Sangamon Sun

Chatham Area Public Library Board of Trustees met March 19.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

I. Board Meeting Called to Order

A call to order was made by C. Westerlund at 7:02 p.m. A roll call was conducted by S. Fairfield. Board members in attendance: S. Fairfield, M. Roubitchek, C. Westerlund, C. Jeffries, C. Moore and D. Holden

Absentees: L. Ross Please note that Director Byers and Administrative Assistant, Dara Lewis were also present.

II. Recognition of Visitors / Public Comments

No visitors or members of the public were present.

III. Approval of Minutes

A motion to approve the February 19, 2018 meeting minutes was made by C. Jeffries and seconded by C. Moore. The motion passed.

IV. Treasurer’s Reports / Review of Payments

C. Jeffries informed the board that the payments looked in line with the budget. Director Byers added that the Per Capita grant of $12,085.29 had been received.

A motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report was made by S. Fairfield and seconded by D. Holden. The motion passed.

V. Reports

A. Friends of the Library

Director Byers that Murder Mystery dinner theater sold out for all 3 performances. While a full accounting of the event has not yet been conducted, a $500-$700 profit is predicted due to the use of the Jaycees for catering.

Membership is doing well. They have now matched last year’s numbers and continue to grow.

B. Library Foundation - Meeting April 19th @ 6:30

No additional comments were made

C. Library Director’s Report

Director Byers reported on the RTU#11 air conditioning unit being serviced. Two new HVAC units were installed last week, completing the update on all the building’s units from the 1995 install.

The village is to provide additional information on the water meter replacement. D. Byers noted that she will continue to attempt to contact and document correspondence with the village.

A new hire was reported to begin in April. The library is now fully staffed. The children’s staff are beginning to recruit for the Seasonal Children’s Assistant position to assist during the summer reading program.

A motion was made to approve the Library Director’s report by D. Holden, and it was seconded by S. Fairfield. The motion passed.

D. Lighting Savings Update

It was noted that the Library is still realizing savings each month.

E. Newspaper Articles

No comments were made

F. Art Committee Report & Winners

The board was informed that the next year would be the 10th anniversary. The theme will be, “A decade of vision and literature.” Upcoming shows include: RATS (Retired Art Teachers), Pastel Society and Betsy Dollar.

G. Other

There was no other business to discuss.

VI. Unfinished Business

A. Other

There was not unfinished business to discuss.

VII. New Business

A. Strategic Planning process and desired outcomes / DISCUSSION

C. Westerlund opened up the floor for discussion about the strategic planning process. Like the previous plan, surveys and focus groups would be used for the summer planning process. A Survey will be going out in the April newsletter. It will be made available at two local businesses: HSHS and Scoop DuJour. Board members suggest that it also be given to the Jaycees, the Chamber and placed in the school district’s virtual backpack.

In the process they would revisit the mission statement, vision statement and tag. S. Fairfield volunteered to be on the strategic planning committee and C. Westerlund agreed to chair the committee. All trustees are welcome to be part of the focus groups and be leaders during the community roundtables. The importance of involving key stakeholders was mentioned.

Trustees discussed whether to do a 3 or 5-year strategic plan. C. Westerlund noted that the last plan was for 5 years but recommended a 3-year plan to give flexibility in responding to changing environmental issues. It was noted that a 3-year plan could result in burnout to those involved in the process. However, the consensus was to attempt a 3-year plan being mindful of its scope and scale.

B. Other

There was no other new business.

VIII. Announcements

A. Next Board Meeting: April 16th at 7 p.m.

IX. Adjournment

http://chathamlib.org/drupal/sites/all/files/Board%20minutes-agenda/Minutes%20March%2019%202018.pdf