Library Board Meeting Update (07/21/2025)

Submitted by Leslie Marinelli

Monday evening, the Library Board met at the Cumming Library for its regular July meeting. Highlighted agenda items include: Announcements:

Board member Kathy Thomas announced that she is moving out of Forsyth County and is therefore resigning her position on the Library Board of Trustees effective August 29, 2025.

Activities Report: Deputy Director Ann Decherd presented the Public Services Activities Report for May and June. Ann highlighted the current status of the Color Our World Summer Reading Program: registrations are up by 111%, attendance is up by 122%, and programs are up by 139%! She also shared that NYT Bestselling Author William Kent Krueger, author of Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land, is coming to Sharon Forks Library in October for two special Forsyth Reads Together Events. Other highlighted programs included the Art of Farming visit from Georgia Mobile Dairy at Cumming Library, the Pop-Up Chess series at Denmark Library, the Puzzle Masters Tournament at Hampton Park Library, the Wonder Works series at Post Road Library, the hula hooping event at Sharon Forks Library, and the Where’s Loanie Bookmobile Scavenger Hunt.

Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Adjustments: The Board voted unanimously to decrease Federal revenue by $3,409.91 and Materials expenses by $4,695.41, and increase Operations expenses by $1,285.50 to reflect the changes to the Digital Connectivity Grant.

Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Adjustments:

The Board voted unanimously to make the following adjustments to the Fiscal Year 2026 budget:

• Approval to carry forward $59,068.72 in Operations encumbrances for IT equipment ($16,440.00), furniture ($17,857.47), repairs to Hampton Park Library fire sprinklers ($7,382.25) and enhancements to Polaris ($17,389.00) from FY2025.
• Approval to carry forward $976.32 in Materials encumbrances from FY2025.
• Approval to increase State revenue and Operations expenditures by $48,500.00 to reflect the FY2026 MRR grant for HVAC replacements at Hampton Park Library and replace some inefficient toilets at Cumming Library.
• Approval to use $48,500.00 in committed fund balance as matching funds for the FY2026 MRR grant; increase Operations expenditures by $48,500.00.
• Approval to increase State revenues by $39,146.00; increase Personnel expenditures by $5,985.00, Materials expenditures by $10,814.00 and Operations expenditures by $167.00. A portion of the Personnel expenses related to health insurance premiums and Operations expenditures related to Post E-rate funding were already included in the FY2026 budget, resulting in a decrease in Budgetary Fund Balance of $22,180.00.
• Approval to increase Federal revenues and Materials expenses by $191.08 to reflect the portion of the Digital Connectivity related to purchases completed in FY2026.
  

Information Security Policy: The Board voted unanimously to approve the updated Information Security Policy, effective July 22, 2025. This policy had not been updated since 2010 and needed some minor edits to update several technology-related terms and IT job titles. Outreach and Extended Services Policy: The Board voted unanimously to approve the updated Outreach and Extended Services Policy, effective July 22, 2025. The only change to this policy was to update the name of Georgia Library Service (GLS) for the Blind and Print Disabled from its previous name, Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS). General Discussion: Director Adrianne Junius gave a brief presentation about Interlibrary Loans (ILLs). FCPL is the largest ILL borrower of all the public libraries in the state of Georgia. Recent changes to the University System of Georgia (USG) STAT Courier system for ILLs have made the way we process ILLs more expensive. In order to keep within policy and budget, staff are updating the ILL procedure in order to spread out ILL usage and encourage patrons to pick up their requests.

The next scheduled regular meeting of the Forsyth County Public Library Board of Trustees will be Monday, September 15, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. at the Cumming Library.