By Jess Oaks

joaks@torringtontelegram.com

TORRINGTON – The Goshen County Library Board of Directors met Wednesday, January 10, 2024.

Vice President, Dee Ludwig called the meeting to order in the Library Foundation Activity Center at 1:05 p.m.

Present were Vice President Dee Ludwig, Director Cristine Braddy, Director Kathy Hawes, Treasurer Larissa Felipe, Michel Traher and Goshen County Commissioner Aaron Walsh.

Vice President Ludwig asked for comment at the opening of the meeting and Commissioner Walsh brought up a discrepancy on times when the meetings were to be held which led to an amendment on the agenda.  

The motion was entertained to accept the agenda with the corrected date which passed. 

There was no old business up for discussion during the meeting.

“Is the parking lot considered old business? Because it’s kind of old and new,” Vice President Ludwig asked Director Braddy.

After a short explanation, Braddy headed the question over to Commissioner Walsh, who gave an updated report on the parking lot.

“It looks like, depending on how everything goes with the bids and the bidding process,” Commissioner Walsh said, “we are going to be able to apply ARCO money towards the parking lot and we’re going to try do what we can to get that paid for.”

Braddy explained to the board she had been in contact with a local contractor for advice on the new parking lot and she briefly explained why it was recommended to use concrete and not asphalt for the new area. 

“It’s just the library lot,” Braddy explained. “One of the things we were looking at is if the (library) foundation wanted to pay for this and do this at the same time it would decrease both of our costs because they would be bringing it in at the same time or buying a larger amount, all that jazz. So rather than doing it two separate times, it’s like about a 20% reduction to do them both at the same it. That would help both of us,” Brady explained. “So, I’m hoping to move us in that direction.”

“We are going with concrete,” Braddy said. “It’s actually cheaper right now and it’s more durable than asphalt.”

The new six-inch concrete pad will also include a better drainage system for the often-flooded current parking space. 

“That is actually kind of the biggest part of why, this is going to happen, the liability aspect of the drainage,” Commissioner Walsh explained. 

The board will continue to seek bids and once they are collected, construction will quickly begin on the much-needed parking space renovation.

No action items were discussed during the meeting. 

Braddy then spoken with Commissioner Walsh regarding the drug and alcohol policy for the library. 

“I have talk to Ellen (Creagar, President of Goshen County Library Board), and we have approved our policy manual up until this point (the drug and alcohol policy) but not actually putting out a hard copy until we get the stuff from you guys (Goshen County Commissioners) as far as where you’re at. So, I think we can say the policy manual is good to where it’s at, but we need information from you guys regarding the drug and alcohol policy and vacation.”

“Yes, vacation and maternity leave, it comes at us at light speed,” Commissioner Walsh told Braddy regarding the county commissioners’ business. 

“In my experience, policy manuals are in a constant state of evolution and that’s the way it should be,” President Ludwig said. “So as long as someone is getting them reviewed, that’s the way it should be.” 

In the directors’ report, Braddy announced the new Telehealth booth will be launched January 24 at 1 p.m. They will be providing tours for the booth as well. She also announced the library’s new website is being launched this week.

“It looks awesome, so I am excited about that,” Braddy told the board.

Braddy expressed to the board the new parking lot construction is the number one priority. 

“I do want to say, our Cozy Christmas Storytime was a huge success,” Braddy told the board. “Doing it open house style, we will never go back. Doing it over the course of three hours gave us lots of time to talk to kids but when all of our numbers came in, we had far more than the year before even though it felt like so much less because you just have a few at a time. It was so fun to be able to sit and talk with the kids.”

The board reflected on the Christmastime activities held at the library, mentioning how successful and enjoyable they all were to staff and patrons alike.  

“Okay, grants. We have the Wyoming Art’s Council, that’s an operational grant that we got it helps cover some of our operational costs. It’s pretty particular and it covers like copier costs, printer costs and that kind of thing. Then Creative Aging Program Grant. It is a reimbursable grant that covers the Creative Aging program that we only do once a year. We will start that on February 28 is our next session and it will be focused on movement.”

The Creative Aging program is for oldest adults, 55 years of age or older. This session is taught by WYO Dance Force instruction Leann Mattis and it fucuses on staying active while you age, according to Braddy. 

“Then the Dorothy Louise Kyler Fund, we got $2,500 for that and it all has to be spent on children and youth,” Braddy explained to the board. “The other one is the Thinking Money Kids Program. These are kids launch pads and they’re kind of like tables and they are preloaded with educational activities. The Thinking Money Kids Program, the kids will have launch pads, and all of this is about creating financial literacy in kids,” she continued. 

The program will have different age groups, according to Braddy. 

The board reminded everyone of the upcoming used book sale January 13 and the next board meeting, February 14. 

The meeting adjourned at 1:27 p.m.