February 2010 Board Minutes

Call to order at 4:05 p.m. by President Enos

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

Absent: Carlson, Nebel

Also present: Director Saecker, K. Seefeldt (Administrative Assistant)

 

1.      Motion to authorize payment of the December list of bills from the 2009 budget and the February bills from the 2010 budget by Eisen, seconded by Derouin 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 had been 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.

Motion to remove this item from the table for discussion by Eisen, seconded by Werley and carried unanimously.

 

Eisen recommended that the minutes be amended to read as follows: Eisen, Carlson, Enos, Wicihowski and Wisneski voted in favor of authorizing a 2.5% pay raise for the Director effective January 1, 2010 and Nebel voted nay.

Motion to approve the amendment as presented by Eisen, seconded Wisneski and carried unanimously

 

Director Saecker proposed that item 11(b) be amended as follows: Board members discussed an annual pay rate increase for the Director, acknowledging her wish to receive a pay increase no greater than the 1% library employees received.

Motion to approve the amendment as presented by Wisneski, seconded by Wicihowski and carried unanimously.

 

 

3.      Approve minutes from the Library Board meeting of January 21, 2010.

Werley inquired whether goals #11 and #12 were removed from the Director’s list. It was noted that the list of goals were approved as presented.

Motion to approve the minutes of the Library Board meeting of January 21, 2010 by Eisen, seconded by Wisneski and carried unanimously.

 

4.      Accept minutes of the Policies and Personnel Committee meeting of February 5, 2010.

Motion to accept the minutes of the Policies and Personnel Committee meeting of February 5, 2010 by Wicihowski, seconded by Werley and carried unanimously.

 

5.      Statistics.   January lending was up 1.3% overall from last year.  We saw large increases in music CDs, DVDs, and children’s CD-books. Our largest increase came from digital resources (Playaways) in the adult and children’s departments.

6.      Happy Birthday Baby!  This club for babies was established about a year ago. Free baby literacy gift bags are offered to local parents when their baby is born. On the child’s first birthday they are given a board book. We now have 49 babies enrolled in the club and 8 who have already received their birthday book. The Board recommended that we provide Happy Birthday Baby club bookmarks and posters to local pediatricians and obstetricians for their waiting rooms.

7.      Annual Report.   Director Saecker is in the process of preparing the annual report to the State. It will be presented to the Board for their review and approval at the March meeting. Director Saecker will have the amount of our roll-over funds from 2009 at that time.

 

8.      Staff In-Services and Planning. Director Saecker will check the MJSD 2010 calendar when scheduling library staff in-services to avoid any conflicts with scheduled school closings.

9.      Staff Appreciation. The Policies and Personnel Committee recommended that the Board convey their appreciation to staff by providing treats such as muffins, donuts, sub-sandwiches and other snacks during National Library Week in April. President Enos volunteered to write a thank-you note to staff. Board members will sign this at the March meeting.

Motion to approve the Policies and Personnel Committee recommendation as presented for staff appreciation during National Library Week by Werley, seconded by Wisneski and carried unanimously.

 

10. Updates to Chapters 1-3 of Library Policies. Werley reviewed the Policies and Personnel Committee’s recommendations for changes, noting that some items were removed that were considered to be practice, not policy. Discussion ensued. Additional changes were recommended. 

Motion to approve updates to Library Policy Chapters I-III as discussed by Werley, seconded by Wisneski and carried unanimously.

 

11. Fees and Fines. The Board examined our fines and fees levels, comparing them to other libraries in our region. Director Saecker advocated for keeping our levels comparable to Neenah’s because many patrons routinely use both libraries. Neenah is not recommending changes at this time. There was a consensus to keep fines and fees at their current levels. Werley recommended that we review these amounts in one year. 

12. Textbooks at the Library. Director Saecker reported that no other library in our region maintains a collection of school textbooks. She also noted that we do not receive requests for them. There was a consensus to leave the policy as it stands. The Board did recommend that we offer the school district the opportunity to house some of their textbooks in our facility for student use.

13. Trustee Essentials #14. A brochure on the open meetings law had been previously distributed to Board members. It was recommended that we move on to Trustee Essentials #15 The Library Board and the Public Records Law.  Werley offered to review this chapter at the next Board meeting. Wicihowski volunteered to review Essential #16 Ethics and Conflict of Interest Laws Applying to Trustees at the April meeting.

 

Motion to adjourn the meeting at 5:02 p.m. by Wicihowski, seconded by Derouin and carried unanimously.

 

 

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

 

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Eisen, Secretary

Kris Seefeldt, Recording Secretary