Urbana Free Library Board Meeting

The Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees Minutes of a Regular Meeting Held on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 CALL TO ORDER The Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees met in the Lewis Auditorium of The Urbana Free Library on March 21, 2017. The meeting was called to order by the president, Chris Scherer, at 7:00 p.m. ATTENDANCE Present: Bill Brown, Barbara Jones, Anna Merritt, Mark Netter, Chris Scherer, Michael Weissman and Jane Williams Absent: Geoff Bant and Beth Scheid Staff present: Becky Brown, Celeste Choate, and Kathy Wicks Also present: Crofton Coleman and Simon Rosenzweig ADDITIONS, CORRECTIONS, MODIFICATIONS OF THE AGENDA Celeste Choate recommended deleting “9.5 Invoice for repair or replacement of air handler motor,” since the bill is not over $10,000. APPROVE THE AGENDA It was moved by Michael Weissman, seconded by Mark Netter, and passed unanimously to approve the agenda as amended. PUBLIC COMMENT None. PRESENTATIONS Celeste Choate gave an overview of the FY18 budget. The main source of Library income is property tax. The City helps the Library in other ways, including paying IMRF and FICA and helping to pay for HVAC repairs and a development director. There was a question about why the number for staff salaries has stayed fairly consistent over the past three years. The answer is that as staff leave, the Library has assessed the best way to use the hours and savings have resulted. Michael Weissman asked if the staff line would stay relatively flat into the future. Celeste answered that there are other changes coming in work flow, and the impact is hard to predict. Bill Brown asked about the large increase in the materials budget, rather than the planned gradual increase. Celeste explained that the gradual increase hadn’t happened for a couple of years, so the larger increase was to catch up. Anna Merritt asked whether the new special collections were included in the materials budget. Celeste answered that some of the money will come from the Library’s budget and other money will come from donations. Michael Weissman asked that the Library investigate repairing the windows in the front rooms before replacing carpet. Bill Brown asked if the Library had explored grant opportunities to fix Board of Trustees of The Urbana Free Library – Minutes for the meeting of March 21, 2017 – Page 2 the windows. Celeste said that the Library is being included in an RFP that the City is putting out for an energy consultant. The consultant will help the City and the Library find ways to save on energy costs. There was discussion about various ways and time frames for replacing the carpet. Celeste commented on trends the Library is seeing, including programs and programming attendance increasing, patron self-initiated circulation increasing, reference questions and computer use decreasing. She also explained to the Board the connections between fund balance, end of the year cash flow, and the bank statement amounts. For FY18, non-L05 funds will be set up more like the general L05 fund, with revenue and expense lines and budget amounts in those lines. ACTION ITEMS (CONSENT AGENDA) It was moved by Anna Merritt, seconded by Michael Weissman, and passed unanimously to approve the consent agenda as presented. ACTION ITEMS (INDIVIDUAL) It was moved by Barbara Jones, seconded by Michael Weissman, and passed unanimously to approve the revised Finance Policy as presented. It was moved by Bill Brown, seconded by Barbara Jones, and passed unanimously to approve replacing the chiller in FY18 and issuing an RFP. It was moved by Mark Netter and Michael Weissman to table the motion regarding the replacement of carpet in high traffic areas. It was moved by Michael Weissman, seconded by Mark Netter, and passed unanimously to award the contract to replace the Cleaver-Brooks Boiler to Reliable Mechanical. It was moved by Anna Merritt, seconded by Barbara Jones, and passed unanimously to approve payment of the Champaign Public Library invoice for $37,157.73. It was moved by Barbara Jones, seconded by Anna Merritt, and passed unanimously to approve the FY17 Budget revisions. DISCUSSION ITEMS Anna Merritt and Barbara Jones each took a moment to share concerns about large amounts of money being used by various entities to pay for a variety of things, while not-for-profits, including the Library, do not have the needed funds to function as well as they should. Celeste restated that the capital expenditures line in the budget will set aside $160,000 for the chiller and $50,000 for potentially repairing the windows. Celeste talked about the UNESCO Five Laws of Media and Information Literacy which were related to the Five Laws of Library Science proposed by S. R. Ranganathan in 1931. As she read through the five laws, she explained how each one was relative to The Urbana Free Library. Board of Trustees of The Urbana Free Library – Minutes for the meeting of March 21, 2017 – Page 3 REPORTS OF LIAISON OFFICERS Friends of the Library Anna Merritt told the Board about the Friends’ spring book sale running from March 30 through April 3. This sale will have an assortment of manga books, and the Friends are curious about how well they will sell. The Friends are allowing the Library to use $400 from this book sale to advertise the Summer Reading Program on MTD buses. The Urbana Free Library Foundation Chris Scherer told the Board that the Foundation is still negotiating the purchase of the corner lot. The Foundation paid off the note for the property across Green Street. Illinois Heartland Library System No report. BOARD PRESIDENT REPORT Chris Scherer spoke to the Board about the Illinois Library Association handouts which he and Barbara Jones received at the Legislative luncheon in Bloomington. The handouts outlined issues that Illinois libraries are facing and ways to advocate for libraries. Bill Brown assured the Board that even if there is a tax freeze, the City will fund the Library as agreed. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Kathy Wicks updated the Board about the air handler motor, which will be delivered at 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Celeste reported to the Board that the video game collection is now circulating, as well as laptop computers. NEW BUSINESS None. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. CLOSED SESSION At 8:07 p.m. it was moved by Mark Netter and approved by roll call vote to move into closed session to discuss personnel, pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (1). Yes votes: Bill Brown, Barbara Jones, Anna Merritt, Mark Netter, Chris Scherer, Michael Weissman and Jane Williams No votes: None. At 8:48 p.m., it was approved by roll call vote to move back into open session. Board of Trustees of The Urbana Free Library – Minutes for the meeting of March 21, 2017 – Page 4 Yes votes: Bill Brown, Barbara Jones, Anna Merritt, Mark Netter, Chris Scherer, Michael Weissman and Jane Williams No votes: None. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m. ________________________________________ Becky Brown, Recorder ________________________________________ Elizabeth Scheid, Secretary Date Approved:__________________________ This meeting was taped for later broadcast on cable television. Supplementary information is available in the Board packet of March 21, 2017.