McLean County Times

City of Pontiac Public Library Board of Trustees met Jan. 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Pontiac Public Library Board of Trustees met on January 9th, 2023. President Connie Snyder called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM.

The roll call was answered by Connie Snyder, Nancy Milhauser, Debbie Dowdy, Kathy McLean, and John Wille. Also in attendance was the Library Director, Kristin Holzhauer.

Consent Agenda:

Trustees reviewed the December minutes and paid bills. Nancy Milhauser moved to accept the minutes and bills as presented. Debbie Dowdy seconded. All present voted in favor; motion carried.

Citizens to be Heard:

None

Correspondence:

None

Director’s Report:

The library closed early on December 22nd and remained closed December 23rd due to inclement weather.

The last of the holiday programs were both well attended. We continue to receive messages of thanks from those who attended these programs. Jen and I look forward to offering similar activities next winter.

I am working on the library’s state certification, grants, and budget for the next fiscal year. The Per Capita Grant is due January 30th. The Illinois state certification is due March 31st. The state IPLAR is due June 1st. I will have a draft of the budget for the board to review at the next regular meeting in February.

We will have a full program schedule for the remainder of the fiscal year. It is my hope that we will continue to see our attendance numbers increase with this robust offering of activities and presentations. Jen and I have also begun plans for the 2023 Summer Reading Program. Tentative dates for our summer are June 3rd through July 8th, 2023. We are also looking to bring back our end of summer trip this year as part of the program, which we hope to schedule the week of July 24th. The state IREAD theme this year is “Find Your Voice.”

Upcoming Programs:

1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Puzzle Table

January

1/03- Story Time 10:30 AM

Book Group 6:00 PM

1/04- LEGO Club 3:30 PM

1/07- Lunch & Movie- Frozen II- 11:00 AM

Writer’s Group 1:30 PM

1/09- Story Time 10:30 AM

Regular Meeting of the Library Board 5:30 PM

1/10- Story Time 10:30 AM

1/11- LEGO Club 3:30 PM

1/16- Story Time 10:30 AM

1/17- Story Time 10:30 AM

CCSI Support Group 4:00 PM

1/18- LEGO Club 3:30 PM

1/19- Noah’s Ark Story Times

1/20- Noah’s Ark Story Times

1/23- Story Time 10:30 AM

1/24- Story Time 10:30 AM

Team Jeopardy Night 5:30 PM

1/25- LEGO Club 3:30 PM

1/30- Story Time 10:30 AM

1/31- Story Time 10:30 AM

Committee Updates:

Management – Management Committee will be meeting 1/9/23 following the regular board meeting.

Building and Grounds – Kristin is waiting for final quotes from Vissering. They have confirmed that they will work with Wrights Furniture for the bathroom flooring.

Finance – None

Old Business:

Digitization Funding Update- LSC Communications has offered $1,000.00 towards the project. Kristin has sent out letters to the 4 major banks in Pontiac requesting $10,000.00 from each back for the digitization project. She would like to wait until February before sending another round of donation requests to see if any of the other businesses respond.

Live & Learn Construction Update- Kristin is waiting for final quotes from Vissering. They have confirmed that they will work with Wrights Furniture for the bathroom flooring.

New Business:

DVD collection storage – Kristin would like to move the DVD dics to the floor and place them inside the browsing sleeves instead of keeping them behind the circulation desk. She explained that the reasons for keeping them behind the counter were to deter theft when DVD prices exceeded average book costs. Now that DVDs are an older format, the cost is significantly less and there is less risk for the Library placing them on the floor. Moving the collection to the floor also provide significant extra work space in the staff work room. The Trustees agreed this would be an acceptable move for the collection and for the staff work room.

Illinois Freedom Project Exhibit/February Programs – Kristin provided details regarding the Illinois Freedom Project traveling exhibit coming to the Library for the month of February. Members from the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area and Looking for Lincoln will be present for the Grand Opening. Because the library is hosting a Mr. Lincoln presentation on 2/13/23, the night of the board meeting for February, the regular board meeting will be bumped back to 7:000 PM.

Policy Review – Kristin presented a draft of the Personnel Policy for trustees to review. She recommended rewording the dress code statement so that it is more concise for employees to follow. The Trustees were in agreement with her recommendations for this section. Kristin also received a copy of the holiday schedule from City Hall. It revealed that the City is closed three additional holiday for which the library is currently open. Kristin would like to close for these holidays. She explained that traffic is always less on these holidays since patrons are already expecting the library to be closed with other area businesses and government offices. It was decided to table the decision regarding holidays. President, Connie Snyder asked Kristin to provide attendance comparisons for an average Monday and then what attendance is received on Monday 1/16/23, Martin Luther King Day.

Trustee Closing Comments:

None

Debbie Dowdy moved to adjourn the meeting. Nancy Milhauser seconded. All present voted in favor; motion carried.

https://www.pontiac.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01092023-946