Pahrump Community Library
Minutes of the November 10, 2025 Meeting
- Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 9:07 a.m.
- Members Roll Call
In Attendance: Chair John Shewalter, Vice-Chair Michael Runion, Trustee Mathew Morris, Trustee Mounts, Director Kimberly Thomas, Assistant Director Shanna Gibbons, and Michelle Nelson from the District Attorney’s Office.
Michelle Nelson – She states that Trustee Green has resigned as a library board member via email, and she will not be attending. She adds that any vote will be 4-0, and a vote of 2-2 will be a tie vote.
Chair Shewalter – He says hello to the Sheriff’s deputies and thanks them for their support.
- Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Chair Shewalter.
- 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 public comments.
Public comment is closed.
- 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.
Michelle Nelson – No comment.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He excuses the Sheriff’s deputies from the meeting.
- Approval of October 13, 2025 Agenda (Non-action item)
Item 7 is struck as there are no emergency items.
Without objection, the November 10, 2025, agenda is approved.
- For Possible Action: Emergency Items
There are no emergency items.
- For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve the meeting minutes for October 13, 2025.
Vice-Chair Runion made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for October 13, 2025.
Trustee Morris seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
Public comment is closed.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – No comment.
Chair Shewalter calls the question to approve the meeting minutes for October 13, 2025.
The measure passes 4-0.
- Presentation: Treasurer’s Report by Kim Thomas for discussion of monthly expenditures and revenue for October 2025 through November 2025.
Director Thomas reviewed the monthly expenditures and revenue for October 2025, along with the General Fund Voucher, Credit Card Breakdown, and Petty Cash Reimbursements.
Chair Shewalter – He asks if the numbers are for October.
Director Thomas – She confirms that they are for October.
Chair Shewalter – He asks why the numbers only go through to the 6th on the breakdown and 17th on the graph.
Director Thomas – She explains that pages 24 and 25 are the complete report. The other pages got cut off and didn’t print the whole thing, but she likes to show the graph, and next time she will not include it.
Chair Shewalter – He states that the breakdown reports were run for the correct time frame, but they are not coming out.
Director Thomas – She states there are two different reports. Pages 24 and 25 are the revenue for the item sales, and 26 and 27 are the sales report. She adds she did not print out the entire sales report because it contains less information, and she just wanted the graph.
Chair Shewalter - He asks if that was the end of the report.
Director Thomas – She states it is for that and that she has the vouchers.
Director Thomas reads the totals from the payment vouchers.
Chair Shewalter – He thanks Director Thomas for the reports and asks for board comments.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states good job on getting the credit applied over to the cell phone account.
Chair Shewalter – He asks if there were Petty Cash expenditures this month.
Director Thomas – She states that there were no checks written this month.
Chair Shewalter – He states the Director has consistently managed the Petty Cash issue well and he is please because it had gotten completely out of control..
- Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve payment vouchers for October 2025 through November 2025.
Vice-Chair Runion made a motion to approve the payment vouchers for October 2025 through November 2025.
Chair Shewalter seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
There are no comments from the board.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 4-0.
- Presentation: Librarian’s Report by Kimberly Thomas for discussion on library activity for October 2025 through November 2025. Report activities include staff activities and training, library project updates, patron traffic, books checked out, books returned, fees collected, online story time, STEAM, internet use, website usage and materials added.
Director Thomas read from her Librarian’s Report as follows:
Staff updates:
Over the past two months, Barbara has made 66 phone calls to follow up on volunteer applications, conducted 8 interviews, and hired 6 new volunteers. With these additions, we currently have 10 volunteers.
Kit has been working on weeding the Southwest collection and nonfiction 22s, which are extra copies of books that the library was keeping for possible replacement. He replaced those that were worn out, damaged, or missing. In many cases, he found that the copy on the shelf was the one that was cataloged as the extra copy, or that the copy on the shelf had not been cataloged at all. Julie has been working on weeding the parenting, young adult books, and graphic novels from her department.
Julie has viewed webinars on topics such as grant writing, child development, outreach, and storytimes.
Shanna, Barbara, and Jennifer took live training with Biblionix for the Apollo Integrated Library System.
Shanna and I had a session with the EBSCO Stacks team where we learned about using the Stacks website content management interface for file and document creation and organization, linking directly to files for the backup without an intermediary page, and user experience best practices.
The Youth Services department had their Pumpkin Decorating Contest and selected winners.
The library had our Halloween coloring page in the Pahrump Valley Times and returned the 4 entries we received to the Pahrump Valley Times.
Project updates:
The frame we ordered for the Teen Zone sign was too heavy for our ceiling to support. We returned the frame and kept the sign insert, which a local business is creating a backing for so that we have an alternate way to hang it.
There has been an issue with the Teen Zone computers, as the outlet that I had installed for them seems to work only intermittently. Our IT contractor advised that the outlet did not have power, I called out the electrician who installed the outlet, and they said it was working fine. We had additional IT work at 9 pm on 11/5/25, and they told me the outlet did not work and must be either on a timer or connected to a switch that gets turned off at night. In order to perform IT services remotely, the computers need to always be powered on. I called the electrician back out on 11/6/25 to investigate and am awaiting response at time of writing this report. She adds that this has changed since writing the report; the electrician got back to her and they fixed the outlet, no charge.
Our self-check stations are up and running.
My plan is to automate the document handling services performed by the reference department to have more self-service options for copies, scanning, faxing, and printing, giving patrons more flexibility and privacy and reducing the burden on staff. My hope was to present this month to the board, but I was not fully satisfied with the quote I had and wanted to be certain we are choosing the right solution for our patrons’ needs. I have an in-person meeting with a sales representative on the 13th and she can better see our current process so we can be sure we are getting the right solution. She adds that the reference staff are going to attend the meeting with her so they can see how they think it’s going to work out, too.
Director Thomas went over the statistics for October 2025. She adds that Tales with Pebbles numbers were incorrect last month; it said 48 but it was 24. The 48 included the parents.
Chair Shewalter asks for board comments.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He asks Director Thomas how the self-check-out went.
Director Thomas - She states that it went well for only being functional for half of October, and hopefully it will pick up.
Chair Shewalter – He asks what happens if the patrons need help, and is there a way to call for help.
Director Thomas – She states that a member of the staff is there currently because they need to return the books to the staff, and staff also issues new library cards, but could possibly put a bell there in the future.
Chair Shewalter – He asks what the Tales with Pebbles numbers are so low (28, 24, 18) compared to July’s 47 readers.
Director Thomas – She explains that the 47 for July is correct, and the kids were out of school.
Chair Shewalter – He states that we had 4 volunteers, and now we have ten. He asks if they are ready to go.
Director Thomas - She states, “Yes.”
Chair Shewalter – He asks about the automation for reference, and will it be ready for the next board meeting.
Director Thomas - She states, “Yes.”
- Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject 1) Contract for Fixed Fee Services with the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education on behalf of the University of Nevada, Reno to update the Pahrump Community Library Policy Handbook and Personnel Policy Handbook at a cost of $9,000.00 and 2) fund from the general fund.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to approve the (1) Contract for Fixed Fee Services with the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education on behalf of the University of Nevada, Reno to update the Pahrump Community Library Policy Handbook and Personnel Policy Handbook at a cost of $9,000.00 and (2) fund from the general fund.
Vice Chair Runion seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
Chair Shewalter asks for board comments.
Trustee Mounts – No comments.
Trustee Morris - No comments.
Vice-Chair Runion - No comments.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 4-0.
- Discussion and deliberation to (1) approve, amend and approve or reject the Product Order Form in the amount of $7,363.00 from EBSCO for the renewal of the Library’s website and (2) Execute the Product Order Form.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to (1) approve the Product Order Form in the amount of $7,363.00 from EBSCO for the renewal of the Library’s website and (2) Execute the Product Order Form.
Trustee Mounts seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
Chair Shewalter asks for board comments.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – He asks how often do we renew the website.
Director Thomas – She states it is yearly.
Trustee Morris – No additional comments.
Vice-Chair Runion – He asks if we are happy with their service.
Director Thomas - She states, “Yes.”
Chair Shewalter – He states he asked Director Thomas about the cost last year.
Director Thomas - She states that she believes it was around $7,012.00.
Chair Shewalter – He states that it was close to this amount, and we are getting more use out of it due to the interfacing with the website and ILS system. He adds he is all for it.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 4-0.
- Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject the Engagement Agreement with Daniel C. McArthur, LTD relating to the audit for the Pahrump Community Library District for the year ending June 30, 2025; and (2) Execute the Engagement Agreement.
Chair Shewalter made a motion to approve the Engagement Agreement with Daniel C. McArthur, LTD relating to the audit for the Pahrump Community Library District for the year ending June 30, 2025, and (2) Execute the Engagement Agreement.
Vice-Chair Runion seconds.
Chair Shewalter opens public comment.
There are no public comments.
Trustee Mounts – She states that the BOCC had some numbers missing with Daniel McArthur, and he’s not catching a lot of stuff. She adds she just wanted the board to be aware.
Chair Shewalter – He states he appreciates that, and they will have to talk about that later.
Trustee Morris – He states that if there was a problem with the BOCC, then it would be good to review what issues there are.
Chair Shewalter – He clarifies that this is regarding the audit for June 2025, and it has already passed.
Trustee Morris – No additional comments.
Chair Shewalter – He states that there could be other things to review, but they are not on the agenda today.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – No comment.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 4-0.
- 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).
Michelle Nelson – She suggests that Director Thomas inform admin that we need to have an ad placed for the open trustee position.
Chair Shewalter – He asks if that is initiated by the library or the county.
Michelle Nelson – She states that she recommends that Director Thomas coordinate with the county. She adds that Trustee Green put her resignation in with the clerk, and she is unsure how long the process takes, so Director Thomas should reach out to admin.
Director Thomas – No comment.
Trustee Mounts – She asks Director Thomas to correct the issue about getting the minutes on time and that she would like them faster. She states Kim had to call her three or and send her a recording of the last meeting because she missed last month.
Director Thomas – She states she will send the recording out right away if someone misses the meeting. She adds that she cannot distribute the written minutes until they go to everyone.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Trustee Runion – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He states to Director Thomas that access to the library email is a mess. He states he cannot get in on his phone, but he can on his laptop. He asks the board if they are also having trouble.
Trustee Mounts – She states not anymore.
Trustee Morris – He states, “No.”
Chair Shewalter – He states there are two of them having trouble, and can they get that fixed. He adds that when he is out, he cannot use his laptop.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that calls have been made. He adds that he and Director Thomas have spoken about it, and Network Savants is aware.
Chair Shewalter – He states that Director Thomas called on his behalf as well, and was able to get in on his laptop, but it does not seem to be working on his phone. He adds that he is not able to monitor his email on the road with his laptop.
Chair Shewalter – He says the other thing he wanted to talk about was getting the automation system on the next agenda.
Michelle Nelson – She states that for the next agenda, or for the January agenda, there needs to be an item to replace the Secretary position because Trustee Green held that position on the board. She adds that one of the board members needs to be appointed to be the Secretary.
- Adjournment
The meeting is adjourned at 9:47 a.m.