September Board Minutes

Call to order at 4:03 p.m. by President Enos

Present: Carlson, Derouin, Eisen, Enos, Nebel, Werley, Wicihowski, Wisneski

Also present: Director Saecker, J. Bongers (Head of Adult & Technical Services), K. Seefeldt (Administrative Assistant)

 

1.      Motion to authorize payment of the September list of bills from the 2009 budget by Carlson, seconded by Eisen, and carried unanimously.

 

2.      Approve minutes from the Board meeting of August 20, 2009.

Motion to approve minutes from the August 20, 2009 Board meeting, by Eisen, seconded by Nebel, and carried unanimously.

 

3.      Statistics.   Circulation increased 19.8% overall from September 2008. Lending of adult books increased by 10.4% and children’s books by 14.4%. DVDs, CDs and Books on CD also showed significant increases. Dir. Saecker commended staff for continuing to provide excellent customer service during the busy summer months.  

4.      Endowment Quarterly Report.   Dir. Saecker reported that our Endowment account shrank considerably this past year due to the poor economy and that we currently are spending conservatively from this account. Our recent quarterly report from the Community Foundation showed some recovery.

We are in the process of merging some of our CD investments at First National Bank so that they total approximately $10,000 each. This allows us to get slightly better investment rates. We will always have the option of splitting them again or removing funds as needed when they come due. 

5.      2010 Library Budget. A 2010 budget draft was provided as an information item to the Board. The Finance Committee will meet to finalize the lines of the budget. Their recommendations will then be presented to the full Board.

6.      WLA Conference. The Wisconsin Library Association Conference is scheduled to be held in Appleton October 20-23. Board members were encouraged to attend. The Library will pay for their registration and meal costs.

 

Werley joined the meeting at 4:08 p.m.

 

7.      Used Book Sale. The Friends of the Library will hold their semi-annual Book Sale September 25-28. 

8.      Summer Reading Programs. Kathy Beson, Head of Children’s Services, and Vanessa Taylir, Teen Librarian, provided reports detailing the outcome of our summer reading programs. In-house numbers for children’s were up slightly, though the school/daycare program fell by almost half. Teen and adult programs saw a significant decline in registrations. This may be due to the fact that the new Teen Librarian was hired right at the time program information should have been released. We will continue to look for ways to make these programs more appealing and successful next year. 

9.      Fall Presentations. Dir. Saecker is scheduled for some speaking engagements this fall, including a staff meeting at Appleton Public Library and several WLA conference workshops. Also, in November she will be doing an online webinar for South Western Library System on Library 2.0.

10. Wisconsin Center for the Book. Dir. Saecker has been asked to join the Board of the Wisconsin Center for the Book.

11. Director’s Performance Review. Werley noted that last year’s Personnel Committee created an effective evaluation tool. Director Saecker will be distributing copies of that to all Board members. Recommendations for changes to the evaluation form should be sent to Board President Jill Enos. The Board will be asked to approve the evaluation tool at their October meeting. Everyone was asked to please sign their completed forms this year. Werley inquired if library staff would have input into this year’s evaluation. It was determined last year that staff input would be included every 3-5 years. Completed evaluation forms should be sent directly to Kathy Wicihowski, Personnel Committee chair, who will compile the results.

 

Trustee Essential #11. Jill Enos reviewed Trustee Essential #11 Planning for the Library’s Future. She noted that all Board members should have copies of the Library’s 2008-2012 Long Range Plan. Eisen, a member of the Long Range Planning Committee, stated that the planning process was greatly enhanced by our Director’s leadership and that credit goes to the director and her staff for fulfilling the plan’s goals. Nebel asked for a copy of the list of members of the Long Range Planning Committee. 

 

At the October meeting, Rick Carlson will briefly review Robert’s Rules of Order. The Board will not review a chapter in Trustee Essentials at this meeting.

 

Motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:28 p.m. by Nebel, seconded by Wisneski, and carried unanimously.

 

The next regular Board meeting will be held in the Gegan Room on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Eisen, Secretary

Kris Seefeldt, Recording Secretary