BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES

Chouteau County Library

Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 12:00 pm

Fort Benton

1. Call to order: Janet Worrall called the meeting to order at 12:01 p.m.
2. Members present:

1. Janet Worrall - Chair, Dani Engellant - Vice chair, Nancy Grossman, Kim Hibl, Nona Danreuther, Emily Wicks - Director
2. Guests: Sissy Felton, Cynthia Lenington, Marsha Alsbury, Ron Alsbury, Bill Wood, Rick Cook, Janet Jordan, Laurie Rettig, Ross Rettig, Whitney Bahnmiller, Tim Wood, Rich Jespersen, Karen Jespersen, Bethany DeBorde, Wendy Kamm, Fred Finke.
3. Zoom guest - Michelle Danreuther, Judy Yirsa, Big Sandy Branch Library, Adrian Miller, KK

3. Re-election of officers: Action item

1. Janet Worrall nominates Dani Engellant for chairperson, Nona Danreuther  seconds. Worrall calls for a vote. Motion is carried
2. Danreuther nominates Worrall as vice chair. Grossman seconds. Motion carries

4. Minutes: Action item

1. Kim Hibl moves to approve minutes as presented. Danreuther seconds. Motion carries

5. Budget: Action item

1. Grossman moves to accept budget report as presented. Hibl seconds. Motion carries

6. Reports:

1. Big Sandy - Themes were Camp Kindness and All Together Now. Projects were summer reading. No needs or concerns reported at this time.
2. Fort Benton - Themes were America, American Revolution, Immigration, Shark Week, Summer, UFO/Aliens, Montana, Lewis & Clark, All Together Now, YA - American Historical Fiction. Projects included rotation of trade paperbacks in the spindle, organization of used books, summer reading.
3. Geraldine - Themes were America and New Books. Projects included for summer reading with the older kids: completed a new free community library, painted the park handrails, and have also started a butterfly mural. Needs that have been filled are plain copy paper and 12” Demco covers. There are concerns about storage space. FBBL is still holding historical artifacts that will need to go back to GBL. Shed and shelving that was requested on the last Lippard-Clawiter grant has not been selected by the foundation committee.
4. Highwood - No change.

7. Director Report:

1. Susan Gianforte’s visit - Susan Gianforte visited the Fort Benton library in July as part of the 56-county tour with Governor Gianforte. Dee Pribyl of Big Sandy has been organizing and executing the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program for Big Sandy for nearly 20 years. Due to Mrs. Gianforte’s efforts, the program has been expanded to all children ages 0-5 in Chouteau County. Within the first month the enrollment from our county doubled. Mrs. Gianforte is hoping for a 66% participation rate by the end of 2024.
2. Community Conversations - The Chouteau County Library’s “Community Conversations” yearlong series kicked off on Tuesday, August 15th with an interactive presentation by three staff from EmpowerMontana. Twenty people attended with representation from Fort Benton, Geraldine, Highwood, and southern Chouteau County. After a lively and enlightening conversation, all agreed that two hours was definitely not long enough. We will be working with the Fort Benton school district for further opportunities to work with this organization. The next program in the series will be held on Monday, September 11th at the Fort Benton Library at 5:30 p.m. with Table Talk 1. All trustees are invited to attend.

I. A Collection Development Program was held on Monday, August 21st at 5:30 p.m. at the Fort Benton Library. It was attended by two community members. A second program is tentatively scheduled for mid-December.

3. Friends of the Library - On Wednesday, August 9th, Carolyn hosted an exploratory Friends of the Library meeting in Fort Benton. It was attended by 14 people in person and 1 via zoom. There appears to be interest in restarting the program. Further information will follow as it becomes available.

4. Tax assistance - On Tuesday, August 22nd, the Fort Benton library hosted an exploratory meeting on bringing tax assistance to Chouteau County. Gene Kasper from the IRS presented and talked about what will be needed to launch an IRS VITA site. I will continue to work on getting this project off the ground for the next tax season.
5. Facilities report - Jens Jenson has completed (to my knowledge) the outside drainage work. The ditch has been dug, the concrete completed, and grass seed spread. We are hoping for the best.

8. Announcements/Dates to remember:

1. 9/4/23 - All branches closed in observance of Labor Day
2. 9/5/23 - Winter hours begin in Fort Benton and Geraldine
3. 9/11/23 - Table Talk 1, 5:30 p.m. FBBL
4. 9/13/23 - Ken Robison: Historic Tales of Fort Benton, 5:30 p.m. FBBL

9. Unfinished Business:

1. Grossman: Action item

1. Grossman moves to reject petition, Hibl seconds. Grossman & Hibl vote to reject the petition as a whole. Worrall & Danreuther didn’t vote for rejecting it. Opens to discussion.

“We are so fortunate to have a wonderful library system in Chouteau County. We have a diverse county population whose needs we serve. As a publicly funded library we must serve all of the tax payers in the county. We value all of our patrons, leaving any demographic out is not legal.

We have an excellent staff in Fort Benton who administer the system. They are trained, experienced and educated to do their jobs. They serve with integrity. They are good at what they do and serve our patrons well.

We have policies in place to cover the challenges in this petition. If a patron finds a book offensive, they can fill out the Reconsideration form for us to review that book. There is also a Child Protection Policy. Children 8 years of age and younger must be accompanied by a parent, caregiver or responsible sibling. As you come to the library with your children you will be able to guide their choices and teach them what is acceptable to your family.

The library is not a purveyor of moral standards in the county. That is a parental responsibility because each family is different.

We cannot discriminate by leaving one group out at the request of a different group. That is against current law.

As such, I move that we as a library board reject the petition that has been presented to us.

1. Worrall: When taking the MLA class online about serving as a trustee, this is what I learned and committed to listing in my personal notebook.

           The trustee issues should concentrate on these goals:        

                  .. we need to maintain our budgets

                  .. we need to maintain the health of all our branches

                  .. we need to be a presence for the public

                  .. we need to be a presence for the patrons.

           The trustee should also make these commitments;

                  1.  serve the public interest first

                  2.  perform your duties openly with the public

                  3.  take a full responsibility to actively listen to the community,

           Lastly, the board has legally bestowed power, responsibilities and liabilities regarding materials in your library.  Because I have been a mother and now a grandmother, I feel strongly that our first line of protection should be for the children and therefore defend other parents, as myself, to maintain a healthy approach for our library.

2. Sissy Felton - The board should reject the petition because it is an illegal petition. There are federal guidelines that must be followed. There are policies and procedures currently in place.
3. Whitney Bahnmiller - Appreciates that the board is finally addressing the petition. Requests that each bullet point be voted on and not reject the whole document. Reads statement from Judy Yirsa.
4. Lauri Rettig - Nancy’s comments were spot on
5. Tim Wood - The library district is here for all citizens. Re-consideration policy should cover all of the concerns that have  been brought up. Human sexuality and violence are not linked. Things being “safe.” Having books with LGBTQ+ content do not make them unsafe.
6. Danreuther - Wants to table the motion to reject the petition and meet to have a discussion.
7. Ross Rettig - Are the petition signatures a matter of public record?
8. Rick Cook - Clerk of Court, Superintendent of Chouteau County Schools. Petition will not pass legal muster. We must follow federal and state law. They trump library board policy. Recommends that the board talk to an attorney.
9. Janet King Jordan - Why are people scared about books? Reading a book does not make a person gay. Everybody has their own views. Do not take a book away from my family or put a book where my child can’t see it just because you are uncomfortable.
10. Tracy Cook - MSL - Consider a motion to
11. Hibl moved to request the lead petitioners follow the materials request process adopted by the Chouteau County Library Board and after the receipt of the form the Board will form a committee to review the request and respond to the concerns of the petition signers. Danreuther seconds. Grossman disagrees. Motion carries

2. Policies: Action item

1. Request for (Re)consideration Procedure

1. Danreuther moves to adopt this policy with changes. Hibl seconds. Approved.

2. Citizen Request for (Re)consideration of Library Material

1. Danreuther moves to adopt this form. Grossman seconds. Approved.

3. Instructions to the Review Committee

1. Hibl moves to adopt as amended. Worrall seconds. Approved

4. Code of Conduct Policy

1. Danreuther moves to accept. Grossman seconds. Approved.

5. Rules of Behavior

1. Danreuther moves to accept as amended. Worrall seconds. Approved.

6. Copyright policy

1. Danreuther moves to accept as stated. Grossman seconds.  Approved.

7. Chouteau County Policies in Brief

1. Danreuther moves to accept. Hibl seconds. Approved.

8. Cooperation with Other Libraries

1. Hibl moves to accept. Grossan seconds. Approved.

9. Rules for Commenters During Public Meeting - First reading has happened. Tabled for second reading.

3. Books purchased record -

1. Maren Engen - Went through all purchase points (5 or 6 different companies + receipts) to find all books purchased over the last two years. They are available upstairs for viewing and copying. This year’s books are also being tracked.

4. Nona Danreuther: BSBL gutter project update

1. The doors - need to order new mechanisms. $1,500 a piece for a total of $3,000.
2. Gutters - Is going to meet with someone in Big Sandy. Gutter vs sidewalk. Three men will be coming to talk about that.

5. Worrall: Action item

1. Representation:

The board has been asked a couple times by a concerned citizen, Sissy Felton, about who represents Fort Benton.  Since I am the one who has been on the board the longest, the one with ageism, I will answer.  Ron Young was the representative from Fort Benton and served on the board for 14 years, of which 11 of those years, he lived close to Cascade in Cascade County not Chouteau County  I live 5 miles from Loma and there is no branch library in Loma, Kim lives outside of Carter and there is no branch library there and Nancy represents Highwood, but her address is Shonkin which neither town has a branch library.  When I was asked to join the library board by Debbie Wellman, I did not realize that I was to represent Big Sandy since I live the farthest from Big Sandy yet just a ¼ mile in the district.

 In looking to replace Ron, we used our bylaws which state that the board puts together a list, votes on the candidates, and then the Commissioners choose the representative.  The reason the Commissioners have the last say is because we are subject to them because we use county dollars to run the library.  A list was compiled, we voted our choices by email, and accordingly it was emailed to Emily, who is our secretary as the Director.  Because we sent out a list to her, we assumed (which was entirely our fault) that she would contact the eight people.  Instead Emily put a form in the Riverpress and received interest from others within the county. We wanted the correct requirements in appointments  so Kim wrote to Tracy at the Montana State Library.  I will read Tracy’s response that was forwarded to the entire board including myself.

        There are a variety of ways that libraries handle board representation.  I reached out to Emily to double check my memory of our conversation.  I couldn’t remember if your by-laws said anything about representation.  Some libraries have the requirement—especially county libraries that are trying to make sure the main county is represented on the library board. When Emily and I spoke she said historically that you have representation from the cities with branches and one at large representative.

I told her that keeping  that same format is not a requirement but ensures the entire county has representation and follows a protocol that has been used for many years.

It can be challenging to maintain that representation because people don’t always live in the city limits.  However, it is best to have board members frequent who live/and do business in a town or area.  It brings their perspective and experience that lets them be a voice for their community.

Because I did not fit into the guidelines, I told the board that I would resign, so someone from BIg Sandy could be appointed.  I am a transplant who married her college sweetheart and we have deep roots In the Loma area.  When the Commissioners received the names, they called Kim over to the courthouse to let her know that they had chosen Nona.  Then Commissioner Darlington called me at home and said that I did not need to resign, but rather become the “at large” representative and Kim would become the Fort Benton representative. So, it would be a large stretch for me to be the Fort Benton representative as I cannot even vote in this district.  Kim works in Fort Benton, graduated from Fort Benton and her children go to school here.  I therefore, I make a motion for Kim Hibl to represent Fort Benton. Do I have a second from the board for this motion.

2. Worrall makes a motion to assign Fort Benton representation to Hibl. Danreuther seconds.
3. Hibl moves to definitely postpone the motion to the next meeting. Grossman seconds. Approved.

10. Executive session: Executive session called at 1:49 p.m. Out of executive session at 2:30.

11. New business:

1. Lippard-Clawiter wish lists: Worrall will record the wishes to the foundation minutes and send out.

1. Big Sandy
2. Geraldine
3. Fort Benton

12. Public comment:

1. Bill Wood - How is the community member at large chosen to be on the reconsideration committee?

13. Meeting adjourned by Janet at 2:52 p.m.
14. Next Meeting: 12:00 Wednesday, September 27th, 2023 - Fort Benton