April 16, 2024, Full Board meeting
Minutes
Bryan-Bennett Library Board of Trustees Meeting
April 16, 2024, 6:29 p.m. in the Board Room
Call to Order, Roll Call of Trustees
Bryan-Bennett Library Board President Ed Dolbeare called the April 16, 2024, meeting of the Bryan-Bennett Library Board of Trustees to order at 6:29 p.m. Trustees answering the roll call were Mark Decker, Jennifer Dice, Ed Dolbeare, Lynn Larimer, Marylin Lewis, Joyce Raver and Gayla Wilkerson. Trustees absent were Brad Crow and Gary Hahn. Library Director Kim Keller, Assistant Director Jodi Trinkle, Friends of Bryan-Bennett Library President Laura Crain, and Kasey Angeloni were also present.
Public Comment- None
Secretary’s Report
Approval of March 19, 2024, Regular Board Meeting
The Board Members looked over the minutes from the March 19, 2024, meeting. A motion was made by Trustee Decker and seconded by Trustee Larimer to accept the minutes as written. Trustees voted yes and the motion was carried.
After reviewing the minutes from March 19, 2024, closed session meeting Trustee Decker made a motion to accept them with a second from Trustee Wilkerson. All Trustees voted in agreement and the motion was carried out.
Treasurer’s Report
Payment of March 2024 Bills
Board members looked over the March 2024 bills list. Trustee Dice made a motion to approve the list, totaling $33,177.07. Trustee Lewis then seconded the motion and all trustees voted in favor, so the motion was carried.
Financial Report
After reviewing the Financial Report for March 2024, Trustee Decker made a motion to accept the report with a second from Trustee Dice. All members voted yes, and the motion was carried.
Asset, Memorial Fund and Donation Report March 2024
Trustees read over the asset, memorial fund and donation report. No comments were made.
Friends of Bryan-Bennett Library Update
Friends of Bryan-Bennett Library President Laura Crain reports things are going smoothly. Their members had a good turn out to help with The Planetarium Experience. They have added a puzzle lending section to the reading room. The Friends provided all the staff members with gift bags in recognition of National Library Week.
Committee Reports
Finance- None
Policy- None
Personnel- None
Building and Grounds- The east boarder has been updated. Chairman Hahn will begin staining as soon as possible.
New Business
Slate of Board Officers for fiscal year 2025 will be filled out and returned before the May Board meeting.
Open Seats
Kasey Angeloni has accepted the appointment made by Salem City Council to fill the year remaining left vacant by the resignation of Board President Ed Dolbeare effective April 30, 2024. Trustee Raver will not accept her appointment to a three-year term. After 27 years serving on Bryan-Bennett Library Board, Trustee Raver is stepping down. The board appreciates all of Trustee Ravers' hard work and dedication over the years. This leaves an empty seat on the board to be filled by a deserving candidate in the upcoming months. For the time being Vice President Hahn will fill in for outgoing President Dolbeare until a new president is appointed.
Unfinished Business
Computer Replacement Project
Board of Trustees along with Director Keller have agreed that Lazerware of St. Louis, who will replace the communications gear, will be doing all our computer replacements. The library has worked with Lazerware for several years and they are familiar with all our systems.
The Planetarium Experience update
Over 1,200 people have visited the new Planetarium here at Bryan-Bennett Library. Several schools are making reservations for upcoming visits so that number is expected to increase. Program Director Karen Shanafelt is busy working on getting a guest speaker for the summer.
Empty Lot
The empty lot donated to the library by Wayne Stanford needs upkeep. Director Keller will contact the city regarding clean-up plans.
Strategic Develpment Plan- Tabled
Salem Times-Commoner Archives
Director Keller informed the board of a possible donation of bound newspapers from Salem Times-Commoner. Because of the size, the board suggested she investigate digitizing the collection. President Dolbeare suggested using existing donations to fund the potential project.
Excess Funds
Because of the strong balances remaining in both of our bank statements Director Keller feels like she is put in the position of defending our budgeted funds. Moving forward the board will use those to replace HVAC systems without loans from the city.
Directors Evaluation
An evaluation and review with our current director Kim Keller was done on April 19, 2024. Present were Board President Ed Dolbeare, Board Secretary Jennifer Dice and Director Kim Keller. The evaluation was held in Director Kellers office at 2:45 p.m. Personell committee members were unavailable during the review process. Director Keller’s strengths, areas for improvement and expectations were discussed. Minutes of the review are available for board members to look at, but hard copies will not be distributed. The Board President and the Personnel Committee Chairperson will have them as soon as those seats are filled.
Directors Report- See attachment
Board Member’s Report- None
Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made by Trustee Dice and seconded by Trustee Larimer at 7:52 p.m. all Trustees were in favor. A small reception was held immediately after for outgoing President Dolbeare.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jennifer Dice
Board Secretary
Bryan-Bennett Library Director Report April 16, 2024
Newspaper Archives
I asked Elaina Peyton at the Times-Commoner if the company would be interested in donating the bound copies of the paper to Bryan-Bennett Library. The company may be looking to rehome the books, if the building sells and the Salem office moves to another site in town.
DAR 250th Celebration
Joyce Vieira of the Daughters of American Revolution has asked to have a display in honor of the country’s history shown at the Library. Bryan-Bennett Library is on the list of future venues. The showing date is to be determined.
Question Regarding Property Tax Letter in May
For several years, Bryan-Bennett Library had submitted a property tax request in May for the tax year covered by the levy approved by the Council in December and in August, in advance of the levy that the Council approves in December. Finance Director Keli Roth says that one letter will suffice. She suggests submitting in August. I didn’t want to alter the practice, without having the blessing of the Board. I suggest that I would submit a finance summary for the coming fiscal year, as part of the Annual Report I give to City Hall in May.
The Planetarium Experience
At the close of business on April 10, a total of 1,208 people had viewed the Planetarium Experience. New Horizon students will visit on April 25. Selmaville 4th and 5th grades will tour May 9. Two Kaskaskia Workshop groups will tour May 14 and 16.
Summer Reading Program
Summer Reading Program plans are warming up. The coordinated reading challenge will be offered for preschool through adult readers. More details are in the May newsletter rough draft that accompanies this report.
The festivities this summer will start with a Touch-A-Truck event on May 24 at 10 a.m.
Cooking School and Little Roots events are among the June activities.
Program Director Shanafelt is working with Flora Public Library to coordinate a water show, which we can hold in the south parking lot. Working with Flora Library cuts the price from $500 to $350. The water show would be July 2.
Mad Science will appear July 18. The Friends of the Library has donated money to help in the cost of bringing Mad Science to Bryan-Bennett Library this summer.
Aspen
Aspen Discovery is an online public access catalog interface that can integrate with Polaris. It integrates e-resources in one single search. We’ve signed up to provide this service to our patrons. Jodi, Karen and I will undergo training on this at the end of April and in May. Aspen will become more important to patrons, as we explore different electronic resources.
Rest Room Incident
On April 11, Library staff found a used condom and its wrapper in the men’s rest room. Staff were investigating the rest room, after observing a patron enter the building and go straight to the men’s room. There were sounds of several flushes in a row and paper towels dispensed.
Respectfully submitted by,
Kim Keller