The Missouri River Regional Library (MRRL) Board is still exploring its options for a master facilities plan.
The board has discussed purchasing the Carnegie building and contracted with Clark Enersen Partners to examine options and associated costs with it as well as the MRRL building and annex. The architecture firm also conducted the study of the facilities for the completed Capital Repair Project.
The board and the firm are still working together and exploring options for a final plan, assistant director Betty Hagenhof said.
MRRL director Claudia Schoonover expressed concerns for the 2016 budget at the MRRL meeting Tuesday night. The problems come from a discrepancy in the different budgets proposed by the House and Senate.
The funding for state aid has been greatly reduced in both budgets, but the Senate has proposed no funds for REAL (internet access) funding, according to Schooner's March report.
She lobbied legislators to support a restoration of state aid back to $3.5 million and for the Senate to agree to the House's budget with $3.1 million allocated for REAL. She is asking patrons and other library enthusiasts to do the same.
Also the board agreed to update its policies to include prohibiting harassing people based on their sexual orientation.
"It is just about looking at our policies and updating them appropriately," Schoonover said. "It was something that we felt we should have, we felt it was an important addition."
In other library news, MRRL received $10,000 from the estate of Charles E. Schwaller, who died in April 2014. He left MRRL the funds with the contingency the library use the money to purchase adult nonfiction books and subscriptions to magazines and newspapers.
"It is a wonderful gift," said Abbey Rimel, board president. "It just really goes to show how deeply the library sometimes affects people, and obviously this man really appreciated the Missouri River Regional Library."