ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library
Company E Room
November 23, 2021
Introduce New Trustee
Allisen Stojanovic is the International Student Programs Manager at Fox Valley Technical College.
Called to order at 4:30pm by Chairman Golz
Present: Chairman Golz, Vice Chairman Halverson, Trustee Lane, Trustee Schwerbel, Trustee Stojanovic, Trustee Turner, Superintendent of Schools VanderHeyden, Trustee Witt and Teen Rep. Chintamani
Absent: Trustee Franzoi
Also Present: Director Kopetsky, Support Services Supervisor Raschke, Adult Services Supervisor Moore-Nokes and Business Manager Dreyer
Public Comment/Communication
None
Consent Business
A motion was made by VanderHeyden, seconded by Witt, to approve the Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes from October 26, 2021. Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
A motion was made by Halverson, seconded by Lane, to authorize payment of the November 2021 list of bills and endowment fund account from the 2021 budget. Motion carried unanimously.
Unfinished Business
Building & Grounds Committee Update
We had six architectural firms submit RFP’s. The Building & Grounds Committee will meet on Thursday, December 2, at 4:30pm to review and decide how to proceed.
Ad Hoc Committee to Establish Friends Group Update
Kopetsky will contact Marquette University Law School, who helps nonprofits pro-bono in Wisconsin, about filing Form 1023 for our 501(c)3.
New Business
Director’s Report
- At the November 15, 2021 Common Council meeting, a resolution was passed to reduce our programming budget.
Moore-Nokes left the meeting at 4:58pm.
- Work continues on the learning space downstairs. It should be open to the public by February 2022.
- The Community Engagement team is developing a workspace in the Children’s Department workroom to have the whole team in one spot to allow for better communication and collaboration.
- We have been working on weeding and consolidating collections.
- We received a Spark Grant from the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.
- Kopetsky met with Vicki Bokelman of Neighborhood Partners and Jefferson Park Neighbors. We are collaborating to see what skills we have in our community to help us with programming.
- The library played DJ for Menasha’s Hometown Halloween. We estimate that we had 450 people stop by to make slime or get candy.
- We partnered with Heckrodt Wetland Reserve to create a fall story walk. They estimated that 1,000 people partook in the story. We plan to continue this partnership with seasonal installations with our next being in January.
- We completed interviews for the new librarian position. We hope to have our new librarian begin the first of the year.
- COVID levels remain steady.
October Statistics
Circulation has remained consistent.
2021 Budget Status Report
Trustees reviewed the 2021 budget. Kopetsky would like to purchase a fabrication laser for the makerspace from the grant funds received for technology. A motion was made by Halverson, seconded by Schwerbel to allow Kopetsky to spend up to $11,000 for the fabrication laser from the endowment technology fund. Motion carried unanimously.
The Policies and Personnel Committee will review the purchasing procedures in the Financial & Business Policy.
2022 Budget Status Report
Trustees reviewed the 2022 budget.
Staff Reports
Support Services is reviewing the children’s materials to make it easier for patrons to find.
Raschke and Ali (Clerk in Technical Services) visited the Neenah Public Library’s Tech Department to help develop lean strategies.
Moore-Nokes is meeting with staff to develop programming and set goals for the library and team professionally.
In January, we plan to have all programming in person while making it safe.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made at 5:15pm by Lane, seconded by VanderHeyden. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Dreyer, Recording Secretary
