ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library
Company E Room
August 24, 2021
Called to order at 4:32pm by Chairman Golz
Present: Chairman Golz, Vice Chairman Halverson, Trustee Lane (via Zoom), Trustee Schwerbel, Trustee Turner, Superintendent of Schools VanderHeyden, Trustee Witt and Teen Rep. Chintamani
Absent: Trustee Franzoi
Also Present: Director Kopetsky, Adult Services Supervisor Moore-Nokes and Business Manager Dreyer
Public Comment/Communication
Golz thanked Witt and her team for their work planning the 125th Anniversary celebration. Witt also thanked the board for their help the night of the event.
Golz introduced our new teen rep. Divyasree Chintamani.
Consent Business
A motion was made by Halverson, seconded by VanderHeyden to approve the Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes from July 27, 2021, and accept the 125th Anniversary Committee meeting minutes from July 30, 2021, and the Policies and Personnel Committee meeting minutes from August 5, 2021. Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
A motion was made by Schwerbel, seconded by VanderHeyden to authorize payment of the August 2021 list of bills, endowment fund and WALS Technology account from the 2021 budget. Motion carried unanimously.
Unfinished Business
Building & Grounds Committee Update
Motion made by Halverson, seconded by Lane to have Kopetsky send out the RFP that Schwerbel put together to architects. Trustees discussed hiring a project manager and will look into funding sources, job description and skill set. Motion carried. Schwerbel abstained.
VanderHeyden left the meeting at 5:08pm.
125th Anniversary Celebration Committee Update
Witt reported that we had about 225 attendees at the 125th Anniversary Celebration at Smith Park with about 135 staying to watch the movie. We had excellent feedback and suggestions to make this an annual event. The committee will be meeting on Friday to recap.
Organization of Friends Group Update
The Ad Hoc Committee to Organize a Friends Group met yesterday. Turner emailed Dan Flaherty at Godfrey & Kahn to establish a 181 nonstock corporation and start the application process for the 501(c)3. Kopetsky and Dreyer will reach out to the library’s volunteers to see who would be interested in serving on the Friends Board.
New Business
Director’s Report
Kopetsky and the staff have begun working on a preliminary budget for 2022. The Finance and Investment Committee will schedule a meeting to review.
Kopetsky met with Jenny Krikava, Community Engagement Manager at the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region to discuss the programming we are looking to offer and possible funding opportunities.
COVID rates are on the rise which has led us to require masks for all staff on public desks. We are awaiting further guidance from the health department regarding mask requirements for patrons.
July Statistics
The adult print collection checkouts are holding at about 80% of pre-COVID levels. Our digital collection continues to see growth - up about 20% over the same period in 2019. DVDs continue to lag though it should be noted that it accounts for 25% of our overall library circulation. Door counts remain static.
2021 Budget Status Report
Trustees reviewed the 2021 budget status. We are conducting a survey of newspaper usage.
Staff Reports
- 77 teens signed up for the summer reading program - reading 210 books.
- 116 adults signed up for the summer reading program - reading 427 books.
- 330 kids signed up for the summer reading program and they gave away 300 take and make kits over three months. Six presenters performed in Smith Park over the summer.
- The used book sale will be held September 16 – 20.
- Victor Flores, Outreach Coordinator, has been focusing on building communication and repour with the Latinx community. He has visited schools with the most Latinx students. There has been a 6% increase in library cards from the Latinx community. The Community Foundation may extend the grant we received because of COVID.
- Kopetsky passed out a description and cost breakdown of a CreatorSpace (learning lab) that was given to the Menasha City Council to ask the city for American Recovery Funds and was given to the Jenny Krikava.
Approve Recommendations by the Policies and Personnel Committee
The committee is recommending changes to the Selection of Materials Policy to break out procedures and put them into a manual. Staff will make collection decisions and ALA Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read Statement will be replaced with hyperlinks. Motion made by Witt, seconded by Halverson to approve the above changes to the Selection of Materials Policy. Motion carried unanimously.
The committee is recommending the following changes to the Personnel Policy. These changes align us with the city:
- B. 5. Library Assistants, all of whom shall be part-time, shall start a board approved …
- D.5.a. Regular full-time employees shall earn sick leave at a rate of one (1) day per month. New employees begin earning one day per month of sick leave at the end of their first full calendar month of employment. Thereafter, employees shall be awarded 12 days of sick leave on January 1 of each new year.
- D.5.e. The library has the right to investigate the use of all sick leaves. has the right to have use of all sick leave validated by a physician.
- D.5.g. If an employee is absent for more than three days due to accident, illness, or disability, administration shall request a release for the employee’s return to work, signed by a licensed physician.
- Add - Each year an eligible non-represented regular full-time employee may elect to receive additional vacation hours, up to a maximum of 37.5/40.0, for unused sick leave hours accumulated during the preceding calendar year in accordance with the following formula:
SLV – Sick Leave Vacation
SLE – Sick Leave Earned/Unused SLV = (SLE x 2/3) x ½
Sick leave/vacation hours must be used in the year of conversion, or they are lost.
Under no circumstances will sick leave/vacation hours be paid out in cash.
Motion made by Halverson, seconded by Lane, to approve the above changes to the Personnel Policy. Motion carried unanimously.
Recommendations by the Policies and Personnel Committee Regarding Library’s Organizational Structure
- Shift the Business Manager to the Librarian tier of the wage scale beginning January 1, 2022. This position requires a professional level of work.
- Liz Tubman has her MLIS, and her work duties are of a professional nature. She would move from Associate Librarian step 10 to Librarian step 5 effective September 5, 2021.
- In lieu of a supervisor position, we would hire a librarian with programming experience in the areas of hands-on learning in 2022.
- Create a new position level, Library Assistant 2, to be trained to work on the reference and children’s desk and assist with collection development in 2022.
- Hire casual staff, likely from other libraries, to fill in for staff who are ill, on vacation and for staff that might be needed elsewhere for programming in 2022.
Motion made by Witt, seconded by Schwerbel to approve of the above changes to the organizational structure. Motion carries unanimously.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made at 6:08pm by Halverson, seconded by Lane. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Dreyer, Recording Secretary
