[2:02] Oh, sure.

[2:03] Yeah, I can, I can do that. Yeah.

[2:05] So I had asked Adrian about this as a,

[2:08] as a, as a possibility.

[2:10] And, and Adrian was fully supportive.

[2:13] This is essentially an opportunity for us to be able

[2:15] to recognize our staff, who make our branches go

[2:17] and do all the hard work that make

[2:20] for these six beautiful buildings

[2:22] that we have all over Ville County.

[2:24] So what we'd like to do at this time is to go ahead

[2:26] and have all of the staff that are present, that are, are,

[2:30] are library staff to please stand up

[2:32] and to be acknowledged for all of your hard work.

[2:41] Take a look around the room. Stand up, Nancy. Okay.

[2:46] That's me. Okay. Thank you so much.

[2:50] I have more staff. Do I know.

[2:52] I think some of our staff may have

[2:53] to return to, to work. So,

[2:55] Well, thank you for that addition.

[2:56] That, that is really good.

[2:58] Because you are what we are,

[3:01] because who we are and why we are.

[3:04] Okay. Thank you so much.

[3:08] The next part on this is

[3:11] board statements from any comments from last board

[3:14] meeting, any follow-ups?

[3:15] And there are none. So the next part is our public

[3:19] participation, which I think most

[3:20] of you are pretty familiar with it.

[3:22] It's a Can I ask a question though?

[3:24] Let me just finish my sentence. Sorry.

[3:27] Three minutes per person. And then we have the tonic.

[3:31] Where's the timer? Over here. Oh, over there.

[3:34] It's different in every room.

[3:36] We, we have that, and then I'll entertain

[3:40] what you were going to say.

[3:41] What, going back to e what, what is the purpose

[3:44] of board comments regarding public comment? Just

[3:47] Generally when someone does a presentation from the

[3:50] following week under public participation

[3:52] and they ask a specific question about

[3:55] the libraries, or why do you do this?

[3:57] Or why do we do that?

[3:58] This is not set up in the format of a, a dialogue contrast

[4:02] so that we can address it again and say, why do you do that?

[4:05] And then next, next month we could come

[4:07] and say, here's why we do it.

[4:08] Here's our policy, here's our procedure, and so forth. Okay.

[4:12] Okay. Thanks. Thanks.

[4:16] So let's see who has the, you have the the ones to do that

[4:20] and we just ask that everybody be kind

[4:22] and considerate of each other and respectful.

[4:25] And we'll begin Our first person, Eden

[4:28] Steele. Do

[4:31] I take a seat here, right?

[4:32] I'm sorry. Right here. And there's a

[4:34] little microphone for you.

[4:35] Thank you.

[4:41] Hi, my name is Eden Steele.

[4:43] I live in Garfield County and I'm here today along with Dr.

[4:46] Heather Eby to introduce

[4:48] and present to you to election

[4:51] protection pledges for Garfield County.

[4:54] We are a bipartisan group of four Garfield County residents.

[4:58] Greg Rippy from Glenwood Springs, Heather,

[5:01] Debbie Brule from Carbondale

[5:03] and myself, who have united around helping

[5:05] to protect the very foundation of our democracy.

[5:09] The right to vote, to have our vote counted

[5:12] and to have the will of the people prevail.

[5:15] The American people broadly support these basic principles

[5:18] of free and democratic elections.

[5:21] We represent different parts of the county.

[5:23] We're from Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and Newcastle.

[5:26] We've created two pledges

[5:28] that support our elections here in Garfield County.

[5:31] One for businesses and organizations

[5:34] and one for individuals.

[5:36] The pledges are not meant to be partisan or controversial.

[5:40] They're simply intended

[5:41] to help reaffirm Garfield County residents trust in our

[5:45] elections as administered by our county clerk.

[5:48] Without interference from outside sources,

[5:50] including the federal government.

[5:53] In times like these, it can be easier

[5:55] and more comfortable to say, why stick our necks out.

[5:59] We don't like to be political. We do books here.

[6:03] Or, Garfield County has never had a problem

[6:05] with elections before.

[6:07] This year probably won't be any different.

[6:10] First, it may surprise you to know

[6:11] that Garfield County has been identified as an area

[6:14] of concern for the midterms

[6:17] by pro-democracy organizations like common cause.

[6:21] This means an increased risk of people coming to the polls

[6:26] to intimidate voters and scare them away from voting.

[6:29] Our pledge makes, reminds people

[6:32] that this is simply unacceptable.

[6:35] Second, standing up for our elections in democracy

[6:39] is not political.

[6:41] The 2026 midterm elections are a critical

[6:44] moment in our democracy,

[6:48] and none of us can afford to be silent.

[6:52] Threats to election integrity from disinformation

[6:56] and voter intimidation to attempts

[6:59] to reject legitimate results are all real and escalating,

[7:03] but so is the power of organized communities to push back.

[7:06] We all have a role to play in protecting democracy,

[7:10] but as community leaders, you have a special role.

[7:14] You can amplify your voice through your public actions.

[7:17] Finally, staying silent only feeds the rising

[7:20] threats to our election.

[7:22] Silence implies that we don't care,

[7:25] and I think we all do care.

[7:27] We urge you to get on board by signing the pledges, both

[7:30] as the library board and as individuals.

[7:33] Our democracy depends on all of our participation.

[7:37] And if it's not possible to sign as an organization,

[7:40] then we really hope that each one of you'll step up

[7:42] and and sign as an individual.

[7:43] Thank you. Thank you.

[7:47] Can we, we can't sign the

[7:52] Heather Xb Xb.

[8:01] Hi, Eden and I are at Duos. I'm Heather xy.

[8:04] I live in New Castle, Colorado,

[8:06] and I'm gonna read to you the election pledge

[8:09] that Eden outlined.

[8:11] So you get a chance to see what it is that we're asking you

[8:13] to consider The freedom to vote

[8:16] and to have our votes counted is the

[8:18] foundation of our democracy.

[8:20] The United States Constitution gives the authority

[8:23] to the states to conduct their own

[8:25] elections without federal oversight.

[8:28] Colorado's election system is widely recognized as one

[8:31] of the best in the country and serves as a national model.

[8:35] Colorado's elections are run by professionals.

[8:38] Election officials like our county clerks,

[8:41] are certified in Colorado election administration

[8:44] and must engage in continuing education requirements.

[8:47] They prepare, plan

[8:49] and practice their plans year round so

[8:52] that elections are accessible to all eligible voters.

[8:55] Votes are properly counted

[8:57] and the will of the people prevails.

[9:00] Multi partisan election judges assist

[9:02] our election officials.

[9:04] These election judges who are Republican, democrat,

[9:08] unaffiliated, and for minor parties are trained

[9:11] to verify voter eligibility.

[9:14] Review every signature

[9:16] and tabulate every ballot cast in Colorado.

[9:20] Colorado's elections are transparent with meaningful citizen

[9:24] participation and observation across the

[9:26] entire election process.

[9:29] Colorado's elections follow the law

[9:31] and legal process to ensure only eligible voters can vote.

[9:36] Our county clerk and recorder in Garfield County has

[9:39] conducted our elections with integrity

[9:42] and without incident since her election in 2022,

[9:46] democracy demands and educated

[9:49] and engaged citizenry, we all have a role

[9:53] to play in protecting our democracy.

[9:56] Based on the foregoing, we agree to the following,

[10:00] we have confidence in Colorado's election system

[10:02] and in our Garfield County clerk and recorder

[10:05] and election officials under her supervision.

[10:08] We trust and

[10:10] expect, We do.

[10:14] We trust and expect Our officials

[10:18] to conduct our elections without oversight

[10:20] or interference from any kind, from any outside sources,

[10:23] including our federal government threats

[10:26] or intimidation of any kind against our election officials

[10:29] or against any eligible Colorado voter attempting

[10:32] to exercise their rights

[10:33] to vote are unacceptable and illegal.

[10:36] Such threats undermine our democracy,

[10:39] may keep eligible voters from voting

[10:41] and make the job of our election officials harder

[10:45] and more dangerous.

[10:46] Moreover, Colorado law prohibits anyone including law

[10:49] enforcement or the military from interfering

[10:51] with a voter attempting to exercise their right.

[10:54] We encourage all eligible voters in Guer County

[10:57] to make their voices heard by making sure they're registered

[11:00] to vote and casting their vote in the November 20, 26

[11:03] midterm elections. Thank you.

[11:05] Thanks, Heather. May I pass these out?

[11:08] Copy out to all of

[11:09] You.

[11:13] I think it's a cloud. No,

[11:15] but like, oh yeah, I just passed.

[11:19] I'll pass out. Is it, it's really,

[11:21] there's a, does that make sense?

[11:25] Yeah. I'll grab one. Like a secret society meeting, right?

[11:29] Just like wrong person.

[11:36] It's each one packet

[11:40] handy is for you.

[11:41] Don't separate them. Thank you, John.

[11:45] Oh, we need one from Abraham. This is for Abraham.

[11:55] Any extra? Okay. Did you all get one? We've all got one.

[12:01] Thank you. Thank you Christie.

[12:05] GI Christie,

[12:16] Enjoy in the moment.

[12:25] Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you.

[12:30] Yeah, I just,

[12:52] Hello?

[12:53] Hi Christie. Here we go.

[12:55] Christie Gill from Newcastle, Colorado.

[12:58] Why am I again addressing the topic

[13:01] of the graphic novel books housed in my Garfield County

[13:04] public library system?

[13:06] The ones with the pictures of explicit sex dogs,

[13:09] bloodshed violence children block behind bars written

[13:13] and illustrated by authors that have no moral con compass.

[13:17] Picture books that have not been vetted

[13:19] by the Garfield County Public Library System.

[13:22] These books exist in our public libraries

[13:25] for the same reason the sex ed classes are being taught

[13:28] to the kindergartners in the public school.

[13:31] This is called indoctrination.

[13:33] In the July meeting,

[13:35] I spoke about the Democratic Socialist One World order

[13:39] gave you evidence of its existence and history.

[13:43] Also the radical Islam, Muslim Brotherhood orders.

[13:47] And there are other evil agendas raising their heads. Also.

[13:50] They all have the same agenda.

[13:52] Death to America overthrow our constitution.

[13:56] They're gone for world domination.

[13:58] Immigration is one thing, Tony,

[14:01] but these have verbally said, we aren't here to assimilate.

[14:05] We want to take over America by force

[14:07] and violence if necessary.

[14:10] Democrat socialists are eradicating the old Democrat party.

[14:14] Radical Islam will just cut off our heads.

[14:18] One world order wants to brainwash

[14:20] and take control of the next generation.

[14:22] Our children, they are enemies of America

[14:26] and Israel, the First Amendment should not be used

[14:29] to shield the takedown of America.

[14:32] We all better wake up

[14:33] and we have been very naive, like the frog in the pot

[14:36] of live to our enemies, slowly turning up the heat.

[14:41] Ted Cruz, US Senator, said yes.

[14:44] Domestic threats are on the increase in America.

[14:47] They're coming in through the education system

[14:49] of universities, public schools, and the libraries.

[14:55] Who are you trustees to listen to these evil agendas,

[14:59] the a LA or citizens of Garfield County?

[15:02] I ask you to make a moral stand against evil.

[15:05] Will you guys permit any type of religion, activity,

[15:08] any type of free speech into our public libraries?

[15:12] I hope not. Colorado motto is nothing but divinity.

[15:18] America's motto is one nation under God.

[15:21] Second Samuel 2229. The Lord will expose the darkness.

[15:27] And I gave you a paper on Sedition law, which I thought

[15:31] for this time in our life are kind of

[15:35] getting really interesting.

[15:37] So I pray you guys will make the right decisions morally.

[15:41] I have one comment. I didn't think I had to read all the

[15:45] initial statements about, you know, the three minutes.

[15:48] One of 'em is please address the entire board.

[15:52] Not an individual board member.

[15:53] We work as a, as a board. Okay, thank you.

[15:56] Well, he asked me something last

[15:58] or July, so I was kinda answering that. Thank

[16:02] You.

[16:05] Okay. Carrie

[16:10] Thompson

[16:19] on Zoom.

[16:19] No, say it again.

[16:26] Carrie Thompson has exited.

[16:30] Okay. Okay.

[16:33] Do we have any more? That's it. Okay.

[16:35] Thank you very much for that. Kim.

[16:40] There we have one person.

[16:45] Has someone had their hand raised in the

[16:47] zoom, but they put it down.

[16:48] So maybe we're good. I'll

[16:51] let you know if anything else happens.

[16:52] Okay. Well I'll tell you what we're gonna move

[16:53] along with, with our agenda.

[16:56] And the next part is approval of the agenda.

[16:59] And this have a chance to look at this.

[17:02] This is, you need to take a vote on this. Madam

[17:04] President.

[17:05] I make a motion to approve the agenda. Second.

[17:08] Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor A.

[17:13] Aye. Opposed? We have an agenda

[17:16] and the next thing on our agenda is the consent agenda,

[17:20] which I think we can include both A

[17:23] and B, which consists of minutes from last month's meeting.

[17:27] And then, excuse me, B claims for the board approval

[17:30] and general fund and alpine credit card statement

[17:35] To approve the consent agenda as

[17:38] Okay.

[17:39] Second back. It's been moved and seconded.

[17:42] Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? Aye.

[17:46] Opposed? Okay. Action items.

[17:52] Abraham? Yes, you're up.

[17:56] So the action item that we have is,

[17:59] we have two policies essentially,

[18:02] and then we want to talk about the budget as well.

[18:05] So first we wanted to form a budget committee

[18:08] that Kevin's gonna come up and talk about

[18:09] That a little.

[18:10] Oh, hi Kevin. Hi.

[18:13] Hello everybody. It's budget season again.

[18:17] Next best data audit season. So we'll take it Anyway.

[18:21] So again, this is a annual requirement from the board

[18:25] of trustees that, that you do form your budget committee.

[18:28] The bylaws state that the the committee is, is made up

[18:32] of your board treasurer

[18:34] and an additional appointed member that you elect to put on

[18:38] that member on that committee.

[18:40] The other member that's required

[18:41] by your bylaws is your executive director.

[18:44] Abraham will be on that committee.

[18:45] And then, then Abraham, the director, has the authority

[18:49] to appoint other staff to be involved in that process.

[18:53] So we're here today to, to ask the board

[18:56] to appoint your second member, assuming

[18:58] that John Melanie will remain as treasurer through the end

[19:01] of the year to help us with the budget committee.

[19:09] I plan to remain. That's Treasurer end

[19:11] Of the year.

[19:12] Thank you. And then do you need another person?

[19:16] We need a volunteer from this board.

[19:18] So when, when does the budget committee meet?

[19:21] I mean, I'd be willing to volunteer,

[19:23] but I'm gonna be gone two and a half weeks in October. So

[19:26] That's a good question.

[19:27] Our first meeting is gonna be after September 30th.

[19:31] So it'll be between September 30th and October 8th

[19:35] before the next meeting here.

[19:37] Oh, gone. So we have lot of issues, lots of conflict

[19:41] between now and then, but

[19:42] that's the earliest we could meet in is September 30th.

[19:45] Okay. John, will that fit your schedule?

[19:47] 30th, September 30th through 7th of October somewhere. I'll

[19:51] Make it work if we can do it online

[19:52] and try to be in person if possible.

[19:54] But if we'd great. Do it online. Okay,

[19:56] I'll, we'll, we will visit then some.

[19:57] I'm glad that you're available for, for that timeframe.

[20:01] Okay. I was curious if Brett was interested.

[20:06] I'm always interested, but it's also important

[20:08] to have everybody else be interested.

[20:10] Do you be interested? Sorry, interested in you

[20:13] or

[20:18] where's hr?

[20:20] Right there. She

[20:23] Doesn't have anything.

[20:24] So if Sydney has that time and wants to do it, I would,

[20:26] She just, I'm gonna be gone from the

[20:28] first through the 19th.

[20:29] Be tickled to death to join you guys for

[20:32] numbers, discussions.

[20:33] Write that down. Tickle, tickle. The down depth death.

[20:36] Well, I would nominate Okay, for that position, your honor.

[20:40] Your Honor. President, I'll

[20:44] Also, I'll also follow up

[20:45] with Cindy's comment about the, the time requirement.

[20:48] You know what the first meeting will be that first week

[20:51] of October there.

[20:52] There're likely to be one more, maybe two more between then

[20:56] and the December approval.

[20:59] The, I don't want to envision us being a heavy lift.

[21:01] We don't have significantly controversial budget items

[21:06] to, to, to discuss.

[21:07] But you know, there's, there's a few.

[21:08] And Brett, you, Brett, you remember

[21:10] from last year you were on

[21:10] the committee. I'm not worried about

[21:11] Let, It

[21:12] Looks just like that.

[21:13] I'm not here. So you can schedule it for them.

[21:15] Okay. That's fair. Very good.

[21:18] We have a motion on the floor to nom. I'll second. Okay.

[21:23] It's moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hip, hip. Hooray.

[21:28] All all in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you.

[21:32] Congratulations. Woohoo.

[21:35] Thank you.

[21:39] Your graft and corruption fund.

[21:41] Darn it. Okay, Kevin then, then you have the auditor. RFP.

[21:46] Yes ma'am. Okay.

[21:50] Alright. My next favorite subject is audit.

[21:55] And so I just wanted to brief you on the process

[21:58] that we went through to seek our next financial statement

[22:02] auditor for 2026 audit season,

[22:05] beginning at the end of this year.

[22:08] I'm gonna just gonna read some notes

[22:10] so I don't forget some things.

[22:11] But I wanted to let you know that, that Ed Green and Abraham

[22:15] and I were the committee members who reviewed

[22:18] and were engaged in this process.

[22:20] Thank you Ed, for your time and doing that.

[22:23] Really appreciate it. No problem. Great feedback.

[22:26] Great contribution, Abraham. Likewise.

[22:30] So the RFP was issued on June 29th of this year.

[22:34] Submissions were due by June, I'm sorry, July 27th.

[22:37] We gave a month for firms to respond.

[22:41] We received three submissions total.

[22:43] One submission arrived after the deadline

[22:46] and was not considered.

[22:47] So we considered two timely filed submissions.

[22:50] They were received from McManon Associates,

[22:53] who's our incumbent auditor as well

[22:55] as prospective business solutions, LLC.

[22:58] They're based in Littleton, Colorado.

[23:01] Each committee member then reviewed the RFP document along

[23:05] with the, we had a, a rubric that scored five,

[23:09] five different categories, including adherence

[23:12] to the RFP instructions, company information,

[23:16] the RFP, understanding the pricing summary and then terms

[23:21] and conditions, which included the term

[23:23] of a one year annual renewal up to five years.

[23:27] So that was the, the term we can only

[23:29] encumber one year at a time.

[23:30] But the terms were annual renewals were,

[23:34] were option for us to do.

[23:36] So that, that was the, the rubric that we used to, to

[23:40] rate the two submissions the committee met on August 11th

[23:44] to discuss each of these proposals.

[23:47] I'll read the, just some comments

[23:48] and notes that were compiled from the group

[23:50] and then give us, we'll give you our recommendation.

[23:54] I'll start out with that. We did rate McMahon

[23:56] and Associates as the best choice for all the reasons below

[24:00] McMahon, who was the most, has the most extensive experience

[24:04] with libraries and local governments.

[24:06] They have high quality staff.

[24:09] They had the most extensive bench strength, lots

[24:11] of staff on their, on their teams to help

[24:14] provide service to, to clients.

[24:17] They, McMahon has 21 professional staff.

[24:20] The other proposal from PBS has two staff.

[24:25] Second thing was McMahon provided a very thorough

[24:27] and data-driven discussion around the risks

[24:30] and benefits of auditor retention and turnover.

[24:34] They quoted a study from the Governmental Accounting Society

[24:38] that stated that audit

[24:40] or turnover does pose risks on

[24:45] missing certain items in a financial statement,

[24:47] missing transactions, not understanding the scope of a end

[24:51] of an organization, not understanding the history.

[24:53] Whereas the same study revealed that auditor retention

[24:58] is actually a benefit as an asset for the, for the client

[25:01] and not a liability by having in repeated turnover.

[25:05] So they gave a very good comprehensive discussion around

[25:09] retaining a auditor for more than a couple years in a row.

[25:14] We've had direct experience with McMahon and Associates.

[25:17] We've found that to be very professional, ethical,

[25:20] extremely competent when executing their audit.

[25:24] The, although also a close proximity to McMahon's offices,

[25:27] they're based in Avon, Colorado.

[25:30] It makes them much more accessible to us if they need,

[25:32] if they need to come on site

[25:33] and to do any of their work on site.

[25:35] The last several years,

[25:37] all the work has been done remotely since COVID.

[25:39] It switched everyone over to a remote setting

[25:42] and we've done everything remote since then

[25:44] and IT technology allows us to be able to do that.

[25:46] But they have made onsite visits before, again, PBS.

[25:50] The other firm submitted is based in Littleton, Colorado

[25:56] of the two proposers,

[25:57] McMahon's submission was the most professional

[26:00] and thorough the PBS proposal

[26:02] provided a, a website link to their website

[26:05] that opened up an error message website not found,

[26:09] and then additional web searches where it's, it's very,

[26:12] I could hardly find anything about them.

[26:14] And finally I found a Facebook page

[26:16] that was last post was in 2020.

[26:19] Hmm. Oh, the two proposals were,

[26:21] were very reasonable in price.

[26:23] They were only differed in price by $2,000, demonstrating

[26:27] that they understood the, the scope

[26:28] of the project very well.

[26:30] McMahon also provided a very detailed fee schedule around

[26:35] staff levels of staff that will work on our audit,

[26:39] give auditor, our manager, partner and staff.

[26:43] So it was very thorough in how they came up

[26:45] with their cost proposal.

[26:47] The cost proposal for year one was $15,000.

[26:50] The the, they charged us 16,150 for 2025.

[26:55] So they're, they're proposing

[26:56] below budget from where we are this year.

[26:59] With all that being said, the committee does recommend

[27:01] that the board accept the vendor recommendation of McMahon

[27:05] and Associates to be the library's next

[27:07] financial statement auditor.

[27:08] And with that, I'll open it up for any questions.

[27:14] Sounds pretty thorough. Do,

[27:18] do you need a motion? I

[27:20] Move that we accept McMahon and Associates as our auditor

[27:24] For the upcoming year.

[27:25] Yeah. 20 20 27. 26. 26.

[27:28] Done in 27. Seven.

[27:30] Okay. Yes, correct. Okay. So second. I, second.

[27:32] Second. Okay. Stephanie, any further discussion?

[27:38] Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay.

[27:42] Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for the committee.

[27:45] Thank you for your work ed. Oh, no

[27:47] Problem.

[27:48] Thank you.

[27:50] I will say that they have done work

[27:52] with McMahon, you know.

[27:54] Oh good. Mr. Garfield County. And they, they do a wonderful

[27:58] Job.

[27:59] Good. Thank you for that. Thank you.

[28:04] Look like we have Nancy Barn. Hello. Good

[28:06] Afternoon.

[28:07] Good afternoon. So I'm back with two policies.

[28:11] We had the first reading last month.

[28:13] I'm asking for approval of those two policies.

[28:17] The first is a revision of our code of conduct.

[28:21] The only change the board asked for was a way

[28:24] to differentiate the

[28:28] limits around sleeping.

[28:30] And so you can find that on page two

[28:33] of the handout that I gave you.

[28:36] It's now separated as per permitted behavior

[28:38] with safety parameters.

[28:42] No other changes were made since last meeting.

[28:47] This is the same, the one that we have

[28:49] as the same as the one that was in,

[28:50] Yeah, I just reformatted it in the new format.

[28:53] So, so I apologize for not having

[28:54] that in the packet. She gave

[28:55] Us another Oh, okay.

[29:03] I didn't see in last, last month's, minutes a lot

[29:08] of discussion or any discussion.

[29:13] So I apologize if I'm repeating anything

[29:15] that was said last month when I was not here.

[29:19] The definition, the publicly viewing expl, sexually explicit

[29:23] or pornographic materials.

[29:25] Now, well over a year ago when some

[29:28] of these discussions about explicit material started,

[29:31] my understanding was that we,

[29:34] and I couldn't find it in our policies,

[29:36] but I could dig further.

[29:38] Don't use the word pornographic.

[29:40] It's not, does that make sense?

[29:42] So do you recall that discussion?

[29:44] Yeah. I Think

[29:45] This is lifted from our existing internet use policy.

[29:47] So we do use it in an approve, currently approved policy,

[29:51] which is our internet use policy.

[29:54] Was it Beth, can you help us out on that?

[29:59] Well, are you asking the legal definition of pornography

[30:05] because that there is not, there is not, not one.

[30:09] I think that's why we weren't using that word.

[30:12] Right. Well, I mean, yeah, so you know, it is one

[30:17] of those things like the court has kind of been back

[30:21] and forth on what that definition is.

[30:24] I don't think it's really been identified

[30:26] to anyone's satisfaction.

[30:28] However, we can certainly kind

[30:33] of work to remove that particular word and then try

[30:37] and better address

[30:42] what the concern is.

[30:44] So if the board wanted to approve,

[30:47] I think that would be fine.

[30:49] Just with a caveat that legal will be

[30:53] making a revision on that, that particular statement to,

[30:59] to just address this concern about the definition.

[31:03] Yeah. And that's why we're bringing these up every month

[31:06] now and going through all the old ones is

[31:09] because we're learning more every time we go through them.

[31:11] So I think

[31:13] before we put anything stamp,

[31:17] stamp our approval on anything, we need to make sure that

[31:20] that definition, when we're using that word,

[31:22] that definition, that we've defined what it means.

[31:28] And, and best not to leave anything vague if we're trying to

[31:31] make policy decisions.

[31:33] Would it make any sense if you just deleted that word

[31:36] and had publicly viewing sexually explicit images?

[31:46] Well,

[31:47] Well now we're gonna open up a whole can of words, but,

[31:50] Well, there's a Connotation. Let's be honest.

[31:52] Any connotations to like pornographic, you know, it's like

[31:55] what I might consider pornographic,

[31:58] someone else may not and that sort of thing.

[32:00] But if that's what we're talking about is

[32:03] sexually explicit images.

[32:05] But there's a lot, as our attorney

[32:07] said, hi, it's Tony Hershe.

[32:10] There are a lot of different definitions.

[32:12] Certainly some pornography is illegal, you know,

[32:15] but what was the Miller test? I'm

[32:19] Trying to find here. Yeah, Miller.

[32:20] Yeah. And, oh wait, here he is.

[32:22] Whether the person applying contemporary community standards

[32:25] would find that the work taken as a whole applies

[32:27] to crewing interest.

[32:28] Whether the work depicts

[32:30] or describes in an offensive way, sexual conduct

[32:32] or ex expiratory functions as specifically defined

[32:35] by applicable estate law

[32:36] and whether the work taken as a whole,

[32:38] and this is very important, lacks serious, literally

[32:42] literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

[32:46] So what, you know, someone might consider,

[32:48] I know there are people in this room and consider some

[32:50] materials graphic, some people might consider Grey Anatomy

[32:54] to be pornographic, you know,

[32:56] but that would not fall into that category.

[32:59] I don't think it's what other people think.

[33:01] It's what I think we need a more clear definition

[33:04] or you're gonna get into trouble,

[33:06] Stephanie.

[33:07] Okay. Guarantee you next month everyone's gonna say,

[33:09] why are we prohibiting sexually explicit materials?

[33:13] Everyone here knows this. We're prohibiting sexually

[33:16] explicit images on the computers, but not in the books.

[33:19] And, and, and so I wouldn't,

[33:21] the policy has to be consistent.

[33:23] Right. Okay.

[33:25] So I would argue that the, the point

[33:27] of this is the public viewing part, which is a violation

[33:31] of the code of conduct.

[33:32] So that you're not looking at an image on a computer

[33:38] or ostensibly flashing around a book.

[33:40] That could be,

[33:43] Which has happened.

[33:44] The point is pub the public viewing, like you're forcing

[33:47] that not checking out a and

[33:49] Taking it home and reading it here.

[33:51] That's not prohibited. She, Tony,

[33:55] Like, what's happening?

[33:56] My question was, we do that in board meetings. The

[33:58] Difference between me reading a book and reading a book

[34:03] and showing it around. Yes.

[34:05] That's what Nancy says.

[34:06] That is, that's my point. And so

[34:08] Does the wording cover that?

[34:14] I think so. I viewed it as looking at something in public.

[34:18] 'cause you're in public right. In the library

[34:20] And that you walk by a

[34:21] public computer and that's different.

[34:22] Yeah. Right. Well,

[34:24] Computers are just part of it, but computers are easier.

[34:26] 'cause I'm looking at it like right here,

[34:28] I'm looking at my laptop, nobody's behind.

[34:31] Right. But I'm, I'm in the library and here it is. You know?

[34:35] Right, Right. That's different than a book

[34:38] where presumably I'm not like,

[34:40] Hey everybody, look what I'm reading.

[34:44] So to that point, Adrian's suggestion about removing the

[34:48] word pornographic is something we might consider

[34:52] because in the past we've tripped on that language

[34:57] with other policies.

[34:59] No, I mean it is vague. It is vague.

[35:03] And yet it doesn't, it ought be too vague

[35:05] either. Beth,

[35:09] Beth, do you agree?

[35:11] I mean, are we getting too in the weeds

[35:13] with like the Miller standard

[35:15] and we're gonna like put two pages in there defining

[35:17] what pornography is in the history of the US Supreme Court.

[35:21] Right. I think that's the Yeah.

[35:23] That, that is the, the tricky part here, right?

[35:26] I mean I, I think again, what we can do is kind of go back

[35:30] and try to incorporate some of the Miller test elements

[35:35] and, and provide it back to the board for, for review

[35:38] and consideration next month, frankly.

[35:40] 'cause you know, the, I mean it's an important issue

[35:43] particularly for this library as we do here,

[35:46] this often in public comment.

[35:49] And so I think you know, it,

[35:50] it does warrant some additional consideration and,

[35:53] and I'm happy to provide a suggestion at the next meeting.

[35:57] Okay. We will like for you to do that.

[36:00] And something relevant, Another dumb guy question.

[36:02] Oh, okay. So it prohibited behavior smoking vaping

[36:07] or, or use of it.

[36:08] I just picked random ones. What happens if you do it?

[36:13] We ask you to stop. Huh? We ask you to stop.

[36:16] No, but where does it say that it's within your purview?

[36:20] Our purview. It's our building. If

[36:22] You're breaking the rules, you're

[36:23] Trespassing.

[36:24] It's our building. We're allowed

[36:25] to enforce restrictions on how people use it.

[36:28] Suspension. Well, I'm gonna tell you

[36:30] what hands on experience in Glenwood Abraham could give us a

[36:33] lot of examples.

[36:37] What I'm looking for is do we need

[36:39] to have something in there to protect our staff

[36:42] that they can up

[36:44] to including flogging them with a razor strip?

[36:47] I see this is no different than any other public

[36:50] building like an airport where there's rules.

[36:53] Yeah. And if you don't follow the

[36:54] rules, they can ask you to leave.

[36:55] And if you don't leave, you're trespassing.

[36:58] And that last paragraph talks about the violation

[37:01] and what can happen if you violate our policy

[37:04] And people can get banned from the library and Right.

[37:07] I Abraham you've had that happen in

[37:08] Glen a number of times, right?

[37:10] Yes. We have banned

[37:12] A few individuals.

[37:16] Mostly people just aren't aware.

[37:17] And so once you make them aware, they're happy to comply.

[37:20] I think people should be aware that you can't light

[37:21] up a cigarette in a lag.

[37:23] But I mean Okay,

[37:25] But in general, I mean

[37:26] teenager not necessarily a cigarette.

[37:27] It's not 19 vaping,

[37:30] It's Et cetera.

[37:31] It is a legitimate question about public spaces.

[37:35] And I trust sort of management here. This is

[37:37] Public space.

[37:38] Yeah. It's pseudo.

[37:40] Right, right, right, right. I mean it's a little bit

[37:42] legitimate, a legitimate question.

[37:43] And sort of, as long as we have the ability

[37:47] to enforce the code, I think that we don't run into problems

[37:51] until it's enforced too hard.

[37:53] Right. And that could exist.

[37:55] That could exist even if it's not written,

[37:57] there could be some point.

[37:58] And we have to trust management not to cross that line.

[38:03] So the city of Glenwood Springs is a rule.

[38:05] There's no, someone, correct me if I'm wrong,

[38:08] there's no smoking in the downtown

[38:09] court during certain times. So those spaces,

[38:11] Okay, let's go back to

[38:13] what we're talking about here with the library.

[38:14] Correct. And that would be, are you guys okay

[38:17] with asking Beth to clarify some of the language?

[38:22] It's urgent. I mean

[38:24] that the alliance defending freedom is moving against the

[38:27] school boards for things related to this matter.

[38:31] We are probably going to have to address this

[38:34] at some point in that entire suite.

[38:38] You know, that's aimed at the, the Roaring Fork Valley in,

[38:41] in Garfield County stuff.

[38:43] So let's just have everything out in the open on the record

[38:45] for the public crystal clear.

[38:47] 'cause it's, you know, something we're gonna,

[38:50] we're gonna address again real

[38:51] soon whether we like it or not. And

[38:53] So if we are looking at it again,

[38:54] I would ask counsel to, to come back.

[38:56] Yeah. I would ask our attorney

[38:57] to come back looking at it in terms of both the definition

[39:03] that we're going to use that we want

[39:05] to prohibit the application.

[39:06] Yeah. And the application. 'cause there's a second issue of

[39:08] what it is to view in public.

[39:10] I know there are filters

[39:12] and members of the public can ask the filters to be removed.

[39:17] And if we're removing filters, do we have a space

[39:19] that we can put people who have a right

[39:21] to ask the filters to be removed.

[39:23] So if we're really gonna look into that, we should look into

[39:25] that and spell all of that out.

[39:27] That might be a Jen question too.

[39:29] 'cause she's answered questions on that before. I think.

[39:32] Well, let's have our counsel go ahead

[39:34] and come back with us first on that.

[39:36] Can, can you do that for us, Beth? Absolutely. And

[39:40] So do we need a motion to table this?

[39:42] Yes, please. I

[39:47] move that we table this code of conduct policy

[39:51] until we get a review by counsel second

[39:56] Moved and second.

[39:57] And further discussion. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye.

[40:02] Before we move forward, can I ask

[40:03] just a quick clarifying question.

[40:04] Would you also like our legal counsel

[40:06] to review the internet use policy as well as

[40:10] that for consistency? Can we

[40:12] For sure.

[40:13] I think we owe that the motion. Can we redo the motion?

[40:16] Yeah. Okay. Okay.

[40:18] I don't even know we need to do that

[40:19] because it doesn't I'm

[40:21] Shorten memory loss ability To ask on own.

[40:24] I'm gonna move, I'm gonna move to table this policy review

[40:28] until we hear from counsel both regarding the language

[40:31] around public view of sexually explicit

[40:35] or pornographic materials as well

[40:37] as our internet use policy better.

[40:42] So do I have to withdraw my motion?

[40:44] No. Hopefully that I

[40:46] Already voted on your just amending.

[40:48] We didn't vote on it. We had a amending You can second.

[40:51] Yeah, I'll second the amendment.

[40:53] I didn't know if I had to withdraw.

[40:56] Okay. Discussion.

[41:00] I, I have a question. I thought we had already approved the,

[41:07] the internet section in the past.

[41:10] Haven't we already done that?

[41:12] We haven't approved internet use policy. Yes. So

[41:14] We're gonna look at it again.

[41:15] This, that language

[41:16] that's in question was taken from that.

[41:19] Okay. Just and Also added here.

[41:23] Okay. Any, any other discussion with yourself Adrian? No.

[41:28] All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Thank you Nancy.

[41:32] You're welcome. So the second policy

[41:35] is the unintended child policy.

[41:37] The board did not have any changes last time.

[41:41] And that's on page 14, I think. Yep. Yes.

[41:46] Asking for approval of this policy.

[41:49] Yeah. Yes.

[41:52] I would move that the board adopt the policy was presented.

[41:56] Okay. Second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion?

[42:00] Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed?

[42:05] I had a little discussion. Oh,

[42:07] Can we just back up A second? We move too fast.

[42:09] Do you, I just for you or Abraham, Nancy. Yeah.

[42:12] If someone's un if there's a child unattended

[42:14] or a peer lost, do you also contact,

[42:17] like do you contact law enforcement or

[42:19] Do you do Yes.

[42:20] Yes. That's part of the, yeah.

[42:20] And that's in there. I think it's in, it's it's in there.

[42:23] Sorry. We That's okay. I was looking at this. Thank you.

[42:26] Okay. I withdraw that. Okay. Alright. Thank you. We vote.

[42:31] Oh, we did, we did. I a Okay. I a. Okay, great. Thank you.

[42:35] Okay, thanks. Management report

[42:40] from Abraham and part of this is on page 15

[42:44] through 17 in your packet if p you asking questions?

[42:49] Yeah. I just wanted to note a couple

[42:51] of things on the management report.

[42:53] First of all, we have been working

[42:55] with the Roaring Forest School District

[42:57] for about the past six months

[42:59] on essentially a one card collaboration.

[43:02] What that would entail is that students in

[43:06] RFSD would be able to use their student IDs

[43:09] as library cards.

[43:11] There will be an OPTOUT option for families who don't want

[43:15] to take part in that.

[43:17] We anticipate bringing an MOU to the board next month.

[43:22] And RF SD is hoping to launch this in November

[43:26] to make you aware that that's happening.

[43:28] A couple of other things. The middle

[43:31] of Colorado Watershed Council,

[43:32] Kate Collins brought us an opportunity where they have,

[43:36] they're providing us with six illustrated maps

[43:38] by a local artist to hang in our branches

[43:42] and they look beautiful

[43:44] and they will also have a QR code

[43:46] with some additional information about the

[43:48] middle Colorado watershed.

[43:50] Cool. And we're appreciative of Kate giving us

[43:52] that opportunity to, it's a really neat map

[43:54] and it's very educational as well.

[43:56] And then one last thing I wanted to direct your attention

[43:59] to is that we are also planning to extend our fuel stipend,

[44:05] which we had that it was enforced this summer.

[44:09] And we are essentially from our HR

[44:13] and finance staff, they recommended that we extend it

[44:16] through the end of the year

[44:18] and we have unspent wages that we're able to use

[44:22] to cover those costs.

[44:23] It's a $50 monthly fuel stipend for full

[44:26] and part-time employees just to, you know,

[44:28] take into account the cost of living

[44:31] and the gas prices continue to remain at high cost.

[44:37] You go back to the cards, are we gonna make sure that

[44:42] all the cards prohibit

[44:46] content's not suitable, suitable to adolescents?

[44:49] So the way cars will be set up is they will be

[44:52] limited use cards.

[44:53] So they have essentially the checkout privileges

[44:56] are on a limited basis.

[44:58] Families will also have an opportunity

[44:59] to opt out if they so choose as well.

[45:02] So they'll, so families can kind of decide in, in terms

[45:05] of if, if they want to use the cars in the first place.

[45:07] And if they do, you know, they can determine how, how

[45:11] that would work best for the family.

[45:13] So the default is they have the child's card parents,

[45:16] especially for teenagers doing research stuff can

[45:19] opt into the adult card. Is that what you're saying?

[45:21] Yeah, they they would be able to, yeah, they would be able

[45:24] to opt in potentially as well.

[45:26] But you don't have a, you don't have a

[45:30] adolescent card here, do you?

[45:35] We don't have a specific adolescent card.

[45:41] So to be consistent, shouldn't we, if we're gonna join

[45:46] two organizations together,

[45:51] Maybe you could bring that up

[45:53] when you meet with them next.

[45:54] Sure. That you know that, that's a

[45:56] Good question.

[45:57] Yeah, I can ask them about that. Yeah.

[45:58] So it was, yeah, so this essentially came from one

[46:01] of the school board members that brought this

[46:04] to the school district

[46:05] and had been working with the school district

[46:07] to implement this and then asked us to join it.

[46:10] Essentially,

[46:14] You and I talked about this issue a few weeks ago

[46:19] and what I suggested is either our library card at

[46:24] the upper left hand doesn't have any electronic

[46:30] stuff that you have to worry about.

[46:33] If you wanted to change the adolescence card

[46:38] from a universal one to an adolescent,

[46:43] you can just poke a hole in the top.

[46:47] Hmm. I was confused at what, what Abraham was saying.

[46:50] I thought what you were saying is there will be two cards.

[46:52] What you meant is opt out

[46:54] of having library privileges altogether. Well, so

[46:56] Essentially We're not creating a new card right, right.

[47:00] At this time. So, so essentially the student student ID

[47:02] card would function as a library card.

[47:04] Right. Okay. It collaboration, that's

[47:06] How we read it the first Time.

[47:07] If a family decided that that wasn't, that wasn't

[47:10] what they wanted to, they'd be able

[47:11] to opt out of that option.

[47:12] So then that student ID would work as a student id,

[47:14] but they couldn't bring that to the

[47:15] library to check things out.

[47:18] Additionally, the, one of the other probably features that,

[47:21] if you look at, if you look at the statistics on our,

[47:24] our students, our K through 12 population in RFSD,

[47:28] a large portion of those students already

[47:30] have library cards.

[47:31] So it'll be kind of, if you're looking at the Venn diagram,

[47:33] there'll be a lot of, lot of kind of overlap there.

[47:37] The one real advantage I think to this is that for teachers,

[47:41] they can use this in the classroom so

[47:44] that they can have students find information articles from

[47:48] our e-learning resources.

[47:50] Oh, okay. And use those in the classroom for, you know,

[47:53] projects, research, things like that.

[47:55] I think that's gonna, one of the real advantages

[47:57] that comes out of this is that

[47:59] the teachers will have more options in terms

[48:00] of having students access some of the e-learning materials.

[48:04] As, as RFSD is kind of, you know, working through their

[48:08] budgets and so forth.

[48:09] You know, we're trying to step up

[48:11] and support some of the educational components of the work

[48:15] that they need to do and the resources

[48:16] to allow them to do that.

[48:18] Does the Garfield County School District do this as well?

[48:22] No. So this has came

[48:23] to us from the growing Forest school district.

[48:26] So that's who we're working with currently.

[48:28] We'll, before we roll this out, I'm planning to reach out

[48:32] to the superintendents of re two

[48:34] and RE 16 just to let them know that we're working on this.

[48:37] And I believe Anna Cole, the superintendent

[48:40] of RFSD is also regularly in touch

[48:43] with the other superintendents as well.

[48:46] So they may already be aware of this.

[48:49] So this is just a coming feature.

[48:52] Yes. A preview of things to, to come.

[48:55] I, it's, that's good. Was there any, anything more?

[49:00] Did anybody have questions?

[49:02] I just wanted to make a comment on,

[49:04] and it's included under your

[49:09] management report

[49:10] and that is the long range plan update,

[49:12] where we have the goal and what the achievements are today.

[49:16] You have your packets page 16 through 17,

[49:20] but I just think it's a really good reminder of what our,

[49:25] what our goal is and how we're achieving that.

[49:27] And there's different areas each month,

[49:29] but for example,

[49:37] I was just, I'm gonna read just a few.

[49:38] This is on page page 16, goal four.

[49:41] And this was from our valid issue of six A

[49:44] and that was groups and underrepresented populations develop

[49:47] and implement tailored programs

[49:49] and services that specifically serve

[49:52] and uplift underrepresented populations

[49:54] within our community.

[49:56] Fostering inclusivity

[49:58] and equitable access to information and resources.

[50:01] And the achievement today was the Carbondale Library hosted

[50:04] a parent and caregiver discussion with local children

[50:08] and family specialists, exploring research backed strategies

[50:12] to strengthen communication

[50:14] and reduced tension with teenagers.

[50:16] I mean real, real specific types of thing.

[50:21] The other one is fostering early literacy.

[50:24] The goal is Garfield County library's plan

[50:27] and implement outreach programs, early literacy out,

[50:31] excuse me, workshops and early literacy programs.

[50:34] Achievement today. Listen carefully.

[50:38] The library district achieved its goal

[50:40] of 1.5 million minutes read by the community

[50:45] during the summer reading program.

[50:47] Yeah, that's fantastic.

[50:48] I I just that that's a lot of reading

[50:53] and just the, there's some other ones that,

[50:57] that we're talking about where that we have mentioned that,

[51:01] that the staff that are attending the Colorado Association

[51:05] of Libraries Convention Cal Con,

[51:08] which is gonna be next week.

[51:11] And, and we have a group from several groups

[51:15] that are gonna be presenting and I just like to encourage

[51:18] or let everybody else know, you know, it takes a guts

[51:21] to presented a, a state convention and, and do that

[51:26] and they've done their homework

[51:27] and I'm just, I'm just talking for all of us

[51:30] that we're really proud of and that's it.

[51:36] Okay. Anything else?

[51:42] Okay. Real hot.

[51:43] And a highlight of Cal Con last year was seeing Nancy

[51:46] and John recognized that was fun.

[51:49] Yeah. Great. Are these these goals part

[51:54] of a strategic plan?

[51:55] Yes. Yeah. Okay.

[51:58] And that's another thing.

[51:59] It's like the strategic strategic plan is what

[52:04] has in the past been called long range plan.

[52:08] I'd suggest that we have, are a little more consistent on

[52:11] what our terminology is so

[52:13] that we don't get confused if

[52:14] we're what we're talking about.

[52:16] That's something we can talk about later.

[52:19] We went through it with Jamie right

[52:21] before you came on Oh, yes.

[52:24] In a board retreat and we went through it line by line.

[52:28] So do we have a champion for each of these

[52:31] and then a group that works with that?

[52:34] Yeah, we actually, that's a great question.

[52:37] Go through your goals from that, that stem from there.

[52:40] And then for tho each of those goals,

[52:42] there's usually someone who's championing that effort.

[52:44] And then do we have dates for accomplishment?

[52:49] Yeah. So yeah, we usually will have a, a timeline

[52:51] that we set and so we'll, we'll, we,

[52:54] we update those along the way and then

[52:57] Feedback And we get Yep.

[52:59] Feedback.

[53:02] This might be a Kim question,

[53:04] but while we're on the management report, the fuel stipend,

[53:07] as far as I've seen, it's never been really well utilized.

[53:11] And I think the language indicated that we had a bunch

[53:13] of unused like funds

[53:15] that we had allotted in the budget toward a So this

[53:17] Is, yeah, so this is, so there's another stipend

[53:21] that we have available for staff who are traveling

[53:24] 25.

[53:25] This is different. This is, yeah, this is,

[53:27] this has been something that we did across the board

[53:30] for our full and part-time staff.

[53:32] I see. Thank you. Thanks Stephanie. Okay.

[53:36] Finance report district. Who does the finance report?

[53:42] You? No, thank you.

[53:44] Wait, wait, doesn't he really get a fence here? Oh yeah.

[53:49] Oh yeah, sure, Kevin.

[53:54] All right, thanks everybody. Let's see here.

[53:57] Any questions on the finance report

[53:59] as presented in your packet?

[54:03] I will just point out page 22 shows a sales tax chart.

[54:08] Year to date we're down 1.5%,

[54:12] no reason for alarm.

[54:14] I have not seen yet the, the update for this next month,

[54:17] but, but we're, we're,

[54:21] we're still holding above budget.

[54:23] So I, we budget conservatively,

[54:26] so when we have little blips like this, we don't panic

[54:29] and have to do a bunch of Pivoting.

[54:33] So we're still on track

[54:34] with budget even though we're slightly down

[54:36] for 2026 in light.

[54:39] In light of that, I'm probably gonna propose

[54:42] that the budget committee, we're gonna look at this,

[54:44] but I, I don't anticipate us changing that number for 2027.

[54:49] As far as the revenues for sales tax,

[54:51] which on your income statement on page 19

[54:56] shows we budgeted 4.425 million for sales tax.

[55:01] We've, we've brought in about half of that

[55:03] and there's a two month delay on reporting.

[55:05] So that's a half, half the year's worth right there.

[55:07] So we're right at that budget number so far.

[55:11] So I'll probably be recommending

[55:13] that same number for next year.

[55:16] Property tax revenue for 2027.

[55:19] I did receive our valuation, oh, last week.

[55:22] So we have numbers now to work, work off of

[55:24] for the budget process.

[55:26] The, the valuation

[55:30] overall went up for 2027,

[55:33] but the assess assessment rates all went down.

[55:38] So it, it kind of offset any large growth in property

[55:41] tax revenues.

[55:43] We're gonna realize about a two

[55:44] and a half percent increase to overall

[55:48] property tax revenue for next year.

[55:49] It's about $168,000.

[55:53] So it's relatively flat in our, in our budget scheme.

[55:57] But, but that's where we're gonna land of that number.

[56:00] Then oil and gas, I mentioned this last month or the month

[56:03] before, oil and gas went up actually 9% in total

[56:06] valuation for 2027.

[56:10] But all the other property types went down

[56:12] because of the reduced assessment rates.

[56:15] The valuation of any property in this

[56:16] county is not going down.

[56:18] But the assessment rates are what taxes that valuation

[56:22] and when those keep ratcheting down,

[56:24] the revenue goes down with it.

[56:25] Okay. So we're at two point a half percent overall increase,

[56:28] but 9% of it was oil and gas.

[56:32] So the rest of it went down probably about 5%.

[56:35] I haven't gotten the full abstract yet.

[56:36] So all the other property types are down five, at least 5%

[56:40] for valuation or I'm sorry

[56:42] for assessment rate or assessment value.

[56:45] So that's where we're gonna be for 2027 is

[56:49] flat on sales tax and slight bump for property tax.

[56:55] Also with next year's for forecast, our

[57:00] interest earned on investments line there,

[57:03] the fourth revenue line down, we've been,

[57:06] I've been expecting the interest rates to go down

[57:10] sooner than they have.

[57:11] They've been stable now

[57:12] and there's even now talk of them going back up.

[57:14] So I'm probably gonna recommend a little bit of an increase

[57:17] to that revenue line next year.

[57:19] 'cause right now we're already at,

[57:20] we're almost at a hundred percent let, yeah,

[57:24] we have another quarter to go.

[57:25] So we'll, we'll exceed that number as far as collection.

[57:29] And we've been above budget for several years in a row,

[57:31] but I think we'll bump it up a little bit for next year.

[57:35] The other revenue types are pretty immaterial to our overall

[57:39] budget, so there's not gonna be

[57:41] significant fluctuations there.

[57:43] So I think overall we're gonna be pretty flat with revenue.

[57:45] We might go up a hundred, couple hundred thousand,

[57:49] maybe 250 overall.

[57:51] And so we'll just see where some

[57:53] of the spending numbers come in.

[57:55] We know that sales health insurance

[57:59] is gonna go up by about 120,000 alone.

[58:03] That's like 17% or something. 16. 16, yeah, 16%.

[58:07] So that one we know that one's in the door

[58:09] and then, you know,

[58:11] just inflationary adjustments are gonna be there.

[58:14] And you know, we've been looking at the CPI

[58:18] and then this, the vendor index

[58:19] that Ed mentioned last month or the month before.

[58:22] Right now the market is anywhere from three

[58:24] and a half to 3.7 in inflation consistent

[58:29] with wage studies to show what are entities looking at for

[58:33] wage adjustments for next year.

[58:36] Anywhere from three point a half to 4% is where those are

[58:40] trending at the moment.

[58:42] Budget committee will look at those numbers, probably

[58:44] around a 4% potential cost

[58:47] of living adjustment proposal for next year.

[58:50] If you recall, we did that 4% adjustment for this year.

[58:55] We did, I think it was either four or three last year

[58:58] and three the year before.

[58:59] So we've been around that three to 4%

[59:01] pretty consistently now for several years.

[59:06] The ballot measure that is on the

[59:08] November ballot will not affect next year's budget.

[59:11] Keep that in mind that that that approval is

[59:13] for the 2020 eighth budget.

[59:16] So regardless of the election,

[59:20] that won't impact our decision for,

[59:22] for making the 2027 budget.

[59:25] It will, I mean it will impact a decision as far

[59:27] as long-term sustainability

[59:29] and how we're gonna address a potential decrease

[59:32] to revenue for 28.

[59:33] But it may, it may influence a decision

[59:37] or two around some longer term decisions

[59:40] around our 2027 budget,

[59:42] but at the moment, I don't anticipate there

[59:45] to be significant changes to a spending habit

[59:49] for 2027.

[59:51] Right now we have a really good budget.

[59:52] We're, we're within budget in all categories, right at

[59:55] or right below budget in all categories.

[59:58] And so it's, it's, we're doing really well.

[1:00:02] Kevin, I had a question concerning the

[1:00:06] Cooper Commons condo association thing.

[1:00:09] Are, are we making two payments a year?

[1:00:12] Generally? Yeah. I this, like,

[1:00:14] this last one was like 36,000.

[1:00:18] The total I think is like almost,

[1:00:20] it's under partner partnerships.

[1:00:23] Yeah, it's 30. Yeah, it's 30 some thousand

[1:00:25] and it's a half year assessment. Okay.

[1:00:27] So yeah. So that number is, we made the final one. Yes,

[1:00:30] We did for this.

[1:00:32] Okay. Exactly. And

[1:00:35] that one did come in a little bit over budget.

[1:00:37] The final budget for that was not finalized until February.

[1:00:40] So by that time we already had our budget finalized, so

[1:00:43] that's why that budget line is a little bit over, you know,

[1:00:47] we're over by, you know, about 2,500 there.

[1:00:49] So you know that one, that one's not

[1:00:54] egregious in my opinion.

[1:00:55] Okay. Does everyone understand what the relationship is

[1:00:59] with CMC and the partnership?

[1:01:01] Maybe you could explain that. That's a good question.

[1:01:03] Yeah, it's, it's gonna be coming up

[1:01:05] and it's a, it's a big item.

[1:01:07] It is a big item. And you know, so the,

[1:01:09] the Glenwood Branch Library

[1:01:11] and on Cooper, the,

[1:01:16] the building itself, the, the shell of the space, the,

[1:01:19] the bricks of the shell is owned

[1:01:23] or managed by the Cooper Commons Condo Association,

[1:01:26] which is made up of two tenants, the library

[1:01:29] district and CMC.

[1:01:32] The library district occupies the entire first

[1:01:34] floor except for the lobby.

[1:01:37] And then they also occupy a meeting space upstairs on the

[1:01:41] second floor next to the elevator.

[1:01:43] So those two spaces, the library owns the rest

[1:01:46] of the space beyond the lobby.

[1:01:48] The rest of the space upstairs is all owned

[1:01:51] and managed by CMC.

[1:01:53] So the condominium association was formed at the beginning

[1:01:56] of the, when that building was rebuilt in 2010 ish.

[1:02:02] And when that, when that building was proposed on that, on

[1:02:05] that lot, it was going into a partnership arrangement

[1:02:07] between the two entities.

[1:02:09] And that's when that Conde Condominium Association was

[1:02:12] formed to manage the, the public spaces around the lobby

[1:02:16] and the front area, the elevator

[1:02:18] that services both entities.

[1:02:20] The the fire alarms that,

[1:02:22] that encompasses the entire building.

[1:02:24] Things that, that are not specific to one specific unit and

[1:02:27] The open area, The whole building.

[1:02:29] Exactly. So the plaza itself out front is the library space.

[1:02:34] So we actually own that unit, but the, but the public spaces

[1:02:39] or the, the lobby inside around the restrooms

[1:02:41] and all the elevator shafts,

[1:02:42] all the elevators are all common.

[1:02:44] We call it common element, right. Of the condo association.

[1:02:48] The CMC owns the garage below the plaza so

[1:02:51] that they get the lot below.

[1:02:53] We get the plaza and then we,

[1:02:55] we split out our spaces in inside the building.

[1:02:58] So that's been the arrangement from day one is this, is,

[1:03:00] this board meets every quarter roughly the board.

[1:03:05] I sit on the board, Abraham's on the

[1:03:06] board representing the library.

[1:03:08] And then CMC has their two representatives

[1:03:10] that sit on their board to make decisions around budgets,

[1:03:13] repairs, and maintenance, the roofing, all of the, all

[1:03:16] of the exterior or the co the condo manages.

[1:03:20] So that's,

[1:03:22] So it's kind of like an HOA,

[1:03:23] It's just like HOA exactly what it is,

[1:03:26] but it's, it's just an, it's a unique arrangement. But I

[1:03:29] Thought that just, you know, that a lot

[1:03:31] of people didn't know what that is.

[1:03:33] It's like, what is that? So you'll see even,

[1:03:35] even on your claims reports where you see, you know,

[1:03:37] all the utility bills for electricity

[1:03:40] and gas for all the other branches.

[1:03:42] Glenwood is silent

[1:03:43] because Glenwoods goes through the Cooper Commons.

[1:03:46] All those utilities run through their, the budget

[1:03:49] that we have in this partnership that we,

[1:03:52] we have our share of that.

[1:03:53] It's not a 50 50, it's a 40, a 47, 50 3% split.

[1:03:58] Ours is a little bit smaller footprint than theirs.

[1:04:01] So we a we allocated that at the very beginning

[1:04:03] that we would kind of share it by square foot

[1:04:06] and that's how that came out.

[1:04:07] But it's pretty much,

[1:04:09] So how, how much do we pay through

[1:04:13] to the commons for

[1:04:14] Operation?

[1:04:15] We, we pay about $65,000 a year.

[1:04:19] Oh, that's not Bad. That includes everything, all the,

[1:04:22] all the insurance on the,

[1:04:23] it's insurance on the entire structure, all the utilities,

[1:04:26] all the maintenance, the fire alarm panels,

[1:04:28] all the janitorial in the front of the room.

[1:04:30] Wow. All the bathroom maintenance, there's a lot

[1:04:32] of maintenance in that front restroom at that. And

[1:04:35] That was just Constant.

[1:04:37] So those kinds of things are, are,

[1:04:39] and then the landscaping, the little grass areas

[1:04:41] around the building, that's all.

[1:04:43] And the, and the, the, the snow removal sidewalks, all of

[1:04:46] that goes through that budget.

[1:04:48] Pretty good deal. So it's,

[1:04:50] and that one goes up a lot every year too,

[1:04:52] just like they all do, but those services are expensive.

[1:04:56] Okay. Anything else?

[1:04:58] Any other questions Adrian, that I need

[1:04:59] to address for thanks, Steve?

[1:05:02] No. Okay. I still like your color.

[1:05:05] Do You? Pie charts. Oh good. I sent it yesterday.

[1:05:08] If you ever want something different, let me know.

[1:05:10] I'll be happy to, I don't wanna,

[1:05:13] I don't wanna change too much because I don't wanna

[1:05:14] upset the apple cart.

[1:05:15] Okay. So There's something else you wanna see.

[1:05:18] See is there other reports? Anything else you wanna see?

[1:05:20] No, I, I know I did wanna comment on Jen

[1:05:25] Jen's report with the bar graph.

[1:05:29] I thought that was very interesting as far as

[1:05:31] where she's comparing the different districts to, to us.

[1:05:34] Oh right. That was for employees. That was really good.

[1:05:37] So thank you. That's really, he taught me

[1:05:39] because I hear this. Okay.

[1:05:42] Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:05:44] The next part is our trustee reports and comments.

[1:05:46] Any updates or comments that you would make?

[1:05:54] I like the bipartisan moment with Dolly Parton's passing

[1:05:58] and the number that we have for her is 332 million books

[1:06:03] provided to children through her.

[1:06:04] Oh wow.

[1:06:05] Nice. I do have an

[1:06:10] update that's about books too.

[1:06:12] Oh, that's nice. Yeah, since we're doing the cyber thing,

[1:06:16] I don't know, I know the staff knows this.

[1:06:19] I don't know if the, the trustees know.

[1:06:21] But for the last three years anyway, Nancy

[1:06:25] and I have been working together with the branch,

[1:06:27] the six branches and asking for donations

[1:06:31] from when they're calling the children's books to donate

[1:06:35] to the GL Springs Rotary Club.

[1:06:38] And they have a place down in s Chinley Arizona on the

[1:06:42] Navajo reservation.

[1:06:43] Oh, neat. And it's called s Chinley Planning Hope.

[1:06:46] And I went to their, their meeting to represent all

[1:06:49] of you last week.

[1:06:51] And it was so, so touching.

[1:06:54] They just love all these books

[1:06:56] that we're sending down there.

[1:06:58] They have, and it's, it's kind of hard to see on this,

[1:07:00] but they have a bookmobile and

[1:07:03] because it's so spread out on the reservation,

[1:07:05] it's really, really used.

[1:07:07] So it's going around all, all over on the reservation

[1:07:10] around the Chinle area.

[1:07:13] They have encouraged the school districts there

[1:07:16] to enroll in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

[1:07:20] So all those kids are getting, it was interesting,

[1:07:22] they're getting one book a month as the kids

[1:07:25] that we have are getting,

[1:07:27] but it's sent to their post office box

[1:07:29] because they, you know,

[1:07:31] they don't have home delivery obviously.

[1:07:33] But it was really, really exciting.

[1:07:35] And this one picture of this one, these were some books

[1:07:39] that some of you sent down and this is a grandmother

[1:07:41] and she takes care of her little granddaughter.

[1:07:45] And this year so far they've, they've read 200 books.

[1:07:48] Oh, wow. You know, so it was just, you know, just the,

[1:07:52] the whole thing on, on the reservation.

[1:07:54] The point being that we're working as a,

[1:07:57] a real community with partnerships.

[1:07:58] We don't even know who the people are.

[1:08:00] And so again, they're, they were so grateful to the district

[1:08:05] for donating those books and,

[1:08:06] and how they're being used and, and so forth.

[1:08:08] So congratulations and let's just keep working together.

[1:08:12] Cool. Hmm. That's all I had.

[1:08:16] So now Tracy, you're on.

[1:08:27] Welcome back to Carbondale. Thank you.

[1:08:30] Abraham just asked me to tell you guys a story

[1:08:32] that happened here a few months ago.

[1:08:33] The power went out in all of Carbondale.

[1:08:36] It was Friday morning, it was a few minutes after we opened,

[1:08:41] and we, you know, we had a lot going on that morning.

[1:08:44] We had story time, we had people coming in

[1:08:47] and it was all over the entire town.

[1:08:49] And we were discovering one thing

[1:08:51] after another that didn't work.

[1:08:52] So our sliding doors don't work when the power's out.

[1:08:55] So we had to learn how to, well, we had to prop those open.

[1:08:58] And then we had story time.

[1:09:00] We debated, should we still do

[1:09:01] to story time with the power out?

[1:09:03] And we decided we should.

[1:09:04] And we went to come into this room

[1:09:05] and realized, you can't get into this room when the power's

[1:09:07] out because the's no physical key.

[1:09:08] It's just a bomb. Aw.

[1:09:11] But our new youth services associate at the time,

[1:09:14] she had just started and she decided

[1:09:16] that she would do story time anyway and she'd do it outside.

[1:09:18] So we moved story time outside

[1:09:20] and that was really fun in order to still, we still wanted

[1:09:23] to be able to check books out to people,

[1:09:25] but computers weren't working, obviously.

[1:09:27] But we realized we have these hotspots that we check out

[1:09:29] to patrons and we have laptops.

[1:09:31] So we took the laptops and the hotspot

[1:09:33] and we were able to keep records that way.

[1:09:35] We were able to continue to sign people up

[1:09:37] for summer reading, because we keep track

[1:09:39] of all that electronically.

[1:09:40] So we're able to do that and still

[1:09:41] get these kids their prizes.

[1:09:44] And then we had, you know, powers out in the whole town.

[1:09:46] We have a lot of people who work from home.

[1:09:48] We were having people come in panicked

[1:09:50] because they have this really important meeting

[1:09:52] and they were coming to see if our power

[1:09:54] was still on and it wasn't.

[1:09:55] And we were telling them, no,

[1:09:56] we have no wifi, we have no internet.

[1:09:57] I'm so sorry. And we realized we have these hotspots.

[1:10:00] So we started setting people up in the, in the study rooms

[1:10:03] with their hotspots so they could do their, the meetings

[1:10:05] and not lose their jobs.

[1:10:07] So they were over the nuts.

[1:10:09] And also, you know, people all over the community were

[1:10:12] coming into the library

[1:10:14] to see what's going on, why is the power out?

[1:10:16] Is it out here, is it out here?

[1:10:17] Does anybody know when it's coming back on?

[1:10:18] And it just sort of, you know,

[1:10:19] we talked about whether or not we should close.

[1:10:22] There were some issues,

[1:10:23] like our bathrooms are pitch black when the power's out,

[1:10:25] but we were giving out flashlights.

[1:10:27] Flashlights with the, with doors propped open.

[1:10:30] It was getting pretty warm in here.

[1:10:31] And honestly, we probably would've had to close eventually

[1:10:33] because the HVAC doesn't work.

[1:10:34] But fortunately the power did come back on

[1:10:37] after a couple hours and we were, you know,

[1:10:39] we didn't have to face that decision.

[1:10:41] But yeah, I think it would've been really easy for it to us

[1:10:44] to make the decision to just close

[1:10:46] and wait for the power to come back on.

[1:10:47] But instead, we stayed open

[1:10:48] and our, oh, patients got a lot outta that.

[1:10:51] So very proud of my team for that.

[1:10:53] They're really impressed with 'em.

[1:10:55] But I wasn't surprised because we have just such an

[1:10:58] incredible team and I'd really like to take the opportunity

[1:11:01] to tell you more about one of them in detail right now.

[1:11:04] Sarah Friend is our assistant branch manager.

[1:11:08] She started out as a substitute and she, and

[1:11:10] She's right back there.

[1:11:11] She's gonna cry, so don't look at her too closely.

[1:11:14] She started out as a substitute in 2019.

[1:11:17] She quickly started moving up through positions in 2021,

[1:11:21] right after I became the manager here, she became the,

[1:11:23] what we used to call the circulation coordinator,

[1:11:25] which is now the assistant branch manager.

[1:11:28] And she is the rare person who is just exceptional

[1:11:31] with both the details and with people.

[1:11:33] She's organized and she's thorough.

[1:11:35] She basically runs our branch.

[1:11:37] I shouldn't admit that to you guys, but

[1:11:38] she does a great job with it.

[1:11:40] But she's also the person who remembers

[1:11:42] everybody's birthdays.

[1:11:43] If you tell her your dog's name once she will remember it.

[1:11:46] She knows what your favorite candy is

[1:11:48] and she will give it to you just on a random occasion.

[1:11:51] She just really makes everybody here just feel like they're

[1:11:53] known and they're appreciated.

[1:11:55] Even when she has a thousand things to do,

[1:11:58] she will give you her full attention

[1:11:59] and you never, ever feel like her to-do list is

[1:12:01] more important than you.

[1:12:03] And all of that applies to our patrons too.

[1:12:06] No matter how complicated a patron's need is, she'll spend

[1:12:09] as much time as she needs to get to the bottom

[1:12:10] of what they're looking for.

[1:12:12] Find a way to help because

[1:12:15] of the challenges associated with living here.

[1:12:17] We have a lot of turnover in this branch.

[1:12:19] You guys know that. But Sarah and I, we counted recently

[1:12:22] and we realized that we have onboarded more than 40 people

[1:12:25] together in the last five years.

[1:12:27] So we have a lot of turnover, a lot of new people

[1:12:30] to get on board, to bring into

[1:12:32] our team, to bring into our culture.

[1:12:34] And you would think that with all

[1:12:35] that it would feel unstable and chaotic

[1:12:37] and that we would have ups and downs

[1:12:39] and that there would be periods of disquiet.

[1:12:41] But ours, we haven't experienced that.

[1:12:45] Our steam, our team stays positive, we're productive,

[1:12:48] engaged, they're always willing to help each other.

[1:12:51] New person comes on. They're just immediately

[1:12:53] inducted into this community that we have.

[1:12:57] It's a happy, supportive place to work.

[1:12:58] And I think Sarah deserves

[1:12:59] a whole lot of the credit for that.

[1:13:00] So I just wanted to tell you guys that,

[1:13:02] Oh,

[1:13:09] That's all.

[1:13:10] And she's humble. Yeah.

[1:13:13] Thank you so much. A great report.

[1:13:15] If the power Abraham goes out,

[1:13:18] don't branch, it's usually close.

[1:13:20] We, we give it an hour.

[1:13:21] That's our kind of rule

[1:13:23] of thumb is we've been focused on trying to manage

[1:13:25] for about an hour, hoping the power comes back

[1:13:28] And then you close John. Yeah,

[1:13:30] Well typically, so safety,

[1:13:32] so safety becomes a concern as well as the

[1:13:35] Yeah.

[1:13:36] Safety, the HVAC portion as well. Thank you Amy. Okay.

[1:13:39] Overachievers and Carbondale. Yeah,

[1:13:43] They're ready for the,

[1:13:44] They're ready for the, before I adjourn this meeting,

[1:13:48] I just had a question about next month

[1:13:51] why we are having this special location at the

[1:13:55] rifle City, city council.

[1:13:56] City Rifle council chambers instead of,

[1:14:00] So we were doing that in anticipation of

[1:14:03] possible destruction happening in in the

[1:14:05] Rifle.

[1:14:06] Is it going to be happening?

[1:14:07] I mean this is not this, this is

[1:14:10] where we're gonna be next month, John. How's that James?

[1:14:14] So FCI communicated

[1:14:15] that they're anticipating starting the

[1:14:17] construction in October.

[1:14:19] Okay. Okay. Rifle and slip in tandem. Okay.

[1:14:22] So in preparation, we just want to make sure

[1:14:24] that our board meeting go, you know, is scheduled. So,

[1:14:28] Okay. Our

[1:14:28] Neighbors in allowed us to use

[1:14:30] Their facility.

[1:14:31] Okay. Likewise, in Sill in November.

[1:14:34] That'll be at the Sill branch,

[1:14:36] but construction taking place during that time too.

[1:14:38] So the town of Sill will allow us

[1:14:41] to use their building as well.

[1:14:42] Okay. Preparing for those two

[1:14:43] Meetings.

[1:14:44] Right. Okay. Thank you.

[1:14:46] So, so we are meeting at the special location, correct? Yes.

[1:14:49] Yes. Okay, thanks. Where's the special location?

[1:14:52] It's City of Rifle Council,

[1:14:53] chambers 2 0 2 Railroad I familiar with.

[1:14:55] Do you know where that is? I hope you do that.

[1:14:58] I think I can get there. Yeah. Thanks again for everyone.

[1:15:02] This was a great meeting. We're looking forward

[1:15:05] to giving you a report from halcon for, for next month

[1:15:10] and we're really excited about that.

[1:15:13] So thank you. This meeting is adjourned at three 15. Great.

Garfield County Libraries Board of Trustees • Sept 3, 2026

Agenda

Transcript