January Board Meeting Minutes

Call to order at 4:01 p.m. by President Enos

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

Absent: Carlson, Wisneski

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

 

1.      Motion to authorize payment of the December list of bills from the 2009 budget and the January bills from the 2010 budget by Werley, seconded by Wicihowski, and carried unanimously.

 

2.      Approve minutes from the Library Board meeting of December 17, 2009.

A roll call vote was taken in closed session when a motion was made to authorize a 2.5% pay raise for the Director effective January 1, 2010. This resulted in a split vote. Mayor Merkes advised that the minutes be amended to include the names of the individuals and how they voted. Also, a member of the Common Council requested that the minutes be amended to clarify the pay increase percentage awarded to library employees - referred to in agenda item #11(b).   

Board members discussed whether minutes taken in closed session must to be amended in closed session. Director Saecker will check into this.

Motion to table approval of the minutes of the December 17^th meeting until the next meeting by Eisen, seconded by Werley and carried unanimously.   

 

Joe Bongers entered the meeting at 4:06 p.m.

 

3.      Statistics.  Total lending was up 4.3% over December 2008. In 2009, we saw the highest circulation ever for the library. 566,660 items were circulated. Director Saecker commended staff for their excellent customer service, great collections and vibrant programming. 

4.      Annual Website Statistics. Our website statistics were impressive for 2009. The site had 877,157 visits and 2,984,381 page views. Director Saecker also reported that we received over 1200 donated books this past year as a result of her Kids’ Lit blog. These books are sent to her free of charge by publishers who hope she will review them on her blog. They are added to our collection, which is a cost savings to us.

5.      Annual Meeting Room Usage. We are seeing great success in our meeting room usage. In 2009, public meeting rooms were used more than any previous year with a total of 697 meetings. The Story Room in the Children’s Department and the tutoring room in the Reference Department also saw record usage this year.

6.      Endowment. We received an anonymous donation of $500 to the Endowment. We also received a bequest of $6,500 from the estate of Isabel Brich. This was designated as a donation to the Children’s Department and will be used to benefit needy families in our community. 

Our CD investments were discussed. Eisen asked if we had checked investment rates at other banking facilities. Director Saecker noted that First National Bank routinely offers us their best rates. Other board members agreed that FNB’s rates were good. Director Saecker will check what rates are being offered by other banks and credit unions.

7.      Webinar Opportunity. Three one-hour webinars will be offered to Trustees in February by ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends & Foundations. The discussion topic will be controversial materials in library collections. Board members were encouraged to participate.

8.      Staff Meeting Schedule. We plan to hold four staff meetings in 2010. On February 17^th, we will have NAMI speak on how to best serve individuals with mental illness. On April 13^th, the Hearing Loss Association of the Fox Valley Region will address serving individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. A speaker has not been selected yet for the July 19^th meeting and the date of the fourth meeting is yet to be determined. Board members are welcome to attend any of these meetings.

9.      Materials Budget Line. Director Saecker distributed a summary of spending allocations for sub-accounts within the library materials budget. She noted that the budget for library materials was reduced by 9% from last year due to a decrease in available funding. 

 

10. December 31^st Lift. The City’s Common Council approved a 1% salary lift for their non-rep employees effective December 31, 2010. Director Saecker requested that the Board approve the 1% lift for library employees.  

Motion to approve a 1% salary lift for library employees effective December 31, 2010 by Eisen, seconded by Derouin, and carried unanimously.

11. Director Goals for 2010. Director Saecker presented her goals for 2010. They were based on recommendations made at her recent evaluation and on objectives from the Long Range Plan. Werley noted that goal #11 “To continue to serve on the following boards: Fox Cities Book Festival, Fox Valley Library Council, WI Center for the Book, WI Library Association, Wisconsin LSTA Advisory Board, Cooperative Children’s Book Center Advisory Board, WLA We-Lead Board, WLA Website Redesign Board and WLA 2010 Conference Committee as Program Co-Chair” and also goal #12 “To continue doing presentations on technology and libraries for conferences and library systems” were important but should not be considered to be goals. President Enos commented that items #11 and 12 could be reworded as measurable goals. Discussion ensued. Eisen commended the director for her exceptional level of participation on these boards and committees. He also commended her staff for effectively overseeing library operations in her absence.

Motion to approve the Director’s goals for 2010 as presented by Eisen, seconded by Wicihowski, and carried unanimously.

12. Staff Appreciation. The Library Board sponsored an employee appreciation breakfast in the past. Director Saecker noted that National Library Week is held in April and that we also have a staff meeting scheduled for the morning of April 13^th. She recommended that the Policies and Personnel Committee meet to discuss whether the board would like to sponsor a staff appreciation breakfast on April 13^th.

13. Trustee Essentials #14. The discussion of Trustee Essential #14 was tabled until the February meeting. Rick Carlson will lead us in the discussion.  A handout on open meetings law was distributed.

 

Motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:31 p.m. by Derouin, seconded by Wicihowski, and carried unanimously.

 

The next regular board meeting will be held in the Gegan Room on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Eisen, Secretary

Kris Seefeldt, Recording Secretary