Carbondale Reporter

Herrin City Library Board of Trustees met June 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

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

Also Present: Library Director Susan Mullen

Absent: Sarver, Frost, Watson

The meeting was called to order at 6:31 PM by President Jones.

Visitor(s): None

Correspondence: None

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

Treasurer’s Report:

Bills to be Paid: McKeown moved to approve the payment of $2,807.75 for expenses incurred from May 14 – May 31, 2025, and $3,937.09 for expenses incurred from June 1 – June 10, 2025. Priest seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

City Budget Report: Last month’s report shows that 12.6% of the budget has been spent, with 8.3% of the fiscal year completed, leaving a checking account balance of $85,729.22. Guebert moved to approve the report. Priest seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

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

Librarian’s Report:

May 2025 had a 2% increase in circulation compared to May 2024. A total of 321 unique Borrowers Cards were used. Patrons placed a total of 419 Hold Requests. A total of 381 Hold Requests were filled (borrowed). We loaned 417 titles to other libraries and borrowed 590 titles from the other Heartland SHARE Libraries. Our OPAC was used remotely from home by a total of 1,339 patrons. We registered a total of 24 new borrowers, bringing us to 5,840 registered borrowers. A total of 105 new titles were added to the collection, making a total of 42,721 volumes in the collection. Traffic on the website was 1,768 visits. The Library Director attended the IHLS Director’s Chat on May 8 & 15. During the month of May, HCL hosted the HerrinFesta Art Contest display and reception. On May 23, HCL showed the History of Herrin movie to a great turn out. Summer Reading began Thursday, May 29 with our Summer Reading Grand Opening event. The program will have the Herrin Fire Department, SIU Aviation, Free Again Raptors, and Animal Fear Factor on the June schedule. The HCL assistant director, Jason Hedrick, will host his first Herrin History Room event on Friday, June 6 with guest speaker Dr. Elyse Peneau as she discusses the Live and Literary Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Strategic Plan survey is live and available in the library, on the HCL website, social media, and PR news releases. We will vote to renew our participation in the Nonresident Card Program. We will review our Borrower’s Card policy as part of our regular Policy Review Schedule. We will also review final numbers for our IPLAR due by the end of June.

Children’s Librarian’s Report: Two story hours hosted in May. “Star Wars” Story Hour was hosted on May 1 (7 children, 3 adults) where we read books, did a Star Wars popsicle stick puzzle. “Art” Story Hour was hosted on May 15 (5 children, 4 parents) where we read books and took a tour of the HerrinFesta art show, and decorated the library patio with chalk. On May 8, STEAM Explorers met for Button Making (T for Technology) (6 children, 5 parents). The kids decorated paper circles and then operated a button-making machine borrowed from the IL State Library to turn their creations into a metal button. One participant made 17 buttons! We had our first Summer Reading Program on May 29. The Grand Opening event had over 60 children in attendance. Kids had fun playing a variety of games, doing a puzzle craft, and having game-themed snacks.

Committee Reports:

Friends Liaison (Maloney): The Friends met June 2nd. Jeanie Conkin was appointed new Treasurer as Cathy Brandon is unable to complete her term. The next book sale is potentially in August. The Financial Report shows a balance of $8,056.45. The Friends approved to pay the requested $316.54 from Susan’s Wish List. The next meeting is August 4th.

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 Update

45 responses so far

Susan will follow up with newspaper to make sure they print it

Susan will put notices on local bulletin boards in town with QR codes leading to survey

We had a CD roll over on June 4th as agreed upon at the May meeting

New Business:

Review & Approve Borrower’s Card Policy – regular review schedule

Bot Reviewed. Susan had made minor update from last iteration regarding what materials are needed to get card (2 pieces of mail, old version stated just 1 piece)

Guebert moved to approve the policy. Priest seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Review & Approve IPLAR

Priest moved to approve IPLAR as presented. McKeown seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Review & Approve Nonresident Card program participation

Priest made a motion to participate in the program and keep the HCL Nonresident Card fee at $55. Guebert seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

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

Next Meeting Date: July 8, 2025, at 6:30pm 

https://herrincitylibrary.org/about-us/board-of-trustees/meeting-minutes/june-2025/