Metropolitan Library Service Agency
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Friday, September 11, 2026
Hamline Midway Library, St Paul
10:00am-12:00pm
Advisory Board Members/Representatives Present:
Anoka: Colleen Haubner Ramsey: Pang Yang
Carver: Jodi Edstrom Saint Paul: Maureen Hartman
Dakota: Jennifer Reichert Simpson Scott: Sarah Ethier
Hennepin: Scott Duimstra Washington: Jacquie Kramer
Staff Present: Jennifer Baker, Abigail Dillon, Nan Her, Gina Goettl (virtual), Kathleen James, and Sherry Wichitchu
I. Call to order
Chair Duimstra called the meeting to order at 10:05am.
II. Introductions and Welcome
Sarah Ethier is attending the meeting in the place of Jen Schultz for Scott County.
III. Consent Agenda
a) Approval of agenda
Motion to approve the agenda by Haubner. Second by Edstrom.
All in favor signified by saying aye.
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – aye WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – not present
Motion carried.
b) Approval of August 7, 2026 meeting minutes
Motion to approve the meeting minutes by Haubner. Second by Yang.
All in favor signified by saying aye.
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – aye WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – not present
Motion carried.
IV. Discussion/Action Items
a) Advisory Board Chair for October and 2027
Haubner agreed to chair the Advisory Board meeting in October. There was discussion of either Kramer or Reichert Simpson chairing the board for 2027 and will be revisited next month.
b) OverDrive changes and communication plan
The Collection Development Team proposed a new timeline: Enact the three changes on February 1st, 2027, and enact a 90-day communication lead starting November 1st, 2026. It could also be a 60-day lead starting on December 1st, 2026.
Hartman entered the meeting at 10:15am.
There was discussion about doing a soft launch 90 days before, such as posting the info on the MELSA website. A harder push with communication would start 60 days before.
Motion to adjust the timeline of OverDrive/Libby changes to begin communication of changes on December 1st, 2026 and implement the changes on February 1st, 2027. Motion by Kramer. Second by Reichert Simpson.
All in favor signified by saying aye.
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – aye WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – aye
Motion carried.
There was also a duplicate account proposal from the Collection Development Team. During the test run to compile duplicate account information, there was a major issue revealed.
Both Anoka and Scott reported that 40-50% of the users in their reports simply were not in the system anymore. Unlike the Patron Number situation for Anoka and Hennepin, there was simply no way to track down these users and merge their accounts in an automated fashion. Dakota reported a similar issue to Anoka and Scott, though did not provide a number. Between Anoka and Scott County Libraries alone, this accounts for thousands of users.
The idea of merging duplicate accounts was to ease the transition for our users. While we understood that some stragglers would need to be individually merged after the date of change, we presumed it would be a manageable number of requests that staff could tackle as they came up. It was assumed that OverDrive could merge most of the duplicate accounts in bulk for us. With the issues revealed in the test run, this no longer seems to be the case. Which means that – should we go through with our usual plan – thousands of OverDrive users will receive a message that their accounts will be merged, only for those duplicate accounts to be left behind after the changes are implemented.
A new proposal emerged from this issue: We do not merge accounts. We do not tell users that their accounts will be merged, nor that merging is an option for them to request. We simply tell them to make sure they have an account set-up with their home library, as they will lose access to any other MELSA Libby account upon the date of change.
In this way, we are not making false promises to our user base; nor are we creating additional, chaotic work for library staff should all our duplicate users come to us, seeking account merging on an individual basis.
The directors were fine with Collection Development team members making decisions about the individual merging of accounts.
Motion to remove the merging of duplicate accounts from the OverDrive changes and communications thereof. Instead, the plan will be updated to simply removing access of duplicate accounts upon the date of OverDrive changes. Motion by Haubner. Second by Hartman.
All in favor signified by saying aye.
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – aye WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – aye
Motion carried.
c) Process for short notice media inquiries/opportunities
Baker would like to have a process in place when last-minute media opportunities come up. The directors would like a diversity of voices in these situations. It was suggested that an email should go to the entire Advisory Board (an possibly include the Communications Team) so everyone knows what is happening. Some questions to consider are: what are they asking for, what is likely to come up, and how can we represent the systems of the metro area? Baker will contact the Advisory Board to see who else should be included in a message when media opportunities arise.
Baker also asked about getting quarterly talking points from the systems, and some of the directors indicated that this might be too often. Baker will speak with the Communications Team to get talking points about a variety of topics. She will also discuss with the Team the reasoning and importance of this. She is also considering changing the meeting frequency to monthly instead of every other month.
d) Member Library Needs for 2027
(i) Collaborative Jobs & Small Business 2027 programming
The JSB group is interested in hosting two virtual, regional events geared towards Latino and other Spanish-speaking business owners in early 2027. The details are included in the board packet. One of the presentations will be about branding and marketing strategies, and the other is about financial resilience and recovery. The cost will be $4,520. The JSB group agreed to have a flat $5,000 taken off the top of the usual $85,000 JSB funds. However, if MELSA’s Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees approves an additional, one-time $7,000 allocation to the JSB group for 2027, it will give the group more options for hosting and networking sessions.
Yang mentioned that if this event goes well, other collaborative events should be offered in the future, and the JSB budget should be increased to include this event.
Motion to recommend to the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees that an additional $7,000 be budgeted towards the Jobs & Small Business group for 2027 in order to carry out this collaborative event to serve the Latino and Spanish-speaking business community in the Metro area. Motion by Haubner. Second by Edstrom.
All in favor signified by saying aye.
ACL – aye HCL – aye SCL – aye
CCL – aye RCL – aye WCL – aye
DCL – aye SPL – aye
Motion carried.
(ii) Staff training
With half of the systems facing budget cuts, Wichitchu is wondering what the capacity will be for staff training in the coming year.
The directors showed interest in continuing staff training through MELSA. Some directors would like to see an increase in professional development to each system instead of regionwide training, although other directors appreciate the collaborative training as well. Some helpful topics could include resiliency tools and dealing with change. Hartman also suggested standard response protocol training run by a group called I Love You Guys. Wichitchu and Goettl will be sending a survey to the Training Team, and the survey will also be sent to the Advisory Board to complete. Haubner mentioned that the Executive Director for Hope 4 Youth will be retiring and will be offering individual and group coaching for supervisors related to how to understand their team and using the CliftonStrengths assessment.
(iii) Adult Programming
Wichitchu wanted to know what the directors thought about the pilot program for Adult Programming and if this funding should be continued for next year. There is money left over from the 2026 budget, and Wichitchu would like to know if that money should be rolled over to the 2027 budget.
Dillon will reach out to Adult Programming to ask for more details about the programs offered in 2026 and this item will be on the October Advisory Board agenda.
e) Discussion on possible collaborative MELSA services
Dakota, Scott, and Carver recently met to discuss possible collaborative MELSA services and Wichitchu would like to bring this discussion to the rest of the Advisory Board as well. Some areas include collection development purchasing and holding ILS contracts.
Directors expressed that they value flexibility, and MELSA staff capacity should be considered. They are interested in continuing the conversation on collaborative MELSA services in the future, such as the OverDrive consortium model and other library vendors, and delivery services.
f) Round table sharing
(i) MN Libraries Read Together
There are a few systems with locations participating in MN Libraries Read Together.
V. Reports
Executive Director Update
MELSA hosted a tent in the Twin Cities Public Television park at the State Fair on August 28th. The event went well and we are hoping for an invitation to the Fair in 2027.
Staff from the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library (MBTBL) and Minitex have been collaborating to provide patrons in Metro-area communities with more return options.
There was a recent e-book paper published, and the e-book study group is gathering their rebuttal. Wichitchu will send these articles out to the Advisory Board. There could be news coming soon from New Jersey and Connecticut. The Minnesota e-book group has revised some of the language for the legislative session in February.
Duimstra adjourned the meeting at 11:50am.