International Falls Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
July 8, 2020
Present: at library Diane Adams, Library Director, Paul Nevanen, Dick Peterson, MaryJo Winkel and Mona Johnson, present via Zoom: Darcy Sullivan and Ashley Kostiuk
Call to Order: Peterson called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm
Motion was made by Nevanen, seconded by Winkel to approve the June minutes, approved unanimously via roll call vote.
Financial Report and Bills: Motion by Nevanen, seconded by Kostiuk to pay the bills. Approved unanimously via roll call vote. Winkel signed the bills.
Director’s Report – Life continues to be interesting. We are seeing more people and more people without masks. In June we checked out just over 3,000 items (compared to 1421 in May 2020) to 867 patrons (compared to 1230 in June 2019). So we are not anywhere close to normal, but we are providing service to the community. We continue to have people calling almost daily asking if we are open, so we still have to figure out how to communicate with the community. Summer reading participation continues to be low. Beth and I are talking about our focus and what we want to try to accomplish and how to reach those who would benefit.
I finished weeding the adult fiction collection in June. Hopefully we have enough room for new books until 2023. The next year will focus on several of the smaller collections and then start back on the adult non-fiction late in 2021 or early 2022.
Upcoming programs – Libratory – Wednesday afternoon – take home pack, links to activities Storytime – Thursday morning – live on Facebook, craft pickup packs, link to beanbag song
Family Fun – Friday morning – links, take home packs
Crafts in the Park – table on sidewalk with sign on table – ask at pick up table for supplies
June – Metal Stamping
July – Artist Trading Card
August – Rock Painting
July 8 and August 4 outdoor art programs with Twin Cities artists, utilize entire green space
New Business: Budget 2021 (see attached)
Someone asked about the Library of Things Collection. We have a book with all the items in the collection in the library and under internationalfallslibrary.us/catalogs is a link to the Flickr page with pictures of most items. Here is a link as well. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ifallslibrary/sets/72157710206123237/
Next Friends of the Library sale – Did a July 15 sale, but got a rain deluge just as the sale was starting, so moved into the lower lobby of the library. Not many folks came. We’ll try again in August.
What are you reading? – Darcy is reading Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Music: A subversive history by Ted Gioia, Mona is reading Becoming by Michelle Obama, Dick is reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, MaryJo is reading Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave, Ashley is reading American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano, Paul continues to reread titles from the cabin and is enjoying Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and Diane just started A Game of Birds and Wolves by Simon Parkin.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 8th at 4:30 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.