May 28, 2024--Board of Directors

ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library
Company E Room
May 28, 2024

Called to order at 4:00pm by Chair Halverson
Present: Trustee Englebert, Trustee Golz, Chair Halverson, Secretary Lane, Trustee Witt and Superintendent of Schools Zimmerman
Absent: Trustee Franzoi, Trustee Stojanovic, Trustee Turner, and Teen Rep Lane
Also Present: Director Kopetsky, Programming Services Manager Moore-Nokes, Library Services Manager Raschke, Business Manager Kozerski
Public Comment/Communication
None
Consent Business
A motion was made by Witt, seconded by Lane to approve the Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes from March 26, 2024. Under Library Site Approval, the name of the temporary location should read: “A motion was made by Lane, seconded by Englebert to approve the Elisha D. Smith Public Library’s temporary location at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh-Fox Cities located at 1478 Midway Road, Menasha, WI 54952 for rental costs not to exceed $15,000 monthly or $200,000 total for the duration of the relocation.” Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
A motion was made by Lane, seconded by Golz to authorize payment of the May 2024 bills from the 2024 budget and endowment account. Motion carried unanimously.
Updates
Planning Process Update
Director Kopetsky reported that a proposal was brought forward at a project funding meeting to make the Friends of the Elisha D. Smith Public Library the official fiscal agent for the building project. This would be in the interest of maintaining the current timeline. This would be subject to the approval of the city council. Discussion ensued.
Kopetsky will work on getting this motion in front of the city council for their June 3 meeting.
The final design is finalized except for interior design details.
The moving company will be at the library the week of June 10.
We received a 3 million dollar donation from the Menasha Corporation during a special event on May 21.
Friends of the Elisha D. Smith Public Library Update
Nothing additional beyond what Kopetsky covered in the planning process update.
New Business
Director’s Report
The library is now closed to the public as of Friday, May 24.
The checkout challenge was considered very successful, both statistically and in terms of the public support we received from our patrons.
Director Kopetsky briefed the board on book challenge trends in the public library field. Discussion ensued.
April Statistics
Circulation this year is looking good so far.
This is the last full month of statistics until we reopen to the public.
2024 Budget Status
Director Kopetsky will be looking at budget lines to pull some ancillary funds from in order to better balance the library’s spending on account of project expenses.
December 2024 Board of Trustees Meeting
The meeting date for December will be Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
Staff Reports
Now that only staff is in the building, they will be isolating and reconfiguring the collection in preparation for moving and/or storage.
Raschke has created and ran reports on what collection items to relocate and which to store based on circulation and usage data.
Programming staff has been thoroughly going through the spaces in the library that will be touched by the project to prepare them for construction.