Library Board of Trustees

WESTWOOD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES MEETING DATE: Monday, January 23, 2023 CALLED TO ORDER: at 7:04 p.m. by Claudia Gonzeles-Doell. PRESENT: Martha Urbiel (MU), Suzanne Gorham (SG), Frank Zimmerman (FZ), Bev Karch (BK), Noeline Grefrath (NG), Claudia Gonzeles-Doell (CGD), Linda Phayre (LP), Nickeisha Williams (NW), and Christopher Montana (CM). Mike Violano (MV) via Zoom. Dennis Farrell (DF) via phone. SUNSHINE LAW: Read by DF. PUBLIC FORUM: No members of the public were present. REORGANIZATION: Election of Officers. NG nominated DF for President; LP seconded. MV nominated SG for President; BK seconded. BK moved to close nominations; FZ seconded. BK counted the anonymous votes. DF was elected President. BK nominated SG for Vice President; NW seconded. BK moved to cast one unanimous ballot for SG; DF seconded. The motion carried. SG was elected Vice President. BK nominated CGD for Treasurer; NG seconded. BK moved to cast one unanimous ballot for CDG; FZ seconded. The motion carried. CGD was elected Treasurer. BK nominated LP for Secretary; DF seconded. BK moved to cast one unanimous ballot for LP; DF seconded. The motion carried. LP was elected Secretary. Appointment to Committees. For Budget Committee, the members shall be CGD, MV, NG, and DF. For Buildings and Grounds Committee, the members shall be MV, FZ, NG, and DF. For Policy Committee, the members shall be SG, BK, LP, and DF. For Personnel Committee, the members shall be NW, CGD, NG, and DF. SWEARING IN OF OFFICERS: CM administered the Oath of Office to CGD and LP. Westwood Library Board Minutes January 23, 2023 Page 1 MINUTES: BK made a motion to accept the minutes of the December 19 meeting; FZ seconded. The motion carried. APPROVAL OF AUTHORIZATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Designation of Legal Depositories. MU confirmed that Lakeland Bank be the legal depository for the Library checking account and Valley National be the legal depository for the Literacy Volunteers of Pascack Valley checking account. A motion to accept these institutes as legal depositories was made by DF; NG seconded. The motion carried. Annual Resolution Authorizing Issuance of Moneys Without Requiring Vendor Certification. BK made a motion to authorize the resolution; DF seconded. The motion carried. Library Board 2023 Meeting Dates: MU shared the proposed Board meeting dates for 2023. NG made the suggestion to move the September 25 meeting to September 18 so it does not conflict with Yom Kippur. NK made a motion to accept the meeting dates; CGD seconded. The motion carried. Annual Authorization of Library Board President to approve bill payments when there is not a quorum. BK made a motion to accept the authorization; NG seconded. Annual Signing of BCCLS Certification Agreement. BK made a motion to accept the authorization; NG seconded. Annual resolution authorizing Board President to okay unanticipated closings and early closings. BK made a motion to accept the resolution; NW seconded. TREASURER'S REPORT: CGD presented the treasurer's report and cash management fund. The total of the checking account, cash management fund, and capital account is $158,696.85. A motion to accept the report was made by LP; DF seconded. The motion carried. The current bills list (7238-7258) was reviewed. BK questioned the elevator inspection charge. MU explained the inspection process. A motion to accept the bills list was made by DF; NG seconded. The motion carried. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Budget Committee. MV explained that we may not receive any information on the budget request for some time. MV suggested that we consider moving excess funds into the capital account. CGD will consider moving funds in future months, as there is not currently enough excess to warrant a move. MU has not yet received the first quarter allocation from the Borough. Building Committee. MU shared that the committee discussed the capital request to the Borough. Some projects have been allocated to the DPW. The committee asked and received some clarification on the design study. MV suggests the Board accept the study and the bill be Westwood Library Board Minutes January 23, 2023 Page 2 forwarded to Durene for payment via capital funds allocated to the Library. BK made a motion to accept the building study and request payment be rendered; NG seconded. DIRECTOR'S REPORT: MU noted that program attendance finally matches pre-COVID levels. Many children’s, youth, and adult programs ran in the past month. Friends of the Library held a book sale and began planning an April fundraising event. MU is working to reorganize the DVDs to save space. PRESIDENT'S REPORT: None. OLD BUSINESS: MU made the changes to the attorney engagement letter as suggested by BK. NW made a motion to accept the letter with the changes; DF seconded. The motion carried. MU explained that the Borough arranged for a design study to be completed and analyzed along with the engineering report to determine how to efficiently make upgrades to the Library once grants are awarded or necessary funds are received. The Borough also has a copy of the report. NEW BUSINESS: MV shared that the Friends are planning a fundraising event to be held at the Library, tentatively April 19. They expect to sell 150 tickets. MU shared that a history grant was awarded that will allow the Library to add more historical documents to the portal that is accessible to the public. The Heritage Society contributed funds as well. A $2,800 grant was received from the County Commissioners. MEETING ADJOURNED: DF made a motion to adjourn; FZ seconded. The motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m. by SG. Westwood Library Board Minutes January 23, 2023 Page 3