Library Board

Keene Memorial Library Board Meeting Municipal Building-2nd Floor, City Council Chambers Please Enter from the West Side 400 E. Military, Fremont, NE 6:30 P.M. March 20, 2023 AGENDA Call to Order/Notice of Meeting 1. Roll Call 2. Motion to adopt current agenda for March 20, 2023 regular meeting 3. Dispense with and approve February 20, 2023 minutes (attachment) 4. New Business a. Overdrive Collection Development Policy and parental controls information (attachment) b. Physical collection’s statistics information c. Article excerpt on censorship practices and models (attachment) d. Request for Reconsideration policy and form information update 5. Reports a. Library Director’s Report i. Month in Review ii. Expansion Project Update b. Friends of the Library Report c. Finance-Library Expenditures Reports for March 2023 (attachment) 6. Adjournment Next Regular Board Meeting – April 17, 2023 Municipal Building 2nd Floor, location to be determined Agenda posted online at www.fremontne.gov/library and emailed to Library Board members on March 15, 2023. This meeting is preceded by publicized notice in the Fremont Tribune and the agenda is displayed in the Administration East Office at Keene Memorial Library, 925 North Broad Street. A Copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted at the entrance of the meeting room. The Library Board reserves the right to go into Executive Session at any time. The Library Board reserves the right to adjust the order of items on this agenda.  Keene Memorial Library Board Meeting Municipal Building-2nd Floor in the City Council Chambers 400 E. Military, Fremont, NE 6:30 P.M. February 20, 2023 Minutes Held at the Municipal Building – 2nd Floor City Council Chambers and Board President Linda McClain called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Roll Call The following members were present: Becky Pence, Amanda Moenning, LeAnn Rathke and Linda McClain. Ryan Fiala was absent. Also present were: Laura England-Biggs, Library Director, Mayor Joey Spellerberg, City Administrator Jody Sanders, City Council Liaison Sally Ganem and City Attorney Travis Jacott. Office Associate Tracy Parr will be recording the meeting minutes, Notice of Meeting and Agenda The meeting was preceded by publicized notice in the Fremont Tribune and the agenda is posted in the East Office of Keene Memorial Library, temporarily located at 925 North Broad Street, online at www.fremontne.gov and distributed by email. A copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted continually for public inspection and is located near the entrance of the meeting room. Agenda Motion to adopt current agenda for February 20, 2023 regular meeting. Board Member Rathke moved, seconded by Board Member Moenning, to adopt the agenda for February 20, 2023 Library Board Meeting. Ayes: Pence, Moenning, Rathke and McClain. Motion carried 4-0. Reading of Minutes Board Member Pence moved to dispense with and approve the January 16, 2023 board minutes, seconded by Board Member Rathke. Ayes: Pence, Moenning, Rathke and McClain. Motion carried 4-0. New Business Appeal of Library Director’s decision to retain Sex is a Funny Word in the library collection Library Director England-Biggs spoke to the reconsideration form she received, her response to that form and that it was formally requested to move on to the Library Board. Board Member Rathke addressed her role as she understands it as a Library Board member and her thoughts on the book Sex is a Funny Word being in the library. Board Member Rathke made a motion to have the library board table any action on the book until the March meeting. The motion died with lack of a second. Further statements were made regarding the book Sex is a Funny Word by Board Members Moenning and Pence. After making a statement Board Member Pence made a motion to retain the book in the adult nonfiction section, seconded by Board Member Moenning. Ayes: Board Members Pence, Moenning and McClain. Nays: Board Member Rathke. Motion carries 3-1. Reports Library Director’s Report Month in Review Director England-Biggs gave a review of all of the meetings, presentations and classes she was involved in since the last library board meeting. She also went on to talk about some of the different events and happenings that library staff have been involved with. No action taken. Expansion Project Update Director England-Biggs mentioned that there have been lots of success with the expansion. She reported what has been going on as they continue to move forward with construction and let everyone know that a donation was made the night of the meeting from Richard and Betty Roeder for $10,000, that donation was met with applause. Board Member Rathke asked how grant work was coming along and the Director mentioned that a grant to the CCCFF was written and submitted and that she believes notification of award will be by March 31st. No action taken. Friends of the Library Update Director England-Biggs informed the Board that the Friends met on February 6th and that was reported that Dave’s Drive In took in approximately $970 for the month of January. No action was taken. Finance Library Director England-Biggs stated the report was typical, communications under IT are over due to being in our temporary location and will go back to normal after we occupy the library building again. Board Member Rathke asked about Building/Improve Acquisitions line. The library director will bring additional information to the March meeting. No action taken. With no further business, motion to adjourn was made at 6:55 pm with Board Member Rathke making the motion and Board Member Pence seconding. Ayes: Pence, Moenning, Rathke and McClain. Motion Carried 4-0. Next Regular Board Meeting will be held March 20, 2023 at 6:30 pm –Municipal Building 2nd Floor. Prepared by Tracy Parr, Senior Office Associate Signed by Amanda Moenning, Library Board Secretary  Opposing Censorship in Difficult Times • 269 Censorship Practices and Models Censorship is primarily about power and control. The would-be censor has encountered some information that he or she finds upsetting or disturbing and asks, “What can I do to ensure that others don’t see this information?” Censorship is generally discussed as a coherent, con- sistent activity, but in reality, censorship is a constellation of practices. For categorization pur- poses, these can be divided into active and passive practices. Active practices include what I call the four Rs: redaction, restriction, relocation, and removal. Redaction is when someone crosses or marks out certain text or images on a page, such as in the anecdote of librarians marking through the baby’s penis in Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen when it was first published (Cattrysse 2015). Restriction takes place when a limit is placed on who can use a particular item. Age is often the restricting factor, as seen in, for example, the restriction of R-rated movies to those over the age of 17. In a library, restricted items are placed in an inac- cessible area so that those who do not meet the restriction criteria are unable to gain access to them. Sometimes this is colloquially known as “behind the desk” so that a member of the staff can monitor who checks out a particular item and ensure that criteria are met before circulating the item. Relocation is when an item has been moved from one area where it was accessible to its intended audience to another area that is not readily accessible. A common example of this involves moving a young adult book to the adult section so that teens cannot stumble upon it (Knox 2013). This can also happen when controversial books are moved from open shelving to special collections to monitor who has access to them. Finally, removal means that a book is removed either from a collection or, in the case of schools, the curriculum. Passive censorship practices include self-censorship, or choosing not to select materials because of personal bias or fear of reprisal from one’s community. In his classic treatise “Not Censorship but Selection,” Asheim (1953) notes that “for the censor, on the other hand, the important thing is to find reasons to reject the book; his guiding principle leads him to seek out the objectionable features, the weaknesses, the possibilities for misinterpretation” (5). Self-censorship is heavily influenced by the passive practice of bias, which would mean, for example, only collecting materials that embody one political view or that do not reflect the diversity of human experiences. I am not arguing that it is always wrong to restrict or relocate material in library collections, as sometimes items are misclassified, are in fact in- appropriate for a certain age group, or need to be protected from vandalism. However, it is important to remember that censorship involves an unequal power dynamic, and, in keeping with Asheim, it is always important to interrogate why these are the best courses of action for each item that is moved. This content downloaded from 128.206.9.138 on Wed, 15 Mar 2023 13:12:56 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms  NLFS001 Auditors Trial Balance Accounting Period: 5/2023 Fund(s): 001 - General Fund Report Generated on Mar 10, 2023 4:09:21 PM Page 1 Fund: 001 - General Fund Account Account Description FYTD through Original Budget Encumbered Budget Balance Prior Year Actual Prior Two 2/28/2023 Years Actual 001-2031-419.20-12 Communications 860.72 2,500.00 3,964.80 (2,325.52) 1,221.18 2,400.00 001-2031-419.20-65 Service Agreements 19,475.01 25,500.00 6,024.99 24,748.71 28,026.79 001-2031-419.20-99 Other Contractual Service 747.50 001-2031-419.30-55 Software 1,759.80 5,500.00 2,700.00 1,040.20 2,485.72 5,486.10 001-2031-419.30-56 Parts/Mach & Equipment 16,000.00 16,000.00 1,888.51 718.66 001-2031-455.10-10 Salaries/Wages 200,583.29 624,232.00 423,648.71 593,882.41 463,993.58 001-2031-455.10-14 Health Insurance 33,615.12 95,762.00 62,146.88 91,737.05 110,909.22 001-2031-455.10-15 Overtime Wages 30.71 1,750.00 1,719.29 1,308.32 207.10 001-2031-455.10-22 FICA/Medicare 14,773.21 46,795.00 32,021.79 43,984.55 33,851.10 001-2031-455.10-23 Pension 8,284.25 24,766.00 16,481.75 20,200.48 15,991.38 001-2031-455.20-11 Postage & Printing 5,550.00 4,800.00 750.00 1,607.76 1,600.00 001-2031-455.20-13 Training & Travel 900.39 12,000.00 300.00 10,799.61 7,134.79 3,016.24 001-2031-455.20-33 Legal Advertising 214.97 100.00 (114.97) 61.13 50.13 001-2031-455.20-41 Utility Services 18,141.27 52,000.00 33,858.73 40,264.00 41,991.45 001-2031-455.20-60 Repairs & Maintenance 2,342.20 10,000.00 130.00 7,527.80 4,391.48 3,787.96 001-2031-455.20-65 Service Agreements 7,511.83 33,000.00 17,549.00 7,939.17 21,451.42 22,735.27 001-2031-455.20-70 Rents 295.14 800.00 310.00 194.86 4,099.28 590.28 001-2031-455.20-93 Dues & Subscriptions 150.00 19,000.00 18,850.00 17,037.25 17,049.27 001-2031-455.20-95 Hire Equip/Equip Rental 1,200.00 (1,200.00) 001-2031-455.20-98 Taylor collection 500.00 240.94 259.06 259.06 469.19 001-2031-455.20-99 Other Contractual Service 3,953.22 34,000.00 183,196.84 (153,150.06) 59,104.22 21,436.26 001-2031-455.30-31 Office Supplies 1,414.78 10,000.00 8,585.22 2,770.59 3,011.77 001-2031-455.30-35 Printing 500.00 500.00 670.27 767.42 001-2031-455.30-41 Food Supplies 4,000.00 4,000.00 114.28 345.20 001-2031-455.30-44 Fuel/Oil/Grease 29.18 200.00 170.82 78.21 33.96 001-2031-455.30-49 Bldg/Structural Materials 1,184.60 10,000.00 50.00 8,765.40 3,913.95 6,241.12 001-2031-455.30-51 Books & Periodicals 38,172.50 125,000.00 51,604.83 35,222.67 116,671.86 139,526.82 001-2031-455.30-63 MV Fuel Parts 145.72 (145.72) 693.73 37.17 001-2031-455.30-76 Signs 1,000.00 1,000.00 001-2031-455.30-79 Other Commodities 10,000.00 172.76 9,827.24 15,280.95 4,382.96 001-2031-455.40-13 Bldg/Improve Acquisition 1,141,860.32 3,628,919.00 3,502,079.84 (1,015,021.16) 279,848.08 197,315.00 Server Name: frmt-cog.aspgov.com User Name: 1,495,698.23 4,799,374.00 3,768,299.01 (464,623.24) 1,357,656.74 1,125,971.40