Sioux Falls council confirms appointment of new Siouxland Libraries director

The Sioux Falls City Council voted 8-0 June 3 to advise and consent to the mayor's appointment of Alyssa Boysen as director of Siouxland Libraries; Boysen is scheduled to begin on June 23.

The appointment matters because Siouxland Libraries is a joint city–county system with county representation on its Board of Trustees and the director oversees library collections, programming and service delivery across the city and Minnehaha County.

Mayor (unnamed in the transcript) presented Boysen as an internal candidate with roughly 20 years of service in the library system, describing her as "committed to our existing programming" and open to new delivery models. Boysen told the council the library operates under a board-approved collection development policy and a formal challenge process: "we have a collection development policy that is, put forth by our library board ... and they, pass a policy that talks about the types of materials we buy, how we buy them. And then it also includes a process if anybody would like us to review a title that we've already purchased," she said. She added that citizens may complete a review form, that the collection development librarian and director review the title, and that an appeal may be made to the library board.

Council discussion included at least one member requesting the candidate come forward for in-person questions; Councilor Barranco asked how an appeal to the library board works and Boysen said challengers have "10 days to reach out to us" to request a board hearing and the board will schedule them on its agenda. Boysen also referred to pending state legislation, saying, "that's new legislation that will go into effect July 1," and that the library is updating its policy to reflect that change.

A motion to approve the nominee was made and seconded; the council then conducted a roll-call vote, which passed 8-0. The mayor and multiple councilors thanked outgoing director Jody Fick for her years of service; the mayor noted Fick "has big shoes to fill." Boysen said she looks forward to the role and emphasized bringing services to more residents through evolving electronic and other delivery models.

The council did not take additional action beyond advice and consent; the appointment is an administrative personnel action that will transfer leadership responsibilities to Boysen when she begins on June 23.

Speakers quoted or referenced in this article are those who addressed this agenda item during the meeting; public comment did not occur on the appointment item.

Alyssa Boysen will replace Jody Fick and begin June 23; the library board and county will continue to participate in governance and appeals as described above.