International Falls Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
November 10, 2021
Present: Diane Adams – Library Director, Dick Peterson, Paul Nevanen, Heather Weaver, Darcy Sullivan and Ashley Kostiuk.
Peterson called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm.
Introduced Dr. Jeff Hardwig who spent about 10 minutes talking about Rotary’s LORE (Love of Reading Early Program) and the opportunities to volunteer to read in the preschool and kindergarten classrooms if anyone wants.
Motion by Nevanen, second by Kostiuk to approve the October minutes. All approved.
Motion by Kostiuk, second by Sullivan to approve the November bills. All approved.
Director’s Report – October circulation was 10% above September but 13% below last October, so we are currently up 7% over 2020 to date. Storytime attendance for much of the past month has been spotty. We are consistently giving out 12 Libratory bags each week and gave out 15 candy catapults the week of the video unveiling. We gave out 19 book pumpkin crafts to teens and adults to complete.
In November we have two teen/adult crafts available. We created Thanksgiving naptkin ring kits and were provided with 3 button bowl kits from the Arrowhead Library System. Only two storytimes in November due to Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. Five libratory kits go out this month with activities ranging from building a model of the space station to an earthquake simulator and boat building.
I hope to meet with Emma Saxton to talk about options for our website later this month. Hopefully, we can make it more user friendly and still enable staff to regularly add updates and make changes.
We weeded the audio book collections and ordered the Playaways and Wonderbooks. I have started weeding the adult non-fiction section and the goal is to complete ar least two sections of shelving each week to finish within a year. That gives us time to delete and mark items and not completely overwhelm the book sale room.
Old Business – upcoming programs – storytime continues Thursday mornings, weekly Libratory bags for pickup on Tuesdays until gone, monthly teen and adult craft project. Lore Libraries display here in December
Fireplace insert – Still waiting to here from Shannon’s
ARPA – Received first boxes of order.
Strategic Plan – Motion by Nevanen and second by Weaver to approve the Strategic Plan with 2022 annual plan. All approved.
New Business – Mary Lou Pearson’s family was in touch and asking about a small memorial. They were interested in adding a photo and plaque. We don’t have a place for such memorials. No ideas generated except to ask other ideas. Diane will send out an email asking if other libraries have things they do.
Donations – in memory of Mary Lou Pearson – $40 from Debra & Richard Rossman, $20 from Larry & Donna Fitzgerald, $50 from Ladd & Onida Kocinski, $20 from Darrell Schmidt for Marsha Turenne, $1,000 from Vicki Davis. Motion by Kostiuk with second by Sullivan to accept donations. All approved.
What are you reading? – Heather is enjoying Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Paul is reading All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy while Darcy is reading Sandcastle by Richard Albert (former Falls resident, spouse of Barb Albert). Ashley recommended Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering and is reading Werewolf of Fever Swamp by R.L Stine with children. Dick read Jeffrey Archer’s Over My Dead Body and just checked out Madeline’s Christmas by Ludwig Bemelman because his granddaughter is in the title role in a twin cities production. Diane highly recommends both The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley and The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 8th, 2021 at 4:30 pm.
Meeting ended at 5:15 pm.