Next Meeting: August 30, 2021
Noon
Dunaway Community Meeting Room
MINUTES of the regular meeting of the Pitkin County Library Board of Trustees on August 11,
2021. The meeting was called to order at 12:16 p.m.
ROLL CALL: Trustees present: John Wilkinson and Austine Stitt. Attending with Zoom: Judi
Harris, Barbara Reid, and Judy Wrigley. Also attending in person were Kathy Chandler and
Genevieve Smith. John Keleher attended part of the time. Barbara Smith and Elizabeth Nix were
absent.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Barbara Reid and seconded by Judi Harris
to approve the Minutes of the Meeting on July 14, 2021. The motion was passed unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment.
TRUSTEE COMMENTS: John Wilkinson mentioned the significant problems that the Garfield
County Library District is experiencing with staffing issues, specifically with a “toxic
environment.” A discussion ensued regarding our Library staff. Kathy Chandler stated that the
County does routine surveys and that the Library has been involved for quite a while in
discussing equity issues in general with the County.
LIBRARIAN’S REPORT: Kathy reported that David Cook at the Aspen Daily News has given
verbal permission to add that paper to the online Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
After Kathy speaks with the Aspen Historical Society about their agreement with The Aspen
Times, she will move ahead with the project. Projected cost to add The Aspen Times from 1964
through 2001 and the Aspen Daily News from 1978 to 1999 is $296,192.
After the Chandler Investment firm meets with the BCC next week Ann Driggers,
CountyTreasurer will send Kathy a link so that we will have an update on the return on the
“endowment/capital” fund.
OLD BUSINESS: The Library has a definite concern about how the Plaza currently looks. It
appears that the City is completing the design on the north side of the plaza leaving the area
outside the library in a very sorry state. It is not known when new sod will be laid. The Board
proposed we meet first with Austin Weiss and Mike Tunte informing them of our desire to meet
with Mayor Torre and City Manager Sara Ott as soon as possible to encourage the City to
complete the landscaping sooner rather than later.
Discussion ensued regarding the ongoing issue of the boilers. This is a complicated and costly
endeavor. Kathy will ask Jodi Smith for a report on the state of our boilers. Kathy suggests we
hold off on replacing the boilers in hope that new technology and a possible change in the City’s
approach to charging a surcharge on entities using large amounts of electricity be revisited. At
this point that policy penalizes institutions, such as the Library, attempting to re-tool.
NEW BUSINESS: Kathy presented the 2022 Budget Proposal. It includes a line item for funding
a consultant for additional library services in Snowmass Village. A motion was made by Austine
Stitt and seconded by Judi Harris to approve the 2022 Budget Proposal on First Reading. The
motion was passed unanimously.
In response to Barbara Smith’s request at the last Board meeting, Genevieve Smith gave a report
on programming since May. The Library has been fully in operation since June. Attendance in
the children programs has been very good, and the teen programs have been rebuilding. Four
book clubs have restarted in person sessions along with the partnership with the Senior Center.
The Community Read with Aspen Words focused on social justice issues, and collaboration with
The Red Brick is ongoing. Database use has increased. An exciting new database CANDID
formerly called Foundation Center is now available. It is a HUGE database that is an “all in one
shop” for grants. The only services still affected by COVID are the number of computers
available for public use and the capacity in the Dunaway Community Room. Also, some
furniture hasn’t been made available in order to encourage social distancing.
Governor Polis, the Attorney General and Senator Michael Bennett will be meeting later this
month in the Community Room.
FUTURE MEETING DATES:
September 8 November 10
October 13 December 5 Holiday Potluck
ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Austine Stitt and seconded by Judy Wrigley to
adjourn the meeting at 1:45 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Judy Wrigley
Secretary