We'll call please, Johnson. Maker here. 6 present one absent one excuse being chair Johnson or I'm sorry. Comes from Johnson. First item on the agenda is minutes. 25 47 approving NOVEMBER. First 2025 library board minutes. All right. Let's take a motion from council PRESIDENT Maker to improve the library board minutes. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say Aye. Oppose. 6 in favor. 0 opposed. The minutes are adopted. The next item up on for discussion is resolution 25 dash 18. 62 library board resolution adopting 2026 budget and requesting property tax financing. And I will turn it over to director Hartman to say a few things about the
library budget that we're adapting this year. Chair members of the library board. Thanks for your continued support for the library this year in a in a difficult budget year. I appreciated the opportunity to. Staying conversation with you 2, we can to make sure that have community access to libraries. So so a few additions to the original proposed budget that I proposed. The mayor's proposed budget in SEPTEMBER I know you heard just as much as I did about how important library hours and open libraries are to our community members. And so I appreciate this budget reflecting adding back the
plane, a library associated which will allow us to keep the same regular hours at Arlington House Library. Thank you so much for doing that. It means a lot. To our means a lot to me. And I know most importantly, it means a lot our community. So thank you for that. I also really appreciate the cntinued to work on the library materials budget as we've heard from us. Several times the cost of our library materials continues to go up. This on book formulas and some other things. And we want to make sure that as we build our library collections throughout our city that they represent our community that are materials come in different languages, different formats. So folks can come into our buildings and find materials that reflect their life and their experiences and they can
do that online as well. So I wasn't exactly sure were we where with that amount. But I do And a cousin percent incur well. We'll speak to that, but I want to appreciate. Appreciate that. And I want to recognize that libraries like other city departments will have some reductions in coming 2026, those are reflected here as the same as they are in our proposed budget. So we will do best in the library to continue to provide excellent service to our community members and b, a and equitable intentional employer. While reduce some other expenses in order to keep the city of a jet in the library budget on track. So thank you for the opportunity to do that. Also want to take opportunity to speak to some additional funding that the friends of the Saint Paul Public Library are adding to our library
budget and 2026. In recognition of a particularly challenging budget time. The friends will be paying for. Are brave program are shifting that out of the general fund take some burden off of the city budget. As you know, they're going to help us make up that gap and library materials with that additional collection support of $40,000 you all know they're continuing to support us with the private portion of our transforming Libraries initiative, which is supporting all renovations and new libraries of 3 well-loved well-used libraries as well as technology, rich and play and learn investments and all of our locations. And that's 10 million dollars. So I don't I So I make sure I put that on
the list. And that's rate. That's huge. That's more. More private support. Then the city has ever had coming in for libraries the biggest campaign the friends have run in support of virus. And I would be remiss if I didn't recognize that the friends also do annual giving to the library you know, $800,000 a year. And that is year after year after year, helping U.S. Support youth and family programming staff development community services. Local locations, specific activities as well as brave. So I just wanted a highlight and recognize that end happy to take any questions. About where we ended up with a budget. All right. I will turn over my colleagues anyone has questions or comments follow
library budget. PRESIDENT Thinks just I will. Thanks so much to you for your leadership in this budget. Really. It's exciting to be at this point. Could not be more thrilled that we were able to restore some of the critical services that you're speaking to. Director Hartman. I think all of us when we heard those cuts proposed in the original budget, just kind of felt are. Are some mixing can think at the thought of losing those services tat are residents depend on and real. Would say innovative thinking in terms of resources and also felt ending. We were able to restore those hours keep our purchasing power constant in our labor materials budget, which is something that such a priority for us and something. - I think it's the least we can do to show our appreciation for the generous contributions of the friends to that and more we wre able to get to this budget that I think is
really a win all across the board. So I'm just real kudos to everyone who's been involved. Thank for Anyone Thanks Charles. I like to echo what council PRESIDENT You mentioned earlier. I'm really grateful to the council here for your support on restoring the the position to make sure that we don't have any cts to hours. Arlington Health Library and all know that this is an area where there's so much need in our communities. And so to have these cuts mean, there are a very drastic impacts kids not having places to go get on a computer and get access to WiFi print. And so it's more than just a public space for people to be. It's where people connecting people the most dire services that they need to be able to
do. But do need for school or from work and and much more in Seoul. Very grateful to your support for this. And as director you were talking. I just couldn't help but notice but that library is also the space where recently it was so closto the ice incident that took place in Ward 6 and there were very drastic impacts to what happened as we as a counselor here trying to save hours for library. They're also a sitch. Many factors came into play to make place here, which is one of the most safest places for kids and family is one of the most unwelcome me spaces to be in. So I am so worried about that concerned about and something I know that for the council members here, commissioners here, we don't ever want to see a repeat like that happen again. And so it just really pushes me to think about what
we as leaders get, how we can connect with them in our directors are staff members to make sure that we have collected plans in place of that. We continue making libraries a place where families want to come to. They feel safe about coming soon. That will have to worry about even instances like ice. Maybe one day stepping into our library is trying to take families away. And so that isn't the end really committed to. And I just can't again say enough how grateful I am too. Everybody's come here to our libraries. Any really want to say thank you to the friends of public libraries. The have stepped up year after year to support our libraries are committees here and we really can't do this work without them. So again, thank you to all of them and their supporters. Thank you. Council meeting
anyone becoming comfortably. Thank you, chair. Just I just want to also echo the comments from my colleagues appreciate your leadership. It's really ushering forward through this budget process you know, have an opportunity use library board has opportunity to get. Information and updates. I want to say thank you, Director Hartman, as we just been navigating, you know, a lot of the demands of from the community as well as making sure that we have are services available, particularly, you know, not only to our community, but our no busy corridors as well to. I want to just say am happy that we we were able to secure funding to ensure that we there are any reductions in hours. I am also very happy be a proactive
efforts to ensure that we secured funding for having to Browns. And that showed up in our in our budget. That's going to be later on a nurse at a charity or a city council meeting. But as want to just, you know, say no. Thank you remaining, you know, committed meeting, transparent and remaining accountable, particularly around like our process is making sure that this lab report also can learn as much as possible around what the process is in the day-to-day operations of running our libraries and making sure that they're welcoming and inclusive for activity. It's chance for Any other comments from a library budget. Just echo everything that my colleagues said. I am so excited about our library budget again this year. I
really appreciate the. All the work of the friends saying we're going to be moving forward in the transferring libraries projects and such a such a really great position relative to our world where we were last year. We're going to be building the him in the Library. It's gonna open next. We are going to him see that. It's going up and it's going to be done next year. So we're really excited about that. And to see over other projects through I again, just I'm really appreciative of my colleagues for helping us find a way to restore the hours of Arlington Hills Library. I think that, you know, being able to go to the library is something our residents really really value when they think about what it is that matters to them in our city is being
able to go into our libraries, whether it's to check out a book or use the computer and every hour that you don't take away fom that, no matter how many people it really impacts in Texas. Folks greatly some so happy to see that. And I also just really appreciate my colleagues and council PRESIDENT Maker and finding a way that we could restore our library collections to the keeping up with what we know, the So I'm very excited about our budget this And, you know, looking forward to tell them in 2026. With a with this budget and thank you again to you, Director Hartman, for all your help your leadership. So with that, I will take a motion from council vice PRESIDENT Kim to adapt. This in utilizing our version 2 as take the motion from counsel this PRESIDENT Kim. So all in
favor say Aye. Want to pose. 6 and favors or up homes. So that it has amended, corrects. It's Well, we at the end of our agenda our last meeting of the year for DECEMBER. So I just again want to thank all my colleagues for all their participation in. library board, I want again, thank you, Director Hartman and the friends and all of our staff just for great year. And we will see you again in JANUARY with nothing else to come before