Library board asks staff to develop presentations on engagement, collections and digital resources

The Los Alamos County Library Board on an online/in-person hybrid meeting moved to approve the April 7 minutes and spent its business session asking staff to prepare a series of short presentations for the coming meeting year to inform the board’s work plan.

Board members emphasized community engagement, serving diverse audiences and the library’s digital offerings as priorities for staff presentations. Gwen, library manager, told the board there are three standing presentations the library typically provides: an annual strategic-plan update (usually in December), an annual report to the State Library (typically presented in September or October) and a summer-reading program briefing in advance of the summer season.

Gwen said the State Library annual report “feeds into a national database” and suggested the board could receive an update on where Los Alamos ranks nationally when she delivers the annual-report presentation.

Board members suggested additional topics. Michelle, board member, asked for presentations on “community engagement and maybe appealing to diverse audiences,” noting the library’s participation in cultural months and community events. Brian, board member, asked for an update on digital collections and said he would like the board to understand any plans to evaluate or adopt large-language-model subscriptions for library services. Sarah, board member, requested a walkthrough of how the library orders, catalogs and processes materials, including how the library withdraws items and manages maintenance of the collection.

Gwen said two items required by the State Library this year — a revision to the collection-development guidelines and a community needs assessment — could be offered as presentation topics. The board agreed the presentations would be roughly 20 to 25 minutes each and that the schedule would probably start in September (the board will skip August), with an annual-report presentation targeted for September or October.

On procedural business, the board moved and seconded approval of the April 7 meeting minutes; the motion was seconded by Sarah, board member, and no objections were recorded in the transcript.

Members asked staff to circulate a list of six to seven candidate topics so board members could prioritize them and provide staff adequate notice.

Looking ahead, Gwen said the library will present to the county’s Inclusivity Task Force later this month; the board discussed coordinating a repeat presentation for board members at a future meeting.