Carbondale Reporter

Anne West Lindsey Library District Board met Jan. 28.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The monthly meeting of the Anne West Lindsey District Library of January 28, 2025 was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by President Heather Abell Castlebery and a quorum was established. In attendance were Jim Koonce, Nancy Schmidt, Elaine Miskell, Sheri Hunter, Bill Slider, and Paula Buritsch. Library director, Mary Stoner, and library staff, Pam Alstat, attended as well. Financial secretary, Jennifer Sigler, was not present. Colp Village Trustee Michael Baker, Colp City Attorney at Law, Aaron Atkins, and Colp Village President, Marcella Clark, were in attendance.

A motion to approve the agenda was made by Bill Slider and seconded by Sheri Hunter. The motion carried.

Minutes from the November 26, 2024 meeting were read and approved with a motion from Bill Slider and seconded by Elaine Miskell. The motion carried.

Under Public Comments, Colp Village Trustee, Michael Baker; Colp City Attorney at Law, Aaron Atkins; and Colp Village President, Marcella Clark, pleaded their case to be annexed into the Anne West District Library system. There are approximately 290 residents in the village of Colp. The board will take this request under advisement.

Under Communications, Thank You notes were received from Allison Owen and Caritas Family Solutions. Ashley Gott, County Collector, informed the library of tax money being deposited. Information regarding S.A.B. Investments, INC. was received from Williamson County Board of Review. Illinois Heartland Library System is reaching out to recruit new prospective trustee representatives.

The Financial Secretary’s Report was presented to the board. Jennifer Sigler’s report included the library’s assets as of December 31, 2024, profit and loss for the months of November and December 2024, and operating budget vs. actual, July through December 2024; deposit detail and check detail for the months of November through December 2024. A motion was made by Jim Koonce and seconded by Elaine Miskell to accept this financial report per audit. The motion carried.

In the Library Director’s Report for December 2024 and January 2025, Mary Stoner reported the following:

(1) Provided cleaning personnel (independent contractor) with a new cleaning agreement for 2025.

(2) Thank You notes were sent to Roger Norman, Inge Hadfield, and Louise and Jerry Humble for their gracious donations to the library in December.

(3) Library promotional items such as pens and bookmarks were provided to the Cambria Water Department. Boxes will also be provided to their food pantry.

(4) Gress Window Cleaning was contacted to clean the inside of the library windows.

(5) Rusty Pritchett was contacted about a security camera offline.

(6) The Friends of the Library met December 11th. They received over $1,600 due to their collaboration with the Southern Illinois Community Foundation (SICF). They paid for the Christmas lights put on the front of the building and provided money to renew the Beanstack (database used by patrons to keep track of their minutes or book titles during Summer Reading and beyond) subscription. Angie Oetjen will be stepping down as the Friends’board president. She will say on until the new president is instated.

(7) Mary Stoner attended a webinar on the Corporate Transparency Act.

(8) The Tax Levy Ordinance, Receipts and Disbursements report, and certificate of ballot was filed at the courthouse.

(9) Lazerware has offered to verify that our website is ADA compliant.

(10) The program attendance for the month of December was 701.

(11) During the month of December, library Staff processed 192 items and 13 new library cards were issued. The total number of Anne West Lindsey District Library cardholders is 6,397. Polaris reports 3,355 unexpired cards. The staff estimate is around 4,410.

(12) Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner is February 28, 2025 at Walker’s Bluff.

(13) Mary Stoner worked on Dave Grieve’s memorial in January.

(14) The Per Capita Grant was submitted on January 27, 2025.

(15) Preliminary work for IPLAR was started, which will be due September 1, 2025.

(16) Seventy-five magnetic bookmarks were delivered to the Crainville water department which will be provided to current and new customers.

(17) Mary Stoner attended the Friends of the Library meeting on January 21, 2025. They are looking for a new board member to take Angie Oetjen’s place. They have set the date for the Spring book sale for April 10th -12th. They are hoping to have their member- ship renewal forms ready by February. Their board approved the library staff hosting a “flash” book sale in February as well.

(18) Joe McCann salted and cleared the small parking lot. The large lot was closed off.

(19) Mary Stoner checked the building multiple times during the extreme cold temperatures during the month of January.

(20) The security camera was fixed by Rusty Pritchett.

(21) Pulley Electric was contacted about multiple exit signs needing new batteries.

(22) Inside windows were cleaned and outside windows will be cleaned in May by Chris Gress.

(23) Lazerware set up a second network for the security cameras.

(24) The library was closed on January 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th due to extreme weather conditions. The staff was treated to a pizza lunch for coming in January 9th.

(25) Mary Stoner attended a demo meeting with Brendan Pearce from Patron Point. Patron Point is an amazing service with a $5,000 budget for the first year.

(26) A meeting was scheduled between Mayor Robinson and a few of the board members to discuss the issue with PPRT.

(27) Work was continued to secure an AED/defibrillator for the library.

(28) Two book bundles from duplicates were donated to the Chamber for their Annual Dinner silent auction.

(29) Mary Stoner spoke with Michael Baker, a Colp Village Trustee, who is interested in adding Colp to our library district. He will attend the board meeting along with the Colp village attorney.

(30) Mary Stoner worked on an ALA grant for audio and visual materials. The grant reward is $1,000.

(31) The program attendance for the month of January was 714.

(32) During the month of January, library Staff processed 140 items and 12 new library cards were issued. The total number of Anne West Lindsey District Library cardholders is 6,422. Polaris reports 3,380 unexpired cards. The staff estimate is around 4,435.

(33) Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner will be on February 28, 2025 at Walker’s Bluff Resort and Casino.

(34) The Friends of the AWL Library Spring Book Sale is April 10-12, 2025.

(35) The Craft and Vendor Fair will be held April 11th and 12th, 2025.

Along with her customary Director’s report, Mary Stoner presented reports from the librarians for the months of December 2024 and January 2025. The Director’s and Librarian’s reports were accepted with a motion from Elaine Miskell and seconded by Bill Slider. The motion carried.

Under Board Action on the Library Director’s Request, Mary Stoner dispersed information on Patron Point, a marketing automation platform which drives patron engagement in public libraries. She also inquired as to inviting trustees to attend the Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner on February 28, 2025.

Under Board Action on Committee Reports, committee meetings need to be conducted in February.

Under Unfinished Business, the Personal Property Replacement Tax was discussed.

Under the agenda item, Semi-Annual Closed Session Minutes Review, Jim Koonce made a motion to approve the closed session. Elaine Miskell seconded the motion. Bill Slider made a motion to return to open session. Jim Koonce seconded the motion. Jim Koonce made a motion to make the minutes from the closed session open to the public. Bill Slider seconded the motion. All motions carried.

Under the agenda item, Trustee Training and Comments, sexual harassment prevention training was discussed.

In Other Business, the board discussed adding Colp to our library district.

The next Anne West Lindsey District Library Board Meeting will be held on February 25, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.

A motion to adjourn was made by Bill Slider and seconded by Jim Koonce at 7:41 p.m.

https://awlindsey.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/January-28-2025-minutes.pdf