Sangamon Sun

Sherman Public Library Board of Trustees met Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The Sherman Library board meets at 5 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the library.

Here are the minutes as provided by Sherman Public Library:

Sherman Public Library Board Regular Meeting Board of Trustees November 16, 2016

The regular monthly meeting of the Sherman Public Library Board convened at 6:03 p.m. Present were Library Director Rachel Kocis and Board members Julie Horton, Bob Shurig, Dave Grimm, Mary Contri, Melissa Allen, Gale Kilbury and Elizabeth Heubner

Items for Consideration Not on the Agenda: Julie Horton discussed the proper channels for handling legal questions about the library. All such questions should be addressed to the library’s lawyer, Phil Lenzini.

Vacation time for the Assistant Director was discussed. There were some questions that needed clarification via the Personnel Policy. The questions were addressed and answered.

Secretary’s Report: It was moved by Melissa Allen and seconded by Gale Kilbury to approve the minutes from the October 12, 2016 regular meeting with one amendment. The portion of the minutes detailing the Library Page position should have read 1-1.5 hours, four nights per week with a maximum of 6 hours per week. The motion was approved.

Gale Kilbury made a motion to accept the minutes of the Special Meeting, held October 23, 2016. Julie Horton seconded the motion, and the motion carried unanimously.

Treasurers/Financial Report: Treasurer Melissa Allen presented the Financial Report. Liz Heubner made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report and pay the bills. Dave Grimm seconded the motion, and the motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. Melissa Allen made a motion to pay the mortgage payment from the Special Reserves account. Gale Kilbury seconded the motion and a unanimous voice vote in favor was taken.

Treasurer Allen reported as well that the Friends of the Sherman Library had a very successful book sale in September. The financial audit has also been completed and will be conducted again every 4 years.

Librarian’s Report: Circulation for the month of September 2016 was 1919 items circulated 2402 times, which is an increase of 371 checkouts from one year ago. For reciprocal borrowing, 44 patrons borrowed 629 items. There were 99 e-books and 4 e-audiobooks checked out through 3M Cloud. The Sherman Public Library has borrowed 1210 items and loaned 1739 items through the Interlibrary Loan (SHARE) program for the fiscal year to date. Also in this fiscal year, the Library has borrowed 13 items and loaned 20 items through World Share.

Library Programs: Director Rachel Kocis noted that to date the library has utilized 19.7% of its materials budget since the beginning of FY17. 731 new items have been added to the library’s collection in that time.

Events and Issues: The filing period for Board Election is December 12-19. Three Board members are up for re-election should they choose to run. Rachel Kocis gave a report on several training she attended during the month of October. The exterior and interior windows will be cleaned in the coming months. The parking lot repavement and repair has been completed. The TEI Landmark Grant was submitted and an electronics donation was made to BLH. Our oldest air-conditioning unit had a Freon leak recently, but repairs were completed by Gatschenbergers. Our Red Cross agreement has been updated with Rachel Kocis and Julie Horton listed as contacts. The library will be closing at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 23 and will be closed November 24 and 25 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Projects: The staff has re-organized the non-fiction books, created an oversized book collection and is weeding triple/duplicate copies of older fiction as well as cleaning up records and re-labeling the Early Readers.

Programs: Story times will be held Thursdays in November. They will take a hiatus for December and resume in January. Attendance has been good at these events. Family Reading Night will be held on November 17 at 6:30 p.m. International Games Day will also be celebrated at the Library on November 19 from 12-2:00.

Action Items: Dave Grimm made a motion to adopt Resolution 2016-06 to comply with the Government Travel Expense Control Act. Gale Kilbury seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

Liz Heubner made a motion to adopt the revised New Staff Orientation policy. Mary Contri seconded the motion. All were in favor.

The Board discussed the Fair Labor and Standards Act. Julie Horton made a motion to raise the Director’s salary to meet FLSA threshold beginning December 1 if ruling goes into effect. Gale Kilbury seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Julie Horton made a motion to hire Bev Obert to assist with strategic planning for the library. Liz Heubner seconded the motion and the motion carried with a unanimous voice vote.

Ethan Morrissey has been hired to work from 4-8 on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the library.

The Board selected a new logo for the library based on the public vote taken in October.

Dave Grimm made a motion to enter into a technology replacement plan with Serenity Systems according to their Sherman Standardization Plan. Melissa Allen seconded the motion and a unanimous voice vote carried the motion.

Liz Heubner made a motion to allow for the hiring of a Library Page for a maximum of 6 hours per week. Bob Shurig seconded the motion and the motion carried by a 6-1 vote.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by Julie Horton at 8:03 p.m.