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5.1.e LIBSR 07-26-2022Elk River Library Board Report — June 21, 2021 The Library Board consists of 5 voting members from the community, the Great River library coordinator in charge of our region, our Great River patron services coordinator in charge of the Elk River branch, a City Council representative, and the recording secretary from the City of Elk River. Working with Mr. Portner, the Library Board revised the by-laws to better reflect what we see as our purpose, our mission and responsibilities. As now stated in the by-laws, this report is to be presented annually to City Council. We also changed our meetings to four per year but allowing for special meetings if necessary. Our purpose, as stated in the by-laws is to oversee the physical facility and grounds housing the Elk River Public Library and to promote the best possible use of all library resources to the entire community. The bookmarks state our mission and our responsibilities which are to: Connect with community partners Support staff and its initiatives Promote the library and its services Represent and advocate for residents Plan physical improvements Ensure a safe and welcoming environment Our responsibilities do overlap each other. The main responsibility of the Board has always been the library building and its grounds and the upkeep of both. We need to keep the building and grounds attractive, welcoming and aesthetically pleasing. We also oversee the use of the community room. The Board does an annual walk through, both the interior of the building and the grounds, generally the interior in April and the grounds in July. Last year, the walk throughs were not done since the building was open on a limited basis and wasn't being used to its full potential. We plan to do both walk throughs at our July meeting. The building is 14 years old, and some needs have changed, and some furnishings are beginning to wear out. The purpose of the walk throughs is to identify those needs and improvements and create a CIP list. Along with the library staff, we prioritize those needs and improvements according to what can be accomplished within the library budget. What was accomplished last year was LED lighting installed in the parking lot, wi-fi in the community room updated, and chairs re -upholstered in the children's area. Some previously considered items were put on hold, such as replacement and/or additional furniture, replacement carpeting in certain areas, and replacement shelving. We will revise what we determined two years ago and add new and/or different items. Working with the Parks and Recreation Department, the current project is re -doing the rain garden in the middle of the main parking lot. Our major concerns have to do with winter survival of anything that is planted there, its maintenance and replacement cost. To that end, the plan is to plant a mixture of ornamental grasses and native wildflowers, plants that are likelier to survive the snow that is piled there from the parking lot plowing and can be re -seeded if necessary. Complaints were received that the large decorative rocks around the perimeter were too close to the edge, causing damage to car bumpers. These will be moved further back. The junior master gardeners' program in recent years has maintained planter boxes in the parking lot raingarden, raising safety concerns due to parking lot traffic. The Library Board recognizes that the junior master gardeners' program is an important learning experience for youth and wanted them to continue the program. The junior master gardeners plan to move the boxes to the east side of the building where they will be out of the way of parking lot traffic. The program has been temporarily suspended by the U. of M. Extension Service which oversees the Master Gardeners program, but their plans are for next year to continue. The second part of our main purpose is to promote the library and its resources. Plans for more community involvement are in the idea stage and need to be brainstormed and further developed. A possibility is to partner with library staff and have a presence at community events such as the Farmers Market, Elk River Fest, the business expo. Generally, we plan to become more proactive by connecting with other community groups. As time goes on, we can generate ideas and work on them. The bookmarks handed out to you are part of library promotion. At the July meeting, we will discuss the bookmarks, perhaps re -design them so they can be produced on a larger scale. They could be handed out at community events or placed in locations such as the Furniture & Things Community Event Center. The members of the Library Board are library users, are local residents, and have a vested interest in the Elk River Public Library.