Director reports patron complaint over Pride materials; circulation up, streaming resources down

Daniel, presenting the director's report, told the board that a recent patron raised concerns about the library's Family Pride celebration and related books in the collection. He said Melissa, head of Youth Services, wrote a detailed response acknowledging the concerns and explaining the library's approach; Daniel added the library had not received further contact but may invite the patron to a board meeting "if they continue to express interest in wanting to explore this more."

Daniel reviewed the library's final fiscal-year statistics. He said physical circulation was up compared with the prior year while electronic-resource totals were lower, in part because staff capped usage of Hoopla and Kanopy to control costs. "I saw, like, a 50% drop in our streaming movies through Canopy based on what we had to do and about a 20% drop in our audiobook checkouts through Hoopla," Daniel said. He noted that the electronic total is still above 2023 levels.

Library visits increased and program attendance remained largely flat, which Daniel attributed to space and staffing limits. He reported estimated LibraryCon attendance of about 4,500 and highlighted partnerships that provide job-search and workforce services, including resume review and walk-in career assistance. Staff also announced a Renaissance fair planned for Nov. 15; volunteers from the board were invited to help.