Library Board Meets, Lego Guy Scheduled

The Roosevelt County Library Board held their regular meeting May 28. The meeting was held at the James E. Shanley Tribal College Library in Poplar. Attending were Beth Hekkel, board chair; Joyce Harvey, vicechair; Helen Welte, trustee; Perry Lilley Sr., trustee; Vernie Madison, trustee; Anita Scheetz, James E. Shanley Tribal Library director; and Janet Livingston, director.

The preliminary budget was presented and discussed. There were no requests to increases in the budget the upcoming year.

The library’s Public Participation Policy needed to be updated. Livingston related the proposed changes and during discussion a couple more items were found that needed to be changed. A motion to have the policy updated with the proposed changes was approved.

A draft for a “Calling Law Enforcement Procedure” was shared. There were a couple of suggestions to the draft that will be corrected. A second draft will be presented at the next meeting.

There is a “Librarian Code of Ethics” document from the American Libraries Association Livingston asked to add to the library policy book. The board agreed.

Livingston attended the Public Library Director’s Institute in Great Falls May 16-19. It was held in the Ursuline Centre with the State Library paying for all costs. The main theme for this retreat was about collaboration and was very informative with a lot of discussion about current library issues around the state. One of the activities participants worked on was a bicycle. Participants were broken up into six teams. Each team had a bicycle needing to be assembled with no instructions and missing parts and not enough tools for each team. Each team needed to go on a scavenger type hunt that included clues to eventually find the missing parts. The bicycles were then to be donated to a charitable organization for youth.

The Hotspot Checkout Agreement needed to be updated as the cost to replace lost/damaged parts has gone up. The revised agreement will reflect this change.

Culbertson Library’s summer reading program starts Thursday, July 7, at 1 p.m. with a special guest. “The Lego Guy” will be sharing his love and knowledge of Legos and attendees will have a chance to build their own creation.

Froid Library has their HOPA books to hand out. Plans for the summer reading program are underway. Sheri Harvey, Froid librarian, is planning a hybrid of what they have done in the past. “The Lego Guy” will be there on Thursday, July 7, at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, will be an end of the summer party. Harvey had requested $500 from the Town Pump Keep Kids Reading grant, but received $1,000.

Scheetz attended the Montana Shared Catalog spring members meeting May 26, virtually. She also attended the Golden Plains Library Federation meeting via Zoom.

At the main branch, plans to have an arts and crafts day for toddlers in June, July and August are in the works. The HOPA books are going fast. Livingston said they ran out of books early and put in a request for more books. Plans are in the works to make sure families get them during Stampede and the summer reading program. The Lego Guy will be presenting his program on Saturday, July 9, at 1 p.m. The Easter Egg decorating program attendance was 51. The Mother’s Day paper flower program did not turn out as well, but everyone seemed to enjoy making their flowers. The main received $1,000 from the Town Pump Keep Kids Reading grant. Livingston is working with Wolf Point Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture secretary Julie D’Ambrosio developing a grant to help with future programming needs.

The Friends of the Library have not recently had a meeting. The progress on the basement walls has stalled for now as the space is needed for the summer reading program. It will continue later in the fall.

Lilley, Sheetz and Livingston gave reports from the Golden Plains Federation Meeting that was held in Wolf Point Thursday April 21. The next scheduled meeting will be in September at the James E. Shanley Tribal Library in Poplar.

Library staff are waiting for the planned Library Network Upgrade Project to begin. The security cameras are still on backorder. Jenna Presser, the county IT person, will check with the vendor for updates. Staff were not able to connect to the United for Libraries website providing the “Short Takes for Trustees” videos. The fourth video in the series was put on hold until the next meeting.

The next meeting is tentatively set for July 16 in Wolf

Point.