OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Puyallup Library Advisory Board Meeting Summary - May 18, 2026

City Council & Commissions — Monday, May 18, 2026
BodyPuyallup, Washington
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateMonday, May 18, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 17:42

Transcript — Verbatim
0:18

At 6 o'clock.

0:25

Board member Gerson.

0:27

Here.

0:28

Board member Ferguson.

0:31

Appears to be absent.

0:34

Or member Weissar?

0:35

Here.

0:37

Vice Chair Zima.

0:38

Here.

0:39

Chair Fimmler.

0:40

Here.

0:40

We have a quorum.

0:47

All right.

0:50

Motions regarding our agenda for the meeting today.

0:55

We move to approve the agenda.

0:58

Second.

1:00

Any discussion about our agenda as written for today?

1:07

All right.

1:08

All in favor of approving our agenda for May 18, 2026, say hi.

1:13

Aye.

1:14

Opposed, say extensions.

1:18

All right.

1:19

This is our agenda for today.

1:22

And we've been given the minutes for our March 16th, 2026 meeting.

1:29

And be open for any motions after review.

1:48

And I move to approve the minutes of March 16th.

1:54

Second then.

1:56

Any discussion.

2:03

All right.

2:04

All in favor of approving the minutes for March 16th, 2026 meeting as written.

2:09

Say aye.

2:12

Opposed, say nay.

2:16

Approval of the minutes pass.

2:19

Do we have any citizen comments today?

2:22

We do not have anybody in person, and we did not receive any emailed comments.

2:28

Okay.

2:32

Sure.

2:32

And as always, if any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

2:36

Um just kind of letting you know that we took advantage of an opportunity of some professional development grants of the Washington State Library, which allowed for those staff to go to conferences without really impacting our budget.

2:53

Um were covered in in their entirety, and one was mostly covered, so that was great.

3:12

So really great opportunities for them at different periods and stages of their career.

3:18

So that was great.

3:26

So the Callip River watershed grant.

3:30

The pollination station has arrived.

3:36

It's in my office, it's just really beautiful.

3:38

It has interactive flowers and the spin.

3:57

So that was a fun project, too.

3:59

So it's really nice.

4:01

The rest um and then the Koanis grant that they've given us last year, $30,000.

4:07

All of those items will be arriving in June.

4:09

So it'll all get installed at the same time.

4:12

So that's exciting.

4:14

I have applied for the next year, another $30,000 of Kuanis.

4:20

We're going to their meeting on the 11th to catch them up with Rover Apps and talk about the plan for next year.

4:34

And just kind of our monthly stats, which I mean, I think are always really important, but I hope they're not boring.

4:40

But um, it's you know, maintaining uh growth, which I think is it's just an it's an ongoing trend.

4:48

Some months are larger than others, but it's just growth.

4:51

Um overdrive checkouts are a lot higher.

5:00

Um our card holders are up, our circulation is up, and our door can is up, and you know, May is not traditionally one of our busiest months, and so that's really encouraging.

5:06

We've had great attendance at our programs going really well.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Libraries And Community Engagement█████████████████████████████████████████████58%
Procedural████████████████████████████36%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Puyallup Library Advisory Board Meeting Summary - May 18, 2026

The Puyallup Library Advisory Board met in person in the Puyallup Library Board Room on Monday, May 18, 2026, at 6:00 PM. Chair Fimmler presided; Vice Chair Zima, Board Member Gerson, and Board Member Weissar were present. Board Member Ferguson was absent. The board had a quorum, approved the agenda and the March 16, 2026 minutes, and adjourned at 6:17 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • Agenda approval: Motion to approve the May 18, 2026 agenda was seconded and passed by voice vote.
  • Minutes approval: Motion to approve the March 16, 2026 meeting minutes as written was seconded and passed by voice vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No citizen comments were received in person or by email; written comments had been accepted until 3:00 p.m.

Library Director's Report

  • Washington State Library professional development grants let staff attend conferences with no or minimal budget impact.
  • A Callip River watershed grant project has arrived: the pollination station, with interactive flowers and spinning elements.
  • The prior year's Kuanis grant of $30,000 will fund items arriving in June; another $30,000 has been applied for next year, with a meeting scheduled for June 11.
  • Monthly statistics show continued growth: OverDrive checkouts, card holders, circulation, and door count are up. The new door-count capture is more accurate and helps fine-tune desk coverage; there are now about six hours of double coverage upstairs.
  • The planned children's area refresh will focus on the inner circle of the rotunda this year, with future phases envisioned.

Friends of the Library Report

  • Friends of the Library book sales are set for June 14; the group continues to seek new volunteers.

Library Foundation Report

  • At the Foundation's April 13 meeting, the Foundation first agreed to give $20,000 for the sound booth and then voted to increase that to $25,000, about half the needed amount after ADA and fire-strobe adjustments.
  • The library applied for a capital facilities grant for libraries, up to $2 million, with the facilities team requesting a matching grant for HVAC. The HVAC is described as woefully inadequate, requiring about a $4 million fix; the library has experienced closures due to fires and floods and upstairs temperatures in the 90s that caused computers and printers to fail.
  • The Foundation also discussed Library Giving Day, an assigned-reading event, and possible additional events. Its next meeting is July 13 at 5:30 PM via Zoom.

Board Member Comments & Discussion

  • The summer reading program will run June 1 through August 31, with in-library sign-up and app use. Children's librarian Bonnie is already booked for classroom visits through May and June, expected to boost participation.
  • Board members discussed Board Member Alice's absence; this is her second unexcused absence, and a third would mean removal, though excused absences could reset the count. Staff will follow up by email.
  • The agenda listed July 20 as the next meeting, but the board noted this was a typo; because the board previously chose to meet every other month with a summer break, the next regular meeting will be September 21, 2026.

Key Outcomes

  • Agenda and March 16, 2026 minutes approved by voice vote.
  • Next regular meeting confirmed as September 21, 2026 (not July 20 as listed in the agenda), unless a special session is needed.
  • Staff will follow up on Board Member Alice's absences and prepare a vacancy posting if removal occurs.

Meeting Transcript

At 6 o'clock. Board member Gerson. Here. Board member Ferguson. Appears to be absent. Or member Weissar? Here. Vice Chair Zima. Here. Chair Fimmler. Here. We have a quorum. All right. Motions regarding our agenda for the meeting today. We move to approve the agenda. Second. Any discussion about our agenda as written for today? All right. All in favor of approving our agenda for May 18, 2026, say hi. Aye. Opposed, say extensions. All right. This is our agenda for today. And we've been given the minutes for our March 16th, 2026 meeting. And be open for any motions after review. And I move to approve the minutes of March 16th. Second then. Any discussion. All right. All in favor of approving the minutes for March 16th, 2026 meeting as written. Say aye. Opposed, say nay. Approval of the minutes pass. Do we have any citizen comments today? We do not have anybody in person, and we did not receive any emailed comments. Okay. Sure. And as always, if any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Um just kind of letting you know that we took advantage of an opportunity of some professional development grants of the Washington State Library, which allowed for those staff to go to conferences without really impacting our budget. Um were covered in in their entirety, and one was mostly covered, so that was great. So really great opportunities for them at different periods and stages of their career. So that was great. So the Callip River watershed grant. The pollination station has arrived. It's in my office, it's just really beautiful. It has interactive flowers and the spin. So that was a fun project, too. So it's really nice. The rest um and then the Koanis grant that they've given us last year, $30,000. All of those items will be arriving in June.

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