ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library
Company E Room
June 29, 2021
Called to order at 4:58pm by Vice Chairman Halverson
Present: Vice Chairman Halverson, Trustee Lane, Trustee Schwerbel, Trustee Turner, Trustee Witt and Teen Rep. White
Absent: Chairman Golz, Trustee Franzoi and Superintendent of Schools VanderHeyden
Also Present: Director Kopetsky, Support Services Supervisor Raschke and Business Manager Dreyer
Public Comment/Communication
Halverson thanked White for serving as the teen rep for the library. This is White’s last meeting.
Consent Business
A motion was made by Lane, seconded by Witt to approve the Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes from May 25, 2021, and accept the meeting minutes of the Board Governance Committee from June 2, 2021 and the 125th Anniversary Committee meeting minutes from June 18, 2021. Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
A motion was made by Schwerbel, seconded by Lane to authorize payment of the June 2021 list of bills, endowment fund and WALS Technology account from the 2021 budget. Motion carried unanimously.
Unfinished Business
Building & Grounds Committee Update
Schwerbel is waiting for City Attorney Captain to provide general terms and conditions for the Request for Proposals. Once that is provided, trustees are asked to review.
125th Anniversary Celebration Committee Update
Last Friday, the committee met at Smith Park to discuss the layout of the event on August 12. There will be lawn games, door prizes, food trucks, strolling magician and a movie. Volunteers are needed.
New Business
Director’s Report
Kopetsky would like to sign a two-year license with Gale Cengage for a program called Udemy that offers over 4,000 short courses and videos designed to teach specific skills. This would complement Gale courses which provide a more in-depth learning experience and marketed as the Menasha Public Library Digital Learning Platform. Motion made by Lane, seconded by Turner to add Udemy to our learning platform. Motion carried unanimously.
Kopetsky would like to create a board game collection for our community. The plan would be to augment this collection with in-house gaming programs. Motion made by Lane, seconded by Schwerbel to add a tabletop game collection to the library. Motion carried unanimously.
Kopetsky would like to develop an adult graphic novel collection for 2022. Selection of materials for this collection would follow the same community appropriateness principles as do our other materials. Motion made by Turner, seconded by Lane to develop the adult graphic novel collection for 2022. Moton carried unanimously.
We are looking at grant opportunities, but it is a challenge because we are not CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) compliant. Kopetsky is looking into this.
May Statistics
Trustees reviewed the May statistics. We are starting to approach our circulation averages.
Status of Library Services
We plan to continue to offer outdoor programming through August. We will re-evaluate the COVID infection rates to determine if fall programming can be held indoors in-person.
2021 Budget Status Report
Trustees reviewed the 2021 budget status.
Library Closed Dates for 2022
Trustees reviewed the closing dates for 2022. Motion made by Schwerbel, seconded by Lane to approve the library closing dates as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Lane left the meeting at 5:20pm.
Staff Reports
⦁ Angela Yu started today as a new Library Assistant.
⦁ We are seeing more and more people coming into the building.
⦁ Our outdoor programming is going well.
Organization of Friends Group
Godfrey and Kahn have agreed to help us establish a 501(c) Friends group. We need to determine who is going to serve on this board.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made at 5:42pm by Schwerbel, seconded by Witt. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Dreyer, Recording Secretary
