Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting – April 29, 2026
Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting – April 29, 2026
Note on date: The meeting transcript indicates April 27, 2026, but the provided meeting date is April 29, 2026. This summary uses the provided date as instructed.
The Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees held its regular meeting at the Decatur Branch. Trustees approved three facilities contracts, a budget realignment, and heard reports on branch operations, bilingual programming, and first-quarter statistics. Public comment highlighted library use by students and a request for sexual health resources.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kay Washer (fourth-grade teacher, West Newton Elementary) thanked the Decatur Branch staff for a successful field trip and noted that many of her 28 students did not have library cards before the visit. She reported that students now actively use the library and plan to make the field trip an annual tradition.
- Desiree Rojas (student, Decatur Central High School) shared childhood photos taken at the library and advocated for the library to host mobile HIV/STI testing pop-ups in partnership with the Damien Center. She noted that Indiana law allows testing for those 16 and older without parental consent and that such services align with the library's mission of community support. The board president said staff would connect with her to explore the proposal.
- Denise (library patron, Theater branch) spoke but her comments were not detailed in the transcript.
Discussion Items
- Decatur Branch Report: Branch manager Dorian Smither reported 144 years of combined staff experience, 86,092 physical items checked out in the past year, 3,360 active cardholders, 6,551 computer users, and nearly 6,800 reference questions answered. She highlighted programs such as a seed library (2,400 packets given away), craft-and-chat groups, and volunteer partnerships with the NEST program for young adults with disabilities. She noted that the branch is a pilot for the "Library of Things" (e.g., button maker, stud finder) and shared five-star Google reviews.
- Bilingual Programming Report: Program specialists Sakura Fuqua and Jasneb Smith explained the difference between monolingual (all in one non-English language) and bilingual (two languages) programs. Current bilingual storytimes are offered in Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL), and Ukrainian. Spanish storytimes serve the largest audience; ASL storytimes are led by a deaf presenter with an interpreter; Ukrainian storytimes partner with the Ukrainian Society of Indiana. A Farsi storytime is planned for fall 2026. Challenges include finding presenters who are both fluent and skilled in child development. Board members discussed the accuracy of AI closed captioning versus ASL interpretation; staff noted they are still evaluating both options.
- Finance Committee Report: Treasurer Lillita and Mary Ford presented the March 2026 financials: revenue at 3% of budget (consistent with timing), operating expenses at 20% (within budget). A resolution (12-2026) to transfer $1 million from materials contractuals to books and materials (to simplify fund management and take advantage of bond funds for e-materials) received a favorable committee recommendation and was approved by the full board. The library also received the GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
- Facilities Committee Report: Three resolutions were presented by Adam Cristons:
- Resolution 13-2026: Central Library atrium ceiling repairs (sealant replacement) – awarded to Wells Masonry & Restoration for $159,880 (under $200,000 budget). Work will begin after summer reading, with substantial completion by October 2026. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution 14-2026: System-wide trash removal contract with Republic Services – new three-year contract with a 31% price decrease from the prior year and capping annual increases at 5% (down from 8%). Approved unanimously.
- Resolution 15-2026: Pike Branch egress improvements (additional doors, concrete, ADA parking) – awarded to Holiday Construction Group for $110,887 (under $150,000 budget). Approved unanimously.
- CEO Report & Q1 Statistics: CEO Gregory Hill reported March key data: average daily patron count 6,123, total visitors 189,827, daily average physical circulation 12,832, and total programs with high youth attendance. He highlighted the "Heart of Every Neighborhood" event, staff awards, and the retirement of Susie Haman after 39 years. Chief Analytics Officer Mary Ann McKenzie presented Q1 2026 statistics:
- Active cardholders increased 2.6% year-over-year; new cardholders up 2%.
- Central Library was closed approximately 40% of the quarter, leading to a 40% drop in its branch numbers, but total system circulation remained nearly flat (up <1%) due to dispersal to other branches.
- Reference question measurement was refined to exclude non-research questions (e.g., directional), resulting in a lower total count but more accurate reference assistance data. Staff also began recording languages used at service points.
- Program attendance continues to grow; evaluation surveys now allow respondents to report for up to four attendees, improving demographic data collection (age, race, ethnicity, gender).
- The library plans to track new bookmobile usage with door counts and circulation.
Key Outcomes
- Approvals:
- Minutes of March 23, 2026 regular meeting (unanimous).
- Resolution 12-2026: Transfer $1 million from materials contractual to books and materials (unanimous).
- Resolution 13-2026: Central Library atrium ceiling repair contract (unanimous).
- Resolution 14-2026: System-wide trash removal contract with Republic Services (unanimous).
- Resolution 15-2026: Pike Branch egress improvements contract (unanimous).
- Resolution 16-2026: Confirmatory resolution for travel, personnel, and financial matters (unanimous).
- New Business: The board agreed to add agenda items for the May 18, 2026 meeting: an update on XBE/WBE participation trends and an analysis of employee turnover.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for May 18, 2026 at the Eagle Branch, 3905 Moller Road, Indianapolis, at 6:30 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Welcome to the today is April 27th, 2026 regular uh board meeting of the Indianapolis Public Library. Can we have a call of the roll? Uh yes, Mr. Peterman. President. Ms. Johnson? Present. Dr. Michelle. Present. And do we have Dr. Bossio? I thought he said he did later. Dr. Riolo present. Dr. White. And Miss Woodard present. We do have a form. Excellent. Good evening, everyone. It's my pleasure to welcome you to the monthly meeting of the Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees. My name's Ray Bieterman, President of the Board of Trustees. Tonight we are at or hosted at the Decatur Branch. Thank you very much for having us here this evening. We're very excited to be here. Before we move to the Decatur Branch report, I'd like to highlight one of our current initiatives. It's our and and this one's actually very very close to my heart. I have very recent experience with this, actually. It's the library card campaign, which uh supports our strategic plan of growing our our base. Um so did you know that your library card needs to be renewed every three years? I found out this week when I uh couldn't uh read a book anymore to my kids on the Libby app and it kept trying to do it, and then and then I looked at my email, and you guys emailed me like a hundred times telling me I needed to do it. But there you go. There you go. So you will keep very close. Yeah, yeah. So my kids were upset that evening, but I took care of it, so we're good now. All right, uh, many of our most engaged patrons know this, but it's a helpful reminder to all of us. Um we're in the process of reaching out to Lap's card holders um with invitations to rename. Um using your library card not only gives you access to millions of resources for free, but using your card adds to our continued growth and demonstrates the library importance to taxpayers and decision makers. So we encourage everyone to get a card, renew it if needed, and most importantly, use it and tell your friends about it. Yeah. Uh so with your library card in hand, uh, you'll be ready for summer reading. And our summer reading program actually registration begins this Friday, May 1st. Isn't that exciting? Like we made it past winter. We're working to summer baseball season started, everything.
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