Board members in attendance: Linda Cappello, Crystal Catchings, Luanne Holper, Sy Korte, Susan Meister, Michele Stacey-Doyle, and Melissa Tinzmann. Kelly Wilhelm, Librarian, attended the meeting. Paula Gross and Miranda Wright-Kauffmann, board members, were unable to attend the meeting.
- Call to order & roll call
Meeting called to order by Susan Meister, President, at 7:02 p.m. - Board President Report, Director’s Report and Minutes of October 13 and 27 Meetings were presented for approval as written via consent agenda. Michele Stacey-Doyle motioned and Crystal Catchings seconded the motion to approve as written. Motion approved unanimously.
- Corresponding Secretary’s Report
No report was provided due to the Corresponding Secretary’s absence.
- Financial Report
Luanne Holper, Treasurer, presented the financial reports. The legal fees were discussed – this is a necessary expense as we move forward with the changes we have been making in the operation of the library. Sy Korte motioned to pay the bills as presented. Michele Stacey-Doyle seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously.
A CD will be maturing in mid-December; Luanne Holper will present a recommendation at the next board meeting.
- Property Update
- Giberson Building
Susan Meister presented pictures of a building that might be an option for a future location of the library. The board was concerned about the high traffic volume on the street and noted that the lack of off-street parking would need to be considered, but the building did seem interesting enough to warrant further research.
- Proposal re/ 320 S. Fritz
Susan Meister will acknowledge the receipt of the proposal regarding the building at 320 S. Fritz, and indicate that we are considering our options, and that we will contact them again if it is determined that we are ready to proceed further.
- Unfinished Business
- Policy Book
Michele Stacey-Doyle motioned to approve the policy manual as amended. Luanne Holper seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion included a reminder that the manual is a living document and we do intend is to make amendments as necessary. We plan to review the policy manual several times over the next few months to ensure we have written a document that works well for our library.
- eReader Program Update
Kelly Wilhelm presented a map of the city with dots indicating households with library cards, which helps us determine where our patrons live. The map does not indicate which households primarily use the eReader program, but we could ask a volunteer to update it with this data.
Kelly discussed the e-magazines which might become available to us if IHLS chooses to begin using the program. Kelly will research other options that are available to us, as the cost may not be justifiable if there are not many e-magazines to choose from (if they are even available to us, as the availability is dependent on the decision that IHLS makes).
- More questions on becoming a district?
Susan Meister will locate a library director who can meet with us to help walk us through the procedure of becoming a library district. We anticipate we will also need advice from a lawyer, but will wait until we are further along in the process before asking for legal counsel as there would most likely be a charge associated with this service.
- Survey: Results to Date; Website Posting?
Kelly reported that Paula Gross has most of the completed surveys, but as she is absent, specific data is unavailable. Kelly said that the comments were generally positive, and that many people felt the library would benefit from a bigger space.
- 2015 Tax Levy Request – Status
The board is waiting to hear from City Treasurer Paul Grob to hear what the city is doing with their tax levy request. We hope to vote on our tax levy at our next meeting once we have their response.
- New Business
A motion was made by Michele Stacey-Doyle to take items c, e, f, g, & h under new business and send it to the personnel committee for consideration at their next meeting, and to require Kelly Wilhelm to attend their next meeting. Motion seconded by Melissa Tinzmann. Motion passed with one abstention.
- Scheduling
There was a scheduling conflict that caused the library to open late recently. Kelly indicated that the conflict has been addressed, and it should not happen again. The library will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving (November 27 and 28, 2014).
- Other Possible Library Locations
Kelly presented a map of 10 acres of land which might be available to the library through a grant from a philanthropic group. If we received this grant, they would purchase the land for us if we were to build a new library building on it. We would like to research this further to determine whether or not this would be a viable option for us.
- Next Year’s Book Sale
We might consider involving another organization with next year’s book sale. This would allow us to have a larger book sale while sharing both the labor and the profits.
- Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Melissa Tinzmann
Acting Recording Secretary