Astoria Library Board Meeting – August 6, 2025

This is a summary of the Astoria Library Board meeting. Although the agenda and minutes in the source materials are dated August 5, 2025, the provided meeting timestamp is 2025-08-06 13:30:00+00:00, so that date is used here. Chair Laura Parker called the meeting to order at 5:36 p.m.; it adjourned at 6:43 p.m. All votes on agenda changes and policy endorsements were unanimous (5-0).

Agenda and Minutes

• The Board voted 5-0 to move Public Comments to the third agenda item.
• The Board voted 5-0 to move the Update from Astor Library Friends Association ahead of the Director's Report.
• The June 3, 2025 Library Advisory Board minutes were accepted as presented.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Todd Lawson, member of the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederate Tribes, said the tribe was excited to participate in the library design and room-naming process. Later, he explained the tribe's apprehension to the proposed five-tribe room names, saying they missed an opportunity to honor Lower Chinook and Clatsop people connected to Astoria, and asked the Library Board to allow the two tribes to determine the names rather than choosing between the groups.
• Gary Johnson, past chairman and current council/cultural committee member of the Chinook Indian Nation, spoke in support of the five proposed room names honoring elders from each of the Nation's five tribes. He provided historical context, including that the Nation has 3,300 tribal members, 800 with Clatsop blood, and that the Nation purchased the Tansey Point Treaty grounds.
• Don Abing discussed Federal Docket 234, which he said recognizes the Chinook people of the five tribes as the ancestral people of the land, and stated it would be a crime to dismiss the names of the five tribes.
• Gary Johnson added details about the 1958 Indian lands claim, the 1972 federal judgment, the Bureau of Indian Affairs' withholding of funds until recently, and federal recognition on January 3, 2001. He criticized efforts he said were aimed at taking Chinook lands and called for resolving differences.
• K.C. Johnson, Superintendent of Raymond School District and Gary Johnson's son, said it would be an honor if the proposed names were used in the library.
• Leanne Dague, a descendant of Chief Comley, said it would be a dishonor to the five tribal leaders if their names were not used.

Discussion Items

• Community Engagement: Board members reported excitement about the new library location and the mural at Port Hopper, but also encountered residents who thought the library was closed and offered no services during renovation.
• Director's Report: Director Suzanne Harold reported that renovation remains on track, with shelving, flooring, and bathroom fixtures being installed. The temporary library will close September 1, 2025, for the move, and the grand reopening is scheduled for Saturday, October 25, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. Library cards remain usable at Seaside and Warrenton. She displayed a wallpaper mural sample for the children's section.
• Update from Astor Library Friends Association: McLaren Innes reported financial assets of $9,839.42 across checking, savings, and a new certificate of deposit, including a $500 grant from Random House/American Library Association. She noted the Gardening Committee's work, City Lumber owner Jeff Neuenhoff's donation of garden tools, a used bookstore under development, bylaw restructuring, and a new website and mailing list.
• Revised Library Rules for Use Policy: Director Harold described the goal of making language more positive and less legalistic. Board members praised the revision. Susan Stein suggested adding 'controlled substance' to Rule #7. The Board endorsed the policy with that addition, 5-0.
• Revised Meeting Room Policy: Discussion covered whether scout troops should be charged rental fees, city fee-exemption categories, and the possibility of an online reservation system. The requirement to reserve 'by calling' was to be omitted from the final version. The Board endorsed the policy as presented, 5-0.
• Revised Unattended Children Policy: Director Harold explained the policy was substantially different, generally using age 10 as the standard and retaining staff discretion. A scrivener's error involving the abbreviation 'APL' was to be corrected. The Board endorsed the policy with those corrections, 5-0.
• Revised Internet Access and Use Policy: Director Harold said revisions were based on Circulation Staff input and research of other libraries. The Board suggested minor fixes, including changing 'center' to 'cents' and making pronoun usage consistent. The Board endorsed the policy with those changes, 5-0.
• Library Patron Privacy Policy: Director Harold proposed one minor wording change to make language less clunky. The Board endorsed it as presented, 5-0.

Key Outcomes

• All five revised policies were endorsed unanimously (5-0): Library Rules for Use (with 'controlled substance' added), Meeting Room, Unattended Children, Internet Access and Use, and Patron Privacy.
• The Board consented to hold its next meeting on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.
• The meeting adjourned at 6:43 p.m.