The City of Sweet Home Library will change its Saturday hours beginning in October, moving opening time from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m. and closing from 4 p.m. to 3 p.m., Library Director Megan announced at the Sweet Home Library Board meeting on Sept. 11.

Why it matters: the earlier opening will align Saturdays with the library's weekday opening time and, according to the director, will better match hours with the community market when it resumes in May, improving restroom access for market patrons and library users.

Director Megan told the board, “We're changing our hours starting in October on Saturdays. We were open, 11 to 4, and we're gonna switch that 10 to 3. That seems to be then we have a consistent opening time every day that we are open.” She added staff support for the change and that the final Saturday hour has historically been the quietest.

In a broad director's report, Megan described several new and incoming funding sources and program partnerships. The library received a final check from what staff has referred to as the Ali Trust, described as the “Colorado land sale” settlement; Megan said she did not expect additional payments from that source. She said the board will consider whether to spend the funds on repairs in the current building or to place them in savings, after getting cost estimates likely in October.

Megan said the library was approved for a $15,000 partner-engagement award from the Delivery System Transformation Committee and regional planning council of IHNCCO (name expansion not provided in the meeting). She said the $15,000 will be split among Sweet Home, Lebanon and Albany libraries so “each of the libraries to have about $5,000 to add harm reduction collection materials to their library,” with consortium sharing planned.

The library also was selected as a flight-path partner by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Tangled Bank Studios; Megan said that award is a $500 grant plus a box of bird-watching supplies and that the partnership will support one or two programs on bird migration and window safety, and equipment such as three sizes of binoculars for circulation.

Megan reported a gift certificate from First Book and the Walt Disney Company that allowed purchases of children's books in English and Spanish; she said that resulted in roughly 50 new Spanish-language titles being added to the collection. She described demand for Spanish picture and board books and said leftover donated items typically go to the school-district clothing closet when applicable.

Staffing and local partnerships: Megan said Kira—previously contracted through the school district—ended that contract last year and is now employed full time by the library: “so last year, they ended the contract, so she's with us full time.” She confirmed the library identified funding to pay the position.

Community programs and drives: Megan described an ongoing teen clothing drive and said clothing donations will be given away on “the 20 ninth from 02:30 to 5,” and that anyone may attend regardless of school enrollment (Sweet Home, homeschool, charter, Lebanon). She said leftover clothing will be donated to the school district clothing closet and that hygiene products will also be available.

Facilities and property: Megan noted a piece of property appeared for sale behind South Fork Lumber with an entry off Maine Street; she said the listing described 2.7 acres and that the listing price appeared to be “around half a million.” She presented the parcel as a discussion topic for a future work session; no board action was taken at the Sept. 11 meeting.

Other items: Megan said she was elected treasurer of the Association for Rural and Small Libraries for a two-year term beginning in January, which includes conference-related travel and retreats paid by the association; she also will present on harm-reduction programming and run a post-conference workshop about preserving community stories using the Community Webs program. She encouraged use of the city’s newly upgraded website for meeting alerts and said board members must sign up for an account to receive email notifications. The director also reported the summer reading program concluded with strong participation and highlighted one child, Gracie, whose reported minutes exceeded other participants by several thousand.

Board action taken at the meeting was procedural: the board moved and seconded approval of the July 10, 2025, work-session and meeting minutes; the chair called the question and the minutes were accepted.

The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.