Minutes of Regular Meeting
ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY TRUSTEES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library Gegan Room
August 21, 2014
Call to order at 4:00 p.m. by President Murray.
Present: Crawmer, Eisen, Golz, Kiley, Murray, Nichols, VanderHeyden, Wicihowski, Kaminski
Absent: None
Also Present: Director Lenz, K. Beson (Head of Children’s Services) and K. Dreyer (Administrative Assistant).
Public Comment/Communication
Golz asked if there are planned repairs for the parking lot and driveways. At the August meeting of the Building & Grounds Committee, Buildings Superintendent Alix reported that those improvements may happen this year.
Consent Business
Golz made a correction to the minutes of July 17. He spoke on the phone with Curt Detjen of the Community Foundation; he did not meet with him in person. Motion made by Eisen to approve the Library Board meeting minutes from July 17, 2014, as amended and accept the Fundraising Committee meeting minutes of July 17, 2014, and the Building and Grounds Committee meeting minutes of August 4, 2014, seconded by Golz. Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
Eisen asked about the $1,535 endowment check to UW-Madison. The library received a Library Services and Technology grant to digitize cassettes of oral history interviews from Neenah and Menasha residents in 1976; that expense was part of the grant. Motion made by Eisen to authorize payment of the August list of bills from the 2014 budget as presented, seconded by Crawmer. Motion carried unanimously.
Director’s Report/Information Items
1. July Statistics. July statistics were similar to prior months except that downloads of ebooks were up 60.2%. We will be increasing our contribution to the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium Advantage Account in 2015, making more copies of these materials available to our patrons.
2. Budget Update. Lenz reported that 58.1% of the year has passed and 57.8% of the budget has been spent. Last month, Eisen asked about funds collected in fines and how much was written off. So far this year, $8,734.06 was collected in fines. Teens that came to the library to read off their fines had $74.50 waived, and $1,045.12 was waived during this spring’s Food for Fines drive. Even though the budget line for wages looks like it has been spent, the combined total of salaries and wages are 55% spent, and the rest was a retirement payout.
3. Endowment Report. There were no questions about the endowment report.
4. Staff Reports. Beson received a grant from Jewelers Mutual through the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region for a Bounce into Books program that will be done in cooperation with Banta School to promote literacy for students enrolled in the early childhood special education and four year old kindergarten program. Nichols suggested providing a press release about this program to the common council, as well as all library press releases, to inform them on what the library is doing. There were 822 kids signed up for the summer reading program; 170 kids met the 30 Book Challenge. All summer reading program statistics will be ready in about a week.
5. Strategic Plan Update. This report has goals and objectives in blue that have been completed previously. Those in green are in process. And those in red were completed during the last month: Patrons are now able to print from their own device (from anywhere) to the photocopier at the reference desk. And shelving has been rearranged to accommodate more fiction and AV materials.
6. Trustees Webinars. Webinars were held this week at noon for library trustees.
7. Fundraising Committee Update. The Fundraising Committee, with help from the Menasha Rotary Club, is planning the First Great Menasha Library Chili Cook-Off to be held on November 2 at Waverly Beach at noon. Tickets will cost $20 in advance and $25 at the door, with tables of 8 for $200, which will include a reserved table and wait staff. Letters will be sent out to restaurants on September 2 and committee members will personally follow-up the next week. The committee asked the Trustees to each make a Literary Basket for the silent auction. Local businesses will be asked to support this event by contributing a Literary Basket, attending the event, and/or donating a raffle item. Nichols suggested that the letters to restaurants put greater emphasis on the benefits of participating. She also suggested that Lenz do the follow-ups.
8. Building and Grounds Committee Report. The Building and Grounds Committee met with Adam Alix to discuss necessary building projects. Those deemed necessary in 2015 are:
• Roof ($100,000) – The roof is a priority.
• Elevator Lift Cylinder ($25,000)
• Light Pipes and Daylight Sensors ($30,000) – To improve efficiency.
• Flooring in Company E Room ($12,000) – This carpet is 10 years old, has irremovable stains, and some of the seams are starting to open up. Carpet squares were suggested.
Lenz has submitted a grant application to the Menasha Corporation for a Mother’s Room.
Discussion/Action Items
9. Staff Request for Unpaid Leave. Library Aide Stadtmueller is requesting unpaid time off from August 26 to September 18. Our policy states that the director can grant 2 weeks of unpaid leave and that more must be approved by the Trustees. Motion to approve this leave, after all paid time off benefits have been used, made by Eisen and seconded by VanderHeyden. Motion carried unanimously.
10. Finance Committee Report. The committee recommended some personnel position and wage scale changes (see below). They also presented a draft budget that includes the recommended personnel changes and a substantial increase to the materials budget, which directly supports circulation, a concern among many Trustees. Eisen suggested that the Investments Committee discuss the expected 2015 revenues and expenditures of the endowment fund before the Trustees approve a 2015 library’s budget, with an eye to funding more programs and program supplies with endowment funds. Historically, endowment funds are used only to supplement/enhance programs that are paid for within the municipal budget. Numbers are also still unknown for the city’s cost items such as vehicle/equipment rental, city’s tech service, housekeeping supplies, and insurance. Health insurance costs are expected to increase significantly. The Investments Committee will meet in the next 2-3 weeks to review endowment fund investments and the 2015 endowment budget. The draft budget includes no cost of living adjustment.
11. Library Staff Wage Scale. Discussion of the personnel changes recommended by the Finance Committee included that they are based on comparisons to positions and wage scales at other Fox Cities public libraries and libraries throughout Wisconsin with similar service areas to ours, as well as changes to work duties and technology that no longer call for keeping the Aide and part-time Clerk positions distinct. Eisen pointed out that the recommended changes align within the city and that supervisors have more responsibility without an assistant director. Nichols was wary of the impact the changes would have on future budgets and pointed out that there is little staff turnover. The committee recommended placing the supervisors on a new scale, with all three supervisors at the same step, at about the same rate they are on the current scale. The new (recommended) scale ranges from $51,139.92 to $68,763.76 annually; the current scale ranges from $46,310.68 to $62,279.80. They also recommended combining the Aide and Part-Time Clerk positions into a new Library Assistant position with a wage scale ranging from $12.00 to $16.15 per hour. Currently, the Aide scale ranges from $9.81 to $13.19 per hour; the clerk scale from $13.87 to $18.63. Motion made by Eisen to approve the personnel changes as recommended by the Finance Committee, seconded by Crawmer. Motioned carried on roll call 7-1. Nichols voted no.
12. 2015 Library Budget. Although a draft budget was considered, approval was delayed until the Trustees’ September meeting when more information will be available from the city and the Investments Committee.
13. Review of Trustee Essentials: Chapter 20. VanderHeyden summarized this chapter, which focuses on the Library Board and Building Accessibility. Next month, Wicihowski will review Chapter 21.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting at 5:15pm was made by Kiley and seconded by Crawmer. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Dreyer, recording secretary
