OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Rochester Library Board Meeting and Retreat - August 19, 2026

Boards and Commissions — Wednesday, August 19, 2026
BodyRochester, Minnesota
SessionBoards and Commissions
DateWednesday, August 19, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 20:57
Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

All right.

0:03

And let's call the library board meeting to order.

0:07

We can attend a meeting here in person on the second floor meeting room in the library.

0:11

And there will be a recording available after the meeting on the city's website.

0:15

Are there any way here to comment during the public comment session?

0:21

There's not a period.

0:23

All right.

0:24

In that case, we'll call the meeting to order and take the role, Ryan.

0:30

Present.

0:31

Here.

0:32

Emily?

0:32

Yeah.

0:33

Very bad.

0:34

Karen?

0:35

Laura?

0:36

Here.

0:36

Steve.

0:38

All right.

0:40

Can I have a motion to approve the agenda as promoted?

0:43

So moved.

0:44

Second.

0:44

Thank you.

0:45

Any discussion?

0:47

All in favor.

0:48

Aye.

0:49

Any opposed.

0:50

Motion passes.

0:52

Right.

0:53

Library Foundation.

0:55

Hi.

0:56

I'm Brandon Product.

0:57

I'm the executive director of the Library Foundation.

0:59

And here's more updates.

1:01

I wouldn't feel bad if you wrote down 32auctions.com slash library26 on your notebooks and that you could look at the items that will have up to forbidden.

1:13

And you know, even looking at the items helps us because it gives us more page views.

1:18

But if we win something, that's cool too.

1:22

So I have a list of items that I would like to point out.

1:25

Thank you.

1:26

Um Laura for the back.

1:31

And we're still looking for more items.

1:33

So if you have anybody that has an experience or an item that they'd like to donate, donate, please have them reach out to me.

1:51

So if you are the founders or want an email, I'll I'll probably just shoot you an email if you don't want to do anything, you don't have to.

2:00

But um that's helpful too.

2:02

Uh we filed our Secretary of State beautiful.

2:05

Um and I wanted to share a little steward stewardship story.

2:09

Um, you know, early in the year we got uh uh a gift from Judith Harris and um John Harris.

2:16

And um we wrote uh to his nephew their nephew um who was the executor and just offered them a book plate because we don't have recognition line up yet for big gifts.

2:30

And so he was really tickled that we picked out books.

2:33

I picked a nature book out for John and um uh a romance for Judith because she likes romances.

2:41

And um, so they will be added to our book a year for the next 10 years and get a nameplate for both.

2:48

So I think we'd scroll down just a little bit more.

2:51

Um, and then on our last uh newsletter um we sent up to people that participated, but um uh Amy Lorenz at the Not Mail.

3:02

Um she gave us a donation for our auction last year.

3:05

If you skim down a little bit further, she actually posted on Facebook the whole article um saying that it was the best day ever.

3:13

She got this mail, and you know, she likes supporting the library, and she got you know more engagement that way.

3:19

So that was really uh a nice way for us to get a little more attention.

3:23

So everybody that has gone to her page first of all and business sense is also it will avail around the library.

3:33

Anyone have any questions?

3:35

I like that William Kent Kruger um dinner up for bid.

3:40

Yeah, I'm excited about that.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Library Funding█████████████████████████████████████████████70%
Public Engagement███████11%
Technology and Innovation██████10%
Youth Programs██████9%
Summary of Proceedings

Rochester Library Board Meeting and Retreat - August 19, 2026

The Library Board met on August 19, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in the second floor meeting room of the Rochester Public Library. The meeting combined regular board business with a retreat component. Presentations were received from the Library Foundation, the Friends of the Library, SELCO, and the board's executive committee. Votes were taken on the agenda, consent calendar, and adjournment.

Consent Calendar

  • The agenda was approved unanimously on a motion and second.
  • The consent calendar, which included contracts and expenditures (LinkedIn Learning for $1,900 per year, approximately 540 monthly users; a $3,000 all-staff training keynote by Rochelle Yunan on the RESET method), was approved on a motion and second following discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comment period was offered; the chair noted there was no time set aside for public comment.

Discussion Items

  • Library Foundation Update (Brandon Product): The executive director reported on the upcoming auction at 32auctions.com/library26, solicited donated items, shared a stewardship story about a gift from the Harris family (books and nameplates for 10 years), and noted positive social media engagement from auction donor Amy Lorenz.
  • Friends of the Library Update (Val Kaliski): Reported on attending United for Libraries Friends Day, an off-site sale at the history center with Rochester Reeds, and the new study pod purchased entirely with Friends funding. The study pod seats up to four and is reservable at the reference desk.
  • SELCO Report (board member): Announced a new shared ILS system staff hire, a federal E-rate public comment period (saveourerrate.com, worth ~$12 million annually to MN libraries), and a delivery study recommending RFID tagging for all shared materials and route adjustments to save time and mileage.
  • Executive Committee Report: Discussed replacing the term "stakeholder" with terms like "interested community members" due to its colonialist connotations, per guidance from the city's DEI office. Planning for elevator speeches and meaningful messaging will continue in September.
  • County Funding Update (from board discussion): The director reported presenting the library's annual request to the county board, including a request for an additional $129,000+ for digital access and bookmobile services for rural county residents. The county approved the distribution method for the 1% allocation but the core funding request remains pending. The director noted that without the additional funding, bookmobile stops in the county would be cut. Examples of funding challenges in Winona, Hennepin, and St. Paul were cited.
  • Teen Library Council: 22 applicants were reviewed; selected teens will serve a one-year term (ending in August 2027) and will be trained on engagement and board processes, providing peer connection reports to the board.

Key Outcomes

  • The agenda was approved unanimously.
  • The consent calendar was approved unanimously.
  • The meeting was adjourned on a motion and second without objection.

Meeting Transcript

All right. And let's call the library board meeting to order. We can attend a meeting here in person on the second floor meeting room in the library. And there will be a recording available after the meeting on the city's website. Are there any way here to comment during the public comment session? There's not a period. All right. In that case, we'll call the meeting to order and take the role, Ryan. Present. Here. Emily? Yeah. Very bad. Karen? Laura? Here. Steve. All right. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda as promoted? So moved. Second. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor. Aye. Any opposed. Motion passes. Right. Library Foundation. Hi. I'm Brandon Product. I'm the executive director of the Library Foundation. And here's more updates. I wouldn't feel bad if you wrote down 32auctions.com slash library26 on your notebooks and that you could look at the items that will have up to forbidden. And you know, even looking at the items helps us because it gives us more page views. But if we win something, that's cool too. So I have a list of items that I would like to point out. Thank you. Um Laura for the back. And we're still looking for more items. So if you have anybody that has an experience or an item that they'd like to donate, donate, please have them reach out to me. So if you are the founders or want an email, I'll I'll probably just shoot you an email if you don't want to do anything, you don't have to. But um that's helpful too. Uh we filed our Secretary of State beautiful. Um and I wanted to share a little steward stewardship story. Um, you know, early in the year we got uh uh a gift from Judith Harris and um John Harris. And um we wrote uh to his nephew their nephew um who was the executor and just offered them a book plate because we don't have recognition line up yet for big gifts. And so he was really tickled that we picked out books. I picked a nature book out for John and um uh a romance for Judith because she likes romances. And um, so they will be added to our book a year for the next 10 years and get a nameplate for both.

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