WAUCONDA AREA PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT

 

BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING

 

February 12, 2007

 

 

The meeting was held at the library at 7:30 p.m. with the following Library Trustees present:  Mrs. Carr, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Jonak, Mr. Kosty, Mrs. Miller, Mr. Stevig, and Mrs. Whitman. Trustees absent:. none.  Staff present: Tom Kern (Library Director), Kathy Nielsen (Circulation Manager), Jan Staudemeyer (Head of Children’s Services).  No visitors were present.

 

Mr. Jonak made a motion seconded by Mrs. Whitman to approve the minutes of the January 15, 2007 as corrected.  Voice vote.  All in favor.  Motion carried.

 

The financial and budget reports were discussed.  Topics included: reporting of income from program ticket sales; an increase in the cost of electricity; purchasing of Polish materials; expenditures not yet categorized because of receipts not yet submitted by staff; remote and in-house storage space; underspending of payroll funds due in part to temporary staff shortage in the Children’s Services Department; the need to schedule a Meeting of the Whole.

 

Mr. Jonak made a motion seconded by Mrs. Carr to pay the bills as presented and to transfer sufficient funds from the Investment Pool into the checking account.

 

Roll call vote

YES:                                                      Carr, Johnson, Jonak, Kosty, Miller, Stevig, Whitman
NO:                                        none
ABSTAIN:                            none
ABSENT AND NOT VOTING:    none

 

Mr. Kern followed up on a question asked at the January board meeting with respect to reporting of checking account vs. fund transfer for end-of-year staff bonuses.

 

Library usage statistics were discussed.  Mr. Kern noted that the rate of increase in total circulation has flattened out again, perhaps in part because the weather has been so much worse this year than last year.  There was some discussion of ways to attract more patrons, including better merchandising, expanding hours, and providing refreshments. 

 

Library director and departmental reports were discussed.  Topics included:  the coming election; North Suburban Library System’s NorthStarNet and the fact that it will be discontinued as of June 30, 2007; NSLS’s web-based Community Calendar service will continue.  Mr. Kern noted that the Wauconda Area Library’s library card signup program and partnership with the business community is featured in a new nationally distributed book titled Library Success: A Celebration of Library Innovation, Adaptation and Problem Solving.  The library’s success story is presented as a case study in the chapter covering partnership and collaboration. 

 

Suggestions from the Suggestion Box were discussed.  Topics included: 6th graders wishing to use the Children’s Department rather than the Adult Services Department; a series of books in the Children’s Department that patron felt were inappropriate.

 

There was some discussion of updating the library trustee binders for those who want them, as well as the trustee web page which gives online access to the documents included in the binder.  Mr. Kern noted that the trustee web page was generally kept up to date.

 

Incidents reported during the month of January were discussed briefly. 

 

Mr. Kern presented the Trustee Training portion of the board meeting, providing an overview of Evanced Events, a full-featured program/event management and planning utility with online registration options & email marketing tools.  Mr. Kern noted that Events is an entirely web-based application that can cost-effectively meet the library’s needs for promoting and tracking programs while making program registration faster and more user-friendly for the public.  There was some discussion of this system, as well as the related Room Reserve system, covering pro’s and cons.

 

Mr. Jonak made a motion seconded by Dr. Johnson to purchase the Events and the Room Reserve systems as presented at the price quoted.

 

Roll call vote

YES:                                                      Carr, Johnson, Jonak, Kosty, Miller, Stevig, Whitman
NO:                                        none
ABSTAIN:                            none
ABSENT AND NOT VOTING:    none

 

Mr. Kern briefly discussed the annexation of some property west of the Fox River by the Cary Public Library District.

 

Mr. Kosty discussed Wauconda’s Comprehensive Plan that has been drafted, noting that a meeting had been scheduled for March 7, 2007, to which managers and trustees from the various taxing bodies of the Wauconda area were invited.

 

A Committee of the Whole Meeting was scheduled for March 26, 2007.

 

Dr. Johnson made a motion seconded by Mrs. Miller that the meeting be adjourned.  Voice vote.  All in favor.  Motion carried.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

 

 

Approved ____________________

 

 

________________________________                    ________________________________

President                                                                     Secretary