Library Advisory Board Meetings

Library Advisory Board Meeting Tuesday, September 11, 2018 Boyce Ditto Public Library 2300 SE Martin Luther King, Jr. St. Mineral Wells, TX 76067 940.328.7880 Attending: Troy Stone (Chairman), King Hayes, Gerald Warfield, Coralee Beasley, Jeri Calcote, Lori Schmidtke, Nelda Glover, Mary Alyce Buckner, Darleen Garrett, Marilyn Rhodes, Christiana Rodriguez-Lazo, and Library Manager Louanne Noel. The meeting was called to order at 6:33 pm by Chairman Troy Stone. The minutes from the May meeting were approved with one amendment to change the spelling of Monty Lester’s name to Laster on the second page. Lance Howerton was absent so there was no City Manager’s Report. Mr. Stone welcomed the board back after summer break. He said the library has lost some employees and gained some, but he feels the library is headed in a great direction due to our wonderful librarian and he is excited to see what happens. Mr. Stone and Mrs. Buckner also reported on the Hancher Grant for the Archival and Digitization Committee. If approved, it will go toward digitizing the Thelma Doss newspaper collection. Stone said they may approve up to 15,000 pages. Buckner said they should know its status within the month. Other grants are the Rescuing Texas History and Texas Treasures state grants that could go toward digitizing old city council minutes and tax rolls. Buckner said Texas Treasures was denied, but they received feedback comments that may help them to re- apply. Stone said the Weaver collection spreadsheet has been completed and most of it is digitized. Mr. Warfield suggested having some type of program to celebrate this accomplishment. Ms. Noel agreed saying it would be good community relations for the library. Mrs. Buckner said the Friends will host their Fall Book Sale Sept. 28-29. They are looking for a new place to store books collected for the sale. Their annual holiday celebration to thank the board and volunteers is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 3. The theme is a “Happy Burro Party” based on the caption from a historical photo and will be a Mexican fiesta. Their next meeting is Sept. 18. New members may join for $10 or $15, depending on age. Buckner also said they applied for a $600 grant from the Brazos Foundation for a portable PA system. Ms. Noel provided her Manager’s Report and said highlights include changes in personnel and hours. The new hours are: Monday, closed; Tuesday, 10-8; Wednesday, 10-6; Thursday, 10-8; Friday, 10-6; and Saturday, 10-3. Ms. Noel said these changes are based on a data study, which showed Tuesday nights had the highest circulation rate. She says it also indicates opening later and staying open later will boost circulation. Discussion ensued on the purchase of a digital sign for the library to help the community in identifying the building. Most agreed the board needs clarification from Mr. Howerton about forthcoming funds. In old business, Lori Schmidtke said the Imagination Library program has new volunteers. The group meets each week at Sit ‘n Sip Books, which is serving as a local information center on the program. They are hosting monthly readings of books provided by the program every second Saturday of the month with local celebrity readers. They also plan to host a booth at the local Farmer’s Market each first weekend of the month. She reported she had a donor drive from Granbury to contribute. Ms. Noel introduced new staff: Brittney Douglas, library assistant; Jackie Fitzhugh, children’s librarian, who holds Master’s degrees in science and education; and Assistant Library Manager Lori Batchelor, who holds a Masters in Library and Information Science degree. The board adjourned at 7:57 pm.