Library Board of Trustees Meeting

The Trustees received updates from the Friends of the Library, budget and facilities reports, and the director. Friends reported continued success at a satellite book sales location and set fundraising targets for the coming fiscal year. The budget discussion noted remaining months in the fiscal year, overexpenditures in heating offset by lower electric costs, a recent Association of Rural and Small Libraries grant award of $15,000 for the ramp (pending City Council acceptance), and increasing administrative desk coverage hours needed to support public services. Facilities updates covered ongoing maintenance tasks, a small chip in the front step awaiting the mason, pruning of birch trees, and an estimated $60,000 total cost to replace the ramp financed from multiple sources (grant, FY27 capital, and a mayoral earmark request).

In the Director’s report Trustees were briefed on high library usage (including record computer sessions), strategic planning outreach, upcoming summer programming, and a proposed FY27 building and staff hours schedule. The board voted unanimously to accept the proposed FY27 schedule, which keeps total open hours at 53 per week while closing Monday evenings and opening the building at 9:00 AM daily; implementation details include staff shift adjustments and administrative coverage for desk duties. Trustees also confirmed a joint meeting with the City Council on May 26 to choose between two candidates to fill a vacant trustee seat, approved a set of capital requests (stair and second-floor carpeting, masonry and mortar work, partial ramp replacement funding, and allocations for gutter/roof/window projects), and adopted the Summer Reading theme “Plant a Seed, Read.” There were no public comments recorded.