Board Meeting Minutes 6-21-21

LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
Monday, June 21, 2021
Hybrid In-Person & Via Zoom
7:00 p.m.

CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

President Bernas called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT

Jillian Bernas, President; Theresa Seyring, Treasurer; Anita Forte-Scott; Emily Gilbert; Carole Pye; Amy Mueller

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT

Julie Wroblewski Bosshart, Vice-President/Secretary

OTHERS PRESENT

Allison, Matt Binder, Amber Creger, Kim Czmiel, M Doshi, Gerry, Justine Gilbert, Janet Glatzhofer, Beck Hopkins, Jennifer Hunt, Britt Islay, Jen, Jessica, Blake Kindl, Joe Marcantonio, Annie Miskewitch, Kathy Morgan, Jenny Pawlikowski, Jason Santos, Joanne Schultz, Hollis Sienkiewicz, Bobbi Sloan, Sarah Strzalka, Magan Szwarek, Lori Teipel, Gail Tobin, Beth Valenziano, Emily Vinci, Ameenah Zawahir

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Patron Bobbi Sloan talked about an issue she had with a DVD from the Library’s collection and welcomed the new Trustees to the Board.

BOARD COMMENTS

Trustee Forte-Scott is looking forward to the upcoming American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference where she’ll be able to communicate with other colleagues from across the country and learn from the guest speakers. She enjoyed visiting The Bias Inside Us exhibit and encouraged others to attend. She also thanked Hollis and Justin Sienkiewicz for taking new headshots of the Trustees.

Treasurer Seyring is ready for ALA Annual Conference and hopes it’s as successful as ALA Midwinter Conference.

Trustee Gilbert thanked Hollis and Justin Sienkiewicz for the photo sessions. In May, Trustee Gilbert attended a Newly Elected Officials Seminar and found it very helpful, particularly the FOIA and OMA training. She had previously read Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji, the book that The Bias Inside Us exhibit is based on and thought it was amazing to see the book come to life with such a wonderful exhibit. She also attended the book discussion for Blindspot and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Trustee Pye enjoyed The Bias Inside Us exhibit as she visited it on opening day with her family. She attended the Environmental Fair and Dr. Corey Yeager & Unconscious Bias program, as well as OMA, FOIA, ILA RAILS and Newly Elected Officials trainings.

Trustee Mueller is excited to hear the speakers at the ALA Annual conference, especially Amanda Gorman and President Barack Obama. She hopes next year she’ll be able to attend the conference in person.

RAILS - Ms. Bernas

The recent webinar on disaster planning is now available on the RAILS continuing education page. There is a RAILS Roundtable on August 20 about Tips for New Makerspaces that could be of interest for the upcoming Central second floor renovation.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Trustee Gilbert moved and Trustee Pye seconded that:

The May 17, 2021, Regular Board Meeting Minutes be approved.

Discussion included addition of information and clarification of salutations.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Trustee Forte-Scott moved and Trustee Mueller seconded that:

The June 7, 2021, Budget Committee Meeting Minutes be approved.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Trustee Forte-Scott moved and Trustee Gilbert seconded that:

The June 8, 2021, Budget Committee Meeting Minutes be approved.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

APPROVAL OF BILLS

Trustee Gilbert moved and Trustee Pye seconded that:

The Library Board approve the May 2021 Bill List.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT

Treasurer Seyring explained our General Fund balance increased by $292,000 due to revenues exceeding expenses. Property taxes received in May were approximately $1.2 million, and the Buildings and Equipment Special Reserve Fund decreased $781,000 due to costs from the Central roof renovation. Total revenues were just over $2 million, consisting mostly of property tax receipts, with additional grant receipts of $13,000 and FEMA receipts of over $5,000. Market value of investments decreased by $9,000, bringing cost in excess of investment to $18,000. Planning for the Central second floor remodel will include Library held maturities. Cash flows are projected out based on investment maturities, as well as anticipated revenues. Operating cash is higher than normal as investments and cash flow needs are being evaluated.

Discussion included about the balance sheet differences between the budgeted costs and actual costs in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and the difference between the tax receipts and replacement taxes.

ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO AGENDA

The presentation from Ancel Glink will be moved to before the President’s Report.

The Student Advisory Trustee Hail and Farewell will be moved after the presentation from Ancel Glink.

PRESENTATION FROM ANCEL GLINK

Attorney Britt Islay shared information about the Library’s law firm Ancel Glink, who represents municipalities, libraries, park districts and other local governments. They help with creating policies, property acquisitions, renovations, contracts and more. He shared the 2021 Guide for Newly-Elected Officials by Ancel Glink with the Trustees and encouraged Trustees to express their opinions and views on topics discussed as part of their major responsibilities.

Discussion included the fiduciary responsibility of Board members, which can include voting on budgets, voting to change investments, and offering guidance to the Leadership team. The Board can also hire experts like actuaries and accountants to guide the Library’s budget if needed.

STUDENT ADVISOR TRUSTEE HAIL & FAREWELL

Discussion included Treasurer Seyring, a SAT Committee member, thanking the SATs for their commitment and she appreciated the insights they brought for the Board’s benefit.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Bernas has been using the continuing education archive from RAILS recently and wanted to share with the Board about Appreciative Inquiry as they prepare for strategic planning.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Executive Director Miskewitch shared the statistics still have room for growth as the Library fully reopens. The self-checks had over 5,000 items checked out in May, an increase of over 1,000 items from the previous month. Ms. Miskewitch shared information about recent hires and introduced Matt Binder, the Library’s newest Adult Program Coordinator, who shared his work history and excitement for his new role. Director Miskewitch will be visiting several local libraries who have gone through renovations in the past year to see and share their updates. After recent events at the Niles-Maine Library, she thanked the Board for their continued advocacy and strong support. She is grateful the Board has always worked together for the benefit of the Library, staff and community.

Discussion included the cooperative working relationship between the Leadership team and the Board. The upcoming 2021 holiday party was happily mentioned as we return to more events.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Deputy Director Hunt mentioned the different positions currently being hired at the Library. Now that Illinois has entered Phase 5, Town Square concerts have been opened to anyone, with no registration required. Programmers are planning to offer some in-person programming starting in September, while maintaining a few virtual programs for the convenience of patrons. Patrons can now view their event and meeting room registrations via the website’s My Account page.

Discussion included the benefit of continuing to offer a selection of virtual programs, the charities being donated to for the Summer Challenge and explaining the Pop-Up Library.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

Information Technology – Jason Santos

IT Director Jason Santos explained his department’s work during the pandemic, including installing pick-up lockers, self-checks and a mini copy center in the former Café space with a PC, copier, scanner, fax and printing. The Library’s Wi-Fi signal was expanded to the parking lot, and then to Town Square in partnership with the Village of Schaumburg. Since July 2020, 27,420 items were checked out at the self-checks, with 8,650 items checked out from the pick-up lockers. In the upcoming year, the IT Department will focus on an infrastructure upgrade.

Discussion included IT’s responsive assistance to staff needs, so staff can quickly serve the public as needed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Updated Library Board Committees

President Bernas tried to accommodate requests and preferences from the Board. The proposed committees will be reviewed, and some committees may gain members from staff or the public.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Discussion of Central Second Floor Renovation Proposals

The architects are meeting with the Leadership team to get more input. A financial framework for the proposed renovation with capital needs, to understand the Library’s financial future, will be available in the months ahead. The architects will come back to share answers to Board questions from the last presentation before October.

NEW BUSINESS

Discussion and Approval of FY2021-2022 Tentative Operating Budget

Trustee Gilbert moved and Trustee Pye seconded the approval of the FY2021-2022 Tentative Operating Budget as proposed.

Discussion included explaining the different Library funds. The need to approve a tentative budget was discussed, and after input from lawyer Britt Islay, it was decided only a final, not a tentative budget needed Board approval.

Trustee Gilbert withdrew the motion and Trustee Pye withdrew the second.

Discussion and Approval of Transfer of Money from Operating Budget Fund Balance to Building Reserve Fund

Treasurer Seyring moved and Trustee Mueller seconded the approval of the Transfer of Money from Operating Budget Fund Balance to Building Reserve Fund.

Discussion included a proposed $1,000,000 transfer and the policy for the operating budget fund balance.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Approval of Compensation Policy

Trustee Mueller moved and Trustee Gilbert seconded the approval of the Compensation Policy.

Discussion included eliminating the historical premium Sunday pay and allowing the Administration team to move forward with the benchmarking compensation adjustments. This was originally discussed in March but approval was delayed after feedback from staff, to properly convey the changes and present compensation adjustments to the Board.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott No

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed.

 

Approval of Waiver of Bid for Renewal of EBSCO Article Database Package for $35,790.00

Trustee Mueller moved and Trustee Pye seconded the approval of Waiver of Bid for renewal of EBSCO Article Database package for $35,790.00.

Discussion included the invoice, which is a one-time payment paid in the next fiscal year beginning July 01, 2021. Trustee Mueller asked how often this resource is utilized and Ms. Strazalka shared it has been accessed over 20,000 times in the past year.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Approval of Waiver of Bid for Renewal of NewsBank Newspaper Database Package for $45,295.00

Trustee Forte-Scott moved and Trustee Gilbert seconded the approval of Waiver of Bid for renewal of NewsBank newspaper database package for $45,295.00.

Discussion included Heritage Hub being added to this database package and broader access to obituaries and local newspapers.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Approval of Third-Party Short-Term Disability Insurance (WIN) effective 07/01/2021

Treasurer Seyring moved and Trustee Forte-Scott seconded the approval of the Third-Party Short-Term Disability Insurance (WIN) effective 07/01/2021.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Discussion and Possible Action on Meeting Time and Location for Future Board Meetings

Discussion included if Trustees would like the meetings to return to the Board Room and branch locations. The meetings have historically always taken place at 7 p.m., but could be moved earlier to accommodate schedules. Trustee Forte-Scott doesn’t feel comfortable meeting back in the Board Room for the next couple of months. Half of the Rasmussen room, or the Workshop could be used for the time being until the Board Room is utilized again. 6:30 p.m. was suggested for the meetings, but the vote for a time change will wait until all Board members are present. The meeting at Hanover Park in October was recommended.

ADJOURNMENT

Trustee Pye moved and Trustee Forte-Scott seconded that:

The Library Board adjourn regular session at 9:11 P.M.

 

Roll call vote:

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

Ms. Gilbert Yes

Mrs. Mueller Yes

Mrs. Pye Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

The motion passed unanimously.