McLean County Times

Carlock Public Library Board met Oct. 19.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

In the absence of President Beth Wagner, Vice-President Lacey Fritsch called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Other Board members present in-person or on Zoom were Nick Birky, David Garrison, Mike Miller, Jane Randall, and Laura Stephenson. Library Director Christie Lau was in attendance. There were no visitors.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Public Comment: none.

Correspondence: none.

Minutes Approved: The minutes of the September 21, 2021 meeting were reviewed. With no additions or corrections, they stand approved as printed.

Director’s Report: 1) Christie distributed the Director’s 1st Quarter Report, monthly Circulation Statistics for this quarter, and Circulation Statistics for FY 2020-2021. Numbers are up a little from last year but are generally holding steady. In talking with other libraries, she found that all seem to have trouble getting people to attend adult programming at this time. 2) Story Hour and Toddler Time, which are being held in the Park, have had good attendance. The programs will be moving inside as the weather gets colder. 3) Christie has hired 2 new employees: Ashley Litwiller, focusing on teen & adult programming, and Rachel Jansen, whose focus will be children’s programming. They have lots of great ideas and are eager to get to work. 4) Christie also handed out Local Library Comparison: Population #s, Card Count, Collection Count. The size of the library’s collection of books does not seem to correlate to the number of patron cards.

President’s Report: none.

Secretary’s Report: none.

Finance Committee: Dave presented the minutes from Finance Committee meetings: July 13, August 3, August 12, and August 26. All stand approved as presented.

Policy Committee: Lacey presented the minutes from their meetings on September 7 and September 16. They stand approved as presented.

Long-Range Committee: No report.

Financial Report: The monthly financial report from Harland’s accounting was received. Dave noted that we have received the first half of tax revenue from McLean County and all tax revenue from Woodford County. The second half from McLean County will be coming next year. It was noted that the annual Summary of Revenue and Disbursements was published in the Quill on August 26, 2021.

New Business:

1) Levy Ordinance: Ordinance 2021-04, Ordinance Levying and Assessing Tax of the Counties of McLean and Woodford for Fiscal Year July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 was presented. Jane made a motion to approve Ordinance 2021-04 as presented; seconded by Nick. Motion carried unanimously. It will be published and sent to the County Clerks of both counties.

2) Materials Selection Policy: The Policy Committee presented a revised Materials Selection Policy. The major change was combining the previous Form I: Complaint About Library Material and Form II; Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials into one form: Complaint About Library Material Form. Jane made a motion to adopt the Materials Selection Policy as presented; seconded by Laura. Motion carried unanimously.

3) Research Proposal: Christie presented a research proposal with some marketing and long-term planning components. The ultimate goal is to gather more information on what our constituents want from the Library. The proposal includes 4 small projects: 1) Sending out a short survey to all households in our district, which would be in lieu of the fall newsletter. Incentives would be offered to get people to come into the Library; 2) Tabulating the survey results and conducting additional research as needed; 3) Using gathered research to develop a long-term strategic plan; 4) Using gathered research to develop library marketing plan. Christie recommended that an intern be hired using Per Capita funds to work on this project. She would also like to see a logo developed that would be a consistent brand for the Library. It was suggested that we might have a contest for a logo design. After discussion, Dave made amotion to move forward with the research project as proposed; seconded by Jane. Motion carried unanimously. At Mike’s suggestion, Christie will generate a report comparing the number of patron cards from the 3 townships.

4) Audit Update: Lacey presented audit estimates from area accountants; discussion followed. Lacey will reach out again for an estimate more specific to what we are looking for.

5) Holliday Party: A tentative date of Wednesday, December 8, at 5 pm was set for a holiday get-together for the Board, Library staff, and volunteers. Final details will be worked out at the November meeting.

Closed Session: Jane made a motion to go into Closed Session to discuss Christie’s 90-day review; seconded by Lacey. Motion carried unanimously. Christie was dismissed for the evening and the Board went into Closed Session at approximately 8:20 pm.

The Board returned to Open Session at 8:30 pm. Mike made a motion to increase Christie Lau’s annual salary by $1,000 as discussed in the Closed Session; seconded by Lacey. Motion carried unanimously.

Being no further business, a motion was made by Nick to adjourn; seconded by Laura. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm. The next regular meeting will be held Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at 6:30 pm.

https://carlocklibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-101921-Library-Board-Minutes.pdf