Sangamon Sun

Sherman Public Library Board of Trustees met December 13.

Here is the minutes as provided by the board:

The regular monthly meeting of the Sherman Public Library Board convened at 5:15 p.m.

Present were Library Director Rachel Kocis and Board members Julie Horton, Gale Kilbury,

Dave Grimm, Mary Contri, John Barrett, Brian Manci and Elizabeth Heubner.

Secretary’s Report: It was moved by Gale Kilbury and seconded by John Barrett to approve

the minutes from the October 18, 2017 regular meeting. The motion was approved by a

unanimous vote.

Treasurers/Financial Report: John Barrett made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report

and to pay the bills. Julie Horton seconded the motion, and the motion carried by a unanimous

voice vote. Brian Manci 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. Library Director Rachel Kocis is working on the annual Financial Report to be filed by

December 20, 2017.

Librarian’s Report: The total patron count in month of November was 2,108. 2,327 items

were circulated 2,994 times at our library, up 397 checkouts from last year, a 15% increase.

Resident borrowing totaled 238 patrons and 2,307 checkouts. Non-Resident borrowing

amounted to 78 borrowers and 687 checkouts. Reciprocal borrowing included 18 borrowers

and 179 checkouts. Cloud Library checkouts included 106 e-books, 22 Cloud Library e-audio.

Overdrive had 162 e-book checkouts and 30 e-audiobook checkouts.

October YTD Borrowing/Lending totals were as follows: 556 SHARE Borrowed, 605 SHARE

Loaned, 5 WorldShare Borrowed YTD, 4 WorldShare Loaned YTD.

Library Events and Issues: Rachel noted that the Library has a new NewsBank feature for

patrons to use: America’s Obituaries and Death Notices allows library card holders to search for

recent obituaries and death notices from newspapers nationwide in a single keywordsearchable

database. Director Kocis now is serving on the member benefits committee for

Sherman Chamber of Commerce. She noted that they may use the Library as a Book Club

location for interested chamber members in the coming year. The Library had coffee out for

patrons to drink for free on Small Business Shop Local Day 11/25. Staff shredded 8 boxes of

records as per Local Records Act disposal certificates for free at Gone for Good on 11/29/17.

The Lost Gourd Society created and donated over 300 ornaments out of gourds and decorated

the Christmas tree in the Children’s Wing. Passive programs for December include Find

Mistletoe the Reindeer and Ornament Decorating. The Library is collecting for Toys for Tots and

Contact Ministries. Martin Miller created a history of aircraft display in the west wing display

case. Rachel is working with the Village to get cardboard recycling program under control. The

majority of summer performers have been booked for next year. Rachel is working with

Homeschool Association to schedule monthly afternoon programs at the Library. A late-January

program to paint flags on rocks representing different countries participating in

The Olympic Games is being planned as well. Rachel will attend STEAM Community Dialogue

at Williamsville Public Library on January 9th. Two new mobile hotspots were purchased; 10

Playaway Launchpad have been purchased and cataloged. The Per Capita Grant application is

due January 15, 2018. The Library has not received funds from last year’s per capita grant from

the state. This year’s per capita requirements include: trustees review chapters 1-5 from Trustee

Fact Files and chapter 12 of Standards for Illinois Public Libraries from Serving Our Public 3.0.

This year’s emphasis is on Safety. The library purchased an additional fire extinguisher for the

kitchen in November, created an emergency manual for the circulation desk, active shooter

training is scheduled for December 15, and there is a staff/trustee training webinar: “Trends in

Safety and Security for Libraries.” The Director received training on library security at Director’s

University.

Library Programs: Children’s programs for the month of November included Family Reading

Night on 11/16/17 and Story-times on 11/6, 11/7, 11/13, 11/14, 11/20, 11/21, 11/27, and 11/28.

The children’s program attendance for November was 118.

Adult Programs in November included Book Club on 11/14, Ins and Outs of Medicare on 10/20,

and Third Thursday Reading on Group 11/16. Adult program attendance for November was 39.

Groups meeting at the Library in November included Quilters, Flaggland Park Home Owner’s

Association, Lost Gourd Society, and Mother’s Group, Sangamon County 4H, Daisies, and

Teachers Group. The total Meeting Room use was 112. Library Outreach included All His

Children Outreach on 11/3, Elementary School Outreach on 11/16 and 11/17 as well as Villa

Outreach.

The total monthly outreach for November was 266. Study Room use totaled 79 patrons.

Upcoming programs include Drop in Craft Night: Felt Ornaments on December 14, Open late for

finals (till 9:00 p.m.) on December 18 and December 19, and Illinois History: Celebrating the

State Bicentennial with Tom Emery on January 25 from 6-7 p.m., and Restoring the Illinois State

Executive Mansion with Justin Blandford of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Historic

Preservation on February 19 at 6:30 p.m. Story-times will also resume on January 2.

Library Training/Workshops: The Staff Holiday Party and Staff Training will be held from 5-7

p.m. on Friday December 15. Rachel will attend STEAM Dialogue Williamsville Public Library on

January 9 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. The Small Public Library Meeting is on January 26 from 10-12 in

Warrensburg.

Library Closings: The Library will be closed on the same dates as the Illinois Heartland

Library System office: December 22, December 25, December 29, and January 1.

Old Business: Rachel discussed the Per Capita Report as well as ISL Certification. She also

gave a brief description of the Winter Adult Reading Program “Books around the World.”

New Business: Rachel addressed the Board about the possibility of purchasing a VHS to DVD

conversion kit for the library. The Board encouraged her to make this purchase and to put the

kit into use for library patrons.

Rachel presented the Board with a review of Chapters 1-5 of the Trustees Fact Files.

Julie Horton and Dave Grimm reported that they had met with Rachel to review her

Performance Review.

Action Items: The Board reviewed the Sexual Harassment Policy. Liz Heubner made a

motion to accept Ordinance 2017-05, the Sexual Harassment Policy with an amendment adding

consequences for false reporting. Gale Kilbury seconded the motion, and the motion carried

following a unanimous voice vote.

The Board reviewed the Circulation Policy with new additions for the new Wifi Hotspots and

Playaway tablets. Julie Horton made a motion to accept the Circulation Policy with these

additions. Dave Grimm seconded the motion, and all were in favor.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned via a motion by Julie Horton at 6:00 p.m. Liz

Heubner seconded the motion.

http://www.shermanlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Board-Minutes-December-13-2017.pdf