July Library Board Minutes 2026
AMENDED – MEETING DATE AND TIME
The Oelwein Public Library Board of Trustees will meet on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. at the Oelwein Public Library.
AGENDA
Roll Call
Agenda Approved
Minutes Approved
Correspondence and communications –
Trustee Training: Culture of Learning- Part 1
Director’s Report: Hawkeye Telephone, HVAC, Sprinkler Testing, Library Page and Librarian, Carpet Cleaning, New Trustee, Fontana Creatures, Roof Inspection/leaks, New Hours, Passport Appointments, Reading Program Recap
Friends’ Report:
Bills Approved:
Unfinished Business
New Business
Election of Officers
Appreciation of Service
Designate Location of Agenda Postings
Iowa Library Statistics
Policy Review: 3D Printer Policy, amended Library Hours
Adjournment
June/End Year
Circulation: Computer Use: Reference Questions:
26 June: 4046/39,578 26 June: 97/1115 Wireless: 672/8134 26 June: 828/5810
25 June: 3932/42,991 25 June: 88/1151 Wireless: 786/9211 25 June: 501/5898
Attendance: New Patrons: Program Attendance: Passports:
26 June: 3171/27,145 26 June: 38/259 26 June: 472/2095 26 June: 7/152
25 June: 2605/28,522 25 June: 23/359 25 June: 542/2027 25 June: 15/153
Acquisitions: BRIDGES Downloads: 683/7589
Books 150 eBooks: 264/3262
Movies 4 Audio: 383/3961
eMagazines: 36/366
Culture of Learning
There are two significant education-related Public Library Standards required at a minimum level:
1: Standard #20 [Tier 1]: The library has a permanent, paid director who is Certified (Editor’s note: changing soon to Endorsed) at a required level. New directors have two years after starting as director to become Certified (Editor’s note: changing soon to Endorsed).
The Oelwein Public Library Board of Trustees met on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. at the Oelwein Public Library.
Present: Ingersoll, Franzen, VanDenHul, Solsma, Kerns, Payne, Macken
Absent:
President Ingersoll called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m.
Agenda Approved: Franzen asked for clarification on the statistics for new patrons. A spacing error was noted. VanDenHul made a motion to approve the agenda. Seconded by Franzen. Motion carried.
Minutes Approved: Franzen made a motion to approve the minutes. Seconded by VanDenHul. Motion carried.
Correspondence and communications: none
Trustee Training: The Public Library Standards require that the library has a permanent, paid director who is Endorsed at a required level. New directors have two years after starting as director to become Endorsed. For cities with a population between 5,000 and 14,999, the Endorsement Level is Silver or Gold.
Silver: Bachelor’s degree and completion of Director Endorsement coursework within 2 years of hire date.
Gold: Graduate degree in library or information science from an American Library Association (ALA) accredited program.
Director’s Report:
· Welcome to Christian Solsma as a new Library Trustee.
· Hawkeye Telephone asked for permission to bury fiber optic cables to the library with no obligation to subscribe to their service. The consent was signed. Currently, the library receives service at no charge from Mediacom. Payne inquired if Hawkeye Telephone would offer free service to the library.
· The HVAC coil was leaking R22 and not cooling the building. The coil on HP2 was replaced. The coil on HP1 is leaking. Waldingers will be searching for the leak and repair, if possible.
· Blackhawk Sprinklers conducted the 20-year head testing along with the 5-year wet system test.
· Amy has resigned as part-time librarian. Jennifer has been hired for that position. Lexi has resigned as a part-time page. Emma has been hired for that position.
· All the carpets were cleaned.
· Fontana Creatures have been staying at the library this summer. In August, the library will have Monarch butterflies.
· Schwickerts inspected the roof and will be submitting a report. There have been a couple of leaks with some heavy rainfall. These areas are being monitored.
· The new hours decals have been updated at the main entrance.
· Passports are being done by appointment.
· Dubuque Glass is fixing the windows on the east side of the building. This is a Capital Improvement item. Miller Construction will be replacing the warped sills with the same decking material as was used on the west windows.
· Staff received positive feedback for the Summer Reading Program. Favorite programs were BluTrack and Dinosaurs. The 3-D printer incentives were popular with more than 95 items printed.
Friends’ Report: Dates for the Book Sale and Annual Meeting were set.
Bills Approved:
Effective July 1, Katie S’s position changed from full time to part time. She received the remainder of her vacation time as a payout of $5,864.40.
The contract for BRIDGES content was paid.
One of the repair bills for the HVAC was paid.
Kerns made a motion to approve the list of bills. Seconded by VanDenHul. Motion carried.
Unfinished Business: none
New Business:
· Election of Officers: Franzen made a motion to appoint VanDenHul as President. Seconded by Solsma. Motion carried. VanDenHul made a motion to appoint Franzen as Vice-president. Seconded by Kerns. Motion carried. Franzen made a motion to appoint Kerns as Secretary. Seconded by Solsma. Motion carried.
· Appreciation of Service: Anita Mars resigned as a Library Trustee after eleven years of service. The Library Board of Trustees greatly appreciated her dedication and service to the Oelwein Public Library.
· Designate Location of Agenda Postings: House File 2490 changes Iowa Code relating to public meetings and records. Meeting notices must be posted in a place that is visible at all times. The place needs to be designated by the Library Board, annually. In addition, the notice needs to be posted on the primary website or other primary internet presence maintained by the governmental body. Finally, changes to the agenda need to be identified and marked “amended.” Franzen made a motion to post the library’s agenda on the outside of the front entrance windows, the library’s Facebook page, and the library’s website. Seconded by Kerns. Motion carried.
Payne left the meeting.
· Iowa Library Statistics: The statistics were reviewed by the board. The board would like to see improvements in Oelwein Library’s statistics. The board would like to see daily Facebook posts and more programs with an emphasis on hands-on activities and collaboration with the schools.
Policy Review:
VanDenHul made a motion to add a warning to the 3-D printer policy that some items may contain small parts which could be a choking hazard and not recommended for children under 3. Seconded by Solsma. Motion carried.
Franzen made a motion to update the library hours with the changes to Wednesday and Thursday from 9-5:30, and Saturday from 9-1. Seconded by Kerns. Motion carried.
Adjournment: Kerns made a motion to adjourn at 6:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Macken
Next meeting: Wednesday, August 12 at 5:30 p.m.