International Falls Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
July 9th, 2025
Present: Diane Adams – Library Director, Will Frank, Sasha Moss, Heather Weaver, Katie Winkel, Michelle Misner, Mona Johnson
Meeting was called to order at 4:24 pm by Frank.
Minutes – Winkel moved and Johnson seconded to approve the June 2025 minutes. All approved.
Bills – Weaver moved and Winkel seconded to approve the July 2025 bills. All approved.
Director’s Report – June circulation was 27% higher than May circulation but 2% lower than June 2024. Including digital circulation we are just over 1% above year to date compared to 2024. Summer reading activities are doing okay. Libratory is seeing 10 – 15 elementary students each week, storytime is generally around 25-35 and Big Play is averaging 30 – 40. I’ll have numbers for the teen survival program on Tuesday when we meet next week. We currently have 30 patrons who have showed us their reading logs with at least 4 squares completed. The community word games have had a good response, particularly the wordle-like game. It has resulted in some good conversations and some fun.
Budget preparation for 2026 is underway. Request to the county is due before July 25, 2025. I will have a proposed city budget, which needed to be completed before I could fill out request for the county and county proposal ready for review at the meeting.
I had an email conversation with Ted about the library parking lot and the entrance off of the parking lot. He wrote that if bidding goes well, the parking lot should be redone before the snow flies.
I also had a conversation with Betty about emergency preparedness and community services after a post about the library and city hall being community tornado shelters. My understanding was that if a tornado was spotted you should shelter in place, not move to someplace else. The library can serve as shelter if we are open, but we won’t be opening in the middle of the night to be a shelter.
Old Business: Regular programming includes Libratory, storytime and Big Play each week. We are also providing a different community word or math game each week. The library has put together takeout crafts for teens and adults in June and July, August’s takeout craft is being provided by ALS. Teen survival program went well although attendees were definitely on the younger side.
Word has been received that the region did not get the NEA Big Reads grant. The coordinators are working with Boreal Waters on a slimmed down proposal for the project. We have signed the contract for the state Parks pass and we will be keeping our two passes (even though based on population size, it was indicated we now only qualify for one pass.) We received notification that our library was a recipient of a Brownstone Book fund grant. We will be receiving a collection of 100 children’s books selected by the fund this fall.
New Business: Director presented a proposed budget for 2026 and a request for $25,000 from Koochiching County which would put us close to where we were before they dropped us in 2025. City budget request may need to be changed as no information from the city has been received other than what Mayor Dill has indicated in council meetings and to the press about the need for changes. Board chair signed the proposal for the County and the director will get it submitted before July 26th the deadline for 2026 budget requests. The director is scheduled to present to the city council committee of the whole on Tuesday, August 19th.
Friends of the Library book sale is Thursday, August 7th from 11 am – 1 pm.
What are you reading? Maggie emailed that My Friends by Frederik Backman was a ‘drop everything and read’ book and Katie agreed, Diane is reading Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich, Mona is finishing up Misery by Stephen King and starting Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Olivia is recommending titles out of Mona’s normal range). Will is preparing for a canoe trip in the boundary waters by reading Bushcraft 101 by Dave Canterbury, Michelle is reading Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks, Heather is reading the final book The Fatal Tree in Stephen Lawhead’s “Bright Empires” series. Sasha is reading Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman, Katie just discovered Inferno by Dan Brown and Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 13th, 4:30 pm
Meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.