ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Elisha D. Smith Public Library
Gegan Board Room
May 22, 2019
Called to order at 4:00pm by Chairman Englebert
Present: Chairman Englebert, Vice Chairman Golz, Secretary Halverson, Trustee Franzoi (arrived at 4:03pm), Trustee Lane, Trustee Schwerbel and Superintendent of Schools VanderHeyden
Absent: Trustee Turner, Trustee Witt, Ad Hoc Trustee Hermans, and Teen Representative Genz
Also Present: Director Lenz and Business Manager Dreyer
Public Comment/Communication
None
Consent Business
Motion made by Golz, seconded by VanderHeyden to approve the Library Board meeting minutes from April 24, 2019. Motion carried unanimously.
Authorization of Bills
The capital improvement expenditure to Automated Comfort Controls was for the new A/C compressor. Motion made by Halverson, seconded by Lane to authorize payment of the May 2019 list of bills from the 2019 budget, endowment, and WALS fund. Motion carried unanimously.
Unfinished Business
Trustee Committee Assignments
The slate of officers (Chair – Englebert, Vice Chair – Golz and Secretary – Halverson) and committee assignments were presented at last month’s meeting. Motion made by Lane, seconded by Franzoi to accept the slate of officers and committee assignments as presented. Motion carried unanimously. We will begin scheduling committee meetings to address the goals set in our new strategic plan.
Calumet County Funding
Last month, trustees approved a budget request from Calumet County for $93,812. Winnefox Assistant Director Mark Arend notified the library that the cost per circulation at the Calumet County libraries was calculated incorrectly. Our actual request will be $96,676.
New Business
1. April Statistics.
Overall circulation last month was about the same as April of last year. The door count was 3.7% higher, and meeting room use was up 44.5% mostly due to the addition of the new study room.
2. 2019 Budget Status.
So far this year 37.7% of the budget has been spent.
3. Staff Reports
· After a consensus of a majority of libraries within the Winnefox Library System, beginning immediately, all materials are available for hold by any Winnefox library patron unless an item can’t be transported easily by van from library to library or a library has enough copies to allow for “lucky day” copies. There was also unanimous support for using a 2-week short loan policy for all high demand items, which we already use but is not used uniformly by all libraries. Trustees suggested creating a series of “Did you know” 1-2-minute YouTube clips and “how to” sheets on how to put items on hold, Libby/Overdrive, Hoopla and how to use the library more efficiently. Staff could provide a list of questions they receive most frequently. Motion made by Franzoi, seconded by Schwerbel, to provide a cost estimate and next steps to create this series for the next trustee meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
· After a 20-year commitment of compensating the library for the major facility project of 2004, Winnebago County will be removing that part of their county funding (about $50,000) in 2024. Engelbert, Golz, and Lenz will try to meet with Administrative Services Director John Jacobs and the Mayor to discuss how to ease the budget into that new amount of county funding. Other Winnefox libraries have had that funding run out, but the county continued to fund smaller projects that benefit all county libraries. Most recently the libraries have decided to use those funds for a project focused on digitally archiving Winnebago County historical documents held at all Winnebago County libraries.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made at 4:53pm by VanderHeyden, seconded by Golz. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Dreyer, Recording Secretary
