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St. Helens Library director reports staff turnover, funding uncertainty and a $55,100 digitization grant request
Summary
Library director Suzanne told the board that a library assistant will depart, recruitment is underway with 30 applicants so far, federal funding tied to LSTA grants is paused amid reconciliation, and the library applied for a $55,100 State Historic Preservation Office grant to digitize local newspaper editions.
Suzanne, the St. Helens Library director, updated the board on staffing, funding and operational matters at the meeting. She announced that library assistant Karina will leave with a last day on the 30th and said the library has opened applications for the position; "we already have 30 people applied," Suzanne said, describing an active recruitment pool.
On funding, Suzanne said federal money that supports many state library programs is held up in the U.S. Senate because of a government shutdown, creating uncertainty for competitive grants. She described two reconciliation proposals in Congress: "both the House and the Senate bills have a status quo funding amount of about $22,000,000," she said, contrasting that with "the $6,000,000 that was in the president's bill," and added that about $300,000 in competitive grants statewide have been affected. She said the State Library has funding through June 30, 2026, and that staff are watching reconciliation efforts and working with the Oregon Library Association and the State Library board.
Suzanne also summarized a recent genealogy conference the library hosted with modest in-person attendance and a strong online turnout; the Friends of the Library funded the event. She described planned outreach for the local history room, including consultation with Grand Ronde tribal contacts about appropriate naming and a collaboration with the Museum Association. The library submitted a grant application to the State Historic Preservation Office for approximately $55,100 to digitize Chronicle newspaper editions that have not yet been digitized; if awarded, the project could begin in January and run through mid-2027 and would include public programming.
On acquisitions, Suzanne noted disruption in the publishing supply chain: the jobber Baker & Taylor is closing, which will likely slow acquisitions and affect libraries nationally; she said the library uses other vendors but expects some hiccups. Programming and partnerships were also listed: trunk-or-treat with the sheriff's office, the Kiwanis children's fair, an Elks coat-and-hat giveaway for Head Start, a Nov. 8 program with author Tom Myers, and a domestic-violence awareness event using library outdoor space.
Board members and volunteers also reported fundraising work. Jay said he had early deposits from Elks committees and is pursuing grant preapprovals through various grant-listing services; on the record he said he received what he described as "the token $758,000" from a Spaghetti Wednesday group and expects additional decisions within about 30 days. The board asked staff to coordinate with city administration on grant preapproval procedures (tax ID, nonprofit status and similar requisites). The meeting concluded after routine business and a motion to adjourn.
