International Falls Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
September 11th, 2024
Present: Diane Adams – Library Director, Maggie Horning, Mona Johnson, Will Frank, Sasha Moss and Friends of the Library president Amber Hemstad
Meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Frank.
Minutes – Horning moved and Johnson seconded to approve the August 2024 minutes. All approved.
Bills – Frank moved and Moss seconded to approve the September 2024 bills. All approved.
Director’s Report – Physical circulation remains 3% below year-to-date numbers for 2023. However, with digital numbers included we are 4% above year to date. New cards are up 21% for the year to date and confirm that we are seeing more users with fewer checkouts. There just aren’t as many patrons who check out 30 – 40 books at a time anymore. I think we have one or two adults who borrow 10 – 20 at a time and maybe 5 families that borrow more than 10 books at a time. There are also more readers who prefer digital options.
August has limited programming. We had 7 at the last summer crafters’ café. The first Elementary Fun didn’t have anyone show up, but there has been some buzz, so at least through the end of October we will continue promoting and encouraging families with elementary students to participate. Storytime will start next week as will Silent Book Club and crafters’ café. I’ll try Saturday storytime in September and October and see if there is a response.
I will have a proposed Knudson grant at the meeting on Wednesday to consider for approval. We will be looking at adding a computer station with printer access to the main floor with the newspaper scans available publicly for searching.
Old Business: Fall programming is underway with Elementary Fun on Wednesday afternoons, storytime on Thursday mornings, monthly Libratory take-home bags, Crafters’ café every other week, Silent book club monthly and a monthly takeout craft for teens and adults. The September takeout craft are calligraphy kits from the Arrowhead Library System created by Lynn Prouty who did the calligraphy class in April.
There has been no word on the status of the library budget for 2025.
New Business: The director presented the Knudson grant proposal requesting money for a new computer to house a copy of the scanned newspapers for patrons to search, chair William Frank signed. It will be submitted before the end of September.
Friends of the Library book sale is Monday, October 7th from 5pm – 7pm.
What are you reading? – Maggie asked her grandkids for book recommendations and is reading (and then doing book reports) on When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson (her first graphic tale), A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen and Front Desk by Kelly Yang. Will has been reading the New York Times daily and continuing to plod along in The Lord of the Rings while Amber is reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot and Sasha is enjoying The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, Mona is trying Open Season by C J Box and Diane is enjoying the second book in the Ambit’s Run series by L M Sagas.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 11th, 4:30 pm
Meeting adjourned at 5:10pm.