Library Board Minutes 03/11/2024
Processing Request
Library Board Minutes for March 11, 2024
PAHRUMP COMMUNITY LIBRARY, PAHRUMP, NV NYE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICE, PAHRUMP, NV
TOWN OF PAHRUMP OFFICE, PAHRUMP, NV
www.pahrumplibrary.org
www.admin.nv.gov
NRS 24 l.020 requires that written notice of all meetings of the Board of Trustees of the Pahrump Library District be given at least three working days before the meetings. The notice shall include the time, place, location, and the agenda of the meeting.
Disabled members of the public who require reasonable accommodations in order to attend this meeting are asked to notify the Library Director 775-727-5930 at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.
I) Call to Order
The meeting is called to order at 10:06 AM.
2) Members Roll Call
Present are Chairman John Shewalter, Board of Trustee member Kelly Green, Board of Trustee member Matt Morris, Board of Trustee member Dee Mounts, Board of Trustee member Michael Runion
Also present are Library Director Vanja Anderson, Assistant Director Shanna Gibbons, Head of Youth Services Alysha Wogee, Liaison Commissioner Frank Carbone, Assistant District Attorney Michelle Nelson, and members of the public.
3) Pledge of Allegiance was recited prior to the call to order.
4) Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments: This item is limited to announcements or topics/issues proposed for future workshops, committees, and agendas.
Commissioner Frank Carbone thanks the Board for allowing him to speak, and thanks the library board members for participating. Mr. Carbone discusses an activity—a tea party— which a library in Florida has been doing. He says that the county library Florida rolls out the red carpet for attendees and that it’s an activity that this library might consider doing in the future.
Director Anderson thanks Commissioner Carbone and comments that the library can now hold Zoom meetings. She advises that that it can be video with audio or audio only. Anyone wanting to view library board meeting via Zoom should contact her. Her email address is located on the library website.
Mr. Shewalter welcomes Ms. Green and Ms. Runion to the board. Ms. Green has no comments. Mr. Morris welcomes new members to the board and looks forward to working with them. Ms. Mounts. welcomes Ms. Green and Mr. Runion and looks forward to working with them. Mr. Runion appreciates being appointed to the board, serving the community, and making this library the best it can be.
5) Approval of March 11, 2024, Agenda (Non-action item)
Mr. Shewalter moves to strike item number 10 as there are no emergency items.
Without objection, the March 11, 2024, agenda is approved.
6) GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT: * (Action will NOT be taken on matters considered during this period until specifically included on an agenda as an action item.) •
Helen Schneider says it is terrific to see new faces on the Board. She hopes the board will pay attention to the open meetings laws and know what they are. She reminds the board that small children will come to get books with their parents, but that older people with canes will also come. They will all expect to find—and have the right to read—any book that they want.
Mr. Shewalter thanks her for her comments.
C.J. Stevens tells new and old board members that the Nevada State Library and Archives has a free, online tutorial specifically designed for library trustees. She would like to have Mr. Carbone consider making it a requirement for trustees on this board to view these tutorials because thousands of dollars were spent to create them so that library trustees will know what they are doing. It teaches library trustees what their responsibilities are and what their responsibilities are not. She says it's imperative that if library board members really care about what they’re doing and really want to do the best job that they can, they will take that online tutorial. She does not know why it's not a requirement. She suggests that we wouldn't have had nearly as many open meeting violations as the board has had in the past if everyone knew what their job was. She believes the library director can get the board members the necessary email address in order for the board to sign up for the online library trustee tutorial.
Mr. Shewalter thanks Ms. Stevens for her comments.
Item number six is closed.
Mr. Shewalter changes the order of items and begins with Item Number 9 on the agenda.
9) For Possible Action: Election of Secretary of the Pahrump Library District Board of Trustees. Trustees.
Mr. Shewalter makes a motion that Ms. Green serve as secretary. Mr. Runion seconds. Ms. Green accepts. The motion is opened for public comment. There are none. Public comment is closed for Item 9.
The motion is opened for Board comment.
Ms. Green states that she looks forward to the challenge. Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, and Mr. Runion have no comment. Mr. Shewalter states that he is glad that she'll serve, is glad to see everyone get involved. The question is called for.
Mr. Shewalter asks Ms. Nelson, the Assistant DA, for clarification on if Ms. Green needs to recuse herself for the vote.
Ms. Nelson states that while there is no requirement for recusal, good quorum generally dictates that you do or do not vote for yourself and that it would be up to Ms. Green. Ms. Nelson states that there doesn't have to be a formal recusal, just generally when the item is just called for vote, Ms. Green would say, “I declare to decline to vote.”
The item is called. Ms. Green declines to vote. Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, Mr. Runion, and Mr. Shewalter vote yes. The measure passes 4-0, with one abstention.
Mr. Shewalter congratulates Ms. Green and moves to Item 8.
8) For Possible Action: Election of Vice Chair of the Pahrump Library District Board of Trustees.
Mr. Shewalter makes a motion to nominate Mr. Runion for the position of Vice Chair of the Pahrump Library District Board of Trustees. The item is seconded by Ms. Mounts. The motion is opened for public comment. There are none. Public comment is closed for Item 8.
Item 8 moves to board comments:
Ms. Green says she is hesitant and wonders if someone with more (library) board experience would make a better vice-chair?
Mr. Shewalter thanks Ms. Green for her comments and pauses board comments to ask Mr. Runion if he is willing to serve?
Mr. Runion agrees.
Mr. Shewalter resumes board comments. Mr. Morris and Ms. Mounts have no comments.
Mr. Runion says although he has not served on this board, he has served as treasurer, vice president, and president on several boards including the Lions Club and the Kiwanis. He states he is happy to serve and do his job.
Mr. Shewalter thanks him for his comments. Mr. Shewalter says that he looked at Mr. Runion’s application and is familiar with his background. He feels that Mr. Runion is competent enough to back up whoever is going to be the next chairman.
Mr. Shewalter calls the question. Ms. Green, Mr. Morris, Mr. Mounts, and Mr. Shewalter say yes. Mr. Runion abstains. The measure passes 4-0, with one abstention.
7) For Possible Action: Election of Chair of the Pahrump Library District Board of Trustees.
Mr. Runion nominates John Shewalter to serve as chair. The motion is seconded by Ms. Mounts. The motion is opened for public comment. There is none. Public comment is closed for
Item 7.
Item 7 moves to board comments. Ms. Green, Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, and Mr. Runion have none.
Mr. Shewalter says yes, he will be happy to serve again and calls for a vote. Ms. Green, Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, and Mr. Runion vote yes. Mr. Shewalter abstains. The measure passes 4-0 with one abstention.
The new board is seated and moves on to business.
10) For Possible Action: Emergency Items
Item 10 is struck as there are no emergency items.
11) For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve the meeting minutes for February 12, 2024.
Mr. Runion moves to approve or amend and approve the meeting minutes of February 12th, 2024. Michelle Nelson interrupts. Michelle Nelson asks if he is making any changes to the Minutes, Mr. Runion says no, Michelle Nelson says then it would be a motion to approve.
Mr. Runion makes a motion to approve the meeting minutes of February 12th, 2024, and asks for an amendment.
Mr. Runion amends to approve the meeting minutes of February 12, 2024.
Ms. Green seconds. There is no public comment. There is none. The Board has no comments. Mr. Shewalter has no comment and calls the question. Ms. Green. Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, Mr. Runion, and Mr. Shewalter vote yes. The measure passes 5-0.
12) Presentation: Treasurer's Report by Vanja Anderson for discussion of monthly expenditures and revenue for February 2024.
Library Director Vanja Anderson gives her monthly expenditure review beginning on page 9. See backup copy.
Library Director Vanja Anderson presents the treasurer's report on expenditures for February 2024, as found in the backup. Mr. Shewalter asks if there are any of our ledger areas where we are over where we should be for the eighth month? Mr. Anderson says no. Mr. Shewalter asks if all of our budgeted expenditures are in line for where we're at. Ms. Anderson says they are, and if they weren’t she would contact him.
Mr. Shewalter asks the board if they have any questions about page 9. They do not. Ms. Anderson moves to Payment Vouchers on page 10.
After Ms. Anderson reads page 10, Mr. Shewalter asks if there can be an accumulative total on salaries and benefits before like there is for salaries and benefits, benefits on page 10. He asks if there was one in the past. Ms. Anderson says she will have to look at past documents. Mr. Shewalter asks that if we didn’t have it, could we add it because it helps to check and balance things as we go through the reports. Ms. Anderson agrees.
Mr. Shewalter asks if the board has questions about page 10. They do not.
Ms. Anderson moves to page 11. Ms. Anderson gives her report for page 11, cumulative totals. Mr. Shewalter asks if the property taxes are what the library is budgeted to bring in. Ms. Anderson answers yes. Mr. Shewalter addresses Mr. Runion's question about revenue, and Mr. Runion says yes, that number answers his question.
Mr. Shewalter asks the board if there are any questions. Ms. Green has a question about the grants and the numbers for February and January being the same. Ms. Anderson says it's cumulative and if the library doesn’t get any additional grant reimbursements the number carries over. Mr. Shewalter points out that this is income and revenue. Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, and Mr. Runion have no questions. Mr. Shewalter has no additional questions.
Ms. Anderson moves to page 12, Collections for the month of February and gives her report. The board has no questions. Mr. Shewalter moves to close item number 12 and moves to item
number 13.
13) For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve payment vouchers for February 2024 through March 2024.
Shewalter makes a motion to approve the payment vouchers for February 2024 through March 2024. Mr. Morris seconds. The item opens for public comment. There is no public comment. The item opens for board questions. Ms. Green, Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, and Mr. Runion have no questions. Mr. Shewalter tells the new board members that if they need a couple of minutes to absorb the information, they may ask to pass, or that a recess can be taken so that they have an opportunity to read through pages and figure it out. Mr. Shewalter asks for a minute to look down the page.
Mr. Shewalter asks a question about T-Mobile $2600. He asked if that was paid off for several months in advance. Ms. Anderson answers that that was AT&T. Ms. Anderson says we have one or two months left on AT&T credit which is why it shows no disbursement.
Shewalter asks what we're getting from T-Mobile. Ms. Anderson answers there was an issue from when Sprint merged with T-Mobile. The amount for the hotspots are currently being billed at 3 times higher than our current bill. After Ms. Anderson contacted T-Mobile about this issue she was instructed by the representative to not pay until the amount was correct. Because that was 4 months ago she felt it best to pay what the amount would be.
Mr. Shewalter asks if this is more than one month’s payment, and Ms. Anderson replies that it is, that she thinks it’s three or four months. Mr. Shewalter says that he knows it fluctuates but wants to know what it is for one month. Ms Anderson replies that it’s roughly $600 a month and they’ve been billing us several times that amount. Mr. Shewalter asks if this is the only multiple-month payment you will have to make to get caught up with those months?
Ms. Anderson says for T-Mobile, yes, but that she thinks it’s been taking them an unreasonably long time for them to fix our account for it to go back to our regular $600. She does not know what’s taking them so long, but had been in contact with them through email and phone.
Mr. Shewalter states so by their regular business approach, this is going to happen more than just once.
Ms. Anderson states that she can still pays the regular amounts, but thought this would be an easier solution.
Mr. Shewalter asks if there is anything unusual in petty cash. Ms. Anderson says there isn’t. It’s a little bit lower this month.
Mr. Shewalter asks if we got the new refrigerator. Ms. Andersons says we did, and that it’s working well. Mr. Shewalter asks if it was new. Ms. Anderson states that it was, and that it has five years insurance on it so that if there are any issues with it, we can take care of it.
Mr. Shewalter calls for board comment. There is none. Mr. Shewalter calls the question. Mr. Morris seconds. Item 13 is opened for public comment. There is none. Mr. Shewalter asks if there are any questions on the monthly expenditure vouchers. The board has none. The vote is called. Ms. Green, Mr. Morris, Ms. Mounts, Mr. Runion, and Mr. Shewalter vote yes.
The measure passes 5-0.
14) Librarian's Report by Vanja Anderson, Shanna Gibbons, and Alysha Wogee, for discussion on library activity for February 2024. Report activities include, but are not limited to, patron traffic, books checked out, books returned, fees collected, online sto1y time, STEAM, internet use, website usage and materials added.
Ms. Anderson reads her report which can be found in backup on page 15.
Mr. Shewalter asked about the patron who had to be escorted out because of a dispute about the level of noise. Ms. Gibbons answered that he is a homeless patron who occasionally comes into the library and has lately become more agitated. He became irritated with the sound of another patron’s flip flops as they walked by. Security escorted him out of the building. Mr. Shewalter is pleased to hear about the Security person dealing with the situation.
Mr. Shewalter asks about the vacuum trucks which were suggested to vacuum the water that accumulates in the driveway. Ms. Anderson replies that the water isn’t apparently deep enough for the vacuum truck to work. Mr. Shewalter asks Commissioner Carbone to speak.
Commissioner Carbone says another solution might be to call Joe’s Sanitation, or that there are other ways to deal with it. Mr. Shewalter replies that he didn’t realize that vacuuming it up was even a possibility. Commissioner Carbone says it is, but whether they do it or not is the situation. Mr. Shewalter says it is something that they’ll consider if it gets really bad. Commissioner Carbone says the road is on the list to be repaired. Mr. Shewalter observes that the drive on the north side seems to be deteriorating and worries that if it continues, we won’t be able to use it.
Mr. Shewalter asks about the new head of the Reference Department, Kim Thomas.
The Board has no comment on this portion of the Librarian Report.
Ms. Gibbons mentions that the reason the flag is not up is because of repairs, but that it should be up soon. She gives the materials usage report. She also makes an announcement about the upcoming blood drive, and that walk-ins will be welcome, but that people can also make appointments.
Ms. Wogee reads the statistics for the children’s programs which can be found in the backup. She explains to the new board members how they count the number of patrons using the various programs in the children’s department. She briefly explains each of the programs that take place in her department.
The board has no comments. Mr. Runion is pleased that the circulation and programing numbers are increasing month after month and asks about how people can sign up for the blood drive. The staff answers that there is a link on the website and that information is available at the desk.
The motion is closed.
15) – Trustee, liaison comments
Commissioner Carbone thanks the team and is pleased with the numbers, and the good activity going on at the library.
Ms. Anderson proposes an agenda item for the next meeting asking that the amount that is reimbursed for classes be raised from $150 to $350 per credit.
Mr. Shewalter asks if it is for education. Mr. Anderson says it is.
Ms. Green says that she attended a webinar that delt with finding funding opportunities for public libraries and that she will share that information when she receives that transcript.
Mr. Morris thanks everyone for coming to the meeting,
Ms. Mounts says that she got an itemized list of costs from Ms. Dixon so that she can let the commissioners know and that she will be inviting dogs to an upcoming Reading with Rover meeting.
Mr. Runion says that he appreciates being on the board and thanks the commissioners for appointing him.
Mr. Shewalter asks about the bookmobile. Ms. Anderson says the delay is because the library staff is spending all of their time on the tutoring and Reading with Dogs program.
Item number 15 is closed.
The meeting adjourns.