Minutes of Regular Meeting
ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY TRUSTEES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library Gegan Room
May 21, 2015
Call to order at 4:00pm by Murray.
Present: Crawmer, Eisen, Murray, and Kaminski (teen rep). Wicihowski joined the meeting at 4:07.
Absent: Englebert, Golz, Rollins-Jump, and VanderHeyden
Also Present: Director Lenz, Beson (Head of Children’s Services), Bongers (Head of Adult Services and Dreyer (Administrative Assistant)
Citing State Statue 43.54(1)(e) Crawmer moved to continue the meeting with a lack of majority quorum, seconded by Eisen. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Comment/Communication
• On behalf of the AP students, Kaminiski thanked the library for setting up the meeting rooms so that the high school students could take their AP tests.
• The library staff thanked the Board of Trustees, especially Mary Crawmer, for her staff appreciation efforts during National Library Week.
Consent Business
Motion made by Eisen to approve the Library Board meeting minutes from April 16, 2015, seconded by Crawmer. Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
Motion made by Eisen to authorize payment of the May 2015 bills from the 2015 budget, seconded by Crawmer. Eisen asked about the bills for the contract services – entertainment. In June and July, Geoff Akins, Bruce Hetzler, Randy Peterson and Stuart Stotts will be presenting programs during the summer reading program. These events are very popular and fill the Company E Room. Motion carried unanimously.
Director’s Report/Information Items
1. April Statistics. The digital formats usage is increasing. We opted out of participating in Flipster, the online magazine service offered through Winnefox. The cost was high and provided fewer magazines than Zinio, which the Winnefox libraries dropped last year.
2. 2015 Budget Status. The current budget shows that 32.9% of the year is past and 38.7% has been spent due to some annual expenses being paid. Eisen suggested that the endowment be used instead of contract services – entertainment (20-05) and supplies – promotional (30-16) so that it would free up over $6,000 for library materials. Library materials are also spent with endowment monies. This will be considered during budget time.
3. Endowment Reports. The endowment report was reviewed.
4. Staff Reports.
• The concrete planter project that was approved by the trustees last month has also been approved by the Menasha Common Council.
• The library’s Friends will hold a paperback blowout sale on June 18 and 19.
• Patrons may now get their notices on their cell phones by text. They may also renew their materials by sending a text message.
• Trustees are invited to march along with staff and patrons in the library’s entry in the Memorial Day Parade.
• The Summer Reading Programs will run from June 1 through August 15.
• The library will be a Summer Food Service Program site on Wednesdays beginning June 17 at 12:30pm in the Activity Room. This is a program of the United State Department of Agriculture; Chartwells will be administering the program.
• We are working on mid-year reviews and should have them completed before summer starts.
• Director Lenz described a few serious incidents that staff have dealt with in the library recently. Menasha Police officers stepped in to handle the situations very well.
• Director Lenz attended this month’s Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) Conference in Wisconsin Rapids. One of the programs she attended focused on getting patrons to pay their library fines. As an example, she passed around a scratch-off card that we intend to use for reading program prizes that gives a break on fines and encourages fine payments.
• Lenz distributed the Fundraising Committee’s Legacy Brochures to funeral homes, attorneys’ offices, and financial planners.
Discussion/Action Items
5. Fundraising Committee Report.
Crawmer and Wicihowski attended a workshop at the Berlin Public Library called Library Fundraising: The Lancaster Success Story. Most of the information was geared toward fundraising for a major endeavor such as building a new library. The speaker recommended building a list of donors.
6. Library roof project. The city received two bids to re-roof the older part of the library and city hall. Public Works Director Mark Radtke recommends contracting with Borsche Roofing Professionals, Inc. in Hortonville in the amount of $70,269. The cooling tower has been raised to allow for a seamless covering of the roof. Public Works Deputy Adam Alix is looking into light pipes and daylight sensors to improve efficiency. The Common Council has approved the city hall and library roofing project. Motion made by Crawmer to approve proceeding with re-roofing the older part of the library with capital funds from the 2015 budget, seconded by Wicihowski. Motion carried unanimously.
7. County funding requests. Motion made by Eisen to request $392,967 from Winnebago County and $66,482 from Calumet County for serving residents of those counties living in municipalities without libraries, seconded by Wicihowski. Motion carried unanimously.
8. Trustee Essentials Chapter 26. Postponed until June meeting.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:35pm was made by Wicihowski and seconded by Crawmer. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Dreyer, recording secretary
