September 13, 2021
Library Board Meeting
Lone Cone Library District Board Meeting Minutes
A regular meeting of the Lone Cone Library District Board was held on September 13, 2021, at 6:30 p.m., located at 1455 Pinion Street and also via Zoom. Said meeting was posted and included the link and password in accordance with the Sunshine Law.
PRESENT: Rheanna Xavier, Laurel Henderson, Rebecca Mogg, Kristen Parrino, Sara Lopez, Laura Anthon, Kim Schooley, Carrie Andrew, Rhonda Oliver, Emily Haight
CALL TO ORDER
Library Director Carrie Andrew called the meeting to order at 6:38 p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
A motion was made by Laurel, seconded by Sara, to approve the agenda as proposed. All voted yes. Motion passed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The Library Board considered the minutes of the August 9, 2021, regular Library Board meeting for approval.
A motion was made by Sara, seconded by Laurel, to approve the minutes from the August 9, 2021, regular Library Board meeting as presented. All voted yes. Motion passed.
CALL FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comment was made at this time.
MONTHLY BUDGET REVIEWS
Carrie shared the year-to-date budget with the board members and mentioned the library is barely on track to make it to the end of the year. Approximately 80% of district’s property taxes have been collected however the district is currently short $71,000 due to oil and gas not paying, as well as delinquent property owners. Library expenses are on target for the year, especially payroll, which tends to be the highest line item.The Certificates of Participation (Lease) payment on the library property will be coming due soon and is approximately $71,000. While reviewing other line items on the budget, Rheanna questioned why the maintenance costs were over budget and Sara questioned the annual subscriptions line. After quickly researching in Quickbooks, Carrie was able to identify the outstanding costs in each line item. Laurel also questioned if the library’s legal fees are expected to increase and Carrie anticipates they will not. She believes the higher costs were due to the potential personnel lawsuit from earlier in the year.
MONTHLY REPORTS Q&A
In reviewing the monthly report, it was noted that the library will receive $1600 from the NASA@Mylibrary grant that Laura submitted in July. This was her first grant proposal and the library is proud of her accomplishment. She has also submitted a grant proposal to the Lone Cone Legacy Trust. The library received a small donation from Amazon Smile (Lone Cone Library Foundation’s unique charity link: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/81-3049342) and a $200 donation from Jack Hill’s estate through his niece, Terri Lamers.
Carrie and Beverly recently returned from the Colorado Association of Libraries Conference (CALCON) and Beverly is scheduled to virtually attend the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy Conference (CLELCON) in October.
A few library staff, working with a representative from the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC), spent a week at the Norwood Public School libraries weeding outdated and damaged materials to make the libraries more suitable for students and staff. Carrie feels this project is more involved than initially expected and the project is still ongoing.
Recently, the library foundation discovered its 501(c)(3) designation had been revoked due to untimely filing of financial documents to the IRS. Upon further investigation it was determined that communication between the IRS and the foundation was made through the foundation’s former accountant, who has since passed away. Further, all written documentation had been returned to the IRS because it was being mailed directly to the old library address on Lucerne Street. Kim worked with Sharon, the foundation’s current accountant, to get the proper paperwork filed and mailed to the IRS for processing. The foundation anticipates reinstatement soon.
The library on-boarded two new staff members this month. The first was a new Spanish-speaking programming assistant to help Beverly with programs and assist with translation and bi-lingual storytimes. The second was a library apprentice sponsored by Norwood Public Schools and the Telluride Foundation.
Laura has put together some ballot initiative messaging to help with the Coordinated Election in November. After discussions with other districts, it was determined only the library and the Town of Norwood will place questions on the ballot to help negate the effects if Initiative 27 passes. Laurel asked if the library will be hurt because the other districts opted out of going to the ballot and Carrie feels it will not. She feels the other districts will be supportive of the library and the town and further education will only help the library’s cause.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The program attendance for August was reviewed and it was noted that the number of visitors has decreased from the previous couple of months, however this is most likely due to patrons returning to school and changes in programs. There were also no large vaccine clinics scheduled during the month. Visits to the library website had increased and all other stats were about the same as previous months.
BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
Kristen has decided to resign her position on the library board for personal reasons and she is hopeful that she can volunteer at the library in the future. This was her last meeting and her resignation was effective at the end of the meeting.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Site Design Update: The students at the CSU Extension put together four Bubble Diagrams of different ideas for the exterior site design for the board and community to review. The board took a brief tour outside to view the current space and envision future expansion. The board members particularly enjoyed the ideas of the walking path around the library, the amphitheater, the pergola/shade sails and observatory. The main concerns were maintaining the new landscaping and exterior fixtures, potential hazard of water stagnating in the retention basin, and too many plants/trees that require water due to the community’s ongoing drought conditions. The upside to some of these design features are possible revenue streams to help alleviate the costs associated with the upgrades.
Ballot Update: Laura is putting together biographies with photos for the library’s website in conjunction with the library’s ballot question messaging. Laurel will write an article for the Norwood Post about the library’s decision to go to the ballot. Various election/voting messages are scheduled to post throughout the election season.
NEW BUSINESS
Room Rental Fee Waiver Requests: There were two requests proposed to the board for approval. The first was the San Miguel Resource Center for Advocate Training. A motion was made by Rheanna, seconded by Kristen, to approve the waiver as proposed. All voted yes. Motion passed. The second was for the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic Byway Council. A motion was made by Rheanna, seconded by Rebecca, to approve the waiver as proposed. All voted yes. Motion passed.
2022 Draft Budget: Carrie provided a draft budget for 2022 for the board. She asked that the board review the draft and propose any questions to her directly. The official draft budget will be presented in October and the final draft in November. The final 2022 budget will be approved in December.
ADDITIONAL BOARD ITEMS
No additional board items were presented at this time.
MOTION TO ADJOURN
At 8:23 p.m., a motion was made by Laurel, seconded by Rheanna, to adjourn the meeting with no further action taken. All voted yes. Motion passed.