Board Meeting Minutes 11-18-19

LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
Monday, November 18, 2019
Central Library Conference Room
7:00 p.m.

CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT

Anita Forte-Scott, President; Jillian Bernas, Vice-President/Secretary; Theresa Seyring, Treasurer; Erin Flannigan-Davies; Hannah Hyman; David Jonen; Julie Wroblewski Bosshart

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT

None

STUDENT TRUSTEES PRESENT

Alisa Gandhi, Araha Uday

OTHERS PRESENT

Justine Gilbert, Monica Harris, Peggy Jachec, Shirley Jones, Julie Koehl, Sandra Kurth, Annie Miskewitch, Cheryl Musolf, Hollis Sienkiewicz, Bobbi Sloan, Magan Szwarek, Lori Teipel, Beth Valenziano, Judy Walther

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Bobbi Sloan expressed her desire for the Library to allow patrons to register for bus trips online or by phone instead of having to visit the library.

BOARD COMMENTS

Trustee Jonen commented how well the In-Service day was planned and facilitated.

Trustee Wroblewski Bosshart attended Farm Fresh Fall Chili, a Culinary Curiosity program, and commented the food was very good. She thought the article written by Fiction Librarian Allison Bies featured in the ILA Reporter had great points. She loved seeing the library represented in the publication.

Treasurer Seyring was able to attend the In-Service day and thought it went well and she had a positive experience. She thought the team building exercises were successful and complimented the speakers. She especially enjoyed the self-empathy program. She also attended the Illinois

Library Association (ILA) conference with Executive Director Harris. She attended several programs including one about going fine free at libraries.

Vice-President Bernas attended the Hanover Park Veterans Day observance service, which is done very well every year. She presented at a Boy Scout Troop meeting and spoke about the different year round reading programs the Boy Scouts could participate in. She also brought the award the Library was presented by the Daily Herald’s Spanish speaking supplement, Reflejos. She suggested the board review the code of conduct to reflect the legalization of marijuana in the State of Illinois starting January 1, 2020.

Trustee Hyman enjoyed her time at the In-Service day and complimented the staff.

RAILS - Ms. Hyman

RAILS announced Executive Director Harris will be moving to her new RAILS position in December.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Vice-President Bernas moved and Trustee Jonen seconded that:

The October 21, 2019, Regular Board Meeting Minutes be approved.

Discussion included the correct capitalization of kidsZone.

The motion passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF BILLS

Trustee Hyman moved and Trustee Wroblewski Bosshart seconded that:

The Library Board approved the October 2019 Bill List.

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Wroblewski Bosshart Yes

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

Ms. Hyman Yes

Mr. Jonen Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO AGENDA

The Student Advisory Trustees (SAT) Report will be moved up to directly follow the new Trustee swearing in. The presentation of the Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Audit Report will be moved to directly after the SAT Report. Trustee Hyman will need to leave after the Trustee swearing in. There will be an Executive Session to discuss appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees; and litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the Library has been filed or is pending.

APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENT OF NEW TRUSTEE

Vice-President Bernas moved and Trustee Wroblewski Bosshart seconded that the following officer be approved:

Erin Flannigan-Davies

Roll Call Vote:

Mrs. Wroblewski Bosshart Yes

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

Ms. Hyman Yes

Mr. Jonen Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

SWEARING IN OF NEW TRUSTEES

Vice-President Bernas administered the Oath of Office to Erin Flannigan-Davies.

STUDENT TRUSTEE REPORTS

Araha Uday mentioned they reached out to the Hoffman Estates High School head librarian, Ms. Berkowitz, who is open to working with the SATs. At Schaumburg High School Araha worked to get an article about BrainFuse in the school newspaper. She also worked with Ms. Fletcher, who coordinates the school’s social media, to promote the Library’s Month of Make. She attended the recent program 5 Ways to Maximize Your College Visit at the Library and thought it was very helpful and informative.

Alisa Gandhi mentioned the Conant High School book club is doing well and the powerpoint shown to classes has been updated. Teen Librarian Anna Pederson visited her school and hosted a program where students made stress relieving balls for midterms. Ms. Forte-Scott asked the SATs to promote the upcoming One Book, One Community at their schools. She also commented on how well they are doing.

FISCAL YEAR 2018-2019 AUDIT REPORT

Auditor Judy Walther from McClure and Company introduced the new audit report format, updated from previous years. The Library received a clean opinion under all generally accepted accounting principals. The Library’s total financial assets are $47 million, with a gain of $1 million over last year. Current assets are up 10% over last year. Investments are up with interest rates having increased. Total revenues are up and costs are down. Salaries are down 1.6% after staff turnover.

The Library only spent 80% of the cost appropriation. Cash and investments lines are deferred, a representation of the 2018 levee. The Library’s general fund balance policy could be adapted, to allow a higher percentage range available. President Forte-Scott commented on how well the new format worked. Vice-President Bernas asked about the general fund balance policy compared with other libraries and Ms. Walther mentioned it can be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years at other libraries, while we generally run at 3 months.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Forte-Scott asked the board to refer to her written report, and hope they found it inspirational and informative.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Executive Director Harris handed out a contact sheet for board members to update. The recent payroll conversion has finished and Ms. Harris extended her thanks to the group who worked so hard to make sure the conversion was as smooth as possible. The One Book, One Community initiative starts soon, and marketing for the event will include photos of board members with the book. Many staff members presented at the ILA annual conference showing off the Library’s leadership skills. Ms. Harris highlighted Director of Marketing Hollis Sienkiewicz, Teen Librarians Joe Marcantonio and Allison Riggs, Reference Services Director Magan Szwarek, Youth Department Director Amber Cregor and Annie Tillman from Programs and Outreach for all presenting.

Vice-President Bernas asked for clarification regarding the Min Jin Lee author visit in February for One Book, One Community. It is a ticketed event at the Prairie Performing Arts Center with the board members requesting tickets.

Ms. Harris mentioned updates for the circulation construction projects. A pre-bid meeting will take place on Thursday, November 21 that will allow contractors to look around the building and ask questions as they prepare. All bids will be due by December 11. A recommendation should be presented and approved by the board by late December with construction anticipated to begin in early March.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Deputy Director Miskewitch commented Blake Kindl has hit the ground running with many new projects. New OSHA compliant ladders have been purchased and concrete sidewalk repairs took place at Central. Kristin Moo’s Digital Services team made 138,929 tweaks to the online catalog in the last month.

Ms. Miskewitch mentioned the Library is making an effort to inform the public about the upcoming Census 2020. Articles have been posted on the Library’s website connected to that and the McMillan Publishers’ e-books embargo of limiting libraries to only one e-book purchase per title. Executive Director Harris commented this is an issue being watched closely because of the large population size of our library district. The American Library Association (ALA) and ILA have distributed information to inform patrons. Some library systems are boycotting McMillan purchases completely because of this policy.

Ms. Miskewitch explained the Kanopy usage statistics for the first month of service being offered to patrons. New laptops were deployed at Hanover Park and Hoffman Estates branches. The replacement outreach van has been purchased and is currently out for branding. Ms. Miskewitch also attended the ILA conference. The ALA Leadership Institute she attended in August was mentioned in the American Libraries magazine.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

Marketing and Communications – Hollis Sienkiewicz

Director of Marketing Hollis Sienkiewicz’s department oversees all the external marketing and bigger internal messaging of the Library, making sure everyone is in the know. A Daily Herald press clipping packet of the department’s work is available for anyone who wishes to see it. In the month of September the marketing department asked every patron who registered for a program how they heard about the program, to study the effectiveness of all the Library’s marketing channels. The Guide and the website accounted for about 82% of all responses. The youth and teen patrons are using the website the most for program information.

Ms. Sienkiewicz mentioned the marketing staff won two PR Xchange awards from the ALA and has written winning grant proposals allowing the library to provide new services, including the Thinking Money for Kids program coming in Spring 2020. In Spring 2019 the Library hosted the ILA Marketing mini-conference and will host again in April 2020. An ongoing marketing project has begun to encourage non-patron households to register for cards, including a recent postcard initiative targeting households within one mile of any of the three library locations. The upcoming 2020 Summer Challenge theme is still being considered, but most likely will be connected to a camp theme.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Plan of Service

Vice-President Bernas asked about the youth volunteers initative, wondering if it would be extended to adult volunteers. There has been discussion in the past about having a staff member dedicated solely to being a Volunteer Coordinator. Executive Director Harris believes this would be an important role for the library and should wait to be posted and filled once a new executive director has been appointed since the two would work closely together.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Treasurer Seyring explained the General Fund Balance decreased by $1.2 million due to expenses exceeding revenue. Changes in working cash fund were reflected in investment and market change activity. Market increases in October were about $6,500. Books and materials are tracking slightly below budget, but exceeding amounts spent last year. Costs for recent new hires are reflected in the maintenance department. The payroll conversion is shown in the computer operations costs.

Treasurer Seyring mentioned favorable variances at the department level are mostly connected to staff vacancies. Investments continue to perform favorably due to increased market rates. Cash flows are up based on investment maturities. Tax receipts were invested and reflected in the cash flows of October. Building and equipment expenditures for the new van and maintentence to the elevator totaled $33,000.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS

Review of Proposed 2020 Calendar of Regular Board Meeting Dates

Vice-President Bernas suggested the March board meeting be moved to March 9 to accommodate the Illinois Primary election. President Forte-Scott suggested the December meeting be moved a week up to December 14 to avoid the Christmas holiday.

Approval of Changing the Date of the Regular December Board Meeting to December 9

Vice-President Bernas moved and Trustee Jonen seconded the approval of changing the date of the regular December Board Meeting to December 9.

The motion passed unanimously.

Request for the Use of the Combined Rasmussen Room by School District 54 for January 15, February 19 and March 18

Trustee Wroblewski Bosshart moved and Treasurer Seyring seconded the request for the use of the combined Rasmussen Room by School District 54 for January 15, February 19 and March 18, 2020.

Discussion included if this agreement with the school district has been working. The groups of school district employees attending the meetings have been smaller than anticipated and the Library will follow up to see if District 54 will continue to need both rooms.

The motion passed unanimously.

Approval of Professional Development Expenses of $1,225.00 for ALA Midwinter Conference in January 2020, $1,730.50 for ALA Midwinter Conference in January 2020, $1,382.50 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,563.69 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,563.69 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,468.00 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,760.00 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,760.00 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,820.50 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $2,003.89 for PLA Conference in February 2020 and $2,016.00 for EdTech Conference in June 2020.

Trustee Wroblewski Bosshart moved and Treasurer Seyring seconded the approval of Professional Development Expenses of $1,225.00 for ALA Midwinter Conference in January 2020, $1,730.50 for ALA Midwinter Conference in January 2020, $1,382.50 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,563.69 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,563.69 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,468.00 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,760.00 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,760.00 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $1,820.50 for PLA Conference in February 2020, $2,003.89 for PLA Conference in February 2020 and $2,016.00 for EdTech Conference in June 2020.

Discussion included the difference in costs connected to program attendance.

The motion passed unanimously.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Vice-President Bernas moved and Trustee Flannigan-Davies seconded that:

The Library Board exit the open session at 8:32 P.M.

Roll call vote:

Ms. Flannigan-Davies Yes

Mrs. Wroblewski Bosshart Yes

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

Mr. Jonen Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

Vice-President Bernas moved and Trustee Jonen seconded that:

The Library Board enter Executive Session at 8:40 P.M.

Roll call vote:

Ms. Flannigan-Davies Yes

Mrs. Wroblewski Bosshart Yes

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

Mr. Jonen Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

Vice-President Bernas moved and Trustee Flannigan-Davies seconded that:

The Library Board re-enter Regular Session at 9:21 P.M.

Roll call vote:

Ms. Flannigan-Davies Yes

Mrs. Wroblewski Bosshart Yes

Mrs. Seyring Yes

Ms. Bernas Yes

Mr. Jonen Yes

Ms. Forte-Scott Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT

Trustee Wroblewski Bosshart moved and Vice-President Bernas seconded that:

The Library Board adjourn at 9:24 P.M.

The motion passed unanimously.