The Liberty County Library Board of Trustees held its first meeting with new Live Oak Regional Library Executive Director Tom Sloan earlier this month. Sloan told the board of six points he will be using in library planning.

“What are we currently doing,” is the first point, Sloan said. The second question, Sloan said, is “What should the library system be doing?” Third, he said, is the cost of the services Live Oak provides; not only the financial cost but the value of staff time, equipment and facilities.

Sloan’s fourth point is to call for a prioritized ranking of library services. This will be done by all stakeholders, he said.

Looking for activities that are being done well is point number five, Sloan said. These will inform improvements for the Live Oak Libraries.

Point six is realigning library services using all the collected information.

According to the Georgia Public Library Service’s calculator the two libraries provide more than $3,620,000 million in value for print books, audio books, compact disks, videos and reference assistance. The computer, wireless, and children and adult programs are valued at $541,000.

In other business the board agreed to extend the terms of the current officers; the nominating committee had been unable to meet and choose a new slate of officers. Sandra Sheffield will continue as chairman and Vice Chairman Rose Mary Brown and Secretary Kathy Walden will remain in their offices.

The Hinesville City Council will be asked to name a new board member to replace board member LaMonica Jenkins. She has missed three consecutive meetings so her seat is automatically vacated.

Board members and Sloan had high praise for the two Liberty County branch managers, Jo Fortner in Hinesville and Bonny Boccio at the Midway-Riceboro branch.

The next library board meeting is set for Jan. 14, 2019, at 5 p.m. at the Hinesville library.

Parker can be contacted by email at joeparkerjr@hotmail.com.