Vespasian Warner Public Library District Clinton, IL 61727 Board of Trustees Meeting June 12, 2024 President Laura Hale called the meeting of the board to order at 6:02 p.m. Roll call was taken with the following members present: Hale, Janelle Sams-Thomas, Matt Love, Becky Adams, Stephanie Coonce (in at 6:03), and Camille Redman. Absent: Clay Held. Also present: Executive Director Bobbi Perryman, Youth Services Manager Melissa Snow, and Ed Torbert, taxpayer and former board member. Corrections or additions to the minutes: The minutes from May 8, 2024, were approved by voice vote on a motion by Sams-Thomas. Approval of Bills—None Correspondence—A letter from the Illinois Secretary of State notified the library that we have been awarded a $15,871.68 per capita grant. It will likely be used for programming, digital content, and e-books. Staff Reports—The memory lab is up and running. Patrons can digitize home movies, slides, etc. Information on why the HVAC system needs replacing has been posted on the library’s website. It includes a picture of a greatly deteriorated pipe, which is now available to see at the circulation desk. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are also included on the website. Operation of the Apple & Pork rental booths on the library grounds has been completely turned over to the Friends of the Library. Money for their rental can be accepted by the library and then a check will be cut by the library and turned over to the Friends since the Friends do not have the capability of accepting credit payments. Statistics include a 20 percent increase in e-books, possibly because they were highlighted in the library newsletter. Hoopla has become more expensive to the library. Audio books are limited to five per patron. The Homeschool Focus Group met, with four people attending, plus some written feedback. They find the staff to be very helpful. For some, they could not afford to homeschool without the library and interlibrary loan. They would like to see book clubs for older kids, more teen programs, and subscriptions for online educational resources. The library is working on providing more programs that focus on movement and music, and the library is planning to facilitate science and art fairs. The library will do brochures for patrons with dyslexia. Melissa Snow reported on the successful Saturday, June 1, kickoff of the Summer Reading program. 258 people, including 168 kids were registered. Because of the rain, the event was moved indoors. Sweet Mae’s snow-cones were a huge hit, as well as the balloon animals by Lillian Hammer. The line was so long, she stayed an hour later than scheduled. There are now 672 participants, well ahead of last year. The library has tripled the number of programs that were offered last year. Most are completely full, with wait lists. People can sign up online. Melissa and Emily Dunham are doing it all. Also, Melissa announced she is expecting a baby in December. Standing Committee Reports a. Finance—The big CD has been moved to cash so the library can cover expenses before it receives this year’s tax money. Then money can be moved back into a CD later. b. Property—HVAC update: A representative from ENTEC will be here next month, so the board can expect a long meeting. ENTEC has been paid $160,000 so far. Henson/Robinson has inspected the roof and did necessary repairs. The window broken in last month’s vandalism will cost over $1,000 to replace. Friends of the Library will pay for it. The whole sill needs replaced. No one has been found to do the job yet. Can Perryman ask the District Attorney or our attorney if the vandal can be made to pay for the costs? Also, carpet around the circulation desk needs replaced. It will cost about $3,500. c. Personnel—None d. Policy—None e. Strategic Plan Ad Hoc Committee—Redman will ask at the meeting Monday to see if people from the Friendship Center will agree to be a focus group to give us feedback. Business Items: a. Audit Engagement Letter—Perryman received only one bid for alternate auditors, from Striegel, Knobloch & Company of Bloomington, who will do the audit for FY 24/25 for $12,500. Our current auditors wanted $16,000, for the next fiscal year, up $4,000 from last year. Love moved that we contract with SKCO for the $12,500 bid. The motion passed unanimously. b. Non-Resident Program Participation for FY 24/25—Adams moved that we continue to extend library privileges to non-residents using the tax-bill method or 15% of one month’s rent. Motion passed by voice vote. c. Set meeting dates for FY 24/25—The library board will continue to meet on the second Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m., with the exception of August, which is usually changed to accommodate the public month-long viewing time of the proposed budget. d. Committee Appointments for FY 24/25—President Hale appointed Love and Redman to the Finance Committee, Sams-Thomas and Hale to the Property Committee, Held and Coonce to the Personnel Committee, and Sams-Thomas and Adams to the Policy Committee. e. Two trustees to be appointed to review last year’s closed-session minutes—Sams-Thomas and Love volunteered and completed the assignment following the meeting. Announcements—none Adjournment—On a motion by Sams-Thomas, the meeting was adjourned at 6:46 p.m. Motion passed by voice vote. The next meeting is Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 6 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Becky Adams