The Richfield Public Library Board on Dec. 13 approved edits to its community relations and eligibility policies and voted to implement a background-check consent form for library employees.

At the start of the meeting, President Kamisha Reid led a review of the community relations policy. Board members debated replacing the phrase "estimation" of community views, with several members favoring clearer language. The board adopted the reworded sentence: "to enhance the services of the library by considering the needs of the community." Glenn moved the change and Marva seconded; the motion carried unanimously.

The board also revised the library's eligibility policy to reference Sevier County rather than Richfield City where appropriate, clarified acceptable forms of address verification and temporary-residency rules, and set nonresident fee options. The approved structure included a $10 individual card for one year and a $35 family card for three years (3-year family term; individual one-year option retained). Temporary patrons (for example, shelter residents) were retained in policy with limits: temporary cards allow no more than three materials per circulation and will not permit circulation when patrons have overdue or unpaid fines.

Tiffany Anderson, the library director, presented a proposed employee background-check consent form and a draft background-check policy. The board discussed the scope and scope language at length: they required that "all employees ages 18 and older must undergo a criminal background check as a condition for employment," and agreed that volunteers "may be required to receive a background check at the discretion of the director," with emphasis on volunteers who would work unsupervised with youth. Anderson said the consent form would be returned to city police to run checks at no direct charge to the library; the board voted to implement the consent form.

Actions and votes at the meeting included approval of last month’s minutes, the community relations wording change, the eligibility-policy edits, and adoption of the employee background-check consent procedure. No board member raised objections during the votes recorded on Dec. 13.

The board asked Anderson to return in April with progress on the library's statistical reporting and the planned application for higher-level "quality library" certification (registration typically opens in June), noting that certification status affects grant eligibility, including the Community Library Enhancement Fund (CLEF).

Next steps: Anderson will finalize the background-check consent process, update policy documents, and post revised policy files; the board scheduled a follow-up in June to review certification progress and updated patron counts.