South West Illinois News

Carbondale Public Library Board of Trustees met August 8. 

Here is the minutes as provided by the board:

Call to order.

Called to order at 4:30 p.m.

Roll call.

Introductions, audience and visitors. Visitors are asked to introduce themselves at this time and present any issues they wish to discuss. Visitors wishing to address specific agenda items will be granted two to five minutes at the discretion of the President, not to exceed a total of twenty minutes. The Library Board may cut short any comments that are irrelevant, repetitious, or disruptive. (Id. at 1425-26).

Present.

Barbara Levine, President

Joyce Hayes, Secretary

Julian Pei, Treasurer

Philip Brown

Don Prosser

Absent.

Susan Tulis, Vice President (1)

Roland Person (1)

Harriet Simon (1)

Sharifa Stewart (4)

The number following the Trustee’s name indicates the number of absences this fiscal year.

Staff present.

Diana Brawley Sussman, Library Director; Gwen Hall Grosshenrich, Finance Manager

Visitors present.

None.

President’s report.

1. The board president has the option to excuse one or more absences from a board member missing more than 3 meetings in FY18 and FY19 if those absences are in accordance with board bylaws. Sharifa Stewart’s absences could not be excused due to lack of communication and continued absences. Her past service is appreciated. Julian Pei made a motion to remove Sharifa Stewart from the board in accordance with board bylaws. Roland Person seconded. The MOTION passed unanimously. The Director will reach out to the Mayor to request appointment of a new board member to fill the vacated board seat, which has a term expiring 6/30/2019. The board hopes to maintain or improve diversity with this appointment.

Secretary’s report.

1. Approval of July 11, 2018 minutes. Corrections are needed to the listing of officers, and there are three small grammatical changes. Don Prosser moved to pass the minutes with corrections. Joyce Hayes seconded. MOTION passed unanimously.

Correspondence and communications.

None.

Financial report.

1. Approval of bills payable up to and including bills due August 16, 2018 to September 15, 2018. Bills include the invoice for repaving the parking lot and purchasing Smart Desks for new computers. Roland Person approved payment of bills. Julian Pei seconded. MOTION passed unanimously. Adjournment. Adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

2. Acceptance of the financial report for July 2018. Received a replacement tax distribution check. There was a question about last month’s expenses in administrative supplies. One purchase was for thank you cards for donors. The other was for reupholstered chairs (budget categorization to be corrected). Philip Brown moved to accept the financial report. Roland Person seconded. MOTION passed unanimously.

Librarian’s report.

1. Building and grounds maintenance. Gahn’s Tree and Stump Removal has removed the weeping cherry tree (and its stump), which was dying in the Japanese Garden. They did a nice job.

2. 11 Days for Peace is scheduled for September 21 – October 1 with a focus on empathy, humanity, and peace.

3. Discuss board participation in strategic planning. A special board meeting for Strategic Planning is scheduled for Wednesday, October 3, at 3:00 p.m.

4. Other. Discussed staff turnover in part time shelving and circulation positions, the Director’s committee appointments on the Illinois Library Association Board, and her role in co-planning Roadside Training events for area library staff with a committee of librarians and the Illinois Heartland Library System.

Committee reports.

None.

Unfinished business.

None.

New business.

None.

Other.

1. The Board President’s formation of an ad hoc Personnel Committee to meet Friday, 8/10/18. Two members of the regular Personnel Committee are unavailable (Sharifa Stewart and Susan Tulis). President Barbara Levine assigned herself, Don Prosser, and Philip Brown to this committee, which will meet at 3:30 p.m. on Friday 8/10/18.

Adjournment.

Adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Board Meetings for 2018 (all in Public Library meeting room, 4:30 p.m., second Wednesday of each month): September 12, 2018, October 10, 2018, November 14, 2018, December 12, 2018

http://carbondalepubliclibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/August-2018.pdf