April 2026 | Director's Report | Minerva Public Library

Director's Report: April 23, 2026

Prepared by Director Jason Bumbico for the April 23, 2026 Board of Trustees meeting

We are currently accepting resumes and conducting interviews to identify applicants to address current scheduling gaps in both Adult and Youth Services. We are feeling reasonably optimistic about the candidates we are seeing.

We are currently preparing for our role as a polling station for the Ohio Primary Election on Tuesday, May 5. We are planning on having local charities present in the Reading Room selling baked goods.
We are still working on the details for the Adventure Pass program to lend out museum and activity passes to local attractions, but are hopeful that we can launch it for the summer season.

With the end of tax season, AARP wrapped up its tax assistance for the year. It was a great service, and they are looking forward to coming back next year.
Upcoming programs include an eRecycling event this Saturday, gardening programs, and talks on the American Revolution.

The Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 28, was a great success, with around 200 people attending. We are excited to partner again with the Minerva YMCA next year and build on its success.
The 2026 Summer Reading Program is coming together quickly. The Youth Services department is planning a schedule of fun activities and will be promoting them at the schools shortly. Our Kickoff Celebration is scheduled for Friday, May 29, the last day of school. There will be games, prizes, snow cones, and (of course) cotton candy.
We were again awarded the LSTA Summer Reading Grant of $799.00 to help support our programming throughout the summer. This year we will be using the funds to bring in two outside programs, Reptile Adventures and Bugman, who will be here the first and second Wednesdays of June.
We are starting to plan our project for the Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant to create a neurodivergent-accessible space in Youth Services. We are hoping to speak with some of the students who will be using the space soon to get their input, as well as scheduling our community meeting to help promote and plan the project.

New materials added in March 2026 included:
- Adult books: 132
- Audiobooks: 4
- Movies: 7
- Youth books: 311

We have contracted with Media 144 to fix and upgrade our security camera system for a cost of $11,034.11 and are eager for them to begin the work.
The E-Rate bidding process came to a successful conclusion, and we signed an agreement with OME-RESA (Information Technology Center of the Ohio Education Computer Network) to take on the network improvement project. The total project cost will be $31,139.30, with the Library's share of the cost being $6,227.86 (80% E-Rate discount). We anticipate work beginning shortly.

We have replaced the POTS phone lines for the fire alarm and the elevator with cellular connections. We have discontinued phone service with FirstComm.