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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-01-2025 Library Board Packet LIBRARY BOARD Library—Community Room, 3939 Central Ave NE Wednesday, October 01, 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 ID 254 921 776 562 0, Passcode QP35BK9R. 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 September 3, 2025 3. Review 2025 Operating Budget COMMUNITY FORUM: The Community Forum is an opportunity to address the Library Board about items not scheduled for a public hearing. All speakers must provide their name and connection to Columbia Heights. Speakers should complete a form for Staff and introduce themselves when called on. Virtual speakers should send their information to the moderator via chat and turn on their camera when called. Comments are limited to five minutes. Disrespectful language is not allowed. The Board may ask questions or refer items for follow-up but typically does not take action during the forum. OLD BUSINESS 4. Staffing Update NEW BUSINESS 5. Great North Star Read Together Review 6. Library Building Tour DIRECTOR'S UPDATE 7. August Board Report 8. Board Books ADJOURNMENT 1 COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY 3939 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421 BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, September 3, 2025 Drafted 9/4/2025 ATTENDANCE INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC Members of the public who wished to attend could do so in-person, or via Microsoft Teams by entering Meeting ID 254 921 776 562 0 and passcode QP35BK9R at the scheduled meeting time. For questions, please contact Administration at 763-706-3610. The meeting was called to order in the Library Community Room by Melanie Magidow at 5:31pm. Members present: Melanie Magidow; Chris Polley; Olga Herrera; Theresa Strike; Amina Maameri. Members remotely present: Amáda Márquez Simula (City Council Liaison). Members absent: N/A. Others present: Renee Dougherty (Library Director); Nick Olberding (Board Secretary). Public present: N/A. 1. The Agenda was approved as is. 2. The Minutes from August 6, 2025, Library Board Meeting were moved and approved. 3. Review of 2025 Operating Budget: 66.6% of the year completed and 60.4% of the budget expended. a. 44020 (Building Maintenance Contractual Services) will be overspent by the end of the year due to boiler and air conditioning repairs, but the overall budget will remain aligned. Community Forum: Opportunity for public input. No correspondence and no public in attendance. The CHPL website now has a contact form to submit questions or concerns: https://chplmn.org/board Old Business: 4. Staffing Update: An offer was made to Brent Buchanan (currently a Page) for the Library Aide position, and he accepted. He will transition roles soon and do some additional training with Eliza and Farrah (who was most recently the Aide). Just posted today was a part-time Library Page position open externally for the next week. 5. Great North Star Read-Together Planning: This event is coming up soon on Saturday, September 20th. We have registered with the planners as a designated Read-Together location, and sent out press releases to the local newspapers, as well as posting to social media and added the event to the digital signboard rotation. It was agreed that homebase for the event will be in the Community Room and will have some refreshments available there, but once the reading starts people may spread out to wherever they feel comfortable (inside and out). We will try to track attendance and take photos in the hopes of a follow-up news story, the suggestion board will be re- purposed to allow visitors to post their library stories, and Mayor Amáda will say a few words to kick-off the event. Some additional ideas were floated around during the meeting, including creating flyers for posting at local businesses, creating a selfie station with a background and props (and a cart of popular books to pose with), and inviting a food truck or Dairy Queen. In addition to our mayor, we should invite the City Council and other local representatives. Olga and Renee will attend next week’s City Council meeting to make an announcement of the event. New Business: 6. Library Usage: The Board was provided with some graphs of annual data on visitor count, computer use, program count, and circulation totals for 2023-2025. Visitors and computer usage are both up by a significant amount, but circulation is slightly down. The library is the go-to place to get on the internet, as well as the most convenient place to print and make copies. Even with increased outreach we are not sure about the cause of the decrease in material circulation (both physical and digital). 7. Review Proposed Revision to Data Privacy of Library Records Policy: Renee presented a revised policy that 2 Item 2. clarified language and removed portions that were more procedure than policy. The Board weighed in on whether to keep or remove the highlighted text referencing parent/guardian access to a youth account; it was decided to keep it. A MOTION to approve and adopt the revised Data Privacy of Library Records Policy was made, seconded, and approved. Director’s Update: 8. July Board Report: Provided as an FYI. a. Melanie shared that Connecticut state has adopted trigger legislation (to go into effect after enough additional states sign on) meant to nudge publishers toward fair pricing of digital material for libraries. We don’t know all the details, but Minnesota is considering similar legislation. b. We will do a Library tour during our October meeting. 9. Board Books: a. Chris: The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky Josh Galarza b. Olga: The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx c. Amina: Safiyyah’s War Hiba Noor Khan d. Theresa: The Serviceberry Robin Wall Kimmerer; Monstrous Regiment (Discworld series) Terry Pratchett e. Melanie: The Spell Shop and The Enchanted Greenhouse Sarah Beth Durst f. Renee: 1984 George Orwell g. Nick: Ordinary Grace William Kent Krueger; Oregon Trail (PlayStation 5) Gameloft (available via ACL) h. Amáda: Braving the Wilderness Brené Brown There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:36 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nicholas P. Olberding Recording Secretary, CHPL Board of Trustees 3 Item 2. Fund 240 - LIBRARY 2025 YTD ACTIVITY FOR AMENDED BALANCE MONTH ENCUMBERED UNENCUMBERED % BDGT ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET 09/25/2025 09/25/2025 YEAR-TO-DATE BALANCE USED 41010 REGULAR EMPLOYEES 493,700.00 366,765.47 40,079.82 0.00 126,934.53 74.29 41011 PART-TIME EMPLOYEES 148,700.00 76,057.76 7,496.47 0.00 72,642.24 51.15 41020 OVERTIME-REGULAR 700.00 647.49 115.92 0.00 52.51 92.50 41050 ACCRUED LEAVE ADJUSTMENT 0.00 2,182.80 0.00 0.00 -2,182.80 41070 INTERDEPARTMENTAL LABOR SERV 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 41210 P.E.R.A. CONTRIBUTION 47,400.00 33,920.88 3,518.39 0.00 13,479.12 71.56 41220 F.I.C.A. CONTRIBUTION 49,200.00 33,697.63 3,621.33 0.00 15,502.37 68.49 41300 INSURANCE 83,500.00 64,044.00 7,116.00 0.00 19,456.00 76.70 41510 WORKERS COMP INSURANCE PREM 2,500.00 1,642.13 170.76 0.00 857.87 65.69 41810 COLA ALLOWANCE 31,900.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 31,900.00 0.00 42000 OFFICE SUPPLIES 1,500.00 1,175.26 119.51 0.00 324.74 78.35 42010 MINOR EQUIPMENT 100.00 150.00 0.00 0.00 -50.00 150.00 42011 END USER DEVICES 13,300.00 59.99 0.00 0.00 13,240.01 0.45 42030 PRINTING & PRINTED FORMS 1,000.00 743.00 135.00 0.00 257.00 74.30 42170 PROGRAM SUPPLIES 1,000.00 496.74 0.00 0.00 503.26 49.67 42171 GENERAL SUPPLIES 7,000.00 4,983.55 520.86 0.00 2,016.45 71.19 42175 FOOD SUPPLIES 100.00 139.69 0.00 0.00 -39.69 139.69 42180 BOOKS 52,000.00 28,153.60 1,408.52 0.00 23,846.40 54.14 42181 PERIODICALS, MAG, NEWSPAPERS 8,000.00 4,743.51 0.00 0.00 3,256.49 59.29 42183 E-BOOKS 16,300.00 12,427.63 4,533.42 0.00 3,872.37 76.24 42185 COMPACT DISCS 1,000.00 303.58 38.94 0.00 696.42 30.36 42187 BOOK/CD SET 1,500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1,500.00 0.00 42189 DVD 6,700.00 3,189.76 596.76 0.00 3,510.24 47.61 42190 DOWNLOADABLE VIDEO 3,000.00 1,938.00 870.00 0.00 1,062.00 64.60 42280 VEHICLE REPAIR AND PARTS 0.00 549.89 0.00 0.00 -549.89 42990 COMM. PURCHASED FOR RESALE 200.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 200.00 0.00 43050 EXPERT & PROFESSIONAL SERV. 11,300.00 4,870.95 0.00 0.00 6,429.05 43.11 43105 TRAINING & EDUCATION ACTIVITIES 800.00 275.00 0.00 0.00 525.00 34.38 43210 TELEPHONE 1,200.00 111.74 0.00 571.78 516.48 56.96 43220 POSTAGE 300.00 21.78 0.00 0.00 278.22 7.26 43250 OTHER TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2,800.00 1,898.22 189.95 0.00 901.78 67.79 43310 LOCAL TRAVEL EXPENSE 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 43600 PROP & LIAB INSURANCE 13,500.00 9,000.00 0.00 0.00 4,500.00 66.67 43800 UTILITY SERVICES 7,500.00 4,805.10 0.00 0.00 2,694.90 64.07 43810 ELECTRIC 39,600.00 29,453.92 4,133.53 0.00 10,146.08 74.38 43830 GAS 11,800.00 7,393.00 160.73 0.00 4,407.00 62.65 44000 REPAIR & MAINT. SERVICES 20,000.00 18,816.49 274.08 800.00 383.51 98.08 44010 BUILDING MAINT:INTERNAL SVCS 46,400.00 30,933.36 0.00 0.00 15,466.64 66.67 44020 BLDG MAINT CONTRACTUAL SERVICES 30,700.00 26,053.48 116.97 4,983.20 -336.68 101.10 44030 SOFTWARE & SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTIONS 24,600.00 11,737.88 0.00 7,815.08 5,047.04 79.48 44040 INFORMATION SYS:INTERNAL SVC 90,900.00 60,600.00 0.00 0.00 30,300.00 66.67 44050 GARAGE, LABOR BURD. 0.00 703.19 0.00 0.00 -703.19 44330 SUBSCRIPTION, MEMBERSHIP 800.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 800.00 0.00 44375 VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION 200.00 43.10 0.00 0.00 156.90 21.55 45180 OTHER EQUIPMENT 0.00 745.02 0.00 0.00 -745.02 47100 OPER. TRANSFER OUT - LABOR 19,300.00 12,866.64 0.00 0.00 6,433.36 66.67 TOTAL EXPENDITURES: 1,293,000.00 858,341.23 75,216.96 14,170.06 420,488.71 67.48 EXPENDITURE REPORT FOR CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PERIOD ENDING 09/30/2025 Fiscal Year Completed: 74.79% 4 Item 3. Columbia Heights Public Library Library Board Report – August 2025 BUILDING The building was inspected for pests, and exterior windows were washed. TECHNOLOGY COLLECTION • New books were selected from reviews in the March, April and May issues of Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Library Journal. Adult bestsellers to be published in September and October were pre-ordered. Juvenile requests and replacements were ordered. • Weeding was completed in adult fiction H-M and nonfiction 951-999. • Adult endcap displays highlighted baseball, graphic novels, astronomy, and outdoor adventure. The main display featured August celebrations including Sisters Day, Sleep Under the Stars Day, Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, Dog Day, and National Aviation Day. Youth displays included “Start a Series” and “Back to School.” PROGRAMS AND SELF-DIRECTED ACTIVITIES DATE AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE Daycare Storytime 8/1 Children (0-5) 25 English Language Conversation Circle 8/2 Adult 7 ELL Conversation Circle 8/4 Adult 11 Evening Storytime 8/5 Children (0-5) 4 ELL Conversation Circle 8/6 Adult 6 Petite Concert 8/7 Children (6-11) 46 ELL Conversation Circle 8/9 Adult 6 ELL Conversation Circle 8/11 Adult 6 Blooming Sunshine Garden Tour (offsite) 8/12 Adult 3 EL Conversation Circle 8/13 Adult 4 EL Conversation Circle 8/16 Adult 4 EL Conversation Circle 8/18 Adult 8 Mystery Book Club: The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle 8/19 Adult 6 Book Club 8/20 Adult 12 EL Conversation Circles 8/20 Adult 7 EL Conversation Circle 8/23 Adult 5 EL Conversation Circle 8/25 Adult 9 Intro to LinkedIn Learning 8/26 Adult 1 Adult Basic Education Tour (2 classes) 8/27 Adult 47 EL Conversation Circle 8/27 Adult 8 Dungeons & Dragons 8/27 Young Adults (12-18) 15 Summer Adventures Reading Challenge Adult 74 Summer Adventures Reading Challenge Youth (0-18) 171 Elizabeth Ripley, Adult Services Librarian: • Staffed a table at the Mayor’s Monarch Festival. • Attended a virtual Adult Basic Education class and gave a virtual tour/overview of the library. • Hosted in-person library tours for two introductory-level ABE classes. • Made deliveries to two At-Home patrons. • Supervised the work of adult volunteers. • Redesigned and ordered new library cards, patron barcodes, and item barcodes. • Planned fall programming. 5 Item 7. Columbia Heights Public Library 2. Library Board Monthly Update – August 2025 Eliza Pope, Youth Services Librarian: • Hosted musicians Lara (viola) and Kathe (cello) for a Petite Concert. • Tabled at the CHPS Family Center Open House, distributing information on storytime and early literacy. • Visited Immaculate Conception School to meet teachers and present information about bulk loans. Summer Adventures Reading Challenge This summer, 589 reading trackers were given out to participants of all ages and 171 youth participants completed the reading challenge. Compared to last year, there was a 43% increase in reading trackers distributed and a 58% increase in youth who completed the challenge. The breakdown of youth who completed the reading challenge is below and showed increases across all three age groups, with the largest increases in birth to kindergarten and grades 1-6 age groups. • B-K: 54 • Grades 1-6: 95 • Teens: 22 Three key changes were made to the Summer Adventures Reading Challenge this year: • Participants could choose a reading challenge that met their reading goals-- twenty books OR twenty hours of reading. The B-K and Grade 1-6 age groups saw the biggest jumps in challenge completion, so this change seemed to work well for both groups. • Data was collected when participants completed the program. In past years, staff collected information from youth when they registered. This year, information was collected when participants returned their reading logs. This change was made to make the Challenge more streamlined and make it easier for all youth to participate. • Youth participants selected a free book after reading five books or five hours instead of getting a free book at registration as in past years. This change was made to make sure the summer reading program is financially sustainable for the library while continuing to offer an incentive book for participating in the Challenge. Renee Dougherty, Library Director: • Facilitated the book club discussion of The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt. • Met with Library Associates Farrah Briest and Nick Olberding for annual performance reviews. • Interviewed two internal candidates for the Library Aide position. 6 Item 7. Columbia Heights Public Library 3. Library Board Monthly Update – August 2025 • Attended the first annual Bibliotheca Day at their Lake Elmo warehouse. Bibliotheca provides security gates, self-check kiosks, RFID tags and readers, and software for library operations. • Represented the library at CHPS new teacher orientation. • Attended meetings of the Anoka County Library Public Service Team; city division heads; the CHPL Library Foundation; the Library Board; and the Minnesota Library Association Board. • Met with the city communications director and the Anoka County Library Director. MISCELLANEOUS • Library Staff attended the summer picnic for city employees. • Library Page Naatii Ahmed departed for college; she will remain on the employee roster in a substitute capacity. • Anoka County Law Librarian John Murphy held office hours on August 21. • Six adult volunteers donated 25.25 hours, and four teen volunteers donated 32 hours. 7 Item 7.