March 2026 | Director's Report

Director's Report: March 26, 2026

Prepared by Director Jason Bumbico for the Board of Trustees meeting

Personnel and HR

  • We have almost finished our annual performance reviews. The process was productive, with strong conversations. We talked about the previous year, reviewed potential issues, recognized accomplishments, and set achievable goals.
  • We will be conducting a staff in-service day on Friday, April 3. It will consist of an all-staff meeting followed by CPR/AED training provided by the American Heart Association and the Minerva Fire Department.
  • We are currently discussing options for making sure that we are appropriately scheduling staff. By expanding the hours of our present employees, we should be able to meet our needs. We may need to post an open part-time position to ensure our flexibility.

Patron Services

  • The Stark County Board of Elections will once again be using the Library as a polling station for the Ohio Primary Election on Tuesday, May 5.
  • The Adventure Pass program is coming together well. As of now, we have confirmed that we will be circulating passes to these regional attractions:
    • McKinley Presidential Library and Museum
    • Akron Zoo
    • Akron Art Museum
    • Canton Museum of Art
    • Dennison Railroad Depot Museum
    • Historic Zoar Village and Fort Laurens Museum
    • Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens
    • National First Ladies Library and Museum
    • Ernest Warther Museum and Gardens
    • Beech Creek Botanical Garden

Adult Services

  • AARP will be offering tax help for two more sessions at the Library the next two Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It has been a really nice service to be able to offer, and AARP is a great partner.
  • Upcoming programs include presentations on maple sugaring, milk, home cooking, and Revolutionary War surgery.

Youth Services

  • This Saturday, March 28, at 10:00 a.m., we are partnering with the Minerva YMCA and the DAR on an Easter Egg Hunt. We expect a strong turnout and a fun event.
  • We are beginning to work on planning the 2026 Summer Reading Program. This year the theme is "Unearth a Story," so expect a lot of dinosaurs. The annual giving letters should be going out within the next couple of weeks.
  • We are very excited to announce that the ALA has awarded Minerva Public Library $10,000 through its Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant. Our proposal is to transform one of our Youth Services spaces into a sensory-friendly space to support young, neurodivergent patrons. We developed this project with help from MacKenzie Vernier at the Minerva Elementary Schools and also received support from Principal Mark Scott. We will be holding a meeting in May to get input from community members to help decide how we will proceed with the project.

Collection Development

  • We received the Celebrating Ohio Book Awards and Authors (COBAA) grant for $372.68 and have purchased books by Ohio authors and titles recognized by Ohio-based award programs. We should be promoting and displaying them soon.
  • New materials added in February 2026 included:
    • Adult books: 183
    • Movies: 7
    • Youth books: 224
  • We will also begin circulating sets of traffic cones to patrons who are practicing for the maneuverability portion of their Ohio driver's license test.

Technology

  • We have been seeking proposals and quotes to fix and upgrade our security camera system. Four local contractors have been out to look at our building and current system, and the estimated cost is $10,000 to $12,000.
  • We have confirmed that we will be switching to the LocalHop application to provide our website calendar sometime before June of this year. SEO will be offering it as a service to its members as a replacement for WhoFi, and the basic calendar service will be at no cost. We will be purchasing the Room Reservation module to accompany it and are considering the Museum Pass module as well.

Facilities

  • The replacement of our POTS phone lines with cellular connections, which will reduce ongoing costs, is scheduled for the beginning of April.

Miscellaneous

  • I attended OLC's Library Legislative Day on March 18 and learned a good deal about current legislation that might have an impact on our work at MPL in the near future. I was able to meet with Representatives Matt Kishman and Scott Oelslager and have productive conversations with them about our concerns. I will also be meeting separately with Senator Jane Timken on March 31 with other Stark County librarians.