Weatherford Public Library Board Meeting - October 27, 2025
Weatherford Public Library Board Meeting - October 27, 2025
The Weatherford Public Library Board met on Monday, October 27, 2025, at 1:00 PM in the Weatherford Public Library. The board approved minutes from the previous meeting, adopted a new quarterly meeting schedule, and received updates on new study rooms, literacy kits, summer reading results, and key performance indicators.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The board unanimously approved the minutes from the January 27, 2025 regular session.
Public Comments & Testimony
- A representative from the Aledo Public Library, who is also a member of the Friends of the Weatherford Public Library, spoke about the Aledo library's concerns over potential non-resident fees and shared that the Friends group is considering opening a small bookstore and hosting a Scholastic book fair after local schools discontinued theirs.
Discussion Items
- Meeting Schedule Change: The board discussed and unanimously approved moving from bi-monthly to quarterly meetings, with future meetings scheduled for the fourth Monday of January, April, July, and October at 1:00 PM. The change was made due to frequent lack of quorum in previous years. The director confirmed that special meetings could be called if needed.
- Library Highlights & Updates:
- Study Rooms: Two new study rooms were created in the former law library space. They can be reserved for up to two hours, three times per week per user. Library card holders receive priority, but non-cardholders may use them if available. The rooms have been in high demand, used for tutoring, remote work, and even medical appointments. Advertising will increase once operational kinks are resolved.
- Literacy Kits: Twenty literacy kits, covering ages 18 months to 10 years, will launch in November. Each kit includes books and hands-on activities. Only Weatherford Public Library card holders can check them out, and they must be returned to the Weatherford library. The kits were funded without grants; feedback cards will be used to guide future purchases.
- Director's Report:
- Summer Reading Challenge: Total participants did not reach the goal of a 5% increase. The school district switched to digital folders, reducing paper flyer distribution. However, teen participation grew significantly, and adult participation saw a large increase, attributed to more adult programs and incentives like pint glasses. Overall, the library saw a 4% increase in readers.
- Book Sale: The recent book sale was one of the most successful, with a line before opening. The director noted a shift to less organized, genre-based grouping. Future mini sales may be held in December.
- Key Performance Indicators: Circulation remained flat year-over-year. Adult event attendance increased, computer usage rose, and total attendance grew. Teen attendance showed modest gains. The library added a "Book Babies" story time for infants 6–18 months. A volunteer now leads monthly gardening, watercolor, coloring, and craft programs for all ages. August attendance spiked after inviting city departments (police, fire, animal services, sanitation) to story time. The director also discussed balancing physical and digital audiobook purchases, noting both formats have similar usage.
- Geographic Data: A board member requested geographic analysis of library users to identify underserved areas. The director agreed to provide data at the next meeting. Discussion revisited a past satellite library at Hudson Hills that ended due to utility costs.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Minutes: January 27, 2025 meeting minutes (unanimous).
- Approved Meeting Schedule: Quarterly meetings on the fourth Monday of January, April, July, and October at 1:00 PM, starting January 26, 2026 (unanimous).
- Future Agenda: The director will present geographic usage data at the January 2026 meeting.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for January 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Meeting to order. And what time is it? Let's see. 101. Has everybody looked over the minutes of the last meeting? Any corrections or anything to it that y'all saw? Okay. Let's vote to see if y'all approve. I need a motion. I move to approve the meeting minutes as presented. I need a second. I'll second. Okay, that was in Crystal. You got it? Okay. Yes. Okay. That is passed. All those in favor of the same. Yeah, all those in favor I'm going to play that. Any opposed? Any opposed? Passed. Okay. There's this. Okay. There. There you go. So next order of business. We need to discuss it. Yeah. So we need to officially adopt our new meeting schedule if everyone is okay with this. Moving to quarterly. So we were doing every other month. Keeping it to the fourth Monday of the. Oh, there's my typo. Sorry for that. And then if the 1 p.m. time works, but feel free to propose something different. I will say we were making quorum about once a year on average, looking back at the last couple years. Yeah. So this attendance or turnout today feels promising that this might be a better time. But again, I'm open to what what works for everyone for the majority. So if somebody wants to is it okay if we space them up that much? Like was there a reason that it was every other month or moving quarterly? I I couldn't figure out and and so when I went to move us to quarterly, I tried to make sure it hit the times of the year that would be beneficial. And so I think we can still hit what we need to hit. Can we do a special one if something comes up? If there is something that comes up, we can, or you know, we can always look at moving one, you know, as a one-time thing to a different. Yes, yeah, that's where you're talking about budget things.
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