to highlight this issue.

It was noted that Andrew Sherman from the Nebraska Library Commission was at our library on August 13th.  He completed a Technology Review of our library.  He reported that we have a good network in place.  He had stated that the three white all-in-one public pc’s are not Windows 11 compatible and will need to be replaced by October 20225 due to the end of life of Windows 10.  He cleaned up and reconfigured the public pc’s with identical staff and patron logins.  He also installed DeepFreeze (a reboot/restore system) on the five public pc’s.   The Commission had received a grant to place these in public libraries to help with fraud issues and the public downloading information on our computers.  Mr. Sherman also installed Office 2021 on the Director’s pc and the two new public pc’s in the addition.  He will install the UPS on the network equipment next time he is in the area.  He recommended installing a DNS Filter for cybersecurity protection.  He will need some information from the library’s provider before doing this.  

Linda Moody, a Tax Consultant with IRS was at the Library and was wanting to start doing a tax assistance program for our local people.  She has three volunteers to use as instructors.  They need a place to meet and internet/computers/printers to do this.  She was wondering if the library would be interested in this program.  They would also need a greeter, maybe a Spanish translator, and someone to watch children if they can’t find a sitter.  Tax service would be free. No income restrictions or requirements to use this program. The proposed program would run from February to March (maybe into April if there is a need).  Ms Moody will also be visiting with the school and NCDC on this program.  The board felt that it would be ok for the library to host this program if needed and to offer help with it.  

The board did a review on the collection development policy, duplicates and replacements, weeding, book sale, and the reconsideration policy on challenged materials.  The board did not make any changes at this time.  

Library accreditation was discussed by the board.  It was noted that two members completed the last two continuing education hours needed for the Board Certification.  Library director also has completed her Librarian Certification.  We now meet all ten of the basic requirements for accreditation and can now complete the Accreditation Form online.  It looks like we will be at a silver level.  The form is due by October 1, 2024.  The Community/Library Survey was reviewed. We had a total of 42 respondes   Copies will be shared with the City Office, Chamber of Commerce, and the North Central Development Center.  A review of the survey and the strengths/weaknesses of the library was done.  The board worked on the community needs and how the library could help with them.  Goals for the five year library plan were developed.  They include the following goals:

Goal 1:  Economic growth of our community

  1. Work with Northeast Community College and/or Nebraska Extension to hold workshops on how to start a business and how to do a business plan
  2. The Library will purchase five new titles to promote starting a business, hiring practices, resumes, and bookkeeping/record keeping.
  3. Workers need childcare in order to go to work and there is a shortage for this.  The Library will provide information on requirements to start a licensed in-home childcare and how to start the process.  If there is enough interest shown, the library would be willing to hold a class from Northeast Community College or Nebraska Extension at the library for this process 
  4. Work with various groups to help provide a Tax assistance program for the public in our community.  

Goal 2:  Extending library services beyond current users to those who can not get to the library

  1. Take box of reading material to the nursing home and assisted living each month
  2. Do special programming with these older citizens once a year such as a craft project or humanities program
  3. Since it is hard to travel the library with their charges due to safety in traveling, the library will provide boxes/activity bags to be delivered to the preschool schools/Headstart and/or daycare centers.
  4. Traveling Reading Service (reading a story, singing a song, or action play)  would be provided to the young children at the time of box delivery to promote literacy.

Goal 3: Increase hours of operation 

  1. The library will increase morning hours by one-half hour by opening up at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Goal 4:  Cultural and entertainment programming for adults in the community

  1. Provide two programs per year such as author visits or humanities programs.
  2. Start a multi-generational game night during the winter
  3. Hold events such as adult coloring or a puzzle night several times during the year
  4. Provide Makerspace classes as needed to meet the needs of adult population

Reviews were given on workshops/meetings attended this last month.  Director attended three Thursday zoom meetings on 8-1-24, 8-8-24, & 9-5-24 plus NCompass purchasing computers for libraries on 8-21-24 and Handling library complaints on 8-22-24.  A Library Foundation Board meeting was held on 8-14-24.  Upcoming events include PRT17 Meeting in Valentine on Sept. 13th and the 2025 Nebraska Makerspace Conference in Lincoln in November 2025.  Three board members reported on the continuing education hours they recently viewed.

Articles of interest from library newsletter/journals were shared with board members.  No other correspondence was shared.  The next meeting date was set for Oct 2nd at 5 p.m.  Since there was no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m.

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More Photographs From the Smokey Party

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Celebrating the 80th Birthday of Smokey the Bear

The Ainsworth Public Library held a Smokey Bear 80th birthday on September 10th. What fun! The group enjoyed several Smokey the Bear stories, birthday cake, played a bear game, learned about fire prevention, got to climb in a fire water truck, and of course, got to see Smokey. Thank you Ainsworth Fire Department and Smokey for visiting the library!

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Storytime Re-Start for School Year

FALL STORYTIME will be held on

September 17, 2024 from

4-5 p. m.

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September Book Club

This month’s Book Club selection will feature a non-fiction title by Candice Millard titled “Destiny of a Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the murder of a President”.

James Abram Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, a renowned congressman, and a reluctant presidential candidate who took on the nation’s corrupt political establishment.

But four months after Garfield’s inauguration in 1881, he was shot in the back by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Garfield survived the attack, but become the object of bitter, behind-the-scenes struggles for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care.

The Destiny of the Republic brings alive a forgotten chapter of U.S. history

We will gather on September 16th a.t 2 p.m. to share thoughts on this book. Hope to see you there

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Smokey Bear Wants YOU To Come To His 80th Birthday Party

A birthday party will be held on September 10th from 4-5 p.m. at the Ainsworth Public Library to honor Smokey’s 80th birthday.

We hope to have Smokey the Bear here to present some fire safety information to us. (If there is a fire call at that time, he won’t be able to come as he will be busy fighting the fire). We will also hear a story on Smokey the Bear, play a game or do a little craft. Prizes will be given out for the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge held from July 21st to August 31st. Of course, we will have a piece of birthday cake to enjoy!

Hope to see you at the party!

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Coming Up in September

1. Library Card Sign-Up Month: If you don’t have a library card, stop by and get one!

2. Banned Books Week: Sept. 22-28 Check out a book that has banned!

3. Smokey Bear 80th Birthday Party September 10th 4-5 p.m.

We plan to have Smokey the Bear at the Library and hear some fire safety tips. Hear a story on Smokey, play a game, and enjoy some birthday cake.

4. Book Club: Discussion will be held on Sept. 16th at 2 p.m. on the title of “Destiny of the Republic: A tale of madness, medicine and the murder of a president” by Candice Millard.

5. Storytime will be held on Sept. 17th from 4-5 p.m. Hope to see your child at the library!

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Agenda for Library Board Meeting

Ainsworth Library Board will be meeting on September 11, 2024 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 the last meeting
  5. Approve claims for payment/Budget spending sheet/List of titles purchased
  6. Update from City’s Budget Workshop on 8-27-24
  7. Change to sign-in for NebraskAccess Database
  8. Smokey Bear Reading Challenge (July 21st to August 31st)
  9. Smokey Bear 80th Birthday Party -September 10th
  10. Book Club
  11. Storytime
  12. Library Card sign-up Month
  13. Banned Book Week-Sept. 22nd-28th
  14. Reboot/Restore System (Deep Freeze) installed on public computers-NLC
  15. Tax Assistance for local people information-Lydia Moody
  16. Review Collection Development Policy
  17. Library Accreditation: a. Library Board Certification expires end of September b. Library Survey Review c. Library Goals for Five Year Plan
  18. Workshops/Meetings
    • a.Thursday Director’s Zoom meeting  8-1-24, 8-8-24, & 9-5-24
    • b. NCompass Purchasing Computers for Libraries  8-21-24
    • c. Handling Library Complaints   8-22-24
      • d.Library Foundation Board Meeting  8-14-24
      • e. PRT17 Meeting-Valentine-ESU Office-Sept. 13th 
      • f. 2025 Nebraska Makerspace Conference-Lincoln-November 2025
      • g. Board member continuing education hours
  19. Correspondence:  Articles of interest from library newsletter/journals
  20. Set date/time for next meeting
  21. Adjournment
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Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you to all that completed the Ainsworth/Library Survey! We appreciate you responding. We will release the results after we get it all compiled.

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Smokey Bear Reading Challenge

The Smokey Bear Reading Challenge ended on August 31st. We had a total of 17 readers enter the challenge that ran from July21st to August 31st. The six week program ended up with a total of 19,732 minutes read. The program was open to all ages. The goal was for each reader to meet the assigned 720 minutes.

We had three readers meet the 100% goal and over. They included Kaydence Myers, Ivanna Quintero, and Doris Voss. We also had three readers almost make the reading goal. They met 94% of the goal. These readers included Meliana Bothma, Leon Carpenter, and Jaiden Lehn.

Four readers met the 65-73% goal. They included Oakley Davis, Kimber Davis, Kimberlyn Doke, and Monsterrat Muno. Sienna Myers met 53% of the goal. We had six readers under the 50%.

I want to thank all the readers who joined this reading challenge. Smokey the Bear and the library staff are very proud of our readers.

Be watching for information on our 80th birthday party for Smokey the Bear coming up on September 10t

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