MEEKER | The Meeker Public Regional Library Board held its regular public meeting last week, welcoming a room full of community members eager to ask questions.
The meeting opened with the board approving the agenda. Before the approval, board secretary Toby Leavitt motioned to eliminate the consent agenda from this and future meetings, explaining her reasoning.
“I would like to address the consent agenda. We need to do away with that at this point because we’re not in a good place to do consent agendas,” Leavitt said.
The motion was voted on and passed. Leavitt then made another motion to permanently reorder the agenda, moving old business ahead of new business. This motion also passed after discussion on placement of certain agenda items. The book order list was moved under the librarian’s report, and other agenda adjustments were made accordingly.
Following these changes, the board approved the revised agenda, which included a structured order of public comments, approval of minutes, financial reports, librarian and library director reports, old business, and new business. Before opening public comments, board president John Moffitt urged the attendees in the room to keep their remarks within three minutes.
“Please keep them to three minutes. We have a lot to cover, and we want to get to our business as soon as possible,” Moffitt said.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, community members discussed the placement of the graphic novel “Gender Queer” in the library. Some expressed concerns about its explicit content, arguing that it should not be located in the children’s section.
Karen Dinwiddie shared her thoughts after recently downloading the book.
“Personally, being in the youth section—as far as I know—children can’t have sex in Colorado or anywhere with another person before the age of 15. Otherwise, it’s statutory rape. And when you have pictures—it’s very graphic pictures of people having sex in a book that’s supposed to be for children,” Dinwiddie said.
Board Vice President Keri Grieser asked Library Director Kristina Selby to clarify the book’s location.
“You can find that book in the adult nonfiction section,” Selby responded.
Community member Nash Jones emphasized the library’s responsibility to provide diverse perspectives and warned them against censorship.
“This is a great time to remind the board that you’re representatives of this library. As a publicly funded institution, you are obligated to provide a variety of perspectives and experiences,” Jones said.
Other community members echoed concerns about protecting children from inappropriate materials, while some stressed the importance of intellectual freedom.
Following public comments, the board reviewed financials. Before approval, Leavitt raised concerns about reviewing financial reports prematurely.
“It looked like in January we approved the January financials. January wasn’t even over yet,” she said.
The board agreed to approve only completed months moving forward.
School librarian Amber Garcia highlighted library activities, including an author of the month program, elementary school robotics event, and Read Across America week. Selby reported recent additions to the library’s digital collection, including Hoopla, as well as new privacy and noise reduction screens around computers. A recent community survey revealed positive feedback on library services and programming.
The board moved into an executive session to discuss Selby’s evaluation. Selby requested that the session remain open to the public. Each board member provided feedback, with Leavitt abstaining due to her recent appointment. They all agreed that she is doing a great job at running the library. Bringing up that she is awesome to be around and is always doing a great job of what is asked. Board President John Moffitt gave his final remarks on the evaluation.
“Much to popular opinion, I am not out to fire you, not out to run you off, and I’m not out to do anything that would be harmful to you,” Moffitt said. “You have an extremely great personality, a personality that I don’t have that I admire. You are diligent, responsible, and delightful every time I come in here. You are very responsive to the board and to the public and you develop an atmosphere that is kind, responsive and helpful and it’s a great place for a library.”
Following the executive session, Leavitt agreed to take on the treasurer role in addition to her secretary position. The board discussed electronic funds transfers (EFT) versus checks, ultimately deciding to continue using checks. Concerns were raised about an unapproved $15,000 roof repair expense.
The board also discussed the library director’s salary and evaluation process, leading to a motion for a $3,600 annual salary increase. Further discussions were held on structuring future raises.
The board addressed various policy topics, including bylaws and strategic improvements. A motion to send Selby to a conference did not receive a second and was not approved.
Other agenda items included:
• Front Desk Cameras: Approved for security and public interaction, with discussion on budget allocation.
• Winter Hours: Proposal to close earlier during severe weather, but no final decision was reached.
• Board Packets & Agendas: Approved to be distributed electronically by noon on Monday before board meetings.
• Officer Positions: Proposal to combine secretary and treasurer roles was discussed, but bylaws require separate positions.
• Meeting Length: Discussion on setting a time limit, with arguments for flexibility based on workload.
• Future Agenda Items: Discussion on ALA conference attendance and adding a board member comments section at the end of meetings.
The board adjourned the meeting and will meet this month. A work session is scheduled for March 11 at 5:30 p.m., followed by the regular meeting on March 26 at 5:30 p.m.
