McLean County Times

Carlock Public Library District Board met July 15.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Public Hearing for the Budget & Appropriation Ordinance: The public hearing began at 6:30pm. The meeting was open to the public and also on zoom. No members of the public were in attendance either in person or virtually.

President, Beth Wagner, called the meeting to order at 6:45pm. Board members present were David Garrison, Nick Birky, Cynthia Edmonds-Cady, Kevin Moore, Dawn Neblock and Laura Stephenson. No trustees were absent. Library Director Christie Lau was in attendance. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Public Comment:

● There was no public comment

Correspondence:

● There was a letter from the Secretary of State that we were awarded the per Capita grant. The amount is a little lower than what was expected, but not much.

Approval of Minutes:

● Regular Board Meeting June 2025: Kevin made a motion to table the minutes until the next meeting. Laura seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Reports

● Library Director:

○ June monthly report - The numbers in June were up, which typically happens during the summer reading program. The adult circulation is about 50/50 between physical and digital. The children’s collection makes up a little over 60% of the checkouts. Approximately 30 more people registered for the summer reading program this year compared to last year. The tiny art show had the highest number of participants of the summer reading program activities. The final event for the summer reading program is this coming Saturday.

○ Quarterly report (2025 Quarter 4) - Compared to last year, the overall numbers are continuing to rise.

○ Annual report (FY 2025) - During the 2025 fiscal year, there were 25,883 checkouts which is the highest it has been in the past 10 years. There were 139 cards issued this year. Overall, there are 874 library cards. Overall attendance to programs topped 3,000 participants. The young adult collection tends to be checked out more frequently in digital versions.

● President: No report

● Secretary: No report

● Finance Committee: No report

● Policy Committee: No report

Financial Reports:

● Financial Statements June 2025: Due to state mandates, the library has to have no money remaining in the unappropriated equity fund. At the end of the month, the fund shows $45,380.91. After the final checks clear, this will be closer to $34,000. This money will be transferred to the special reserve fund. At that point, a corrected end of year statement will be issued that indicates the actual end of year numbers. The other funds (social security, liability insurance, for example) can roll over and also are larger currently because of tax dollars that have recently been deposited.

New Business:

● Ordinance 2025 - 01: Meeting Dates: An ordinance must be passed to show the meeting dates for the upcoming year. As is typical, there will be no December meeting. Dave made a motion to accept the dates. Beth seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

● Ordinance 2025 - 02: Confidentiality: This is a standard ordinance regarding the confidentiality of patron information. Beth made a motion to accept the ordinance as written. Nick seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

● Ordinance 2025 - 03: Budget & Appropriation: This ordinance has been on display for the public since June 11. The public hearing today was not attended by any members of the public. Dawn made a motion to accept the ordinance as written. Cynthia seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

● Ordinance 2025 - 04: Building & Maintenance: This ordinance is for the levy for the building & maintenance fund. After this is passed, the public has 30 days to petition against it if they do not support the levy. This ordinance must be passed yearly to be able to levy the money. Some years, this is not needed. Other years, it is needed. Currently, the library still has a construction loan balance of $433,305.11. Kevin made a motion to adopt the ordinance as written. Beth seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

● Board of Trustees Review of Meeting Minutes for IPLAR: Yearly, in September, we are required to submit a lengthy report to IPLAR. One of the requirements is that the meeting minutes must be reviewed by two members of the board of trustees. Kevin and Cynthia volunteered to do this task.

● Construction Loan Update: The original loan was $615,000. The current balance is $433,305.11. The last payment of this cycle ($35,320) is due September 4, 2025. The term of the loan is a 25 year loan, broken into 5 five-year terms. The first two five-year terms had an interest rate of 2.5%. When talking with the representative of Heartland Bank & Trust, we should expect the interest rate to more than double (expected rate is around 5.25%). This would increase the payment to around $40,000. We can either continue with the 15 years that remain, or we can continue with the lower payment. The lower payment would extend the life of the loan by about 3.5 years (from 15 years to 18.5 years). This was not unexpected as interest rates have risen. A decision about this will need to be made at the August meeting.

● Directors & Officers Liability Insurance: A couple of years ago, the trustees had voted to have this insurance. All trustees have to be willing to provide their information in order for this coverage to take effect. This is recommended as part of the library’s coverage. The board would like additional information about what this policy covers.

● Marketing Annual Report: Feedback was given a little over a year ago that the library should do a better job of marketing itself and sharing what the library funds are used for. There are two documents that were shared. The first is a social media and newsletter to library patrons. The second is a mailing that would go to all households within the library district. There was a lot of discussion about what should be included in the mailing since this is really an opportunity to sell the library as a great place to be involved in. Dave made a motion to create a committee for community marketing. Dawn seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Upcoming meetings:

● Community Marketing Committee: July 17, 2025 at 6:30pm

● Next regular meeting: August 19, 2025 at 6:30pm

Kevin made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Laura seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:34 pm.

https://cpl.specialdistrict.org/files/5fa7fe3ee/7_15_2025.pdf