Carbondale Reporter

Herrin City Library Board of Trustees met Nov. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Present: Caringer, Guebert, Hickman, Jones, Maloney, Priest, Sarver

Also Present: Library Director Susan Mullen

Absent: Calcaterra, Frost

The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm by President Jones.

Visitor(s): None

Correspondence: None

Secretary’s Report: Guebert moved to approve the minutes from October 10, 2023 with minor corrections. Maloney seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report:

A. Bills to be Paid: Priest moved to approve the payment of $1,329.84 for expenses incurred from October 11-31 and $3,185.28 for expenses incurred from November 1-14. Guebert seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

B. City Budget Report: Last month’s report shows that 52% of the budget has been spent, with 50% of the fiscal year completed, leaving a checking account balance of $24,332.62. Caringer moved to approve the report. Priest seconded. Motioncarried unanimously.

C. Financial Balance Statement: Sarver moved to approve the Library balance report from the previous month with corrections. Priest seconded. Motion carriedunanimously.

Librarian’s Report:

Circulation for October 2023 was 4% greater than October 2022. The Library currently has 5,499 registered borrowers and 41,958 volumes in its collection. 1,411 patrons used the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) from home in October. Website visits in October totaled 1,395. Director Mullen attended the IHLS Director’s Chat sessions via Adobe Connect on October 5 and 12, as well as a special training on October 9 titled Dealing with Difficult Patrons and another on October 17 titled The Social Media Roundtable. Library staff completed the first annual training in cybersecurity.

Committee Reports:

Friends Liaison (Maloney): Book sale from September 30-October 5 yielded $957. Susan’s wish list was approved in the amount of $433.01. 

No December meeting planned.  Next meeting is January 8, 2024.

History Room (Hickman): No report.

Building and Grounds (Priest, Jones): No report.

Community Enrichment (Sarver): No report.

Library Development and Technology (Caringer): No report.

Special Gifts Committee (Guebert, Frost): No report.Old Business: None

New Business:

Reviewed Serving Our Public Chapters 6-10 for the Per Capita Grant.

Reviewed the Library Property Tax Levy. Priest moved to approve the renewal ofthe property tax levy. Guebert seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

List of Holiday dates for upcoming year reviewed. Sarver moved to approve the dates, Maloney seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Tax distribution is running late. Director Mullen recommended that funds be transferred to cover operational expenses. Caringer moved to approve the trransfer. Priest seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Caringer presented closed meeting minutes to the BoT for review and disposition. Jones moved to publish minutes from closed sessions held on March 8, 2022, and February 8, 2022. Guebert seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Jones also moved to destroy verbatim recordings from February and March 2022 having reached the 18-month threshold as set forth in the OMA. Guebert seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Reviewed current BoT terms of appointment. Calcaterra’s resignation effective November meeting. 

Closed Session:

Guebert moved to enter closed session at 7:15pm to discuss closed session minutes review. Priest seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Priest moved to re-enter open session at 7:30pm. Guebert seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Adjournment: Maloney moved to adjourn at 7:32pm.Next Meeting Date: December 12, 2023 at 6:30pm

https://herrincitylibrary.org/about-us/board-of-trustees/meeting-minutes/november-2023/