HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-01-2024 Library Board Minutes COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY
3939 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421
BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, May 1st, 2024
Approved
6/5/2024
ATTENDANCE INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC
Members of the public who wished to attend could do so in-person, or via Microsoft Teams at columbiaheightsmn.gov/join-a-meeting and entering
Meeting ID 211 422 335 081 and passcode NfgDWf at the scheduled meeting time. For questions, please call the library at 763-706-3690.
The meeting was called to order in the Library Community Room by Melanie Magidow at 5:32pm.
Members present: Carrie Mesrobian; Melanie Magidow; Amina Maameri. Members absent: Rachelle Waldon; Chris
Polley. Others present: Connie Buesgens (City Councilmember); Renee Dougherty (Library Director); Nick Olberding (Board
Secretary); Eliza Pope (Youth Services Librarian). Public present: N/A.
1. The Meeting Agenda was approved as-is.
2. The Minutes of the April 3rd, 2024, Board Meetings were moved and approved.
3. Review 2024 Operating Budget: 33.06% of the year and 27.33% of the budget expended; no meaningful changes
since last month and no concerns raised.
Community Forum: Opportunity for public input. No correspondence and no public in attendance. The City website
has a Contact Form for each Board/Commission as a new method for the public to submit their questions or concerns:
https://www.columbiaheightsmn.gov/government/boards_and_commissions/index.php after clicking desired group,
scroll to the bottom of their page to find the contact form.
New Business:
4. Summer Events at the Library: The Board was provided with a preview of the new Summer Events Calendar to
supplement the focus on youth programming on tonight’s agenda. The metro-wide MELSA sponsored Summer
Reading Program has a space exploration theme this summer so much of the youth programming relates to that.
Additionally, there will be a Spanish/English bilingual puppet show, a visit from the University of Minnesota
Raptor Center, and from July 1-August 19 the library will host the Minnesota Artists Penny Press (MAPP) featuring
local artists’ works; for 2 quarters you can turn a penny into a piece of art.
a. Thank you to the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Columbia Heights Public Library
Foundation for helping to fund summer programming. For ~10 years we’ve had grant funding through a
federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program (in partnership with Columbia Heights Public
Schools and the Recreation department), but this year the grant was not renewed; the CHPLF stepped up
to replace most of the lost funding to allow continuation of summer youth programs.
b. The Board mentioned comparing our programming to Hennepin/Ramsey County Legacy events provided
by the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Funds as they may have more diverse programs that would fit well
in Columbia Heights. Our current Legacy programs are selected and provided through suburban Anoka
County which may not reflect the diversity of the overall metro area. Amina voiced interest in providing
support for Arabic storytimes.
5. Informational Presentation from the Youth Services Librarian: Eliza Pope gave an informational overview of the
essential components of her job. Eliza talked about storytime, early literacy, and the early learning playspace at
the library and how those programs and spaces help prepare children to read and write once they attend school
and the importance of play. Through community outreach and partnerships with Columbia Heights Public
Schools, Eliza and library staff share information about the library and registering for library cards. Next, Eliza
gave a brief historical overview of program funding, discussed the program planning process for youth, and
looked at upcoming summer programming. Finally, Eliza talked about how she performs collection maintenance
on the juvenile and young adult collections.
6. Staffing Update: One of our Library Supervisors has submitted their resignation due to an expanded opportunity
at another employer which does not leave time for consistent hours at Columbia Heights. It is the Library’s
current intention not to hire right away and provide our other two supervisors with additional hours. If it’s
determined later that we need another supervisor, we will hire someone at that time. Also of note, we still have
an unfilled part-time Library Aide position that will remain in the budget. In prior years, the Aide supported
programming and documentation related to 21st Century Grand funding. Connie mentioned that the City plans on
performing a staffing study in 2025 on the various departments to determine their workforce needs.
7. Preliminary Website Design: The Board was shown Revision #2 from the vendor providing our Library microsite;
it was still missing much of what has been laid out on the drafted sitemap, but it showed generally how the new
site will appear. It is our hope that once it is ready we can demo it and make changes before it goes live; then
Library staff should have access to alter the site as needed going forward.
a. Alerts should be visible, but not obstruct important page items; if it overlays the site when visited, it
should only pop-up once (not with every refresh or re-visit to the homepage).
b. The search bar needs to default to Catalog Search (preferably with advanced options: Author, Title, etc),
and if it sends you outside our site to the ACL Website Catalog, it should open in a new tab.
c. The Event Section of the site could have tabs for separately viewing Adult/Teen/Youth programs.
Potentially Event Calendar Items should allow an embedded picture, and a carousel that cycles.
d. The top picture on the homepage should not be so tall (for mobile optimization), and this should carousel
relevant images as well.
Reports (formerly known as Director’s Update):
8. March Operational Report (formerly known as Board Report): Provided as an FYI.
9. Board Books:
a. Carrie: On Animals Susan Orlean
b. Chris: Crook Manifesto Colson Whitehead; Columbus directed by Kogonada (streaming on Kanopy)
c. Melanie: Little Witch Hazel Phoebe Wahl; The Enchanted April Elizabeth von Arnim
d. Amina: The Montessori Child Simone Davies & Junnifa Uzodike
e. Justice: Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It M. Nolan Gray
f. Connie: Hard Choices Hillary Rodham Clinton
g. Renee: House in the Cerulean Sea (CHPL Book Club Pick) TJ Klune
h. Eliza: Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan
i. Nick: DREDGE (PS4/5, XBOX, Switch) Black Salt Games (available by request via Anoka County Library)
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:47 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicholas P. Olberding
Recording Secretary, CHPL Board of Trustees