Pahrump Community Library
Minutes of the September 8, 2025 Meeting
1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 10:02 a.m.
2. Members Roll Call
In Attendance: Secretary Kelly Green, Trustee Dee Mounts, Trustee Mathew Morris, Vice-Chair Michael Runion, Chair John Shewalter (Via Zoom), Director Kimberly Thomas, Assistant Director Shanna Gibbons, and Michelle Nelson from the District Attorney’s Office.
Vice-Chair Runion conducted the meeting due to Chair Shewalter attending via Zoom.
3. Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was led Dave Ochenreider.
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.)
Vice-Chair Runion opens public comment.
Helen Schneider – She states that in last month’s meeting, the item of the hotspots was discussed. She mentions she didn’t like the fact that someone said they would tell their adult daughter what to do with the hotspots. If she lived 5 miles away, that would be none of anyone’s business, same as it is no one’s business what she would look up or use it for, such as artwork. She adds that she was watching public television, and she got a pop-up that the show was for a mature audience, and decides she was mature enough to watch it. After watching a few episodes, she finds out that what she is watching may be reported to the government and that it is the Byron Film Festival out of Zurich, Germany, and could be controversial, but she watched it anyway because she has relatives from there.
There are no more public 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 – She states she is sorry for not being able to attend last month’s meeting. She clarifies that last month’s statistic numbers for Overdrive were correct, and that both June and July had the same number of usages.
Trustee Green – She states that she would like the board to consider getting hotspots at least for the Children’s Department. Funding has been cut in the last week for hotspots on the school buses. The teens who play sports have away games with hours of travel time, and they use those hotspots to do homework. She adds she would like to see the hotspots back in the Youth Department so the kids can do homework.
Trustee Mounts – She states that there is a correction on the Tales with Pebbles article that was in the paper. She states that she did not start the program, but she and two of her dogs were part of the reading program. She adds that there has been a lot of positive feedback on the article, and she is happy.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Michelle Nelson – No comment.
Assistant Director Gibbons – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He thanks Director Thomas for the invitation to the 5-Year Plan Workshop, and he found it to be very good. He complimented the gentleman who was hosting and stated that he thinks he will do an excellent job alongside Director Thomas to get us back in compliance. He states that regarding the hotspots, he tried to negotiate with Trustee Green, and they could not come to an agreement on restricting the adults’ access to inappropriate websites. If that were able to happen, then the measure would have had a 2-2 vote, the measure would have failed, and we would still have hotspots. The measure passed, and the hotspots are gone.
There are no other board comments.
6. Approval of September 8, 2025 Agenda (Non-action item)
Item 7 is struck as there are no emergency items.
Without objection, the September 8, 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 August 11, 2025.
Chair Shewalter made a motion regarding meeting minutes for August 11, 2025.
Trustee Mounts seconds.
Michelle Nelson clarifies that the motion needs to be approve or amend and approve.
Chair Shewalter made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for August 11, 2025.
Trustee Mounts seconds.
Vice-Chair Runion opens public comment.
Caroline Logue – She states that in the minutes, there are violations of the First Amendment of the Constitution. She states that Chair Shewalter put the hotspot item on the agenda and that the Director has responsibility for the services. She states that the disagreement was because adults were using them, and there should be no discrimination against the adults. They are the ones who pay the taxes and provide the services and opportunities for the children, and to restrict adults is unconstitutional. The agenda item should be revisited, and it should be looked at for constitutional rights. She strongly feels that if we don’t want a class action lawsuit, which will cost more, we should reconsider.
Michelle Nelson – She asks Caroline Logue to spell her name for the record.
Caroline Logue – She complies.
Public comment is closed.
Trustee Green – No comment.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – He asks if he needs to vote if he was absent.
Michelle Nelson – She clarifies that if Trustee Morris has not listened to the audio transcript, then he should abstain from voting on the item.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion calls the question to approve the meeting minutes for August 11, 2025.
Trustee Green – She states “aye.”
Trustee Mounts – She states “aye.”
Trustee Morris – He abstains from the vote.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states “aye.”
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that he forgot to ask Chair Shewalter if he had any comments.
Chair Shewalter has trouble with his audio.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that we are voting on item 8.
Michelle Nelson – She clarifies that this is just to approve the minutes.
Chair Shewalter – He states “aye.”
The measure passes 4-1 with one abstention.
Chair Shewalter asks what the abstention is.
Vice-Chair Runion – He clarifies that it is because Trustee Morris was absent from the last meeting.
9. Presentation: Treasurer’s Report by Kim Thomas for discussion of monthly expenditures and revenue for August 2025 through September 2025.
Director Thomas reviewed the monthly expenditures and revenue for August 2025, along with the General Fund Voucher, Credit Card Breakdown, and Petty Cash Reimbursements.
Vice-Chair Runion – Closes item 9.
Chair Shewatler – He asks if we can reopen item 9.
Michelle Nelson - She states that item 9 has to be formally reopened.
Vice-Chair Runion – He reopens item 9.
Chair Shewalter - He asks Director Thomas to break down the General Fund Biblionix $5995.00 charge.
Director Thomas – She states that the $5995.00 includes a one-time migration fee of $2,200.00, $2,970.00 annual subscription for September 3, 2025, through September 2, 2026. There is a $680.00 enhancement to the catalog that provides readers with additional features such as reader’s advisory content, reviews, summaries, cover images, and what else they might like. GABBIE is texting with a patron service that is $145.00. Next time, the $2,200.00 migration fee will not apply.
Chair Shewsalter – He asks if it is fair that the $27,000 we approved for the new ILS system cost us less than $6,000.00.
Director Thomas – She states “yes.”
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Green – No comment.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Vice-Chair Runion – No additional comments.
10. Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve payment vouchers for August 2025 through September 2025.
Vice-Chair Runion opens Public Comment.
Vice-Chair Runion clarifies that this is for the vouchers that Director Thomas has already covered in item 9, pages 26 and 27.
There are no public comments.
There are no comments from the board.
Chair Shewalter made a motion to approve the payment vouchers for August 2025 through September 2025.
Trustee Green seconds.
Vice-Chair Runion calls the question.
Chair Shewalter – He states that he will be in the following day to sign the vouchers.
The measure passes 5-0.
11. Presentation: Librarian’s Report by Kim Thomas for discussion on library activity for August 2025 through September 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 from her Librarian Report as follows:
Staff updates:
Joanie’s last day was August 16th. We have a new full-time employee, Alexandria, who started September 4th. She has completed the POOL PACT HR compliance trainings and is working on Cybersecurity trainings and the ABLE Alternative Basic Library Education training series.
Kraven has given her some hands-on training at the reference desk, and she will be working with Kit, our Reference Specialist (Department Head), to learn Reference.
Julie, our Youth Services Specialist (Department Head), has been working on professional development with the goal of certification. She has completed WebJunction courses on working with patrons on the autism spectrum, helping young readers choose books, leadership in learning, and story times.
Project Updates:
5 Year Plan – There is a workshop Sunday 9/7/25 and a second one will be scheduled for October. The online survey closes 9/19/25 at 11:45 pm. The survey link is posted on our website and Facebook. I have hard copies of the survey available for anyone interested in taking one. Staff have also been handing out the hard copy surveys at the service desk.
Hours – The new hours of operation as voted on by the board started on 9/2/25. We are open Monday-Friday 9-6, Saturday 10-5, closed Sunday.
Lunch Break – The new lunch break policy is in place. Staff get a 1-hour unpaid lunch, unless scheduled only 4-6 hours, in which case they get a 15-minute paid break.
New ILS – Apollo Biblionix launched on 9/3/25.
Website Refresh – The professionally redone website launched on 9/3/25.
Door access control – The access control system is installed and working. Desert Wire, who installed the system, is referring me to the door contractor they work with, who can adjust the door itself.
Counters and cabinets – SME Cabinetry has satisfactorily replaced the meeting room counters. We got the meeting room sinks reinstalled, and the plumber waived the charge for that.
Teen Zone - The furniture has arrived for the Teen Zone. We are still getting it set up and doing finishing touches and have ordered a professional sign for the area.
Self-Check – Apollo allows for self-check stations by putting the system into self-check kiosk mode. All that is needed is a computer, scanner, and receipt printer. I ordered 2 computers, 2 scanners, and a receipt printer, and we are getting those set up.
Director Thomas presented the Librarian’s Report Statistics for August 2025.
Michele Nelson - She states that there could be board discussion, and no public comment.
Vice-Chair Runion - He open board discussion.
Trustee Green – No Comment.
Trustee Mounts – She clarifies that numbers (Tales with Pebbles) are lower because school is back in session, and now they are having homeschool people. She adds they are working on the availability hours so the program can grow.
Trustee Morris – He states he notices the August numbers are down across the board, and if that is typical.
Director Thomas – She states that the kids are back in school and that the Summer Reading Program brings more people in.
Vice-Chair Runion – He states that it was an excellent report.
Chair Shewalter – He states he is glad training is happening, and that Julie is working on her requirements for her Department Head Agreement. The policies that were approved by the board are being implemented, and he is looking forward to the 5-Year Plan. He is pleased with the new website and Biblionix being launched, and the cabinets finally being done. He asks Director Thomas to explain the self-check system that she spoke about. He explained that it is within her financial approval authority limit.
Director Thomas – She states the setup has to do with the computers, Chris (Marini), and Biblionix, where they need to configure the receipt setup. She adds that the self-check stations were inexpensive to do through Biblionix, where patrons can check themselves out, renew, and just go. Biblionix uses a monitor, a scanner, a computer, and a receipt printer, whereas other self-check systems can cost thousands. She explains that this is the same concept as in the grocery store, where you can scan your own items.
Chair Shewalter – He states that we are moving into the future, and he loves the idea.
12. Discussion and deliberation to approve or reject 1) a director cell phone for library use and 2) to authorize the Director to sign an agreement for a Director cell phone.
Vice-Chair Runion opens public comment.
Ann Underdahl – She agrees that a cell phone is a good idea to keep library information separate from personal information, as well as an aide to keeping things organized.
Public comment is closed.
Trustee Green – She agrees Director Thomas needs her own phone.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He thinks it is appropriate for Director Thomas to have a library cell phone, and that using her personal cell phone subjects her personal cell phone to be scrutinized if there were communications that were supposed to be strictly work-related.
Vice-Chair Runion – He agrees with Chair Shewalter’s comments.
Trustee Mounts makes a motion to approve a director’s cell phone for library use and to authorize the Director Thomas to sign an agreement for a director’s cell phone.
Trustee Green seconds.
Vice-Chair Runion calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
13. 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).
Trustee Green – She addressed the comment made earlier about the way she voted on the hotspots. She states that she voted the way she did so that she would not infringe on the adults’ First Amendment rights to access information without government interference. She adds that she cannot support a potential policy that would violate the First Amendment, and could open our library up to possible lawsuits. She states that part of the trustee training says that it is the trustee’s duty to protect the First Amendment rights of all of our patrons, that they access the information freely without government interference. She adds that adding filters to the adult hotspots might not have been appropriate because it was not written into the agenda item.
Trustee Mounts – No comment.
Trustee Morris – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He states the hotspots are the hot topic and refers to Caroline Logues’ comment that we are taking away from the adults, and nothing could be further from the truth. He states he tried to negotiate keeping them, and that didn’t work. He adds the issue was not adults, but what they would be used for. On the First Amendment comments, there are reasonable restrictions placed on the 1st Amendment. You cannot scream “fire” in a movie theatre, or encourage someone to jump off a building. He believes that the restriction of blocking pornographic material from being viewed is an appropriate request. He adds that the agenda item was reviewed by legal, and if there was a First Amendment issue that it would have been brought to his attention.
Vice-Chair Runion – No comment.
Director Thomas – She thanked everyone for coming and encourages everyone to check out the new website and catalog. She states that if you search the website box, it will automatically bring up the result in the catalog. She encouraged anyone who has kids, grandkids, or knows homeschoolers to sign up for the Tales with Pebbles Program.
Michelle Nelson – No comment.
Chair Shewalter – He states well done to Vice-Chair Runion for running the meeting.
14. Adjournment
The meeting is adjourned at 10:52 a.m.