Ep. 208 I'm on the Library's Board, Now What!?

Sunshine and Stories Episode 208: I'm on the Library's Board, Now What!?

Episode Summary:  
Polly Gallagher sits down with trustees Scarlett Ponton, President of Nederland Community Library Board & recipient of the 2025 CAL Outstanding Library Trustee Award, and Jennifer Tibbets, Grand County Library District Trustee, as they reflect on what the role of a library trustee is in a Colorado public library. They reflect on what that first board meeting is like, how to prepare, and what the role of a trustee is and projects to oversee.   

Outline 

00:00 – Introduction
03:13 – Role of the board
03:58 – Key concerns of the board
07:39 – Board projects
09:22 – Everyone is not an expert
11:34 – Meeting preparation
13:09 – Preparing to be a trustee
15:43 – Asking questions
18:27 – Ongoing professional development
20:21 – Beyond the local
22:24 – Why volunteer for your library board
24:17 – Closing  

Resources: 

Public Library Leadership  (CSL) resource page 

Colorado Public Library Board & Trustee Handbook 

Colorado Public Library Standards: 

          Administration & Governance 

          Budget & Finance 

         Community Engagement 

         Evaluation & Planning 

Is your library board of trustees seeking in-person trustee training on Governance & Administration, strategic planning support, or other support? The Colorado State Library Leadership Team provides these services and more at no cost to your library! Find out more today.  

Contact Polly at gallagher_p@cde.state.co.us or (720) 879-1549 

Tell us what you think!
If you give us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode.  

CSL projects like this one are funded in part by the Grants to States program administered by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the Colorado State Library, Institute of Museum and Library Services, or the U.S. Government. 

Transcript

Sunshine & Stories podcast transcript for Episode 208

[music] [00:06]   

Kate B: Welcome to Sunshine and Stories.  

Kate C: The podcast that shines a light on big ideas and bright moments in Colorado's public and school libraries.  

Kate B: Brought to you by the Library Development team at the Colorado State Library.  

Polly: Welcome to Sunshine and Stories. Today we focus on the role of library trustees with I'm on The Board, Now What? I'm Polly Gallagher. I'm joined with Scarlett and Jennifer, two library trustees, as they reflect on what it is like to step into this vital role for the first time. Scarlett, start us off. 

[0:43] 

Scarlett: My name is Scarlett Ponton, and I am on the District Board or Board of Trustees for Nederland Community Library. It was seven and a half years that I've been on the board. This February, it'll be eight years. I started as a voting member, who's been on the board. And then I rolled into an HR position where we were able to hire our brand-new director who's been around for seven and a half years. No, seven years, seven years. That's what it was. And now I was voted in back in July of 2024 as the president of our trustee board. So, I'm just so, so, so excited. So for my day job, I work at CU Boulder, and I've been in education almost my whole entire life and it all began at a library in New York City. So, I feel like I grew up in New York City's libraries, all the public libraries, reading every single comic book they had available. And then the libraries is what got me through my undergraduate education, all my post-baccalaureate education. All of it. 

Jennfier: Hi, I'm Jennifer Tibbetts, and I am a very brand new board member at Grand County Library District, and that is up in Grand County, Colorado, about two hours outside of Denver. And I was voted in actually almost a year to the day, the November meeting. So the next board meeting we have coming up will be one year. I did have some board experience, corporate board experience prior, but this is my first time involved in a library district board. I worked in sales and marketing for about 30 years. And then when we moved up here to Granby in Grand County, I began working in Grand County nonprofits. And that's what I do during the day, and I'm very happy to be here. Thank you for the invitation. 

[2:32] 

Polly: Thank you so much to both of you for joining us, and just before we tap into some further questions, Jennifer, you mentioned you've done corporate, so private business, you've got nonprofit experience and now taking a look at government. Is there anything that's particularly jumped out in that difference there? 

Jennifer: Boy, yeah, specifically that libraries have open meeting requirements and open meeting minutes and open meeting requirements for emails, all communication, which is had not been my experience on corporate boards. So I would say that was probably the first thing that I needed to understand. 

[3:13] 

Polly: Scarlett, actually, this year received the Colorado Association of Libraries Board of Trustee recognition. Congratulations. 

Scarlett: Thank you, thank you. Oh my gosh, I'm just so, so honored. And it's not about me. I just want to say that on record, it's about the whole community at Nederalnd Community Library. It's the staff, it's the volunteers, it's my fellow board members. Yeah. And so it's for all of us. 

Polly: And that's true because you act as a whole. No trustee is a person alone or standing alone. I suppose you're there representing when you come into the meeting, but then when you're at the meeting and after the meeting, you are representing the whole rather than the individual. 

Scarlett: The whole, yes. We represent everyone, yes. Yeah. So again, such an honor, such a privilege, absolutely. 

[3:58] 

Polly: What do you see as key concerns of a public board of trustees? 

Scarlett: Yeah, so I'm just sort of in my, just to outline things, I'm always such a big Venn diagram person. So I was looking at the three huge components of, right, we have governance and finance, right? So our budget, right? It's just making sure we have that responsibility to the community, to the library themselves, like just everything is all about fiscal responsibility, right? So we have that governing piece that we share as a board. My gosh, so many stories I can tell you there. 

Polly: You've done a lot of big projects lately up at the Nederland Community Library. And it's not just having the funds for now, but also to be able to sustain the beauty of those places, the usability of those places. 

Scarlett: And, one of our biggest things that we rolled out was our reading garden, which is right outside of our library. And that was the most phenomenal experience of not only was it team building for our board and the foundation board, but just having that project and that goal together with our community, having input, and conversations, and celebrations along the way has been the most phenomenal experience to build that partnership with our town, with our other organizations in the community and having that eye to, okay, yes, we have this budget that is tax-based and has been changing over the past couple of years just because the state of Colorado and the state of this country has been changing. So yeah, it's so many things to keep your eyes on and to be aware of and just self-educate on so many things going on where we live in a small, tiny, and mighty mountain town. I just love it. Love it. So that's the fiscal responsibility.  

[5:57] 

Scarlett: Then we also have our long-term strategic and strategic planning, right? So it's also looking five years down the road, a generation down the road, that kind of thing. And the library, really, the building itself is about 11 years old, but it's been in the works, in the planning as an idea for about 24 years. which is when I moved up to Netherlands. So like the whole thing just makes me so happy, the whole connection of how it's evolved and grown. And then the other thing that we always keep our eye to is the mission and vision and the goals. That's something that we visit every six months as a board. So yeah, so just all of that oversight of the budget, of goals, responsibilities, all centered around our community at the library. So yeah it's just one of those things where we're just knitted into the fabric of the town, and we know that, and we advocate for that I think that's the other key piece. 

[6:51] 

Polly: That's you're really looking at that that oversight that as the Board of Trustees the governance, the strategic plan, and sounds like to helping to expand that vision and looking for those partnerships and connection with the community. 

Scarlett: It's so much fun, though. Like, I forgot the fun factor. It's all sprinkled with fun all over. 

[7:14] 

Polly: Do you agree with that, Jennifer, as far as the fun factor? 

Jennifer: Yeah, I do, actually. I really do. And I would also second what Scarlett said about partnership with other... organizations in the community, that was one of the things that really struck me about Grand County Library District as well when I moved into the area was that they really are a linchpin for so many other organizations and so many initiatives and efforts. 

[7:39] 

Polly: In taking a look at those big picture areas that Scarlett identified as far as the finance, the strategic planning, that vision piece, Scarlett, you mentioned the hiring of a library director, executive director. You have a wonderful director, Elektra. She has so much energy and vibrance. What are some of the other projects that you've been involved in, Jennifer, just in the past year as far as, or the board that the board has been involved in? 

Jennifer: Sure. When I started, the board was just beginning a facilities master plan in terms of managing current facilities, planning for future facilities, improving current facilities. So that was extremely interesting and going on kind of right as I hopped on board.  

And then we needed to look at hiring a new executive director, which we did probably approximately five months ago. So those are the first two projects that came to mind. And then strategically, we do have some things obviously on the board for a few years down the road. And you do have to be very cognizant of those, even given the current, as Scarlett mentioned, funding landscape and financial perspective, so. 

Polly: Also looking at a new facility potential right in Kremling? 

Jennifer: We are, we are. A whole new Kremling Library from the ground. So really beginning even with land acquisition, it's going to be brand new. It's going to be beautiful. But it's a big project, a big financial commitment, so. There are a lot of things to consider. So there's a lot of work to be done on that end too, but it is very exciting. And as Scarlett said, that's very fun! 

[9:22] 

Polly: Now, I don't mean to scare any potential new trustees that might be listening to this so when we talk about the hiring of a new director, we talk about budgeting and finance, we talk about new buildings, facilities. How do you manage that? How do your boards, because I'm guessing you're not all expert in all areas. So how do you go about doing that? 

Jennifer: At Grand County, we have committees. We have a strategic planning committee of board members, so a couple board members. We have a couple board members that are on our finance committee who do have background in very large capital projects and finance, and they work with the finance director. Who's also excellent. So, we break it out by committees. 

[10:12] 

Polly: Scarlett, similar? You've got a pretty diverse board. How many members are on your board, Scarlett? 

Scarlett: So we have seven members on our board. And I was just thinking about how amazing and unique and talented every single person's skill set is. So we have folks who are coming from former attorneys or current attorneys, city administrators. We've got teachers, we've got entrepreneurs, we've got everybody who has that focus of how do we make this work the best way for our community, for our library, and we have the perfect director, right? Like, so when you have the best director ever running the show, everything is easy. Everything is easy, right? So everyone will take on a project, like homework kind of thing, do research, and then bring it back to the group. So it's not everybody's responsibility to be an expert in everything. We just rely on each other, which is so great. That's like, they're so important to have that gel, that vibe of an amazing board as well. 

[11:19] 

What I'm hearing is it's very important to have diverse skill set, diverse needs, and everybody brings something different. You don't have to be an expert. You need to be willing to engage. 

Scarlett: Exactly. 

Jennifer: Absolutely. 

[11:34] 

Polly: And Scarlett, can you tell us a little bit, what are just some of the typical tasks, preparation that you have to do for every meeting that you attend. 

Scarlett: As a general board member? So from the previous board meeting, we'll have the meeting notes, right? So it's our responsibility to read through all the meeting notes, make sure it's pretty accurately capturing everything, because then they get posted publicly on our library website. And we get the agenda about a week before our next board meeting and make sure all of our homework is done, if we should have any, right? On a normal month-to-month basis, there isn't really a whole lot of homework unless we're building a reading garden or putting some solar panels up or you know something there's some huge project rolling away. Um but that's about it is preparing is reading the previous meeting notes to approve those and then planning with our new agenda. But also coming with ideas and insights of oh I was in the community, and someone said we need such and such a something you know be prepared to bring that to the table as new business that that's a pretty low key type of role. 

[12:42] 

Polly: Jennifer, would you concur? Is there anything else that you take a look at or do in prep? 

Jennifer: I would absolutely concur. Actually, one of our board goals this year was to make sure that everyone was prepared and had read the board packet that goes out days before the meeting, as Scarlett mentioned. So yeah, there's that bit of homework to do beforehand so that we are all ready to discuss what needs to be discussed and keep things moving. 

[13:09] 

Polly: How can trustees best prepare for their role? 

Jennifer: Personally, when I became a trustee, I went back through a couple years of agendas and meeting minutes and just refreshed myself with what had been discussed what issues had been on the docket, what had been decided so that I could feel to the best of my ability, at least a little bit caught up on current conversations. Because when you become a board member, there are already things in progress. So you're going to feel like a newbie and you're going to feel like you stepped into the middle of something because you have. So I tried to at least get a little bit of context around that. 

And Polly, you mentioned a little bit earlier, just, and I don't know if you would say this is the special districts kind of format of how libraries are run, and that was very new to me. So at least getting a very base knowledge on what a special district was, even if I didn't understand all of the implications of that, at least understanding what that was and who else was a special district, I think those were two of the primary things I tried to wrap my head around. 

[14:20] 

Polly: I think that's one of those pieces as you're both from library districts, so you are governing boards as opposed to advisory boards. However, Colorado law only separates out, well, an advisory board, somebody presses the final button. In a governing board, you press the final button. But as a library district, you're following those local government laws; laws that are statutory. And while library districts follow Colorado Library Law rather than Title 32 Special District Law, we have a lot in common, right? Like our funding.  

[14:54] 

Polly: Scarlett, as a veteran trustee, what do you like to make sure new trustees are aware? 

Scarlett: Oh my gosh, I know it was so funny because I've been reflecting on that first meeting because it seems like it was just a couple months ago but really seven and a half years ago. Our building was quite new back in the day and the structures weren't all set up for board meetings and for everything. Because I spent so much time in the library itself the director at the time said, “Oh, Scarlett, you should join our board come to this meeting.  

[15:29] 

You know nothing, nothing, prepared. Nothing, no nothing to do so I was digging through the website, you know, trying to find old meeting notes. But there was no context to all the meeting notes, so it was really hard to make sense of motions and things like that.  

[15:43] 

So when I showed up, I just kept asking questions.  

I was like, wait, what is that all about? It was more structured and serious as a board meeting. Like they just, everything was bullet point, bullet point, bullet point, and less conversational. So, I sort of hesitated a little bit after the first meeting thinking, ah, let me talk to some other board members. who've been on for at least a year or so. And they were just like, no, all you have to do is show up. You'll know what your role is. Just show up. And then another board member said, “We need you here because you bring the fun element. So just bring the fun and it'll be fine.” 

[16:19] 

And sure enough, it was just the next month, it was so much more light and happy and more things, well, that's when we learned that we had to hire a new director. It was literally my second meeting as a trustee member. We were like, “Oh, we need to hire a new director? Sweet.”  So, the, you know, just that positivity and that happiness, I remember that. And so, to pay it forward to new trustee members, it's that whole first.  

[16:49] 

Scarlett: Spend a whole day at the library. Figure out what the library does. Like, know the difference between experience passes and interlibrary loan, but also all the programming that your library does. All those insights. Just hang out as if you were a volunteer there, and you will learn so much for your role as a board member. That is so amazing. 

[17:13] 

Polly: I like that. It's one of those hard things when you're in the meeting, I think, is being willing to ask questions because I, oh, everybody else knows, maybe I don't know, but that's such a key part of being a trustee, right? Because you are the ones that have to make a decision. You're part of a vote as a whole to provide that guidance. And if you don't fully understand or perhaps, you know, something's niggling you need to make sure because maybe somebody else, you know, that ever famous, maybe somebody else is in the same boat, but not willing.  

[17:47] 

Scarlett: What I loved about being on board that first year was like, I would always start everything with, so I'm new here. Right? And that's like that free card of like, you can ask anything, no matter how obvious, right? And it's, so I'm new here. Sometimes I try it like now, and they don't buy it. 

[18:06] 

Jennifer: I would second what Scarlet said that first meeting, I did feel things go very quickly. And it is hard to feel like perhaps you're interrupting or raising your hand, but to your point, Polly, it really is so important. And it gets easier, and it is important, and you're not interrupting anything. That's what the meetings are for, to answer questions and make sure everyone's on the same page. 

[18:27] 

Polly: You both attended the Colorado Association of Libraries annual conference, and during that time there is a trustee track. What other sort of either ongoing training or professional development do you do?  

[18:41] 

Jennifer: I personally also attended a special district meeting that was a regional special district meeting that was held by the government in Granby, coincidentally. So, since I started on the board, I will say the district has been so open and encouraging of would you like to attend this meeting? Would you like to attend this conference? And making that possible, which has been really so interesting and so appreciated. The special district meeting was very helpful for me. Again, just kind of wrapping my head around the specifics of our library district or what didn't pertain to our library district, you know. So between the conference and the special district meeting, those two have been very, very helpful resources for me. And I saw Scarlet get her award. So that was a great day. I would highly recommend anyone go to the conference. It was really, truly an amazing, amazing day. Very well done. 

[19:39] 

Polly: And Scarlet, what about up at Nederland? I think you've done some trainings with the State Library as well as CliC. 

Scarlett: We do our half day retreats, twice a year with our board, so we get to deep dive into our goals for the next couple of years, make sure we're on task. But having trainings around library law, that is huge. In addition, several of our board members went up to the CALCON Conference in Breckenridge and just doing that track for board members was just, it's different every year. So, this is the second year I've been up to it, but I also went to the national conference in June. 

[20:21] 

Polly: That's right, you presented at the national conference in June. 

Scarlett: Yes, and that's all part of being a board member, you know? It's just like, we want to just share with everyone our international exchange programs that was really a super heavy lift by our director. And in meeting with all these great people from all the libraries, I learned so much to bring back to the library. I think that's part of my professional development. is, so I was just over in Gun Barrel on Saturday for their grand opening, and that was amazing, like amazing what they turned that bank into and all of the activities and how many community members came out. I have so many takeaways to bring back to our next board meeting. It's just great, just continually visiting libraries and talking to people in the community. I cannot stress how important that is as my own personal development, but also to bring it back to the board and to our community.  

[20:17] 

Polly: I've heard the governance as far as budget and administration. I've heard it as far as strategic planning. Oversight of the mission vision and values of the library, and I suppose that comes through policy so that the library staff can create their procedures for it. I've heard the hiring of a new director and some of those big projects there. And then that key piece that you're focused on your local library and your community and the connection, but then also the greater library world, if you will, as far as what's happening in your local area libraries, your regional, your state, and national, or you mentioned international, as you have your library exchange. 

[22:01] 

Polly: Not to, again, overwhelm, but you can pick off and do, and you grow into that position. I think, Jennifer, that's what I gathered from you. That you start off and you're working through that first meeting and then future meetings, and it gets easier. And then you're more familiar with the projects that are happening, and you can broaden out onto that scale. 

Jennifer: Absolutely. 

[22:21] 

Polly: Excellent. Well, as we close up, any last words? 

[22:24] 

Scarlett: I know I'm supposed to bring up donkeys. 

Polly: Donkeys? Donkeys? Tell me more. What are these donkeys you speak of? 

Scarlett: So being in the mountain community, you know, we keep our pulse on the whole donkey racing and all of that. So, our community library has always been a huge supporter of all of the donkey races over the summer that happened. And we've even brought donkeys to the library. And so truly, it's just a metaphor for like, it's really so fun to be on the board. It truly, truly, truly, you meet great people. You do great things, and there's no better place in the world than a library. Truly open to everyone and like there's no answer that goes unanswered, no question sorry that goes unanswered, right? It's always like, “Oh, let's research that. Let's look into that.”  You don't start with a “No” at a library. You start with a,  “Yeah! That's a great idea! Let's look into that.” Right? So, to me, it's the fun. It's the learning. It's the partnership with other humans, but also with all the organizations that make up a community. That's so much fun, and the donkeys. 

Polly: And the donkeys, and the donkeys, that's great. Jennifer, do you want to close us off 

[23:42] 

Jennifer: Would say to anyone looking to becoming involved in their community, maybe being involved in the libraries isn't the first thing people think of. However, our libraries and our community touch every generation. Touch multiple perspectives. Are a free resource for everyone. And it is just so fun, to Scarlett's point, in my mind that it's so diversified in the programming, the efforts, and really wonderful people. So I would encourage anyone to check it out if they're looking to become more plugged into their community. 

[24:17] Thank you so much for joining us today. Jennifer, Scarlett, appreciate hearing your voices and thank you for the work that you do to help make our Colorado Public Libraries an excellent resource and support for all of our communities. Thank you so much. 

[24:32]   

Kate B: That's our sunshine and stories for today Y’all.   

[24:35]  

Kieran: If you want to hear even more about what other Colorado folks are up to in their libraries, check out libraries, learn org for all our past and future learning opportunities.  

[24:45]   

Suzi: This podcast is offered at no cost to listeners. Thanks to the time, effort and dedication of CSL library development consultants, as well as our state library colleagues and all our volunteer guests from across the field.  

[24:57]   

Kate C: CSL projects like this one are funded in part by the grants to states program, which is administered by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.  

[25:05]  

Polly: The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the Colorado State Library Institute of Museum and Library Services or the US government.  

[25:17]   

All: Thanks for joining us. We'll catch you next time.  

[25:22] [music]