here we go all right thank you uh it's uh welcome to the library board meeting it's 4 pm on Thursday uh April 10th 2025 i'm Ruth Dan Webster and we are about to start our meeting first thing is for the approval of the agenda everyone has the
agenda in front of them we've had a chance to review that i'll take a motion to approve the agenda i'll approve second second any discussion hearing none all in favor of approving the agenda say I i oppos same sign we have
an agenda and now approval of the minutes from our March 13th library uh board meeting again those are all sent out in advance um if anyone has any uh questions or concerns let me know otherwise I'll take a motion to approve the minutes from the March 13th meeting
so moved do I have a second second all right uh any discussion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I i oppos same sign okay and now we move on to the financial report
all right so we are 25.48% through 2025 and our budget is approximately 23.5% expended bills that we paid during March included $900 to lip data for our public computer and mobile printing management license
$1,126 to Gail for large print books and um that was from the Rudy Good Memorial Fund which we're spending down $61 to Granger for Iwash station refills $182 to Hillyard for general cleaning supplies
$35 to Verizon for service to our eight Wi-Fi hotspots and then $30,488 to Highark Technology and that is the 50% deposit on the study pods so that's 50% of that cost
when are you expecting the study pods to go in um we're our goal is still late May um that's what the um high mark estimated and so we haven't had a change in that yet okay good any other comments or questions about the financial report
hearing none let's move on to the uh library department activities report um so Traverse Due Regional Library has launched their app TDS on the go our library patrons can use the apps app to access and manage their library account
search the catalog submit hold requests access a digital version of their library barcode and more um if you'd like to download the app you can visit tdslib.org to download the app the app you can also search in the um Apple App
Store or Google Play stores for the app um and that was actually named the app name was um from our staff member Sue Olie um Precision Alarm is planning to visit the library either Friday or
Monday to complete our door project the last step that needs to happen is connecting the the strikes to the the badge system um otherwise those doors have been installed rekeyed and the electrician has visited so um once that
step is complete those the door project will be done um staff have been working on preparing for study pod installation in May um we're working on moving our DVD collection um we've decided to move that up to the middle of the non adult
non-fiction area um and then we're working on selecting furniture to go inside the study room pods and that will be purchased with the funding from the Melon Foundation grant and then the second episode of Tales of the Town our collaborative
project between the library State Street Theater Brown County Historical Society and a new cat aired this month and it's already had over a thousand views since its release um and the subject is Kerry Nation's visit to new during pro
exhibition and then our winter reading program for adults ended February 28th we want to thank the friends of the library for donating the prizes for the program we had 12 participants receive prize
packages which included um a library branded mug um a scarf hand warmers hot cocoa and some bookmarks since our theme was raise the temperature um uh we had more than 80
people participate this year and they read more than 600 books during the two months the program ran from January to February on Saturday March 15th we hosted the 132nd birthday celebration for Wanda Gogg our youth services librarian and volunteers from the Wanda House
Association helped 25 partygoers create their own matching games and then they had um snacks and read Wanda stories as well and then our youth service and reference librarians continue to weed our nonfiction collections both the adult
and the youth collections and work on purchasing new items with the non-fiction grant from TDS we received I think it was $11,070 and we have about $4,000 left to spend um and the deadline for that is May 23rd
and that's because of TDS's funding year cycles and then um I wanted to touch on something you may have heard um we had an article in the journal on Saturday and and we've been posting on Facebook about it but um on March 14th the White
House had um announced an executive order that seven agencies including the Institute of Museum and Library Services be eliminated eliminated to the maximum extent of the law and the agencies are require ordered to reduce their services and personnel to the minimum amount
required to perform the functions required by law um so that announcement orders the office of budget management and budget to reject any budget requests from the Institute of Museum and Library Services also called IMLS
um other than any funds needed to shut down the agency so just some background for you and kind of what that means for us um IMLS is established by law and the executive order requires that the agency do only what is statuto statutoily
required um at this time it's not fully clear what the administration will deem to be statutoily required in 2024 Minnesota received um $3.16 million from IMLS grants to state
program so our that is distributed by our state library services um and Minuteex which is an agency that runs out of the University of Minnesota um receives 1.69 69 million for um the e
library of Minnesota which is databases um and other resources for um research and as well as research resource sharing which is more commonly called interl loan um they also the state library services also does subrants to libraries
and support organizations um a little more than half a million um staff salaries and operations for state library services is84 million and operations of the Minnesota braille and talking book library and the state
library services salaries also are part of that money um the part we focused on in the article in the journal is Minniteex um and so they use that money for interl loan which is um so we are
part of Traverse Too Regional Library which is a 9ounty regional library and so as part of that membership we share our collection with other libraries within our regional library when I say interl loan I'm talking about anything that happens outside of our region
within the state of Minnesota so we have access to books from Duth Rochester St cloud um Fergus Falls and they all Minuteex coordinates all of those books moving between libraries so in New at
the New Public Library we have about 72,000 items in our collection right now and when we look at what is available to us in the within the state of Minnesota it's up to 10 million million unique titles so losing inter library alone really would cut what we can offer to
our patrons and it's not just books it's um access to those journal articles that are not um full text in databases you know we can request copies from AC academic libraries be sent to our
patrons um it's also things like DVDs and audio books and um microfilm reels of newspapers and things that we have access to so it's it's a a lot that would be lost to our patrons if we don't have that
funding um e library Minnesota is another um minuteex resource that's more commonly called elm um and that's the access to digital versions of magazine journal newspaper encyclopedia
articles and that's information like consumer information arts and humanities um career occupation and test prep current events health science social sciences politics business and more and then ebooks Minnesota is another
minute service and that's a statewide collection offering Minnesota readers of all ages nearly 10,000 books um digitally and it doesn't require checkouts or returns and then the Minnesota digital library is also offered through Minuteex
and that's historical contact content from um cultural heritage organizations in Minnesota and so they have over 60,000 items um depicting history from all 87 Minnesota counties and they're sourcing those from the collections of
204 historical societies libraries archives and organ other organizations across the state um so there's a lot at stake for our patrons that could be lost um it's not very clear yet when this might happen or how it
might happen um but we're asking if you feel strongly that these resources are important and we want to keep them available to our patrons um that you communicate that to your legislators um the American Library Association and the
Minnesota Library Assoc Association websites have information um that you can use to help you communicate the value of libraries and this funding um the um American Library Association offer also offers a lot of the background that I pulled today if you
want to read more on that um as well as the Minnesota Library Association and the U Minnesota Library Association's page um also offers like a form that you can fill out that will email your representatives too so you can customize
that if you want to or you can use the the language they have there so I'd be I guess Go ahead i have a question so what percent of uh funding for inter library loan is does Minutec
provide is it all yes okay okay um so we we pay um our member fees to TDS pay we um part of that pays for interl loan but that is the TDS staff time um that they
have to deal with interl loan on our end so what happens is we place a request um using Minuteex's minink platform and or patrons can do that too that goes to TDS um who makes sure the request is ready
for Minuteex minitex coordinates it with other libraries those materials get sent through the regional libraries to Minnite back out to the regional libraries to the IND individual libraries for the patrons to pick up um so the funding that would be lost is
everything that's on Minuteex's end um do you has that always been the case how it's always gone or was there something in place before Minutec i I don't know that um and in my time in Minnesota libraries that's how it's always been okay um and
we also don't know um some of this state grant funding that goes through state library services also um some of that is divvied out to the regional libraries so there's a potential for TDS to leave to lose some funding which then could
directly impact how much our member fees are to them too but again so much of this is up in the air right now we really don't know what that could look like when by the time it trickles down to us okay anyone else got any uh we need to
talk a little bit more about this anyone else have any questions i asked uh if there was any legal action uh being uh taken or considered yes so I believe it was 27 state
attorney generals um have filed action um against the this um executive order um Minnesota's included mhm and then um the American Library Association Minnesota Library Association and other
library organizations are um pulling together information to help library patrons and libraries communicate this concern to the public so that the public can um make their voice heard on it okay and um I'm just asking
um did you we I saw the article in the journal um was it you that uh contacted the journal or did they get that information someplace else um the journal came and spoke with me um I didn't contact them um they saw our Facebook post and reached out quickly
after that okay thank you thank you we've got some other questions or comments um I'm wondering what what the what struck me uh about the article that you wrote is the technical
information that's available you know for for people working on their PhDs or even their master's degrees to get access to that information without driving up to Duth you know or someplace
else anybody else notice anything about what uh April is talking about have you What are the comments that you've seen on your Facebook post um they have been overwhelmingly in support of the library
um when I've seen comments that are less supporting the library supportive of the library um either on um our post or on the journal's post of the article it's been I think from a lack of understanding as to how library funding
works it's very complex all the different services that we pull together to offer what all that we do to our patrons and so I think there's it's hard to communicate all that goes into offering the services that we do and all
the different ways that funding flows to libraries well and the coordination needed you know I I can't just call up the Duth Historical Society and get something about my relatives who showed up or
something like that you know um yeah all the people that are doing genealogy and all the you know what they're looking for anyone else other comments um I um could you just reiterate um how to get to the
Minnesota um Library Association page for that information yes so if you search just do a search for American Library Association it'll be the top result same with the Minnesota Library Association um the American Library Association's information about the
executive order is on their homepage if you go to the Minnesota Library Association's page there's an advocacy tab okay that's that's critical i think I feel like it would be nice for people to have a I guess a
synopsis like a layman's synopsis of how libraries get funded you know you can't do every little detail you know but you know because as just an outsider you know I'd automatically assume tax you know property taxes you know so it'd
be nice to see as far as grants and yada yada federal you know state and local would you want that on our on our website or I don't know i just kind of thought of it i didn't really think of how just an idea maybe in the paper if they would
print something else you know if they would you know extend the article to you know provide a little more information because unless you sit on this board and look at all of the funding you don't I didn't understand
till I got here exactly and it's not And you know Minuteex isn't a line item on our budget no yeah okay i was just going to add that I think April you've been doing a really good job of communicating it um I really
appreciated the journal article and then the signs up um otherwise without the notification you know the signs up at the library I would have never known it's so hard to keep up with you know everything that's changing right now and what it means um but I just I really
worry that rural areas will be the most impacted by this good point very good point because we don't you know we don't have access to those information centers in the Twin Cities right those hubs and so it's it's very concerning that we
would that we would lose such a resource um would you say so contacting our representatives I think the focus has been on the US representatives at this point would you say contacting state representatives is helpful too in case I don't know if there's any talk about the
state at all coming in with funding for for it i it's from my understanding it sounds like there's a lot of state agencies that could be impacted by these executive orders and lost funding and so
I do think it would be helpful also to contact state representatives to let them know that library services are valued when they're considering budget cuts and things like that you know what agencies are they looking at doing if you know if libraries aren't vocal about
the what um funding we need to help our patrons and I think there could be a loss there too well a lot of good comments yeah you know it just you know we look every we look every
month at how many people are coming into the library and how many people really need the library uh in like you said in a rural area and pe people people need information and they need help finding that information and that's what's uh at
risk here so I would say a boots on the ground information because everyone has a phone now or a computer i mean you know the majority of people not everyone has service know how to use it to keep relevant no go ahead and we um
we can ask about how things are funded but I think many people don't know how much foundation information the library presents to the commu to the community from high from the high school
connections to our um our our like our uh like Oak Hills and places like that that people need to be informed about things and it's a resource it's it's it we can't miss it'll be a it's a lack of
information that it'll be a big hole if this doesn't is taken away well in the activities we get a report every month on how many people attended what things and it's really surprising there's always something going on and there's
always people there mhm you know and so if those things you know maybe have to go away because of other you know then there going to be a lot of things you know like the trickle down effect yeah exactly everything trickles down you
know i think uh I don't I would want to say that a lot of people don't know that they can watch these meetings sure that that would be something to point out too so that they can they can know that they can you know go online or whatever
and see all the stuff that we see thank you yeah all right good discussion anything else just thank just thank you April the journal article was excellent and and hopefully the word is is really spreading and so that people can take
the needed actions and I think right she the there's a call for action april has made us given us a call to action and I hope we I hope we can all come forward with that good okay um had a chance to meet with network new on Wednesday
morning um as part of their media day they visited the library and learned about the library in NewAt and um one of their attendees had asked specifically about the journal article and what that would mean and so I think you know
making people aware really can like it you know that's a group of 30 that is now aware because someone you know spoke about it to them so I think if we're talking about it too it helps just continue to spread good them away are
you so I'm assuming I don't remember the name of the organization that you mentioned that's that has information on on how to contact and what they want you to say but are you able to print out the script that they I'm assuming they've
come up with a script or or perhaps perhaps you can what you should say when you call your representative or maybe you can email us those links sure like because I shared I I find at least for me when it's like laid out for me very
clearly it's much easier for me to be like oh yes okay I can do this I can do this I can do this get on the phone and leave a message and they've told me what to say yeah sure we'll share again the specific links on Facebook and then I can just see Oh good thank you members
too maybe you should see if new would put the links you know run it at the bottom um during this or sometime oh boy or if because you can always go back and find
this meeting if those links are there it might get other people aware that they could you know where to go sure i can ask i have just timed out now
what did I do oh thank you now what just again present twice please ah there you are i got drifted all right all right good discussion thank you everybody thank and
especially Thank you April yes okay on to the next uh action item we have a resolution speaking of how much people appreciate the library oh Ruthanne I'm sorry do you mind if I just share a couple programming things
oh please for coming up in May apologize apologize um so on Friday April 25th at 10:00 a.m we have a special story time um and that's a a story time but with an a craft added um along with a storytime theme so we invite people to join us for
that and then on um Saturday April 26th 6th at 10 a.m we have the Mano Symph Symphony Orchestra presenting See here play music um and one of your resolutions is related to that so we'll talk a little bit more about that and
then um I just wanted to remind everyone that um we have the new nipple group on Tuesdays from 1 to 3 p.m and that's um um patrons practicing the Bohemian art of bob and lace weaving um so they're not teaching per se but you're welcome
to come observe um learn about it talk with them and then if you um are working on a project yourself you can certainly join to do that great yes great always something going on at the library we know that oh yeah
all right now let's um I'm on to a resolution number 202510 to accept donations and memorials received from January 1st to March 31st 2025 and the first donor is the New Farm
City Hub Club uh $85 in children's books that uh uh six agricultural children's books and I know they've done this uh for many years right one many thanks to that um and then the next three are from Friends of the New Public Library uh
$200 in cash for the winter reading program $200 in cash for National Library Workers Day and $250 cash for uh Clifford's birthday giveaway books oh go we all love Clifford uh Vicky Paiser $25
a cash with undes undesated uh Brian and Elaine Scholes in uh honor of Jim CF uh $50 uh undesated cash and finally uh Michelle Vogle uh $600
uh for the HR8 machine what is the HR8 machine um it's a um machine for our memory lab so that we can convert high8 tapes to new formats oh thank you so that was a donation of the machine itself oh thank
you for the That's lovely thank you yes that is a um hard machine to find too so that one kind of fell into our lap because of her generosity oh great and the New Public Library accepts these donations with gratitude uh to the donors do I have a motion to
uh pass this resolution accepting the donations so moved second second any other comments or uh discussion about the I didn't mention it during my um librarians report but it is National Library Week this week yay National
Library and uh Tuesday was National Library Workers Day so the um donation that the friends gave for National Library Workers Day we um when we printed the prize mugs for the winter reading program we printed a different version for the library staff they each
got a a mug and then we had a little bit of money left over to have some snacks so great a donut to put in the mug wonderful wonderful national Library good wonderful okay have a motion and a second to pass
this resolution anything else otherwise call the roll sarah yes dustin yes caitlyn yes ruth Anne yes ivonne yes manan yes lynn yes hope yes nancy yes
passed all right on to resolution number 202511 accepting arts and cultural heritage fund grant uh at its March 2025 meeting the Traverse Doo Regional Library awarded Newm Public Library with an arts and cultural heritage fund
legacy grant in the amount of $1,200 for the performance of the Mano Symphony Orchestra and again the orchestra will present its uh see here play music series featuring chist Amit
Pel on Saturday April 26th at 1000 a.m and Pel will share a special reading of his picture book A Cello Named Pablo that sounds charming doesn't it very charming that sounds like fun uh do I have a
motion to accept this resolution i'll move second second all right motion and second anything else any other comments or questions although it's geared towards children anyone is welcome to oh I'm sure i'm sure i've never met a cello
named Pablo i haven't haven't yet i haven't yet all right uh we have a motion and a second uh we've finished our discussion uh secretary call the role sarah yes dustin yes caitlyn yes
ruthanne yes ivonne yes manan yes lynn yes hope yes nancy yes passed any other business to come before this board if not meeting adjourned b good
great okay