East Central Reporter

Illinois Prairie District Public Library Board of Trustees met December 5.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

1. Call to order. - The meeting was called to order at 3:59 p.m. Present were Trustees Annie Hicks, Jack Weddle, Joyce Zobrist, Ken Maurer, John Armstrong, and Director Joel Shoemaker. Genna Buhr arrived at 4:00 p.m.

2. Minutes of the last regular meeting. - Maurer moved, and Armstrong seconded, to approve the minutes of the November 7 meeting. Motion passed.

3. Public comments. Melanie Meismer commented that the trees at the Germantown Hills library have not yet been replaced. Shoemaker said he is working on getting the landscaper to replace them. She also said that the library’s utility room door to the outside was open today and her husband shut it. Ann Sasso asked if Shoemaker knew about the new law that government bodies need to pass a sexual harassment policy. Shoemaker said he knew of it and it would be put in the new employee handbook. Joe Helms and Eric Pemble from Spring Bay expressed an interest in buying the lot next to the Spring Bay library at a later date to put up a building for the food pantry. Kim Scurlock was against this as the lot is used by the citizens of Spring Bay for playing and running their dogs. Also, the library’s story hour employee has used it for story hour during warm weather. She is also concerned that it will lower her home value as it sits directly across from the lot. No other comments were given and the public comment was closed by Hicks.

4. Treasurer's report. – approval of bills and requisitions. – Shoemaker reported that the library is doing well and all things are in order. Buhr moved, and Maurer seconded, to approve the bills and requisitions as presented. Motion passed.

5. Discussion of land next to Spring Bay for food pantry. – Shoemaker has no opinion on this matter at this time. The Board does not have enough information at this time and are looking at improvements for branches at this time, not the selling of property. Shoemaker is currently working on a strategic plan for the library district.

6. Discussion and Approval of 2018-2020 district hours. – Zobrist wants to see consistency in hours at Metamora branch. Shoemaker says that the new hours reflect that, they are just expanded so the library is open more hours. He also he wants to keep these hours for two years to be able to assess how they are working and to see if it is affordable. Spring Bay is the only branch with unchanged hours. The new hours will go into effect on January 1, 2018. Armstrong moved, and Buhr seconded, to accept the district hours as presented and written in the board packet. Motion passed.

7. Discussion on Safety per Per Capita Grant. – Shoemaker said the Per Capita Grant is done yearly and from this comes the amount the state gives to the library district. Shoemaker is concerned about some safety issues and is working toward getting two people working at each branch when it is open, a panic button at each library, and developing a disaster plan. He will go over safety issues at quarterly staff meetings and he will be working on a checklist over the next fiscal year to address these issues. Buhr suggested that Shoemaker send out Trustee duties and responsibilities a bit at a time starting in the summer, so it is easier for them to go over.

8. Discussion on Bylaws for Board of Trustees for Per Capita Grant. – Shoemaker would like the Board to read chapters 1 through 5 and to use pages 53-57 of the board packet which are an updated version of the Bylaws. The Illinois State Library model is on pages 58-62 of the board packet. Hicks said that she has been working on the Bylaws since the beginning of the year. This will probably be on the agenda for next month’s meeting so that they can be voted on at that time.

9. Discussion and approval of Job Descriptions for all staff positions. – Shoemaker introduced the new job descriptions and titles for all staff. The job descriptions have been updated or completely rewritten. Buhr moved, Zobrist seconded, to approve job descriptions. Motion passed.

10. Discussion and approval to raise spending authority of Library Director. – Buhr said that the Director’s spending limit should be raised to $5,000 and the mention of telegraph to be taken out of the Authority to Spend document. Maurer moved, Armstrong seconded to approve the Authority to Spend document. Motion passed.

11. Director’s remarks. – The board packet contains the items that Shoemaker discussed. Shoemaker said the gift cards will be passed out at the staff holiday party. There are enough trustees coming to the Roanoke meeting that it will be a special meeting and he will post an agenda. The county and the village do not have plans to the Roanoke library building, so the board will have to talk to Amanda Voorhees about making them. The rest of the boxes of books will be in the computer by the end of December. Shoemaker did a presentation at Germantown Hills Middle School with the 3D printer and did a pair of shoes as a demonstration of what it could do. The attorney is trying to get a third release, and the sale of the former Germantown Hills library branch will not be finalized until then. Zobrist wanted to know if library usage was up or not. Since the patron counters are not working, have the staff noticed any change in use? Shoemaker will be getting new patron counters so usage can be accurate.

15. Comments to guide future agendas. – Shoemaker has noticed that some policies are unfriendly to patrons. He wants to change some of the policies, the processing fee is an example of one policy he would get rid of. The sexual harassment policy will be presented in January 2018. Hicks would like to get a mouse for the laptops and Shoemaker said he would get some. He is still working with Snyder Village to do some senior programs, maybe a beginning computer program. Ann Sasso said the daycare would like to know about available programs for children. Shoemaker said that we are letting them know about programs and they have come to the Germantown Hills library. If the daycare wants to have a certain kind of programming they can contact Shoemaker.

16. Adjournment. – Buhr moved, and Armstrong seconded to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 4:49 p.m.

http://ipdpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/December-5-2017-Minutes.pdf