Early in the pandemic the board recognized it might be necessary to make changes in library services. So the library could quickly respond to changing conditions regarding closures, reduced staffing levels from illness, and other potential service interruptions they created an executive committee composed of the library board president Hilde van Gijssel, director Steve Hammel, and assistant director Melissa Lloyd. The committee was empowered to make "on the ground" decisions regarding library operations until such a time that the governing board could next meet, either at the regular monthly meeting or if necessary an emergency meeting.
The board and staff feels strongly about the need to ensure transparency in the decision making process and to make sure we are not violating open meeting laws, we are publishing summary notes taken during executive committee meetings.
Valley City Barnes County Public Library is fully committed to providing accessible facilities, elements and
channels of communication to all members of the public. As part of this commitment, Valley City Barnes County Public Library
has a policy of providing an accessible website compatible with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and
commercial screen reading software. All features of the website are coded to allow individuals with vision and
other impairments to understand and use the website to the same degree as someone without disabilities. We welcome
feedback and can often resolve issues in a timely manner if they arise.
If you need any special assistance or accommodations:
Valley City Barnes County Public Library has designated a compliance officer for website disability-related accommodations.
The compliance officer has received training in website accessibility and updates the site in accordance with those best
practices. Contact our accessibility officer to report an issue.
Compliance Procedures and Reports
In addition to testing with users with a wide range of disabilities and coding our website to WCAG standards,
Valley City Barnes County Public Library regularly scans its website to ensure ongoing compliance, and makes timely
changes to any inaccessible changes, if any are found.
Linked Documents and Third Parties
Please note that this site may link out to third-party websites, such as state or federal agencies, that do
not have accessible content. This site may also include documents provided by third parties included in our
agenda packets, for example. While we cannot control the accessibility of content provided by third parties,
we are happy to assist any member of the public with reading and accessing content on our site.