ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library
Gegan Room
April 26, 2022
Called to order at 4:34pm by Chairman Golz
Present: Chairman Golz, Vice Chairman Halverson, Trustee Lane, and Superintendent of Schools VanderHeyden (arrived at 5:18pm).
Absent: Trustee Franzoi, Trustee Stojanovic, Trustee Turner, Trustee Witt and Teen Rep Chintamani
Also Present: Director Kopetsky, Library Services Manager Raschke, Programming Services Manager Moore-Nokes and Business Manager Dreyer
Citing State Statue 43.54(1)(e) Lane moved to continue the meeting with a lack of majority quorum, seconded by Halverson. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Comment/Communication
None
Consent Business
A motion was made by Lane, seconded by Halverson to approve the Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes from March 29, 2022. Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
A motion was made by Lane, seconded by Halverson, to authorize payment of the April 2022 list of bills from the 2022 budget, endowment fund and WALS Technology Fund. Motion carried unanimously.
Unfinished Business
Planning Process Update
We have started the in-person Community Visioning Sessions – one with staff and five with the community. There have been some good conversations with people who are passionate about the library. People value staff, fireplace room and the garden around the library. So far, we have received 42 online surveys. EUA is looking into strategies to engage teens such as a short teen focused survey.
501(c)3 Update
Golz and Kopetsky met with Att. Matt Brehmer regarding establishing a 501(c)3 for the library. Att. Brehmer estimates that it will take about 2 weeks for him to complete the paperwork and then it could take 7-8 months for the IRS to approve. We will need start with three directors with one person from this board. Motion made by Halverson, seconded by Lane to approve spending up to $4,000 to Brehmer Law to establish the 501(c)3. Motion carried unanimously.
New Business
Director’s Report
The Appleton Public Library gave us some local art prints of Jefferson Park and a series on the Fox River Locks.
Mowry Smith III made a generous donation to the library endowment.
The makerspace received some media attention on Local 5 Live and into the regular news cast. We are starting to see attendance pick up substantially in the makerspace with interests being very diverse. We have had 200 people come through the space since it opened. We are looking at having a volunteer help Library Assistant Yu.
We have been having trouble keeping our self-checks up and running. We can no longer get these covered under a service contract since the models we own have been retired and parts are scarce. We have begun looking at replacement options. We will complete our research in the next month and bring a recommendation to the board.
We can use the funds from the CIP budget to purchase the tables and chairs as per the quote from last month and add it as a communication item for the city council since we are not purchasing shelving. Motion made by Halverson, seconded by Lane to move forward with purchasing the nesting tables and chairs for the Company E and Gegan Rooms. Motion carried unanimously.
Gwen McGannon was hired to be our new part-time Library Assistant. Gwen also works at the Neenah Public Library.
COVID continues to be low in our area, but we continue to monitor due to the variants.
March Statistics
Our daily door count and program attendance is increasing. We needed to add multiple sessions of the same program due to demand. Physical collections continue to increase while electronic options decrease.
2022 Budget Status
Trustees reviewed the 2022 budget status.
Staff Reports
We are seeing more library card applications from Appleton.
Summer programming is pretty much completed.
Our next board of trustees meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at 4:30pm.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made at 5:27pm by Halverson, seconded by VanderHeyden. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Dreyer, Recording Secretary
