The plans for the upgrades to the Missouri River Regional Library were made available to the board at their meeting in Jefferson City on Tuesday.
The sealed bids for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades will be received until Oct. 15. After that, bids will be publicly opened and read allowed. The upgrades are a part of the library's capital projects that were suggested in a recent study of their facilitates, said Betsy Hagenhoff, assistant director.
The entire list of capital projects was rearranged and prioritized by library staff to tackle some of the building's problems in multiple phases, and has an estimated cost of more than $200,000. To maintain a balanced budget, the project's allocated funds were decreased, as compared to last year's amount, Hagenhoff said.
In other business, the board:
• Is developing a new policy to allow petitioners on the property. Previously petitioners were prohibited, but the new policy will allow them access to the outside property, excluding areas near the entrances, said Claudia Schoonover, library director. The board is sending policy drafts to their legal counsel for advice before it is finalized.
• May soon be advertising for new positions, as Schoonover is trying to find somebody to take over some of her responsibilities in collections. Also they are contemplating filling the library marketing coordinator position, which has been vacant for six months, Hagenhoff said.
• Learned that Food for fines will be held Sept. 27 and 28. The program allows patrons to repay their late fees for the rate of $1 per canned good. The program happens multiple times a year, and Schoonover said she thought it would be a good idea to have it again in September.
After the meeting, Schoonover announced she was quite proud of Angie Bayne for her accomplishment in winning the Show Me Youth Services Award from the Missouri Library Association (MLA).
She was nominated by Schoonover for her work with school libraries, the Reading Buddies program, and bringing in national authors for the children, according to Bayne's report from the children's department of the library. She will receive her award at the MLA conference in October.