Sawyer County libraries present services and capital needs as county reviews five-year county library plan

Library directors reported increased patron use and outlined capital and operational needs while county staff said the five-year county library plan needs formal adoption and clarified who should serve on the planning committee.

Donna Nucki of the Winter Public Library told the committee her library served as a regional meeting hub and filled more than 90 youth-book requests during the holidays through a community-funded “book giving tree.” She said the library plans to apply community fundraising to pay down a Northwest Regional Planning Commission block grant used to upgrade a flood-prone basement; Winter plans to send about $5,000 this year to reduce the outstanding balance on that grant. "We don't have mold issues," Nucki said, describing recent basement work paid in part by the regional grant.

Anne Larson, director at the Scribe Library, said door counts rose about 11 percent from the prior year and the library added roughly 500 new patrons. Larson described programming partnerships with schools and other agencies and outlined capital needs: replacement windows and doors, trail-board repair, carpet replacement, ceiling and floor tile cracks, and one air-conditioning unit that needs attention. Larson said the library plans to pursue archival scanning of Wisconsin and local collections and thanked the county for a $10,000 capital allocation.

County staff told the committee the county library plan — required periodically for participation in the Northern Waters Library Service and compliance with the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) — is due for replacement. Staff recommended formally identifying who will serve on a county library planning committee (library directors, county board representatives to the system and appointed library board members) and said the planning committee should hold public hearings if the plan imposes minimum standards not already agreed by member libraries. "The planning committee shall hold public hearings," a committee member said after reading the relevant statutory language.

Committee discussion covered membership and process: previous plans had been assembled informally by library directors and system staff, and staff suggested creating a resolution listing planning-committee membership to avoid future uncertainty. County staff said the plan adoption could be delayed to allow additional review and that the Department of Public Instruction would typically consider a county 'in progress' if work is underway.

Directors also discussed municipal funding and governance differences among libraries. Nucki said Winter's consortium of towns contributes a mix of flat amounts and other support; Larson said the Hayward-area library benefited from municipal in-kind services (payroll, accounting) and that funding arrangements vary across libraries.

The committee did not take a formal vote to adopt the plan at the meeting; staff was asked to draft a resolution to establish the planning committee for future action.