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Director highlights programs, new hotspots and Canopy investment; refutes report of book removals
Summary
The director outlined programming (Guthrie Con, escape rooms, teen events), thanked Friends for donated hotspots that doubled the library’s devices, highlighted a large Canopy digital catalog and said no books were removed despite an outside blog post criticizing an LGBT‑themed display.
The library director reported recent programming and operational updates and addressed outside criticism about a display that included LGBTQ+‑themed materials.
The director (name not stated) said staff are pursuing Oklahoma Department of Libraries training opportunities for state certification, that volunteers (including a former town council member) have helped shelving and that library teams participated in Guthrie Con and other local events. “We did a Marvel Cinematic Universe marathon… we had a lot of people participate in the bracelet making and the scavenger hunt,” the director said, describing community engagement.
On digital access, the Friends group purchased and donated additional low‑cost Wi‑Fi hotspot devices, effectively doubling the library’s inventory and adding devices on a different carrier to mitigate single‑carrier outages. The director also highlighted the library’s digital streaming catalog (Canopy), noting roughly 33,000 titles are available through that service and that the library is monitoring circulation to assess continued investment.
The director addressed a blog post by a former state representative that criticized a themed display of about 30 books, including four or five items on LGBTQ+ topics. She said the library has not removed books and that the display was a collaboration with NorthCare; she encouraged the board to remember collection development policy during the policy review.
Collection metrics reviewed in the meeting showed heavy investment in audiobooks but lower-than‑expected checkout of some physical formats; DVDs remain limited by policy (three per patron, one‑week loan) and the board discussed whether to adjust those terms. The director said she will circulate ALA‑grant results by email and bring related updates to the next meeting.
