Next Meeting: January 11, 2023
Noon
William R. Dunaway Community Room
MINUTES of the regular meeting of the Pitkin County Library Board of Trustees on November 9, 2022. The meeting was called to order at 12:04 PM.
ROLL CALL: Trustees present: John Wilkinson, Ashley Connolly, Elizabeth Nix, Barbara Reid, Audrey Ellis, Austine Stitt , Elizabeth Stewart-Severy, Anna Scott. Staff: Kathy Chandler. Guest: Art Burrows.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None
TRUSTEE COMMENTS: Succession Planning. John Wilkinson reported that the sub-committee/hiring committee met and decided on the following; they will advertise locally for two weeks with an ad in the Aspen Daily News. Interview process will be the entire Board and Jon Peacock. Committee came up with interview questions which will be circulated to the Board Members.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Austine Stitt moved to approve the meeting Minutes of October 12, 2022. Barbara Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS: Art Burrows attended the meeting and provided mock ups of what the sign at the East Entrance will look like. Board reviewed and voted on the 3rd option with the Pitkin County Library logo on the sign.
LIBRARIANS REPORT: Jamie LaRue of Garfield County reported to library directors that he had 14 people show up to request banning books. He also had 9 people show up to speak more powerfully in support of the library. He is making local librarians aware that this trend is showing up here too. Garfield County Board was very supportive of him and the library.
John Ely responded regarding questions about Board member emails. He stated that the “likelihood is extremely rare” that Board emails would be subject to open records requests. It was determined that Board members will continue to use their personal emails for library purposes.
Budget Supplemental request for $87,000 to get the Aspen Daily News historical data up to date through 1995. Austine Stitt motioned to approve the request. Barbara Smith seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.
Proposed Bylaws Revision. The Board reviewed agreed upon changes and approved. Ashley Connolly motioned to approve. Barbara Smith seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.
This is the revised policy: Section 5. Public Participation in Meetings. Members of the public attending a Board meeting who want to make a public comment are required to register their names and addresses with the Secretary of the Board. The Board will provide approximately fifteen minutes for public comment at or near the beginning of each Board meeting. The Board has the right to expand the public comment period if necessary. During the public comment period of the meeting any person may speak as to any aspect of library business for a period of
three minutes upon first disclosing his or her name and address. Citizens will be called on to address the Board in the order they registered with the Secretary. A citizen may not cede his/her allotted time to another individual. Comments are to be addressed to the Board as a whole. The President shall allow questions from Trustees to speakers for purposes of clarification. The time used by a Board member to ask a question or the response to his/her questions, will not be counted against the citizen’s three minute time allotment. Action on items brought up during the Public Comment Period will be at the discretion of the Board of Trustees. Response from the Board may be in writing or addressed at the next scheduled Board meeting. Individuals who request to speak but cannot due to time constraints will be carried to the next regular meeting of the Board. The President in his or her discretion may allow further reasonable participation by the public in a meeting as to business specifically before the Board. Persons desiring to make other presentations before the Board may apply in advance to the President or County Librarian to place the matter on a meeting agenda.
NEW BUSINESS
Former librarian Martha Durgy joined the meeting. Martha has been lured out of retirement in order to undertake a project for Pitkin County called Continuity of Operations Plan/Business Impact Analysis. While we all hope that there will never be a need for an Operating Manual for
the Library, the County IT department initiated the project designed to bring the Library up to speed in the event of a cataclysmic event. Martha illustrated 27 essential functions of the Library and how to evaluate their impact, how long it would take to get the Library up and running, and at what point would the public get upset if the Library were not open. This report would need to be updated regularly on the Pitkin County platform.
HOLIDAY VOLUNTEER POTLUCK: The party will be held on Sunday, December 4. Kathy told the Board that we are welcome to arrive at 5:30 but no sooner, as the Library will not close till 5 p.m, and there will be major scrambling to transform the functional Library tables into magical holiday-themed wonders.
ADJOURNMENT Barbara Smith moved to adjourn the meeting at 1:30 p.m. Barbara Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
FUTURE MEETING DATES: Holiday volunteer potluck December 4
January 11
February 8
March 8
April 12
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Ashley Connolly and Austine Stitt
Secretary