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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Fitchburg Public Library Board Meeting - July 15, 2026

Common Council & City Boards — Wednesday, July 15, 2026

BodyFitchburg, Wisconsin

SessionCommon Council & City Boards

DateWednesday, July 15, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 25:14

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:06

Okay, we will call the meeting to order at uh 537 or so.

0:14

Um the uh any public appearances?

0:17

I don't believe so.

0:19

And then um approval of minutes from last meeting.

Unassigned speaker

0:28

Oh

Speaker 2

0:28

my

Speaker 1

0:29

thank you, John.

0:30

Any uh questions, corrections, adjustments.

0:36

Nope.

0:36

Okay.

0:38

Um call for a vote of approval.

0:40

All in favor say aye.

0:42

Aye.

Unassigned speaker

0:43

Aye.

Speaker 1

0:44

Thank you.

0:46

Um report.

Speaker 3

0:50

All right, let's have a motion to approve.

0:52

Oh,

Speaker 1

0:53

sorry.

0:54

Motion to approve the uh uh April Financial Report in the uh financial overview.

1:00

So moved.

1:02

Thank you.

Speaker 3

1:02

All right, I'll go over just a few things.

1:05

Um salaries and wages all were fairly normal.

1:08

We finally had just sort of a normal two-pay period uh month, so that was good.

1:15

Um if you look at account 325, we've got some um expenses from the public libraries association conference.

1:22

Those are um gonna be reimbursements to staff for out-of-pocket costs.

1:28

Wanted to point out in account 340, which is library supplies.

1:33

Um we've got supplies for both a staff training and a staff in service.

1:39

So we had both of those things.

1:40

We had training for the new ILS system.

Unassigned speaker

1:43

Um

Speaker 3

1:43

we were closed today for that, so we provided um snacks um and lunch.

1:51

I can't remember.

1:51

And then and then we on the second page you'll see we did in service.

1:55

So that was not long after that, but we did we did have another day where we had lunch and um needed supplies.

2:02

Um we'll also point out um this is very after that Tagans here for this because in account 387, which is our collections, um, because the system we our system was down, we had to stop ordering materials.

2:16

We had no acquisition system, we couldn't add them to the catalog.

2:19

So this is the first of three months that you're gonna see that are very low expenditures.

2:24

Um I'm a little concerned that this went on longer than we expected, and that we may struggle to spend the entire collection account this year.

2:33

So I'm gonna reach out um both towny to make sure because we you know we really only spend the bare minimum we need to spend to meet our our county standard, so I don't want to get danged for that if we were not able to spend it because of the system, but also um with Missy Dodge, the finance director to see if if it comes down to that we can't spend it by the end of the year, can we roll some of it over to next year?

2:58

Um so just I don't know that we'll need any of that.

3:01

Hopefully, you're ringing.

Unassigned speaker

3:05

Um

Speaker 3

3:06

I don't know that we'll need to do any of that, but I would like to have that in place just in case I we are back to ordering right now.

3:13

Yeah, um, but but it is been almost three months, so um that's why that looks a little bit weird in the overview um under for revenue.

3:25

Um just wanted to point out something that I just caught today.

3:28

So I'm working on the budget for next year.

3:30

It's not ready for your eyes yet, but um the copy fees that we've been bringing in seem very low to me for being halfway through the

Unassigned speaker

3:38

year.

Speaker 3

3:38

Um, and so I did some digging into our accounts, and it turns out that our

Unassigned speaker

3:43

all

Speaker 3

3:43

the money coming in through the coin towers, which I would say is probably 90% of what we take in for copies, if not more, um, has been going into the donations account.

Unassigned speaker

3:52

So

Speaker 3

3:52

it's just in the wrong place, it will be moved, and we will we will be more on track.

3:57

Um donations don't look very high on this one, but that is also because we uh the friends, all the money from the friends came in, their annual giving came in in June, so this is not reflected yet.

4:07

So it's gonna work out in the end, but it's it's just a little rocky getting

Unassigned speaker

4:12

there.

Speaker 3

4:12

Otherwise, I think everything looks as I would expect it to.

4:16

Any questions on either document?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Library Standards█████████████████████████████████████████████60%

Budget Equity Analysis███████████14%

Technology and Innovation████████11%

Procedural███████9%

Engineering And Infrastructure█████6%

Summary of Proceedings

Fitchburg Public Library Board Meeting Summary - July 15, 2026

The Fitchburg Public Library Board met on July 15, 2026, to approve routine financial reports, review and adopt several library policies, receive updates from the city council liaison and the library director, and discuss upcoming events. All actions were approved unanimously.

Consent Calendar

Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the previous meeting were approved by unanimous voice vote.
April Financial Report & Overview: The board approved the April financial report after Director Wendy highlighted several items: salaries and wages were normal with a two-pay-period month; expenses in account 325 covered staff reimbursements for the public libraries association conference; account 340 included supplies for staff training and in-service for the new ILS system; account 387 (collections) showed very low expenditures due to the system outage that halted ordering for nearly three months. Director noted that revenue from copy fees had been accidentally deposited into the donations account and will be corrected. Donations appear low but are expected to increase once Friends annual giving from June is reflected. The board approved the report.

Discussion Items

Collection Management Policy (6A1): Tegan presented the policy with a new section addressing artificial intelligence (AI). The policy states that selectors will avoid adding works entirely generated by AI, while AI-assisted works will be held to the same selection standards as other materials. Board members discussed how to handle inadvertently purchased AI-generated works (e.g., removal or refund) and whether a future provision might allow adding AI-generated works for demonstration/educational purposes. The policy was approved unanimously.
Reconsideration Form Policy: Presented with no changes. Director shared that the library has received only two reconsideration requests since opening: one for a dated book on eating disorders (removed) and one for a Tom and Jerry DVD with an insensitive cover (removed). The policy requires patrons to be Fitchburg residents, complete a detailed form (one at a time), and the challenged material remains on the shelf during review. Staff, then director, then board serve as successive decision-makers. Approved unanimously.
Photocopy and Copyright Policy: No changes were made. The policy restates copyright law and library notices. A brief discussion confirmed that AI-generated content is protected by copyright and covered by existing policy. Approved unanimously.
Library Director's Report: Director Wendy presented June statistics: youth programs and attendance were over 2,000 (highest month); hold information remains unavailable from the new ILS; outreach numbers dropped after July 4th due to heat. No facilities issues. A new Library Assistant 1 starts August 3; one shelver resigned and will be replaced. Strategic planning update: Bachman Design Group displayed graphics at Books and Brews; design process expected to speed up. Books and Brews event had about 100 attendees, successful silent auction; Friends plan to move it to October for Banned Books Week and make it annual. Touch a Truck is July 28; despite road closure on Research Road, attendance has not been affected and plans are being made to use city campus parking lots.
City Council Liaison Report: Councilmember Dang reported that the next council meeting will discuss amendments to the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP); two new library-related projects are in the CIP for a total of four. He also attended Books and Brews and enjoyed it.

Key Outcomes

Approved minutes of previous meeting (voice vote, all ayes).
Approved April Financial Report (voice vote, all ayes).
Approved Collection Management Policy with AI section (voice vote, all ayes).
Approved Reconsideration Form Policy (voice vote, all ayes).
Approved Photocopy and Copyright Policy (voice vote, all ayes).
Next regular meeting scheduled for Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at 5:30 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, we will call the meeting to order at uh 537 or so. Um the uh any public appearances? I don't believe so. And then um approval of minutes from last meeting. Oh my thank you, John. Any uh questions, corrections, adjustments. Nope. Okay. Um call for a vote of approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Thank you. Um report. All right, let's have a motion to approve. Oh, sorry. Motion to approve the uh uh April Financial Report in the uh financial overview. So moved. Thank you. All right, I'll go over just a few things. Um salaries and wages all were fairly normal. We finally had just sort of a normal two-pay period uh month, so that was good. Um if you look at account 325, we've got some um expenses from the public libraries association conference. Those are um gonna be reimbursements to staff for out-of-pocket costs. Wanted to point out in account 340, which is library supplies. Um we've got supplies for both a staff training and a staff in service. So we had both of those things. We had training for the new ILS system. Um we were closed today for that, so we provided um snacks um and lunch. I can't remember. And then and then we on the second page you'll see we did in service. So that was not long after that, but we did we did have another day where we had lunch and um needed supplies. Um we'll also point out um this is very after that Tagans here for this because in account 387, which is our collections, um, because the system we our system was down, we had to stop ordering materials. We had no acquisition system, we couldn't add them to the catalog. So this is the first of three months that you're gonna see that are very low expenditures. Um I'm a little concerned that this went on longer than we expected, and that we may struggle to spend the entire collection account this year. So I'm gonna reach out um both towny to make sure because we you know we really only spend the bare minimum we need to spend to meet our our county standard, so I don't want to get danged for that if we were not able to spend it because of the system, but also um with Missy Dodge, the finance director to see if if it comes down to that we can't spend it by the end of the year, can we roll some of it over to next year? Um so just I don't know that we'll need any of that. Hopefully, you're ringing. Um I don't know that we'll need to do any of that, but I would like to have that in place just in case I we are back to ordering right now. Yeah, um, but but it is been almost three months, so um that's why that looks a little bit weird in the overview um under for revenue. Um just wanted to point out something that I just caught today. So I'm working on the budget for next year. It's not ready for your eyes yet, but um the copy fees that we've been bringing in seem very low to me for being halfway through the year.

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