News Photo by Reagan Voetberg This is a photo of a section of middle-grade books at the Alpena County Library on Tuesday.

ALPENA — The Alpena County Library Board of Trustees will review the library’s reconsideration procedure and form at an upcoming board meeting, likely in June, Board President Dustin Budd said on Monday.

The reconsideration procedure and form allow patrons of the library to express their concerns about library materials and petition for action to be taken, whether that be for the removal of library materials or moving materials to a different section.

The board is in the process of reviewing two of its policies every month. There are about 24 policies at the library and a good number have not been reviewed in ten or more years, Budd said. The board is on track to review every policy at least once every 24 months.

The board’s personnel committee began the review process for the reconsideration procedure. The policy was discussed with the full board at its regular meeting on March 18.

At the meeting on March 18, the board discussed changes they would like to make to the reconsideration procedure. Those changes included clarifying the language used in the policy and making sure that the library director has a role in the process.

“The general feeling of the board is we want the director to do her job,” Budd said in a phone call.

The original procedure has an “a” or “b” option. Patrons are encouraged to start with option “a,” the policy states, as found in the March 18 board packet.

“Discuss the reconsideration, or relocation of material, with the director,” the policy states. “If the reconsideration is not resolved to the patron’s satisfaction, the patron may proceed to part b.”

“Present a reconsideration request to the Library Board of Trustees, verbally or in writing, at the next regularly scheduled board meeting where the board will discuss the reconsideration request,” Part b of the policy states.

According to a recording of the March meeting, the board would like the procedure to have a couple steps, beginning with a patron filling out the reconsideration form. That form will be given to the library director, who will talk one-on-one with the patron. If the patron does not agree with the decision that the director makes, they can submit a written request to the library’s board of trustees for review. Before the board reviews the submission, the library director can consult with library staff to gain further knowledge about the library material and what the best decision is.

Each step from filling out the form to a review by the board has to be tracked and documented by law. Those documents would be given to the board before they review the library material.

Budd said in a phone call that the library board has been working on transparency with patrons. The board started uploading video recordings of all its regular meetings in January. Meeting minutes, video recordings, board packets, and information about the board can be found under the resources tab on the Alpena County library website.

“We are trying to promulgate in advance what we’re going to do,” Budd said.

“When things come up that aren’t quite accurate, that can hopefully be alleviated by going to the meeting minutes,” he said.