Pahrump Community Library
Minutes of the July 14, 2025 Meeting
1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 10:05 a.m.
2. Members Roll Call
In Attendance: Secretary Kelly Green (via Zoom), Trustee Matthew Morris, Trustee Dee Mounts, Vice-Chair Michael Runion, Chair John Shewalter, Michelle Nelson, Director Kimberly Thomas, and Assistant Director Shanna Gibbons.
3. Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by member of the public Aaron Koehler.
4. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT: (*Action will NOT be taken on matters considered during this period until specifically included on an agenda as an action item.)
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no comments.
Public comment is closed.
5. Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments – This item is limited to announcements, brief discussions of public comments, correction of factual inaccuracies, direction to staff, or topics proposed for future board meetings. (Lengthy deliberation of topics not on the agenda is prohibited by the Nevada Open Meeting Law.)
Director Thomas – No comment.
Trustee Green – She says hello to everyone and says that the new audio we have for the Zoom works well. She also states that creating a position to do community outreach to places like senior centers, homeschoolers, or other groups with transportation issues would be a great service, and would like the Library Director to consider this. She would like to thank the library staff for the wonderful job they did putting the library back together.
Trustee Morris – He says he would like to thank the staff for carrying out their duties in a professional manner.
Trustee Mounts – She states that she is very proud of the library and that the Tales with Pebbles program is currently booked up.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He says congratulations the library staff on getting the library put back together, and it looks beautiful.
6. Approval of July 14, 2025 Agenda (Non-action item)
Item 7 is struck as there are no emergency items.
Without objection, the July 14, 2025 agenda is approved.
7. For Possible Action: Emergency Items
There are no emergency items.
8. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve the meeting minutes for June 9, 2025.
Vice-Chair Runion made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for June 9, 2025.
Trustee Morris seconds.
There is clarification that the draft meeting minutes are sent out with the agenda to the public who request a copy of the agenda ahead of time, and that the minutes do not go on the website until after they are approved by the library board during the meeting.
There is no public comment.
Chair Shewalter calls the question to approve the meeting minutes for June 9, 2025.
The measure passes 4-1.
9. Presentation: Treasurer’s Report by Kim Thomas for discussion of monthly expenditures and revenue for June 2025 through July 2025.
Director Thomas reviewed the monthly expenditures for June 2025, along with the additional backup for the credit card breakdown. She reviewed the reimbursements that will be deducted from the Petty Cash. She also reviewed the new Clover P.O.S. reports and explained the details of the different payments.
Trustee Green – She states that she likes the new Clover report.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – He asks if Network Savants is a yearly fee.
Director Thomas – She clarifies that it is as needed.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He questions what the Gunny’s charges were for and, if they were for when the main unit in the library broke down.
Director Thomas – She states that it was for the main unit, plumbing we had done for the renovations, and for the plumbing for the countertop replacement.
Chair Shewalter – He states there was $990.00 for T-Mobile Hotspots, but he will come back to that later.
10. Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve payment vouchers for June 2025 through July 2025.
Chair Shewalter made a motion to approve the payment vouchers for June 2025 through July 2025.
Trustee Morris seconds.
Chair Shewalter calls for Public Comment.
There are no public comments.
There are no comments from the board.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
11. Presentation: Librarian’s Report by Kim Thomas for discussion on library activity for June 2025 through July 2025. Report activities include patron traffic, books checked out, books returned, fees collected, online story time, STEAM, internet use, website usage and materials added.
Director Thomas read her librarian's report listed below:
The staff worked hard to get the library reopened, and things are going well in our newly renovated library. We had 407 patrons on just the first day we reopened, June 16th.
Our regular programming has resumed, and staff has taken initiative in running programs. Kit is now running Chess Club, Kraven is now teaching the Basic Computer Class which begins this week, and Shanna is planning a fun fall craft. One of the library’s volunteers, Joanne, is still running Favorite Author Book Club, which was being held off site and has moved back into the Story Room.
The staff has been evaluating one of the options for our new ILS (Integrated Library System/catalog and checkout software), Apollo by Biblioinix, and I am looking forward to getting their feedback on that tomorrow. I have another demo from The Library Corporation ready for everyone to try out next.
Director Thomas presented the Librarian’s Report Statistics for June 2025.
Trustee Green – No comment
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Trustee Morris – He asked about the curbside patron count being different than the regular patron count.
Chair Shewalter – He also questioned the patron pick up and returns during curbside.
Director Thomas – She clarified that the curbside patron count was separate from the regular patron count and that the return and pickups were for the books circulated during the curbside service.
12. Discussion and deliberation regarding the working hours for the Library Director and set start date.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to set the Library Director’s hours for Monday through Friday, 9:00a.m. – 6:00 p.m., with Saturdays and Sundays off, and to have the working hours be flexible since the director is a salaried employee exempt from overtime. These hours are to start on Monday, July 21, 2025.
Vice-Chair Runion seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
Ann Underdahl – She was asking for clarification on the start date for the hours because there was a start date when she started her position, and was this start date for the new regimen?
Chair Shewalter confirmed that it was for her new working hours regimen.
Dave Ochenreider – He agrees that flexible hours for a salary employee are needed.
Chair Shewalter – He states that those flexible guidelines also include an hour lunch.
Public comment is closed.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that it is a good thing to bring practice and policy into coordination.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Trustee Mounts – She asks Director Thomas what she thinks.
Director Thomas – She states that there are times when she has come in early and stayed late, has worked on Saturdays, and has put in more than 40 hours a week.
Trustee Green – She states that it sounds good.
Michelle Nelson – She clarifies that Director Thomas is a salaried employee and does not receive overtime, and that whatever hours Director Thomas needs to work to get her job done are the hours that she needs to work. The 9-6 schedule being set is just a guideline of when the board would like to see her here when the library is open. If she gets her job done in less than 40 hours, fine. If she is more than 40 hours, that is fine too, as long as the job is getting done.
Chair Shewalter – He states that Director Thomas is working on a lot of things right now, and in the future, when things are smoothed out the hours of 9-6 may be more applicable.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
13. Discussion and deliberation to include June 19 (Juneteenth) to the Pahrump Community Library Personnel Policy Manual as a recognized holiday.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to include June 19 (Juneteenth) to the Pahrump Community Library Personnel Policy Manual as a recognized holiday.
Vice Chair Runion seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
Ann Underdahl – She thinks that it is a positive move because it is a Federal Holiday.
Dave Ochenreider – He is not in agreement because it’s in the middle of the week, and maybe the library staff could take a personal holiday day instead so that we could be open to the public.
Robin Niedecker – She states that it is a national observation of a very important day in our history, and it should be observed as it has been in the last few years.
Aaron Koehler – He states that a holiday like this should let the patrons use the library, and it should be available. He suggests we could keep the library open by using people who don’t have any plans for that holiday, or by using volunteers.
Helen Schneider – She states that if we want to start deciding holidays that you don't want observed, then she could mention a few like Christmas, Thanksgiving, or the Fourth of July. She states that some people might not like Christmas and that June 19th should be accepted just as all of the other holidays are.
Carolene Logue – She supports the Library Board’s effort to be correct in recognizing the purpose of the holiday.
Chair Shewalter closes public comment.
Chair Shewalter – He states that this has been in practice for the library to be closed, and the NRS states that we are required to do it. He asks Michelle Nelson if there are any other options.
Michele Nelson - She states that, per NRS 236.015, Juneteenth is recognized as a legal holiday. Subsection 2 specifies that all state, county, and city offices, courts, and public schools must close on legal holidays. She further explains that if June 19th falls on a Sunday, the following Monday would be observed as the holiday. If it falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday would be observed. If June 19th falls on a weekday (Monday through Friday), that day would be observed as the holiday.
Chair Shewalter – He states personal feelings aside, we have to follow the NRS.
Michelle Nelson – She also added that the reason this item is on the agenda is that the personnel policy needs to be updated, as Juneteenth was not a holiday when the current policy was put into place.
Chair Shewalter – He states it has been a practice and that it is not a policy, but it should be according to the NRS. He asks Director Thomas if she has any questions.
Director Thomas – She states no.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Trustee Morris - No comment.
Trustee Mounts – She states that when talking to Director Thomas, the employees have been taking it off for years, and it’s good to know that the NRS supports the holiday.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
14. Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject creating 1) an Information Technology Coordinator position; 2) establish the job description for the Information Technology Coordinator position; 3) determine whether the library shall pay for the CompTIA A+ certification(s) for the Information Technology Coordinator; and 4) to set the starting salary at $21.00 per hour.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to approve creating an Information Technology Coordinator position, to establish the job description for the Information Technology Coordinator position, to approve the library to pay for the CompTIA A+ certification(s) for the Information Technology Coordinator, and to set the starting salary at $21.00 per hour.
Vice-Chair Runion seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
Ann Underdahl – She agrees with the board this is a position that would benefit our library and that proper training is important. She believes that the salary range for this type of position is quite a bit different from what we are recommending.
Chair Shewalter – He asks Ann Underdahl for her research findings.
Ann Underdahl – She states the average salary in Nevada for a coordinator is $58,460.00 as of January 1, 2025, and that breaks down to $4,872.00 a month and $28.16 an hour.
Chair Shewalter closes public comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that he doesn’t see any major issues or even minor issues with the job description or the minimum qualifications for the position and that it is in line with entry-level IT positions.
Chair Shewalter – He states that after speaking with Director Thomas, he thought that this was an excellent idea and the director thought it would benefit the library, and she drew up the job description.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that the CompTIA A+ certification that their entry-level certification is the gateway to all of their other certifications, and that this is an industry-standard certification that is pretty much required across the board. He states that from his experience, it is a challenging exam and that they have changed it up since he has taken it.
Trustee Morris – He asks if we have a need for a full-time person, or do we pay this full-time person to do other things at the library to fill time?
Director Thomas – She states that if we had someone here, it would cut down on having to call Chris Marini out, and that he costs significantly more than this. She clarifies that the job description does include other duties, such as filling in on the service desks.
Trustee Mounts – She asks for an amendment to be added that the person is to be a team player, and wherever you need them you can use them, without them saying that it is not in their job description.
Director Thomas – She states that is already included.
Trustee Mounts – She asks if we can start with a lower salary and raise it up later?
Director Thomas – She states she believes that it is a fair wage for what we need.
Trustee Green – She states that her concern is if someone comes in who hasn’t earned their CompTIA A+ certification, should we put in the 12 months’ time frame to complete the certification in the motion, in case they come into the position without the certification.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that he doesn’t recall the current schooling time, but for him, it was 6 months of classroom study. He believes that setting the minimum qualification of having it, then we will get people who have it.
Trustee Green – She withdraws her concern.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states he believes that we shouldn’t even be considering anyone who doesn’t have it already. He also states that this is a renewing certificate every 12 months, so what we have is adequate.
Chair Shewalter withdraws his motion.
Vice-Chair Runion withdraws his second.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to amend and approve creating an Information Technology Coordinator position, and to amend the job description to remove other duties as assigned, to provide for the library to pay for the CompTIA A+ certification for the Information Technology Coordinator position, and to set the starting salary at $21.00 per hour.
Trustee Green seconds.
Michelle Nelson - She states she has a few concerns with the motion in regards to the job description, and also a comment from Trustee Green as far as paying for the certification. The job description says obtain and maintain, so the motion for the library to pay for the certification is also to maintain that every 12 months?
Chair Shewalter - He states “yes”.
Michelle Nelson – She states that there are also several items in the job description that don’t seem to fall within that title or classification, such as “helping out with anything that’s needed,” and is too broad in any job description. She states that the job description needs work and she recommend taking out bullet points from “Assist in all departments/at any service desk (reference, circulation, youth) as needed” from there down. She adds it would be the last 4 bullet points of duties and clarify the motion that the library is going to pay for both obtaining the certification and as well as the renewal of it.
Chair Shewalter withdraws his motion.
Trustee Green withdraws her second.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to amend and approve creating an Information Technology Coordinator position, to amend the job description to remove bullet points;
· Assist in all departments/at any service desk (reference, circulation, youth) as needed.
· Acquire training and maintain education to support the tasks assigned.
· Cooperate as a team member with the library staff in performing any duty essential to
the achievement of efficient library operations.
· Other duties as assigned.
The library should pay for obtaining and/or maintaining the CompTIA A+ certification and for maintaining it, and to set the starting salary at $21.00 per hour.
Vice-Chair Runion seconds.
Chair Shewalter open public comment.
There are no public comments.
Chair Shewalter – He states he is not struggling with Ms. Nelson’s recommendation on the job description. Director Thomas is working on the personnel manual, and he’s sure she will consult with Michelle Nelson on how to word them properly as she goes through this job description to add them so that it’s done correctly. As for the dollar amount research done by Ann Underdahl, he stands by the $21.00 an hour because that can be addressed at a later date.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Trustee Morris - No comment.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Green - No comment.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 4-1.
15. Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject increasing the hourly rate for Jennifer Swanson from $17.92 per hour to $20.00 per hour.
Chair Shewalter – He states that he drew up the agenda item at Director Thomas’ request.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to approve increasing the hourly rate for Jennifer Swanson from $17.92 per hour to $20.00 per hour.
Vice-Chair Runion seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
Director Thomas – She states that Jennifer is a fantastic employee who is self-motivated, takes initiative, and she has taken on additional responsibility and deserves it.
Chair Shewalter - He asks Director Thomas if she has checked these figures with the payroll and everything is copasetic, and that she has she verified or checked with anybody else about it?
Director Thomas – She states “yes” and that Dan McArthur’s office gave her a spreadsheet for her to figure out.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states to pay them what they are worth.
Trustee Morris – States that Jennifer is always active when he stops in the library and always engaged, so he looks favorably on this.
Trustee Mounts – She asks what Jennifer does at the library.
Director Thomas – She clarifies that she is full-time at circulation.
Trustee Green – She supports the motion.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
16. Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject raising the Head of Circulation hourly pay from $28.06 per hour to $29.00 per hour.
Chair Shewalter made a motion to approve raising the Head of Circulation’s hourly pay from $28.06 per hour to $29.00 per hour.
Vice-Chair Runion seconded.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
Director Thomas – She states that circulation is the backbone of the library and that this position oversees the circulation of the materials, volunteers, processing of the new materials, and she does a fantastic job, which she believes warrants a higher wage the amount of responsibility and tasks involved.
Vice-Chair Runion – He supports the motion.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – He asks who is Head of Circulation?
Director Thomas states that Barbara Ferido is Head of Circulation.
Trustee Green - She states that heading the circulation department is a lot of work, it’s a forward-facing position, it’s a complex job, and she is supports this.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
17. Discussion and deliberation to approve or reject 1) removing the “Part-Time Employees Annual Leave” from the Pahrump Community Library Personnel Policy Manual and 2) pay-out the part-time employees existing annual leave banked hours.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to remove the “Part-Time Employees Annual Leave” from the Pahrump Community Library Personnel Policy Manual and to pay-out the part-time employees existing annual leave banked hours.
Trustee Morris seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
Ann Underdahl – She states that she doesn’t know of any other place that gives part-time employees benefits and she commends to board for paying out the existing banked hours. This is fully in line with every other employer in Nevada, so she supports the motion.
Carolene Logue – She states that part-time employees are important and that we should have more part-time employees who may use the part-time basis as a stepping stone to move on to a full-time position in the future. She also states that the community would benefit from having more part-time workers so that they can pursue a personal need in their lives. She states that this is the wrong time to put it into place in our present-day economy, and to please rethink passing this.
Chair Shewalter closes public comment.
Chair Shewalter – He states that in conversation with Director Thomas, she mentioned banked hours, and he asked what banked hours are. He states she told him that it is in the manual, and it is where part-time employees can work more than what they are scheduled, and they can bank those hours to be used for time off later and be paid later for it. He states that he had Director Thomas check on it. It does not impact someone’s ability to take time off – go to the director with your request and if she approves it, you can have it. This policy is in violation of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. He states that he is voting to eliminate this policy because if we don’t, we are now knowingly in violation of the law. You cannot have people work and not pay them within that time period, it is against the law. He is not willing to violate the law to accommodate this policy. He will not knowingly violate the law. He states that the motion is to eliminate the policy and to pay out the people because they are owed that money.
Vice-Chair Runion - He states that policy, practice, and statutory requirements all need to be aligned.
Trustee Morris – He agrees. Follow the law.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Green – She states that she agrees. We have to follow the law.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
18. Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject setting the library hours to be open Monday through Friday 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and to be closed on Sunday.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to set the library hours to be open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and, Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and to be closed on Sunday.
Trustee Green seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
Chair Shewalter – He states that the current hours were reduced during Covid and that this is a return to the normal hours. He has been to a library in a community significantly smaller than Pahrump, and they were open 7 days a week. He states that the library needs to be open consistently, the same hours every day. If people don’t know when you are open, they will stop coming. We provide services to people.
Vice-Chair Runion– He says enforce policy and practice.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Green – No comment.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
Trustee Mounts – She asks when the start date will be.
Michelle Nelson clarifies that there is no start date in the agenda, so the board cannot set one. She suggests that the item could come back on the next agenda.
Chair Shewalter states that it was voted on and that if Director Thomas can make the changes before the next board meeting, the board won’t bug you about it.
Director Thomas says fair enough.
19. Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments: - This item is limited to announcements, brief discussions of public comments, correction of factual inaccuracies, direction to staff, or topics proposed for future board meetings. (Lengthy deliberation of topics not on the agenda is prohibited by the Nevada Open Meeting Law).
There was a discussion that Michelle Nelson was appointed as Liaison during a County Commissioners meeting.
Michelle Nelson confirmed that it was the District Attorney’s Office that was appointed Liaison, so any representative at the office is a Liaison for the library. She states that District Attorney Kunzi accepted the recommendation from the County Commissioners to represent the library.
Michelle Nelson – No further comments.
Director Thomas -She thanks everyone for coming, and she is happy to be reopened and have people in the library again. She announces the Christmas in July event that is coming up on July 21, 2025, where the public is invited to come make ornaments that will be displayed on the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.
Trustee Green – She thanks the library staff and comments that the Zoom audio system has improved.
Trustee Mounts – She states that she has been working with Director Thomas on the marketing program and thinks that doing a podcast about the employees and programs would help with the advertising as well, and that they are working on the scripts now.
Trustee Morris – He states that he appreciates everybody’s input, and he looks forward to the next meeting.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that Kraven did a great job with the audio, he thanks Director Thomas for her work, and hopes she feels empowered by the board’s level of trust in her, and thanks the public and staff.
Chair Shewalter – He states this board is more than open and willing to set appropriate salaries, set appropriate work environments, set appropriate times, set appropriate boundaries, policies, etcetera, that improve the library and make the library function more effectively and smoothly. He states when he came onto the board, he decided that politics were not going to be part of his actions on the board. He invites the public to come to him if they can point out instances with concrete evidence where he or others have politicized something on the board, because it’s something he wants to be aware of. He states that Director Thomas is taking concrete steps to work with consultants on certain matters that are large here. For example, the Five-Year Plan. He doesn’t know that there’s ever been a comprehensive Five-year-Plan at this library and that it’s ever actually been used to do anything with. The Director has hired a consultant to write a new Five-Year-Plan for the library and she’s committed to implementing it and making sure everybody’s hopes for this library are actually met. She has a concrete plan to take care of that. It also applies to the personnel and library policies. She is looking for a consultant to rewrite these because they are horrible. He has encouraged her to hire a consultant to make sure the policy manuals are done. He wants to commend the trustees for doing their work with the library, such as Dee working with Director Thomas on a marketing plan.
Michele Nelson – She states that if there are items that are going to be on a future agenda, that is fine, but they are not to be discussed now.
Chair Shewalter – He states that he has asked Director Thomas for copies of the personnel and library policies and that the staff has signed that they have received a copy.
Director Thomas – She says that the staff definitely signed that they have received the personnel policies.
Chair Shewalter – He makes a statement to the Director, and says he hopes by extension, to the staff, that these policy manuals apply today, and they will be obliged and complied with, and they are not void because they are old or that we have always done it that way. He states to Director Thomas that he expects her to live by these, and by extension he hopes that she will apply that to her staff. There are things going on at the library that he is shocked about, and he hopes that the Director will square it all up.
20. Adjournment
The meeting is adjourned at 11:58 a.m.
AGENDA FOR JULY 14, 2025