Carbondale Reporter

Herrin City Library Board of Trustees met May 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Present: Jones, McKeown, Maloney, Watson, Hickman, Guebert

Also Present: Library Director Susan Mullen

Absent: Priest, Sarver, Frost

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

Visitor(s): None

Correspondence: None

Secretary’s Report: McKeown moved to approve the minutes from April 2025. Guebert seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report:

Bills to be Paid: Guebert moved to approve the payment of $2,214.31 for expenses incurred from April 9 – April 30, 2025, and $11,735.53 for expenses incurred from May 1 – May 13, 2025. Watson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

City Budget Report: Last month’s report shows that 95.86% of the budget has been spent, with 100% of the fiscal year completed, leaving a checking account balance of $133, 319.39. Maloney moved to approve the report. Guebert seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Financial Balance Statement: Guebert moved to approve the Library balance report from the previous month. Watson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Librarian’s Report:

April 2025 had a 10% increase in circulation compared to April 2024. A total of 324 unique Borrowers Cards were used. Patrons placed a total of 413 Hold Requests. A total of 420 Hold Requests were filled (borrowed). We loaned 441 titles to other libraries and borrowed 648 titles from the other Heartland SHARE Libraries. Our OPAC was used remotely from home by a total of 1,347 patrons. We registered a total of 21 new borrowers, bringing us to 5,835 registered borrowers. A total of 94 new titles were added to the collection, making a total of 42,659 volumes in the collection. Traffic on the website was 1,367 visits. The Library Director attended the IHLS Director’s Chat on April 3, 10 & 24 and Members Matter on April 17. HCL hosted Nick Guardiano to discuss his book John James Audubon in Illinois. In May, the HCL will be showing the movie A History of Herrin on Friday, May 23 at 3 pm. On Sunday April 27th, we had our Friends of the Library Open House with an excellent turnout. We are also housing the HerrinFesta Art Contest entries again this year. The Summer Reading program kicks off Thursday, May 29 with a Grand Opening at 2 pm. Cathy McCann, Children’s Librarian, has 10 weeks of programming scheduled: Grand Opening, Herrin Fire Department, SIU Aviation, Free Again – Raptors, Animals Fear Factor, Movie, SO IL Concert Band, Wow! Science, Castle Perilous Games, and a Foam Party. The STEAM programs continue to be well attended and Lawyer in the Library continues to be a valuable resource. A Herrin City Library Ghost of Herrin’s Past Walking Tour committee has been formed, consisting of Susan Mullen, Lisa Carnaghi, Candy Calcaterra, and Laura Miller. The tour will be October 17 and 18 as part of the 125th Anniversary celebration. We will need to designate a FOIA officer and OMA designee for the new fiscal year. We have one CD to review and approve which matures June 4, 2025. We will also discuss survey questions for our strategic plan.

Children’s Librarian’s Report: Two story hours hosted in April. “In The Garden” Story Hour was hosted on April 3 (12 children, 8 adults) where we read books, did a flower craft and planted marigolds. “Happy Birthday, Herrin!” Story Hour was hosted on April 17 (6 children, 6 parents) where we read books and had a mini birthday party for Herrin. On March 24, STEAM Explorers met for Gumdrop Bridges (M for Math) (15 children, 11 parents). The kids learned which shapes are planned into bridges to make them stronger, and then made their own bridges from toothpicks and gumdrops. The strongest bridge held 10.8 lbs.

Committee Reports:

Friends Liaison (Maloney): The Friends met April 27th for the Annual Meeting. Officers were elected, and the committee chairs gave their annual reports. The end of fiscal year balance is $7,350.55. Immediately following the meeting was a well-attended library open house themed “Reading Round Up” where members of the Friends brought snacks and assisted at the snack table.

History Room (Hickman, McKeown): none

Building and Grounds (Priest, Jones): none

Community Enrichment (Guebert & Sarver & Watson): none

Library Development and Technology (Watson): none

Special Gifts Committee (Frost): none

Old Business:

Strategic Plan: Survey Questions

Reviewed survey questionnaire developed by Director Mullen

Guebert made motion to approve the questions. Maloney seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

The questionnaire will be published ASAP. Paper copies will be in the library, in the Friends of the Library newsletter, and as an insert in local newspapers. Links to the digital version will be posted on the library’s website and Facebook page.

We will close the survey June 30th, giving everyone a month and a half to get their responses in.

New Business:

FOIA Officer and OMA Designee

Maloney agreed to continue to be the FOIA Officer for the 2025-2026 Fiscal Year.

Priest agreed to continue to be the OMA Designee for the 2025-2026 Fiscal Year.

CD to review and approve

CD in question is maturing June 4, 2025

The BOT discussed the different rates provided by banks, while considering that in addition to best rates, we want to be mindful of not having the majority of CDs at one bank.

The BOT discussed letting the CD remain at Banterra for 6 months at 4.11%

President Jones moved to roll over CD that matures on June 4th at Banterra at 4.11%. Watson seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Adjournment: Maloney moved to adjourn at 7:06 PM.

Next Meeting Date: June 10, 2025, at 6:30pm

https://herrincitylibrary.org/about-us/board-of-trustees/meeting-minutes/may-2025/?doing_wp_cron=1749922013.6727759838104248046875