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Record of Proceedings

Rochester (Minnesota) Library Board Meeting - August 26, 2026

Boards and Commissions — Wednesday, August 26, 2026
BodyRochester, Minnesota
SessionBoards and Commissions
DateWednesday, August 26, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 20:57

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
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█████████████████████████████████████████████73%
Technology and Innovation████████████19%
Public Engagement█████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Rochester (Minnesota) Library Board Meeting - August 26, 2026

Note: The agenda and minutes list the meeting date as August 19, 2026, but the provided instruction specifies this summary should be dated August 26, 2026. The following summary reflects the content of the meeting as recorded.

The Library Board of Rochester, Minnesota, met on Tuesday, August 26, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. in the Second Floor Meeting Room of the library. The board heard updates from the Rochester Public Library Foundation, Friends of the Library, and regional library cooperatives, approved the consent calendar, and discussed county funding for 2027. The meeting adjourned at 4:51 p.m.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes: Approved the minutes of the July 15, 2026, meeting as the official record.
  • Accounts Payable: Approved total disbursements of $295,595.83 for August 13, 2026.
  • July 2026 Monthly Reports: Accepted the monthly reports, including statistics, expenditure, and revenue reports.
  • Contracts Signed by the Library Director: Accepted the contracts list. During discussion, a board member inquired about the LinkedIn Learning contract (annual cost approx. $6,480, average $540/month) and a $3,000 contract for speaker Rochelle Yunan to deliver an all-staff training on the "reset method" for stress management.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were offered.

Updates and Reports

  • Rochester Public Library Foundation Report: Executive Director Brenda Kardock reported on the upcoming online auction (32auctions.com/library26), a stewardship story regarding a memorial gift from Judith and John Harris (book plates for 10 years), and a William Kent Krueger dinner event sponsored by Blue Duck.
  • Friends of the Rochester Public Library Update: Board President Val Kaliszewski reported on the United for Libraries Friends Day, an off-site sale at the history center, and the new study pod purchased with Friends funds. The study pod seats up to four people, is soundproof, and can be reserved at the reference desk (online reservations planned).
  • Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO) Update: The board received an update on SELCO activities, including the hiring of a shared ILS manager, a call for public comments on the federal e-rate program (worth about $12 million annually in Minnesota; Rochester Public Library receives approximately $7,000–$9,000), and a delivery study recommending RFID tagging for shared materials and route adjustments to save time and mileage.
  • Executive Committee Update: The committee discussed plans for the upcoming board retreat, reviewed recommendations from the Advocacy Committee, and addressed the use of the term "stakeholder" (noted to have colonialist connotations) – the administrative team will prefer "community members," "residents," or "interested parties" but will use "stakeholder" when presenting to the City Council.
  • Advocacy Committee Update: Received and filed (no additional details provided in the transcript).

Informational Items

  • County Funding Update: Library Director reported on a meeting with the Olmsted County Board regarding the 2027 budget. The director requested an additional $129,000+ to maintain digital access and bookmobile services for rural county residents. Without that funding, bookmobile stops outside Rochester city limits would be reduced or eliminated. The county commissioners approved the distribution method for the 1% allocation but have not yet decided on the additional funding request. The director noted that other counties face similar challenges: Winona County maintained funding, while Hennepin County is proposing a 7% reduction in hours and St. Paul is considering closing a library.

Key Outcomes

  • All consent items were approved unanimously (7-0).
  • All reports and updates were received and filed.
  • The board will continue to monitor the Olmsted County funding decision.
  • The youth council received 22 applications; selected members will serve a full year and provide peer input to the board starting in August 2026 (the term runs from August 2026 to August 2027).
  • The meeting adjourned at 4:51 p.m. on a unanimous motion.

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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