Metropolitan Library Service Agency
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Friday, October 3, 2025
Virtual Meeting via Teams
10:00am-12:00pm
Advisory Board Members/Representatives Present:
Anoka: Colleen Haubner Ramsey: not present
Carver: Jodi Edstrom Saint Paul: Maureen Hartman
Dakota: Jennifer Reichert Simpson Scott: Jen Schultz
Hennepin: Scott Duimstra Washington: Jacquie Kramer
Staff Present: Abigail Dillon, Kathleen James, and Sherry Wichitchu
I. Call to order
Chair Edstrom called the meeting to order at 10:01am.
II. Introductions and Welcome
III. Consent Agenda
a) Approval of agenda
b) Approval of September 5, 2025 meeting minutes
Motion to approve the agenda and meeting minutes by Haubner. Second by Duimstra.
Roll call vote:
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – not present WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – aye
Motion carried.
IV. Discussion/Action Items
a) Scholastic literacy initiatives and book giveaway
Duimstra is on the MLA legislative committee, and at a meeting over the summer, a representative from Scholastic Books attended and described an initiative they would like to start in Minnesota, and it involves sending books to children who meet certain criteria (similar to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library). This was not one of MLA’s legislative priorities and HCL was unable to commit as a sponsor, so he is bringing this to MELSA to see if MELSA is interested in partnering with Scholastic on this initiative. Wichitchu mentioned some objections from State Library Services, particularly that public libraries don’t have the data on whatever criteria Scholastic would want us to use about who would get the books.
b) Rotary’s Minnesota Rally to Read
A press release was distributed in the meeting packet with more information about Minnesota’s Rally to Read. It was brought to Kramer’s attention by Commissioner Clasen, and it didn’t sound like Rotary was partnering with any libraries. Kramer was wondering if any other libraries had heard from Rotary. Some directors mentioned that this sounds like a duplication of efforts and the libraries already have their own literacy programs. This item was intended to be informational.
c) MLA legislative priorities
For the 2026 Minnesota state legislative session, MLA is actively pursuing: capital investment (increase grant cap to $2 million), education finance (a new $2.8 million annual appropriate for State Library Services to protect against anticipated federal funding loss for Minitex, eLibrary MN, MN Braille and Talking Book Library, and more), higher education (raise awareness of Minitex and the work of academic libraries within their institutions through an information hearing), commerce (efforts to ensure equitable terms and fair pricing for library eBooks), and public safety (efforts to authorize local governmental units to prohibit or restrict possession of dangerous weapons, ammunition, or explosives in public facilities, including public libraries). These items will be brought to the MLA membership meeting next week for final approval.
d) Adult Programming 2026 pilot guidelines
Following the Advisory Board and Board of Trustee approval of funds, the Adult Programming team met to review potential guidelines. The proposed guidelines are included in the meeting packet for Advisory Board review and approval. The team also requests that in November 2025, the Board of Trustees approves the Adult Programming pilot funding as an assignment of the fund balance for use in 2026. There was some discussion about changing the threshold from 5 to 10 percent for supporting expenses, given the small amount of the pilot funds. Wichitchu mentioned that since this is a pilot year, MELSA will be more forgiving on the requirements and learn from this year. It was mentioned that perhaps in the future, JSB funds could be combined with Adult Programming funds to make the funds more flexible. It was agreed that this will be discussed in the future.
Motion to approve the Adult Programming Funds Guidelines by Haubner. Second by Schultz.
Roll call vote:
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – not present WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – aye
Motion carried.
e) Collection Development 2026 strategy proposal
At the request of the Advisory Board, the Collection Development Team came up with three areas to assist with holds management. One has already been implemented at the end of July: that MELSA would prioritize titles for the weekly holds budget that are owned by an advantage library, unowned on the consortium level, within our weeding standards, and over the 10:1 holds ratio. The team also decided to retain the loan period of 21 days and retain the number of checkouts at 15. The team proposed that the holds limit should be decreased from 15 to 8.
Hartman mentioned that she would like to see a finalized charter for the Collection Development team. Dillon mentioned that the team also discussed this and would like more direction from the Advisory Board. There was discussion that it has been very difficult to come up with a charter for this team. It was suggested that it may be helpful to bring a facilitator in to work with the Advisory Board and the Collection Development team on the charter.
Motion to approve reducing the OverDrive holds limit in 2026 to 8 holds, a change to be implemented after proper communication to our user base. Motion by Haubner. Second by Duimstra.
Roll call vote:
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – not present WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – nay
Motion carried.
f) Collection Development additional measures
The team talked about using Lucky Day more widely, and also the possibility of changing OverDrive borrower authentication to only MELSA or only counties/city of residency. The team will need permission from the Advisory Board before it can continue the borrower authentication conversation.
Borrower authentication was discussed at the CRPLSA meeting, and Wichitchu said that the directors would be fine with ending statewide reciprocity, but there are a few things to consider, including pushback from patrons outside of MELSA, possible e-book legislation that will need statewide support, Minitex’s One Card Minnesota project, and the possibility of creating a cooperative system across the state through OverDrive. Some directors were not supportive of restricting access to Minnesota residents outside of MELSA. Duimstra would like to get more data about how many people have access to the MELSA collection outside of the metro area, and the other directors agreed. The Collection Development team will gather that data (cardholders outside of the metro area, and the amount this population is circulating/financial impact) to be brought to the Advisory Board, as well as checking the OverDrive contract to see if there is anything within it that limits access to those who live outside of the service area. The Advisory Board is also in agreement with having the Collection Development team exploring the Lucky Day option.
g) E-Materials Task Force
Wichitchu recommended having the task force reconvene for a discussion on the charter before a facilitator is brought in, and then a special meeting of the Advisory Board can be called so the directors could discuss the charter. The group agreed that the task force would meet first with Wichitchu, and then a special meeting will be planned with the Advisory Board.
h) Round table sharing – tabled
V. Reports
a) Jobs and Small Business report
There has been ongoing discussion with JSB group about offering generative AI classes. In the past, MELSA has not contracted for these types of classes, but they have reimbursed systems if they decided to offer these classes. In the summer of 2025, MELSA determined that it would have no over-arching policy when it came to generative AI, so the team discussed this issue. They decided to include generative AI classes selected by libraries from our vetted, regional vendors in our regional JSB contracts.
b) Collaborative initiative update
Wichitchu met with Rachel Riggs from World Education at the end of September to explore their experience in developing library-based literacy initiatives. Riggs provided information about an IMLS grant and an ALA/Mellon Foundation grant. She thought the model they used could be adapted for a similar project with MELSA, and Wichitchu invited her to be the featured presenter at the November 14th Advisory Board meeting. She will expand on the program’s structure and provide practice, real-life case studies of the libraries they are currently partnering with.
c) Executive Director update
The Executive Director report was distributed in the meeting packet. Highlights include legal reference training for staff and the public, the bonding spreadsheet and a request for directors to update their construction needs for 2026. MELSA strategic planning is underway, focus groups have concluded, and the member summit is happening on October 20th. There were many updates from the recent CRPLSA meeting.
Edstrom adjourned the meeting at 12:05pm.
