HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-08-2025 Library Board Packet
LIBRARY BOARD
Library—Community Room, 3939 Central Ave NE
Wednesday, January 08, 2025
5:30 PM
AGENDA
ATTENDANCE INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC
Members of the public who wish to attend may do so in-person, or by using Microsoft Teams Meeting
at columbiaheightsmn.gov/joinameeting: ID 271 987 908 772, Passcode T2uo3T8N. For questions, please
contact Administration at 763-706-3610.
Auxiliary aids or other accommodations for individuals with disabilities are available upon request when the
request is made at least 72 hours in advance. Please contact Administration at 763-706-3610 to make
arrangements.
CALL TO ORDER
1. Approve the Agenda
2. Review/Approve Library Board Minutes from December 4, 2024
3. Review 2024 Operating Budget
COMMUNITY FORUM: At this time, individuals may address the Library Board about any item not included on
the regular agenda. All speakers need to state their name and connection to Columbia Heights, and limit their
comments to five (5) minutes. Those in attendance virtually should send this information in the chat function to
the moderator. The Board will listen to brief remarks, ask clarifying questions, and if needed, request staff to
follow up or direct the matter to be added to an upcoming agenda.
NEW BUSINESS
4. 2024 Year-End Highlights
5. Update on Strategic Directions
DIRECTOR'S UPDATE
6. November Board Report
7. Board Books
ADJOURNMENT
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A COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY
3939 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421
BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Drafted
12/5/2024
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 258 492 181 742 and passcode GWnPxW 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 Rachelle Waldon at 5:37pm.
Members present: Rachelle Waldon; Melanie Magidow; Chris Polley; Carrie Mesrobian; Amina Maameri. Members
remotely present: N/A. Members absent: Justice Spriggs (City Council Liaison). Others present: Renee Dougherty (Library
Director); Nick Olberding (Board Secretary). Public present: N/A.
1. The Meeting Agenda was approved.
2. Library Board Photoshoot with CH Communications: This was done before the meeting was called to order so
that Communications staff could be on their way--members were asked to choose a book of their liking from the
collection to hold for their group photos.
3. The Minutes of the November 6, 2024, Library Board Meeting were moved and approved.
4. Review of 2024 Operating Budget: 91.53% of the year and 81.62% of the budget expended.
a. Gas (43830): A warm end to last winter and beginning of this one means the gas budget is underspent.
b. Building Maintenance (44020): This budget line will be overspent due to unforeseen plumbing problems,
A/C system repair, roof maintenance, and boiler repair.
c. Individual lines may be over/under without issue--it’s the bottom line that matters. Under certain
circumstances the Board may reallocate funds from one line to another, but it’s generally unnecessary.
Remaining funds in the budget roll over into a mandated fund balance account to ensure continuous
operation in between property tax disbursements.
Community Forum: Opportunity for public input. No correspondence and no public in attendance. The City website
has a contact form for each Board/Commission for the public to submit 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.
Old Business:
5. Update on CHPL Foundation Grant: The Foundation will donate funds for approximately half the cost of the
parking lot expansion—gifted over three years (the first being $29,086 received this month). The Library Board
expressed its gratitude to the Library Foundation for its support in making this possible.
6. ALA CORE Forum (Makerspaces, Hybrid Spaces, Unstaffed Hours): Renee was able to attend the American Library
Association’s CORE Forum in Minneapolis last month. She attended sessions on promotion strategies, artificial
intelligence, Makerspaces/CreatorLabs, Open Libraries, physical space usage, and DEI aspects of library
programming. The experience will help make more informed choices in future planning and strategic planning. The
Board asked if there is any one thing she saw that could be implemented immediately—Renee said one thing
would be putting up a Welcome (in many languages) sign to more firmly express that the library is open to
everyone.
7. Discussion of Spiritual Care/Meditation/Prayer Space: Continued from the previous meeting. Staff get the
occasional request for a private room for prayer, which we happily accommodate if space is available. We’re
unsure if anyone has ever asked whether we have prayer rugs to loan out. The Board discussed the topic a little
more and concluded that having rugs to loan out is not necessary, but in addition to simply providing the private
space by request, we should have signage to inform visitors of the option to ask for a room. Some visitors may
wish to take a few minutes for quiet reflection but don’t want to ask for a room or know that they can.
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Item 2.
New Business:
8. Collection Location Practices (ACL/CHPL): The Anoka County Library decided to change up some of their shelving
and labelling strategies; we will be following suit on some of it, but not all. The Board agreed that the stance we
are taking here at Columbia Heights was logical and preferred; with the fiction sections it makes sense to keep the
genres separated to make it easier for browsing. If the new genres become numerous enough to warrant their
own separate shelving, we will make the decision at that time. We have received one complaint from a patron not
happy with ACL interfiling all the fiction genres together, so we will solicit feedback from ACL as this project
continues to see how it’s working in their 8 buildings.
a. Youth Media (CD/DVD): Youth media was separated by Easy/Juvenile, but will now be interfiled together,
which we have already been doing. Going forward, new youth media will all be designated as Juvenile.
b. Youth E/J-Nonfic: ACL will be interfiling these two nonfiction classifications together; we will be keeping
them separate, but they are already close to each other in the building.
c. Fiction (all ages): ACL is adding new genres to include Thriller, Horror, Historical, and Urban in addition to
the longstanding Fiction, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance, and Western. They will be interfiling all these
genres together alphabetically by author within Fiction; we intend on keeping our existing genres shelved
separately, but the new genres will initially be interfiled within the Fiction section.
9. Proposed 2025 Fee Schedule: Renee updated the 2025 Fee Schedule to reflect the waived new library card fee
that the Board had previously approved, but they need to approve the whole list officially so the City Council can
also approve it for the new year. A motion was made to approve the revised Fine/Fee Schedule for 2025, it was
seconded and approved.
10. Accept and Receive 2024 Gifts to the Library: The Board was presented with a list of gifts received by the Library
in 2024, which included: Nadine Snead/James J. Lipka ($150), Elisabeth Porvaznik ($50), CHPL Foundation
($20,000) for E-books & programming and ($29,086) for the parking lot expansion, Northeast Bank ($1,500),
Friends of the Columbia Heights Public Library ($300) in memorial of Rita Norberg. The Board was very thankful;
a motion to formally accept the 2024 gifts to the Columbia Heights Public Library was moved and approved.
Director’s Update:
11. MLA Leadership Role: Renee has been selected as the MLA Secretary for 2025--congratulations Renee!
12. October Board Report: Provided as a FYI.
a. Immaculate Conception student field trips to the library have resumed, and English Language Family
Nights at the schools have spurred interest in visiting the library by several new families.
b. Puzzles: Elizabeth Ripley has connected with Carrie to facilitate a puzzle-related program.
13. Board Books:
a. Chris: Beautiful Country Qian Julie Wang; Showing Up (2022) Kelly Reichardt (streaming on Kanopy)
b. Carrie: Witches are Coming Lindy West
c. Melanie: Last Train to Istanbul Ayşe Kulin; Tuesdays at the Castle (juvenile series) Jessica Day George
d. Renee: Small Things Like These / Foster Claire Keegan; Bluebird, Bluebird / Heaven My Home Attica Locke
e. Rachelle: The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka; The Book of Delights Ross Gay; Dog Songs (poetry) Mary Oliver;
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch) Nintendo of America (available via ACL)
f. Amina: A Whale of the Wild Rosanne Parry
g. Nick: The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:37 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicholas P. Olberding
Recording Secretary, CHPL Board of Trustees
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Item 2.
Fund 240 ‐ LIBRARY
2024 YTD ACTIVITY FOR
AMENDED BALANCE MONTH ENCUMBERED UNENCUMBERED % BDGT
ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET 12/31/2024 12/31/2024 YEAR‐TO‐DATE BALANCE USED
41010 REGULAR EMPLOYEES 515,400.00 483,653.79 38,169.76 0.00 31,746.21 93.84
41011 PART‐TIME EMPLOYEES 144,300.00 101,413.29 8,700.74 0.00 42,886.71 70.28
41020 OVERTIME‐REGULAR 700.00 987.89 90.84 0.00 ‐287.89 141.13
41050 ACCRUED LEAVE ADJUSTMENT 0.00 637.50 0.00 0.00 ‐637.50
41070 INTERDEPARTMENTAL LABOR SERV 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00
41210 P.E.R.A. CONTRIBUTION 48,000.00 43,941.24 3,472.34 0.00 4,058.76 91.54
41220 F.I.C.A. CONTRIBUTION 50,500.00 44,541.87 3,570.62 0.00 5,958.13 88.20
41300 INSURANCE 82,800.00 82,051.26 6,831.90 0.00 748.74 99.10
41400 UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION 0.00 66.54 0.00 0.00 ‐66.54
41510 WORKERS COMP INSURANCE PREM 5,000.00 2,707.48 167.82 0.00 2,292.52 54.15
42000 OFFICE SUPPLIES 1,200.00 1,203.61 0.00 0.00 ‐3.61 100.30
42010 MINOR EQUIPMENT 100.00 2,108.78 0.00 0.00 ‐2,008.78 2108.78
42011 END USER DEVICES 3,300.00 2,954.44 0.00 2,979.69 ‐2,634.13 179.82
42012 OTHER TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT 0.00 2,337.94 0.00 0.00 ‐2,337.94
42030 PRINTING & PRINTED FORMS 700.00 882.00 0.00 0.00 ‐182.00 126.00
42170 PROGRAM SUPPLIES 1,000.00 701.33 0.00 0.00 298.67 70.13
42171 GENERAL SUPPLIES 7,300.00 7,064.46 323.21 0.00 235.54 96.77
42175 FOOD SUPPLIES 100.00 13.97 0.00 0.00 86.03 13.97
42180 BOOKS 55,000.00 47,084.07 2,905.62 0.00 7,915.93 85.61
42181 PERIODICALS, MAG, NEWSPAPERS 7,800.00 7,102.09 0.00 0.00 697.91 91.05
42183 E‐BOOKS 15,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 15,000.00 0.00
42185 COMPACT DISCS 4,700.00 1,394.35 121.92 0.00 3,305.65 29.67
42187 BOOK/CD SET 800.00 794.57 0.00 0.00 5.43 99.32
42189 DVD 6,500.00 5,475.88 248.87 0.00 1,024.12 84.24
42280 VEHICLE REPAIR AND PARTS 0.00 656.06 0.00 0.00 ‐656.06
42990 COMM. PURCHASED FOR RESALE 300.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 300.00 0.00
43050 EXPERT & PROFESSIONAL SERV. 5,400.00 5,126.02 46.60 300.00 ‐26.02 100.48
43105 TRAINING & EDUCATION ACTIVITIES 700.00 709.00 0.00 0.00 ‐9.00 101.29
43210 TELEPHONE 900.00 805.41 0.00 571.78 ‐477.19 153.02
43220 POSTAGE 200.00 15.45 0.00 0.00 184.55 7.73
43250 OTHER TELECOMMUNICATIONS 3,200.00 3,015.46 199.27 0.00 184.54 94.23
43310 LOCAL TRAVEL EXPENSE 500.00 107.60 0.00 0.00 392.40 21.52
43600 PROP & LIAB INSURANCE 12,300.00 11,275.00 0.00 0.00 1,025.00 91.67
43800 UTILITY SERVICES 7,000.00 5,129.42 0.00 0.00 1,870.58 73.28
43810 ELECTRIC 46,300.00 38,567.89 2,535.79 0.00 7,732.11 83.30
43830 GAS 16,600.00 6,503.89 1,141.43 0.00 10,096.11 39.18
44000 REPAIR & MAINT. SERVICES 18,700.00 17,292.23 356.74 800.00 607.77 96.75
44010 BUILDING MAINT:INTERNAL SVCS 43,800.00 40,150.00 0.00 0.00 3,650.00 91.67
44020 BLDG MAINT CONTRACTUAL SERVICES 29,000.00 27,904.40 116.97 2,493.20 ‐1,397.60 104.82
44030 SOFTWARE & SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTIONS 18,800.00 14,509.56 0.00 3,717.48 572.96 96.95
44040 INFORMATION SYS:INTERNAL SVC 87,800.00 80,483.37 0.00 0.00 7,316.63 91.67
44050 GARAGE, LABOR BURD. 300.00 1,128.00 0.00 0.00 ‐828.00 376.00
44330 SUBSCRIPTION, MEMBERSHIP 700.00 411.00 0.00 0.00 289.00 58.71
44375 VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION 200.00 35.72 0.00 0.00 164.28 17.86
45180 OTHER EQUIPMENT 0.00 491.86 0.00 0.00 ‐491.86
47100 OPER. TRANSFER OUT ‐ LABOR 18,600.00 17,050.00 0.00 0.00 1,550.00 91.67
TOTAL EXPENDITURES: 1,262,000.00 1,110,485.69 69,000.44 10,862.15 140,652.16 88.85
EXPENDITURE REPORT FOR CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
PERIOD ENDING 12/31/2024
Fiscal Year Completed:100%
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Item 3.
Columbia Heights Public Library
Library Board Report – November 2024
BUILDING
• Electrical repairs were made to ceiling lights in the youth area.
• Adams Pest Control made a regular monthly inspection.
• Northland Refrigeration made repairs to one of the heating boilers.
TECHNOLOGY
A new library website was launched November 1. It took a couple of weeks for Google to incorporate
the changed site into its search algorithms.
COLLECTION
• New books were selected from reviews in the July and August issues of Booklist, Kirkus Reviews,
Library Journal, and School Library Journal. Patron requests, series titles or books by bestselling
authors with December publication dates, youth holiday books and series replacements were
added. Adult and youth DVDs were ordered.
• Weeding was completed in adult fiction C-K and the large print collection.
• Adult displays celebrated Native American Heritage month and featured large print missed
connections, football, presidents, and cookbooks.
PROGRAMS AND SELF-DIRECTED ACTIVITIES DATE INTENDED AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE
Daycare Storytime 11/1 Children (0-5) 12
Storytime 11/4 Children (0-5) 40
English Language Conversation Circle 11/4 Adult 6
Youth Services Librarian Visit to Prodeo Academy Classrooms (offsite) 11/5 Children (6-11) 84
Adult Basic Education class tour of library 11/6 Adult 16
Adult Services Librarian visit to Metro North ABE class (offsite) 11/6 Adult 15
EL Conversation Circle 11/6 Adult 5
Youth Services Librarian visit to ECFE 11/7 Children (0-5) 9
EL Conversation Circle 11/7 Adult 3
Puzzle Contest 11/9 Adult 38
Walk and Talk Book Club 11/12 Adult
Tinker Time: Tic, Tac, Toe 11/12 Children (6-11) 23
EL Conversation Circle 11/13 Adult 4
Needle Felted Pumpkins 11/13 Adult 15
ICS 1st Grade Field Trip 11/14 Children (6-11) 13
EL Conversation Circle 11/14 Adult 4
Active Agers Book Club (offsite) 11/15 Adult 7
Clay Gingerbread Houses 11/16 Children (6-11) 22
Storytime 11/18 Children (0-5) 51
EL Conversation Circle 11/18 Adult 3
ICS 2nd Grade Field Trip 11/19 Children (6-11) 23
Book Club: “North Woods” 11/20 Adult 10
EL Conversation Circle 11/20 Adult 5
Loft class: Writing Better Presentations 11/21 Adult 2
EL Conversation Circle 11/21 Adult 3
Storytime 11/25 Children (0-5) 33
EL Conversation Circle 11/25 Adult 5
DIY Teen 11/26 Young Adult 5
EL Conversation Circle 11/27 Adult 3
STAFF
Elizabeth Ripley, Adult Services Librarian:
• Led a library tour for an Adult Basic Education class and visited another class at Metro North.
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Item 6.
Columbia Heights Public Library 2. Library Board Monthly Update – November 2024
• Facilitated display of a karst and water pollution display from
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
• Met with the Friends of the Library.
• Made deliveries to two At-Home patrons.
Eliza Pope, Youth Services Librarian:
• Engaged 23 adults and kids in creating unique tic-tac-toe sets.
Even those new to the game learned to play with help from their
grown-ups. Many families who have aged out of storytime
continue to attend the monthly Tinker Times.
• Contracted with Mak from Rum River Art Center to offer
“Gingerbread Clay Houses” for 22 enthusiastic participants who
explored their creativity and had fun while transforming clay into whimsical houses.
• Gathered with a group of four teens for a cozy night of fun and creativity. They sipped hot
chocolate while crafting Perler bead designs. They were so wrapped up in their Perler bead
creations, the teens stayed until the library closed.
• Welcomed first and second graders from Immaculate Conception School. Both groups were very
adept at checking out materials and submitted many requests for books to borrow in the future.
• Made an outreach visit to three first-grade classrooms at Prodeo Academy to deepen students’
understanding of libraries and librarianship. Building on their recent reading of "Tomas and the
Library Lady" by Pat Mora, Eliza shared additional books about libraries, discussed library cards,
and answered students' questions about the daily work of a librarian.
• Visited an Infant ECFE session at the ISD 13 Family Center to present a storytime that highlighted
the early literacy practices of talk, sing, read, write, and play specifically for babies.
Renee Dougherty, Library Director:
• Participated in the Anoka County Library public service team and city division head meetings.
• Attended the American Library Association CORE Leadership Forum conference on November
15-16.
• Met with the adult book club for a discussion of “North Woods” by Daniel Mason.
• Met with the CHPL Foundation; requested and received a grant for $89,000 toward the
expansion of the parking lot.
MISCELLANEOUS
• Anoka County Law Librarian John Murphy held office hours on November 21 to accommodate
the library closure on Thanksgiving.
• Staff attended health insurance open enrollment meetings and the Public Safety appreciation
luncheon.
• A Tiny Art Show, consisting of 32 pieces returned by community artists, was displayed.
• A karst and water pollution exhibit from the Minnesota Pollution Contral Agency was installed
and will be displayed through the end of December.
• Eight adult volunteers donated 32 hours.
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Item 6.