The public is welcome to attend or view the meeting.

You can either attend in person by coming to the second board meeting room in the library, or if you can attend in person, a recording is made available after the meeting on the city's website.

We have a public comment period.

Community members are invited to address the board.

Is there anyone seeking to address the board today?

Seeing none, I will call the meeting to order and call the role.

Brian?

Brad?

Nick?

Here.

Very bad.

Gary, Emily.

Connie here.

Laura?

Here.

Adam is here as well.

Do I have a motion to approve the agenda as presented?

By Connie.

Second by Emily.

Second.

All those in favor.

Any opposed?

Agenda is adopted.

Move on to updates and reports, starting with the library foundation report.

So I have um three pages, so I'll just give you highlights.

We got our first sponsor for WIP, which is Mayo Clinic.

RPLS, uh the foundation is looking at the gift acceptance policy, and we're gonna be the development committee is defining what a major gift is so we can add that to our gift acceptance policy.

Um we were very happy to uh participate with the friends to our Audrey Venture, and those are pictures from the celebration with all her fans there.

Um Sprouts, I'd like to thank our sponsors, Bolasity, Lasker Jewelers, Thank Mutual Bank and Atlas Insurance.

Atlas Insurance Um presented us with a $2,000 check for the 25-year celebration.

They're calling it 25 25.

And they've done some really awesome social media posts.

So lastly, we would just like to um take a moment to honor Eric Tar and everybody that has many gifts in his honor.

That's um yeah.

So that's my update.

Does anybody have any questions?

Thank you very much.

Friends.

Um I'm with Val Kaliszewski with friends, and uh first thing is uh the results from our Rochester Fest book sale in uh June.

We made $7,400, and that is enough to cover our pledged support for the summer playlist program.

Uh those awesome bags that Nicole designed are comes from Friends Funding, and then covering most of the annual subscription fees for the ancestry database, which library patrons can use for free with their library card as long as they are on site.

Um even though there's all that street construction and um shall we say the parking ramps um were extremely busy that weekend.

Um we still basically did the same exact number of sales and total sales as we had done in our February sale.

I mean, it was within like 20 bucks and five transactions.

I mean, it was it was unreal.

Um our next uh big sale is in October.

Um as Brenda mentioned, uh Audrey Becher was honored as a community excellence award winner by ABC ABC 6 News.

Uh so she was interviewed uh for a spot on TV, and then um she was honored at the Rochester Fest fairgrounds.

Um unfortunately the the award ceremony was exactly right when we were setting up for our Rochester Fest sale.

I had 20 people in the auditorium, and uh a few of them took off and and went so we could have at least a few people there to show Audrey uh our support.

But I kind of wish that I had been able to be there, but I needed to be able to direct those 20 people to written for her sale.

Um, but it's not just for um, she has sold personally over 150,000 of online book sales.

Um that was that was the primary reason why we nominated her, but then we also um pointed out that she tutors for Rochester Reading Champions.

She is um starting a very similar program in Stewartville Public Schools uh using the same uh reading um um the system the literacy system um and she also supports of course uh the foundation with various donations towards their um uh function.

Thank you by means right today.

Um including she will do um boundary waters trips where she fully outfits the whole trip um, including food and and everything.

So she's she's a very uh good supporter of the library given that you know she used to be the library director, but even in her return, she continues to support literacy and the library.

So um one thing I forgot to put on the um agenda is the friends bookstale store is having a half price sale started today.

Um it goes till six o'clock.

If we get done early, you can head down there.

Um everything in the store and in the lobby is half price.

Um they'll have extended hours tomorrow, 10 to 6.

Um, and Friday and Saturday will both be 10 to 4.

Um, and then the last thing I wanted to announce um Julia is um our friends scholarship winner.

Um since about 2019, uh the friends have done a thousand dollar scholarship towards uh a library staff member who is continuing their secondary education.

Um this year's winner is Julia, and she is going to be studying environmental science, writing, and leadership at UW Superior.

Um and uh just asked if she would come and then and uh so you could see who she is.

Uh, she's one of our shelvers.

And um, do you have any comments that you would to me?

I just want to say I love the library, it's such an amazing community.

Um I'm so grateful for this scholarship.

It's the perfect gift for me to continue my education and have that generosity continue with me.

So thank you so much.

Okay, wonderful.

Does anybody have any questions for Julia or for friends?

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're gonna have a Celico update.

I believe I emailed it last month.

And we meet again on Tuesday.

Okay.

We got the email last week, right?

Advocacy committee.

Who's representing the advocacy committee?

Oh, it was in the city, so I cannot.

I can run through the the summary.

Um, so uh and um share that um Connie shared a uh meeting that she had with uh our CTC and Brenda gave a recap from the fundraising conference that she attended, and then I shared a little bit from the American Library Association uh that I attended the conference.

Um we we've struggled a little bit with the kind of getting ourselves um together.

So I know our executive committee, we're gonna have a conversation about um how we should be kind of moving forward to the advocacy committee because I think we really need our our I worked really hard to try and get us to build our plan, but I think there needs to be some more staff direction in crafting a plan and drafting one so that our advocates can do because I think they're excited to actually feel advocating for the library.

So one um small component we did talk briefly about uh is the brand ambassador program that is part of our action plan.

Um, and so I just kind of shared a little bit about what that is and some vision behind that.

Um that will still continue even though um it's kind of falling a little bit in Jeremiah's lane and uh in Ebb's lane, but we'll we've got some thoughts and ideas.

Uh Evan and I have had a conversation.

So we continue to add to our stakeholder list that thankfully now put together.

Um, and there are lots a lot more needs to add, and we'll continue to uh develop that.

So um we will have a working meeting next month, and I hope to have a really good draft after our executive committee meeting um to bring to our advocacy team.

Question.

Okay.

On to the consent agenda.

Any questions, comments, or concerns regarding minutes, counts payable, the June monthly reports or the contracts list.

Seeing none except a motion to adopt the consent agenda as presented.

So moved.

Moved by Nick, second by Laura.

Sure.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Seeing none.

The consent agenda is adopted.

On to reports and recommendations starting with downtown renovation assessment.

All right.

So what you have before you is a uh proposal for contract with CW architects to develop some conceptual designs to keep us moving forward in the downtown renovation space of this building.

And I have Zach Wood here because this is Zach's wheelhouse, and I'm gonna turn it over to him.

Well, everyone's Zach would manage the property of the city of Rochester.

Yes, this proposal today with CRW architects is to kind of further flesh out the 2025 master plan into something that we can get some more accurate pricing for for our next uh budget cycle in 2028, 2029, start getting some CIP requests in to start moving design along.

Um so with this proposal, we're not reinventing the wheel here.

We're gonna be working off the 2025 master plan, further refining that right now.

It's a lot of diagrams on a plan, things like that.

So we're gonna be looking into those.

Um they'll have structural one engineer, mechanical electoral engineers to be further review for what's feasible within that, further refine the design.

We're still not gonna get to a point where we're set like this is what the design is gonna look like.

But there'll be concepts that will kind of set us up guardrails for future uh design contracts and other firms to keep the project on the roadmap of the 2025 master plan there.

Uh with that, they're gonna be doing some small group reviews and some large group reviews, and also bringing back a board report at the end of the process of budget recommendations for as we go under the budget cycle next year.

So high little uh overview there.

Any questions anyone has on that?

I have a question.

Yeah is is has the firm done libraries before?

Because we're kind of a special end.

Yeah, so you know, I think they have some experience.

I don't know they've done big ones, but really at this point it's really conceptual, it's not gonna be final design, it's gonna be going through like a lot of the things we're looking at, like the accessibility issues.

They're gonna be looking at that from a code perspective and cost perspective, talking about moving public and office spaces around.

Today is really gonna be just a or this proposal really gonna be just kind of fleshing those up further, and then in the future we probably do another RFP for an actual firm to build on that design to finalize things.

Right now it's gonna be like we know we're gonna have X number of staff who are gonna have, you know, let's say it's 40.

We're gonna have 35 people in open workspaces, five offices, we need this square footage, the type of finish that we have, so we can budget things.

That more defined design that that experience might come into play with is going to come down in the process later.

Sounds good.

I I read the proposal kind of late last night, but I I don't think I saw the word elevator in is that outside of that.

So they are gonna review that and budget it.

Um we've done some review over the past few months with the link safety uh facilities, and then also uh CRW take a look at it.

Um so they are gonna budget with that elevator and that uh I just didn't see it in the wonder is that something outside their preview.

No, they are gonna cover that.

Um they're gonna kind of assign numbers to that, and then also we've been also talking about some maybe other concepts in that space that might be more bang for your buck out of the accessibility board.

Yeah, because that's a pretty expensive item.

Yes, that's I was just surprised it wasn't in there.

Yeah, so they'll be reviewing that.

All right.

Again, the the reason that we're bringing this um now and um with with kind of a uh tight timeline, even though the 28 budgets that sounds far away, the process actually begins January, February.

We need to have ducks in a row if we want to get anything in the uh CIP.

So is CRW like was this a contended bidding process?

Is this just a firm we have relationship with?

Yeah, they've done a fair amount of work for this city roster lately.

Um, with it being a professional service, you know, we do have the option to just go straight to them.

They're doing two buildings for us right now.

They do a great job, a lot of engagement, which was the project stakeholders.

So legally we don't need to do bidding.

Not until it's uh 175,000.

Professional services get a little weird, but we would typically when it's probably about that 50 to 100,000 threshold, we would start competitively bidding.

And this is 37.

And do we need to approve that at this meeting?

I would say you probably have a little bit of time, but we are on a pre-type timeline here by the end of December is when they're planning to submit the final report.

Like Karen mentioned, that January, February is when the capital requests need to go in for the 2028-2029 budget.

So you probably have a little bit of flex, but you start working farther than that, you might miss that budget cycle.

So sort of better.

The chair would entertain a motion to remove the move to approve a proposal for I did have a question there.

Oh, sorry.

So the third seven thousand is coming out of which one wasn't.

So this comes out of the professional and um expert services budget line.

So it's not additional, it's not making a request to council or additional funding.

And how much is in that one?

Um here, they would have a number right in front of them.

Um, but there is enough money in that budget to copy that.

We're not gonna draw it out.

No.

I mean nowhere near.

And there's not an anticipated, uh, there aren't other anticipated expert professional services that we'll be looking for.

Um I mean, we're already into July, we would have had to think something, there would have been other things that would have come back.

And we don't need to go to the calls who get their permission spending.

I would second the motion.

Question by Laura, seconded by Mary Beth.

Any further conversation, questions, comments?

I have a question for Zach.

Yeah.

Do you sing?

I have to do that.

Is the symphony correlate's always looking for a good base?

You know, based on your on your uh speaking voice.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed.

See none, the motion carries.

And the next reports will be sung.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Thank you, Zach.

If you were welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting, but I also think Zach has small children and we read to go I don't.

I have a two-year-old.

So I have a 36 year old.

I'm sorry, I have a 36-year-old.

A little different.

Hopefully.

Digital collection update.

All right.

Good evening, board presidents, members of the board and staff and community.

Um, my name is Stacy Hendron.

I'm deputy director of public services.

Um, in the past 10 months, I've been here digital holds have stated about 84% of total RPL holds.

So digital holds management is one of the biggest challenges with digital purchasing due to the higher cost of these items and the fact that popular titles regularly expire and need to be repurchased over and over again.

Um, as one way to manage that demand in Truuni 25 June RPL, along with its digital partners, the Tremuse Traverse the Sioux Library and Selco agreed to no longer allow visitor holds on local materials for two main reasons that I've been able to discover because I was not here, but I've had lots of conversations, um, mostly access and selection.

So under access, um, a disproportionate amount of those holds were being placed on RPL items.

Um people outside the system in many cases would be placing those holds.

Go to the next slide.

Yes, sorry.

Um that's fine.

Um, so a disproportionate amount of the holes replaced in RPL items, and people outside of the system in many cases they place a hold on an item that would result in a hold never being um filled, or and certainly not in a reasonable amount of time because local people kind of jump over them.

So if you place a hold but the the local people continually jump over you, your your hold is just sitting there.

Um so we call those zombie holds, it's um whole library holds are prioritized.

And then um again in that access piece, reducing hold wait time was not a primary goal for disallowing holds, but that statistic um did impact the ability to meet um local demand.

Talk about that a little bit more, and then as far as the selection piece, um yeah, the repeatly the other pieces, those um suspended holds where a hold is placed but repeatedly suspended.

Um actually changed.

Sorry, just make it sure my notes are in line with what we're saying.

I'll go back.

So selection, it's a challenging for selectors to make purchasing decisions about what to buy in response to holds and notify me takes.

Um so if the holds are from they might be from here or here or here.

Um by not allowing holds from visitors, you know that those high holds are for your local people.

And so the people who are those purchases are for local people.

Others can use it if it's available, um, but it allows more that that prioritization of local demand.

Um, Olmsted and Selco visitor patrons can drive to Rochester Public Library to get an RPL card and kind of become a local user, but that is just because of that partnership.

Um, people from outside those that section cannot do that.

Um I think statistics is some of the statistics.

So in 2025, um you look at how much of the holds, and this is tying to that local piece.

81% of the holds were local, and then Celco and TDS had the percentages up there.

Now 95% of our holds are local.

It will take time for all the visitor holds that were there because we've just kick them out that we're honoring the holds that had already been placed.

Um it's taking time for those to go down, but um it's gone down drastically.

So now 95% of our holds, Celco customers have just that 4% and 1%.

So that's a big change.

Um the statistics I have are not a perfect year, but um but kind of giving you some of that then and now idea.

So we had um in 2025, shortly before the change, we had around 50,000 total holds, and the average wait time was 80 days, and again, 19% was from other libraries.

Um now we have 62,000 holds.

So our holds are up by 11,000 from a little over a year ago, but 95% of those local are local.

But we also have been able to do some different things.

So that average wait time from 80 days is now only 62.

I keep watching it every day it goes down.

I celebrate.

Um hold rate time has fluctuated, but there has been kind of a steady decrease since November.

Um we hit a max of 89 days in the 2024 to now.

Um and now 62 is the lowest it's been in that three years.

So while holds continue to grow, the percentage of visitor holds is now nearly negligible.

So there's a couple different ways to interpret this data.

Um and whether or not that holds change was a success, because it we just hit the one year since the change for the holds.

Um so based on the factors listed above, I would say the change is meeting the gold.

Access for local patrons is still prioritized, but we're seeing those zombie holds on a much smaller scale.

So what you're seeing on your hold wait list is actually more accurate.

Um per selection, knowing that the holds numbers reflect our local community, does make it easier to select as we're no longer checking.

Um staff would go in and be like, okay, how many of these are Rochester patrons?

Because you'd have 10 holds from some 10 notify meetings from somewhere else, and do our people are our people looking at it.

Um one of our adult nonfiction selectors shared that he's been able to maintain a lower holds ratio this year, and holds ratio is number of holds per copy.

Um the lower holds ratio both improves usage and patron perceptions when popular titles are released.

So um, and I think it was my very first board meeting where Steve told me that hold wait time was too long.

So I'm very excited by you know, 20 days is a big deal.

Of course.

Um some challenges, there's still patron confusion with this transition.

Um, people that have holds that are coming in from like quite a while ago, but now they can't place new holds on other library systems.

Those are questions that we're answering regularly.

Um, you know, I just see items that are available.

Why can't I place holds?

Once we explain that people pretty understand.

Um, just gonna interject.

One of the things that we kind of have noticed though, is like Stacey mentioned, anybody can come and register their card here and become a home patron and anybody.

Anybody using Selco region and so a lot of the phone calls initially that uh fiction movies and music desks were when we make this change, we're like, why can't I place these holds?

And then with maybe like they can come in here and get their RPL library card and get it registered here, then they can.

So we have seen I hypothesize we've seen a lot of people shifting into the um, because you can see the breakdown of the home holds.

Uh we've seen a big increase in both county and Celco in both the holds and in the checkouts.

So keep going.

Um the the other challenge that was brought forth is that RPL patrons, many of them staff really liked placing holds on Celco items and TDX, because so many of them were placing holes on our items that their lists were a lot shorter.

So now we have to wait the RPL wait time.

Um and then holds ratios continue to be high due to the variable costs of ebooks and the audiobooks, which that with that highest rate in fiction.

Um couple other things that maybe you don't care about, but throwing them out there.

Over drive changed how they calculated holds in September.

So 62 now does not mean the same thing as 80 a year ago just because of the way things were calculated, but it's still better than 80.

Um overdrive has also added an expiration date for suspended holds, and that started this past September.

So I'm expecting there to be a big statistic shift after that first year because they gave everybody regardless of when you suspended your hold a full year.

Um, and then going forward, it's just going to be 365 days.

Um, and then we also RPL and Celco chose to discontinue those instant digital cards at the end of 2025.

Um, and those were we paid for every single one of those that was created.

Um, but it wasn't a library card, it was just somebody's phone number.

So um that was a positive budget move, but it also moves people to getting library cards rather than these amorphous cards.

Um, and with our new digital library card, we're we're hoping to address that so people can get a digital library card.

Um and then, you know, one of the things that Karen and I have been talking about is that decrease in circulation.

So one contribution is holds from outside people did increase circulation.

So there are people who aren't necessarily checking out from us who were before, but they aren't our local people.

Is this an actual decrease in circulation?

Like by actual numbers or it's supposed to do it is percentage of checkouts attributed to those uh categories, but they are like decreasing circulation.

There's a real decrease in like actual so there's a real decrease.

I'm not worried about it.

It's not like a huge trend, it's just a few that's yeah, and I I think this is part of why if that makes sense.

So it's still a very in-demand high heavily used, but we do have less people from outside placing holds and checking out items.

Holds do drive circulation quite a bit.

Um, people are more likely to jump in and be like, oh, I want this, this, and this, and put them on hold, then think of oh, what's available?

Like, like my mom goes in and immediately clicks the available now button because she doesn't want to place any holds, but there's a lot of people who are like, I don't want what's available now, I want what this popular thing, and then they can't get it.

So there's some of those pieces.

This is really interesting data to grab into our next conversation about.

This is why we are doing this first before we go into the next one.

There now.

And so there's some uh additional stats that I threw in.

We surpassed 150,000 copies in May 2026, and that's uh you know, that's a number that frequently adjusts, but it's been constantly growing since we started our collection.

About 15% of our digital collection is out at any given time.

Um, and that's that is a decent number.

Um, though I have to say that is kind of shadowed by the fact that our youth print collection is currently 30% checked out, which is awesome.

Um, but 50% is good, and that's pretty consistent.

Lifetime turnover for items averages about 34 per item, and that is a little tricky as far as like 34 per copy or per title.

I'm still investigating, but as you can see, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Um 3,489 times.

Um there are items that have never circulated, but we also have items that circulate over 3,000 times.

So those are kind of the top three.

Um here some other big numbers.

Calamity Club, I bought another 100 copies last week because sometimes you can buy 100 single-use copies.

Um, so that calamity club number is now over 300 because they all immediately checked out.

Um, even titles where I can't buy a hundred copies at a time.

There's many titles that already have like 50 some checkouts in just the half a year.

So very popular titles.

Um so yeah, a couple additional tiny things to pop out.

We are getting close to adding Comics Plus.

Comics Plus is a comics database.

So this would kind of supplement the digital um comics in Overdrive with Comics Plus, we play pay a flat fee and have access to over it's either over 23 or over 31,000.

I may be getting the numbers up.

So, but it's I mean, it's a I spend more money on um Calamity Club than I potentially than than this.

So it's it's very exciting.

The real focus though is for our adult collection.

So um it has a large selection.

You don't need to check things out and then wait for somebody else.

It's all multi-use all the time.

So everybody has access to the full collection.

Um, so lots of series, a lot of major publishers.

Um but again, our focus is really building out that graphic collection.

We get a lot of questions from people.

Um, but again, there's that a lot of them expire, maintaining your series.

So this is kind of by investing in this, we get a whole lot more bang for our buck.

We're gonna see how how well it does.

What is that circ compared to overdrive?

So right now we're figuring out some logistical things as far as um how it connects to our catalog and everything.

Yes, mostly like excuse me.

Actual comics marble in DC and where's a graphic novel series, also yeah.

The price of science helmets and stuff downstairs are these includes.

Um, I'd have to double check specific titles.

Um I know it has Marvel DC, um, just the the display there has some Ninjago, the Bones series.

Um what was the big big main?

That's here.

Um there's uh a series that all the adults are reading right now that every copy in Overdrive is like a hundred dollars.

But the whole thing is in there just to read.

Laura Olympics always changed in upstairs.

So I'm not sure for Olympus is in there to have to double check, but again, it's a lot.

Okay, cool.

Um, canopy is still doing well.

Um, one of the things they talk about is oh yeah, people will find out about it, and then use will just kind of rock it.

We've only losed 35% of that budget for the year, and we're you know, well into our seventh month.

Um, we have not done a ton of promotion of Canada because of the cost per use.

Um, we have it available for people who who want it.

Um so as we assess, we will be coming in under budget this year unless something drastic changes.

Um, and we'll be assessing um for next year, because this is a pilot year, assessing for next year.

What does the budget look like within the actual collection budget rather than foundation gave us money?

Um and do we continue at 15 tickets or do we do we raise and lower that?

So we'll be looking at some different things, but just giving you an update on how Campy is doing.

And I watched paperback hero the other night with uh and it's hilarious.

I hasn't a surprise that some of the movies are more than one ticket.

I was like a question if you want to hold.

Do you find a lot of people are uh keeping the books or their um material to the very maximum time allotted, or a lot of them rejoining it down goes back into that?

We have a lot of I think it's it's both.

And like if people had kept it the full three weeks every time, it was not feasible.

But people are reading it and returning it.

Okay.

So that was my question, but the whole time so it's actually shortened up and encouraging them to return it as one of the things.

We do um also have lucky day copies.

And so the way I'm managing lucky days is not exactly the same like Kim did.

But for items that are kind of in that that middle spot where there's a lot of holds, or there's not so many holds that I would want to take a copy out of the whole rotation.

Um you can designate a copy to be lucky day.

And it does pop up for people who have it on hold, but weren't necessarily the top of the list.

They just get seven days to read it.

So it's a quick checkout.

Um that is one way we kind of help like pull down some of those middle holds.

Um, but if something has higher a ratio of 25 to one, I don't want to move a copy of Lucky Day because then my ratio jumps up to 50 to one.

So thereabouts.

Yeah, and I, you know, Heather and Sarah and the digital collection team have been great in talking strategies and looking at data and figuring out how we can continue to support this collection.

So that's my update.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Very informational.

Any further questions?

I assume there's no actually.

Yeah, there's no action, very much informative uh leading up to the next item where there is actually county funding.

Yes.

So um, as you read in the update, um, Steve and I did meet with the county administrator last month.

Um, in that meeting, he indicated that the county board would be open to the library directors coming back with a proposed funding formula, and there potentially is an openness to have the standard formula for all the Olmsted County libraries and then have a separate pay for service contract for Rochester.

Uh and I clarified um, you know, that that wouldn't take out of the existing funding for the county.

Um, and I mean my analogy was we're talking about pie that we're sharing this pie, but some ice cream for Rochester for the pay for services.

And yes, so um what you have before you is um uh well let me back up a little bit first.

Uh the Olmsted County directors met, um, Olmsted County plus St.

Charles, which is outside Olmstead County, but Olmsted County funds um St.

Charles or provide scrum funding.

So we all met, we none of us liked the funding formula proposed by Olmstead County.

No one was comfortable with it.

Uh there were some concerns about how we define library service area population.

We are still gonna have some some conversations, um, not just those are these five libraries that are ownset related, but all Celco libraries really talking about how we count our LSA and report that to the state.

Um, so nobody liked that number.

Programming numbers, we do not um you can't none of us are asking, where are you from before you come to a program?

And we would we don't want it that we want anybody to be able to come to programs.

The funding that is in question is funding for rural county Olmstead residents, those residents.

This is that's where this this um money is coming from for Olmstead County, and that is why um the the funding that comes from Rochester, for example, comes from the the Rochester tax property tax, and then is handed to to us for Stuartville.

It's collected in Stewartville and given to Sierra Library.

So what we agreed on as the five directors was um really the best way to articulate is the physical circulation of made by Olmstead County residents, rural residents, because all of us could look at that data and tie it right back to rural Olmstead County residents.

Um, and then adding up all of those those numbers and looking at that circulation and the percentage of the um circulation.

So for the allocation, the number that um with that formula, we all shared that with Krista.

We all shared our numbers, and Krista from Celco did created the formula for us, and um so this is what the directors are proposing um for dividing up that one percent of the levy from Olmstead County each year.

As you can see, there is a loss.

We are the only library that takes a loss.

However, when we get to the second part, the ice cream part of the formula or the agreement or funding conversation.

When you add the two dollar amounts together, it actually is equivalent to more than what we would have received in the former Olmsted County funding agreement from 2010 that was ended in June.

So we were we're being very honest with this because this funding formula is what all libraries offer.

So we really sat down and looked at things that can be articulated because these are these are where the cuts would happen if Olmsted County funding is changed.

So we took overdrive Libby circulation that is a rural, and we took the additional costs just for the um the staffing for um paying those invoices, and then the um additional part of the um or the percentage of the circulation that we know is just rural Olmstead County.

So 9.8% rural Olmstead County.

Um and we multiply that by the total cost for the overdrive content, and that's how we came up with the $54,000 number.

Again, tying it directly back to those Olmstead rural county users.

Um and then for Canopy circulation, same thing.

Um right now, um, it isn't different from Overdrive.

Um P is only available for City of Rochester residents and rural Olmsted County residents.

So if you are a Stuartville resident, you cannot use Canopy.

Um that's different than how we have overdrive setup.

Anybody in Silco can come and register their guard to be a home user.

So um it's very different.

And we intentionally set that up.

We knew it was a pilot, we knew this conversation was happening with Olmsted County, and that's how we set up Canopy.

So uh they do account for 12% of our circulation, and so we did 12% of the cost for the canopy um collection costs, and then that staff support.

So um the amount of time it takes to um do the invoices that are tied to the 54,000 and the 2700 of that staff time that Amy and MAO can tell you that it takes a lot to enter all of those invoices, and there's a lot of staff time.

So that's how we came up with the digital services component of the payment for services for bookmobile services.

Again, we went through um the percentage of circulation for rural Olmsted County, which is 24% of that um circulation with the bookmobile, um we provide the ability for folks to do the browsing.

That is the above and beyond.

Anybody can borrow the materials.

Um, but when we take the bookmobile out to a site, there is that browsibility that you don't get um and that you wouldn't get otherwise.

And so 24% of that uh the bookmobile costs for um uh the collection itself for the bookmobile, then the staffing costs for just the Olmstead County rural stops, um, and that's just the bookmobile actual hours of the bookmobile driver and the person alongside them that go up to those stops for the year.

It doesn't include any of the librarian work, um, selection um collection development work.

It is very specifically tied to the work of driving the bookmobile out, serving the bookmobile patrons and being there.

Um, and then 24% of the operational cost of the vehicle maintenance.

So again, when you add those up, it's 1.4 uh two uh million, and that is uh a variation from the previous contract of a difference of um about 35,000.

Um what I'm looking for the board tonight is um your questions or comments and then um action so that we can pass this on to Olmston County Board of Commissioners who are hosting their uh next budget conversation at the end of July at their budget retreat.

add those up it's 1.4 uh two uh million and that is uh a variation from the previous contract uh a difference of um about 35 thousand dollars um so what i'm looking for the board tonight is um your questions or comments and then um action so that we can pass this on to olmston county board of commissioners who are hosting their uh next budget conversation at the end of July if their budget retreat uh I've got one question here that probably isn't well maybe it's relevant at all but what's it stop the person from sharing their they live in Rochester but that person lives all up in Storerville or they live on another area but they can't canopy what it stop me from showing my credentials I mean is it tied to an IP address to where if they're outside the area it's tied to your address so when you come in to apply for a library card we are asking for you know your approval of address and that's what makes you um in in the border report you'll actually see those broken out as a city of Rochester card holder you'll see that as a county cardholder county reciprocal so county reciprocal is Stewartville Pine Island um Chatfield folks right doing this right right now um so we that that data is there um and so can it be the way it authenticates based on that um that code that's in your account that says for me for example it's city of Rochester resident and it sees that that code in the in so if I live in Spring Valley I could borrow your credentials from Springman no problem even though I don't live in that area I'm just kind of getting can people yeah I mean are they tying into IP address when they log in so you know why because I got a volume Salt Dakota for instance his library system doesn't allow for half what we abolish so I said well hey or take my stuff log in use it you know I haven't done it but I'm saying the potential of there that's what I'm wondering how many people are using a service under somebody else's name outside of the area we don't have any of them because you can take your card anywhere and like if you uh go on a road trip you can take it across the country and log in the whole way same with you could check out materials physical materials from our shelves drive up to your uh you know go uh across audio books from here in Colorado for sure yeah but even if you had like your physical books and you took them to your grandma in Seattle and let your grandma read that book that you check like there is that that ability exists as well but they're physical audio books.

Yeah if we're trying to restrict the canopy to local to you know to keep the yeah no that would be the issue that I have with other people using sharing credentials now.

Canopy only has 15 tickets.

So I would say if you as a local resident decide that the way you want to use your 15 tickets because that's all you get is by letting your buddy watch those 15 tickets that is my local user making that decision.

So there is no way for your buddy to get his own car and have his own credentials but it's that's your local decision is that your buddy watches these instead of you that you're so charge your buddy for your ass so the difference between what the librarians agreed to and the ice cream is 130,000 roughly the county had the opportunity to talk about the ice cream other than saying they would like so listen to the proposal is this money that we're pretty much guaranteed to get so I mean there is the the county could say you know what we want to pay for what all of the libraries are offering and we don't want to pay for any additional payment service absolutely there is a that is a um absolutely um we would have to make that decision then how do we how would city subsidize I don't see the city being able to subsidize above and beyond I don't think they'll let me take out from Zach's budget.

So we would have to have hard conversations the initial formula proposed you'll remember um we were talking where would we be pulling this from so we want it to be very realistic in where we would be pulling this from and I will say um sorry that we've been having these internal conversations the the way that that money breaks out for the library service um for this year is is different than what it could be for next year.

So what we have with the old funding contract with some stability what the county is wanting so is some stability but that is it's not I mean you know it it can change greatly and so we wanted to really when we're talking about the payment for services we want it to tie directly to usage and service because if those aren't funded let's say they're funded this year but not next year we will we will be in a position where we need to make a decision about are we still then taking the bookmobile to Byron to Orinoco it it's a hard case to make to the city of Rochester taxpayer to continue to do that or to reduce the number of of bookmobile visits in the city so that those others can still happen and same with digital collection.

Do you know whether and to what extent the other county libraries are doing these same things like do they have overdrive do they have canopy do they have bookmobiles that are serving rural county residents.

I will say um serving rural county residents are you talking just Olmstead County or other counties in well we're talking about specifically the Olmsted County libraries that are getting the funding.

So for Olmstead County Stewartville for example offers hoopla I as a Rochester resident do not have access to hoopla.

I as a Rochester resident could go into Stuartville and I can check out books from Stewartville.

And Stewartville acknowledges there's no way they could provide hoopla access for all of the city of Rochester residents.

Yeah but during the South call meeting the other libraries had just heard about the funding changes at the last meeting and they were like oh no if we cut RPL's funding everybody gets hammered by that it was pretty well acknowledged that they lose services if we lose certain ours is the only book appeal yes yeah correct and um thank you for saying that too um we do receive some funding from Celgo for our digital collection specifically because there is that acknowledgement that we provide that additional access that they can't provide.

So procedurally what is this look like we say yes this library director approved formula seems good we take that to the county with that approval across all of the county libraries along with the request for this additional payment not knowing whether anything is going to come out of that additional request.

Yeah right so currently what we have is no contract with Olmstead County they have officially in their contract.

So procedurally what it looks like is with your support this does go to the county board and in the county board conversations they talk about how we are revamping our contract one of the suggestions from Krista was adding this funding piece of the one percent levy from Olmstead County and our funding formula that we decided uh be added to our Celco Olmstead County agreement instead of a instead of five separate funding agreements add it to the Celco agreement because it's the same for all five of us and we already have that existing um we already have those existing agreements that are in place and then this additional piece would be a separate payment for service contract with between Olmsted County and RPL.

I suppose the most pointed substitute question is does the county understand that if they decline to provide at least comparable payment for these additional services to the previous formula there are going to be cuts for royal restaurants.

Yes that I that was um indicated in the meeting that Steve and I had with um with the county administrator that there is there is an understanding um ahead of that meeting they were I believe the county board members were already hearing from members who were concerned based on our previous meetings uh and discussions so well they looked at the formula because ostensibly it's because of tax dollars and tax purposes right so I'm just curious I don't know maybe you're not you don't know about this but where are they getting the ice cream money you know and if this is all based on yeah I'm just curious where you can suddenly come up with ice cream money yeah and I mean that that is a concern with they could say um you know this initiative or this program or this um thing that we are funding is more important than the ice cream money um and we are only committed to to this one frequent nothing else um and we'll have to deal with i mean they could absolutely say that's going to snow more and we're not the only county where where this is happening there are other conversations that have happened in other counties as well as counties have all struggled with um their challenges with state and federal funding cuts that have trickled down to those county budgets

Um, and we are only committed to this one freaking, nothing else.

Um, and we'll have to deal with, I mean, they could absolutely say that.

It's going to be from Snowmore.

And we're not the only county where where this is happening.

There are other conversations that have happened in other counties as well, as counties have all struggled with um their challenges with state and federal funding cuts that have trickled down to those county budgets.

Uh, I know in Winona, so St.

Charles is one of the libraries that is funded a little bit by um Olmsted County, and they're having the conversations not just with Olmsted County but with Winogee County in which they reside.

So it's it's more it's not unique to us, but I do believe we have uh significant library support for maintaining at least maintaining services.

So you mentioned the county funding Celko under the one agreement versus having you know piecemeal agreements.

Is that part of the I mean here we've got to agree to that ice cream body, or is that a separate conversation?

So it would be uh um operating agreement with Celco that would mention this funding formula, and then the separate would be a payment uh for services.

I'm trying to find it and cannot find what was the proposed number from the county before you all got together.

Do we have a copy of their it was so it is the 1.52101 total library funding for Olmstad Young.

Right, so would be a fraction of it, what's supposed to come to us originally because I think we have a loss bigger than this under the previous proposals, right?

Like this is already an improvement over where we were two months ago.

Correct, right?

Okay, yeah.

I will say, having worked at Celgo for a number of years, this is kind of a perpetual fight.

Every time there's funding, you've got pick a county saying, oh no, no, no, no, who needs libraries anymore anyway, because we got the internet, and then the librarians have to splain that no, we need libraries.

Um, and it's it's it's it's it's a perpetual problem.

So I'm guessing, I'm hoping that the bottom line is that they'll agree to at least most of this, but it's not an unusual situation, unfortunately.

And we don't know how long this formula will hold, do we?

That would be my question there.

Yeah, but in that next year, another problem comes up.

But I would to approve the agreed upon Umstead Library Directors meeting funding situation be presented to the county as something that we agree with, with the understanding that if they don't fund the ice cream, their county residents are gonna be losing services.

We their previous proposal was worse.

This is already improvement for us.

It kind of is what it is, you know.

What's your recommendation?

Do you think there's room for something better, or is this we should take it and see we can make it work?

Uh, this is better.

This is better than what we would have been funded.

So had we been on our contract, we would be at 1.392.

And this would be 1.427.

I am acknowledging in a public meeting that yes, I understand that this is more than what would have been funded from the um county contract.

I contend that um our Olmstead County residents are are getting um based on the usage numbers and the increase specifically in the digital collection um usage and our ongoing bookmobile stocks and support out in the county.

That um it's been a really good deal for for the county.

Um, and that if we want to be able to continue to provide additional services above and beyond what other homestead county libraries are doing, then this is the this is the fair proposal.

So just unclear then we would have to agree then to that them funding Celco or Celco.

Not funding Celgo.

I want to clarify that their money doesn't go to Celco because we are federated and not consolidated.

beyond what other homestead county libraries are doing then this is the this is the fair proposal so just unclear then we would have to agree then to the them funding stalco or silk over not funding cell vo I want to clarify that their money doesn't go to Celco because we are federated and not consolidated um receives different funding that is distributed differently but their funding um the funding is given to those libraries so it does go not directly to sell go and then diddied out it's just selco um assisting us in that formula and and um sharing what the bills are you know a an objective third party running the the the formula similar to how they do for some of the other counties i found it you sent me the excel spreadsheet that the county originally proposed pretend the ice cream doesn't exist and just look at the pie they would have cut our budget by 42 thousand dollars and instead we're only going to cut it by 24 like we're ahead to 1800 based off of what the library directors agreed to because they're only going to give out 1.5 million period was the standard library yeah for the standard library services we're better off doing what the library directors propose even if we don't get any ice cream then letting the county make this decision especially since they were basing it off of invisible numbers i would second the motion can you reskit the motion not even recommend going to the county and saying we would rather go with what the library directors propose than what you guys had originally come up with yes so we have a motion by Laura second by Mary Beth any further discussion all in favor aye aye any opposed saying none the motion carries any informational items question and answer are we with the team council the application is now until august ninth okay we've missed seven appointments all I got the one so we'll all actually have a council in place by one uh it will be I used to agree on leading any steps oh we go down that first yeah hold the bookmobile of the history center doing how the uh turnout usage etc so um the book mobile for a brand new stop the book mobile teams is overjoy the first day we had 28 people the next day we had 50 it is currently one of our top it's in the top 10 for business stops right now they've been doing a lot of promoting on their on their Facebook page it is really beneficial to have the history center as a partner who's excited we're there yeah because they're promoting it as well as us but we are seeing the people who are coming to that are those neighborhood people we're getting a lot of people from that area who um are excited to have the football bill closed cool cool share anybody taking a motion to adjourn on motion moved by brother second second by forum all in favor aye aye the meeting is adjourned I have never understood the motion to adjourn because I can't imagine people going yeah it's functional