Mountain Home Public Library Board Meeting - January 5, 2023

The Mountain Home Public Library held its first meeting of the new year on January 5th in the library’s conference room. In attendance were all but one of the library board members. The board began its process of accepting applications for library board members following board member James Green’s appointment to the Mountain Home City Council in addition to another open position now resulting in two open seats. The board members present began by approving the consent agenda, the previous meeting’s minutes, and the previous month’s bills. Afterwards, the board members heard from Library Director Shasta Hochstrasser; who discussed her employees’ recent trainings that helped prepare them for potential interactions with individuals experiencing homelessness, and the recently increasing “first amendment audits”.

Hochstrasser also shared recent updates she made to library policy, and explained that she hopes to consistently and continually provide updates to, and make additions to, the library’s policy in order to protect the library and enhance its patrons’ library experience. Hochstrasser wrapped up her report by sharing exciting information with those present—the library’s new book drop is expected to be completed by the end of January! The next Library Board meeting will take place in February.