Carbondale Public Library Board of Trustees met June 10.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
Statement prior to start of the meeting.
Statement made by Barbara Levine: The Board President determines that an in-person meeting is not practical or prudent because of the statewide COVID-19 disaster. This meeting is being recorded.
Call to order.
Called to order at 4:30pm
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).
In the webinar environment participants may type questions or statements into the Q&A at this time and may request access to speak during this portion of the meeting via the Q&A or by using the hand raising function.
Present.
Barbara Levine, President
Susan Tulis, Vice President
Roland Person, Secretary
Julian Pei, Treasurer
Philip Brown
Joyce Hayes
Chastity Mays
Don Prosser
Harriet Simon
Absent.
None.
The number following the Trustee’s name indicates the number of absences this fiscal year.
Visitors.
One. There were two visitors listed as participants. They did not submit any chat to the board. It became apparent after the meeting that one of the phone numbers listed belonged to Joyce Hayes. Joyce Hayes attended the meeting, but did not speak or vote. As she was present, her votes have been recorded as abstentions.
Staff present.
Diana Brawley Sussman, Library Director; Gwen Hall Grosshenrich, Finance Manager
President’s report.
1. Election of Trustee officers (President and Secretary) to begin service July, 2020. Barbara Levine would prefer not to serve another term as President. Harriet Simon nominated Don Prosser as President and Susan Tulis as Vice President. Philip Brown seconded. Roll call taken. 7 yeas, 0 nays, 2 abstention.
Secretary’s report.
1. Approval of the May 13, 2020 board meeting minutes. Roland Person made a motion to approve the minutes. Susan Tulis seconded. Roll call was taken: 8 yeas, 0 nays, 1 abstention.
Correspondence and communications.
The library received the annual Per Capita Grant award letter from the Illinois State Library, and notice that we were not awarded a Live & Learn Construction Grant for replacement of the library’s roof and construction of a glassed in area for youth.
Financial report.
1. Approval of bills payable up to and including bills due June 16, 2020 to July 15, 2020. The bills include some things that were held in the mail while we were closed. Philip Brown made a motion to approve payment of bills. Roland Person seconded. Roll call was taken: 8 yeas, 0 nays, 1 abstention.
2. Acceptance of the financial report for May 2020. Not much has happened so far this fiscal year. No income has been received. The city requested one minor reclassification for FY20. Don Prosser made a motion to accept the financial report. Susan Tulis seconded. Roll call was taken. 8 yeas. 0 nays. 1 abstention.
Librarian’s report.
1. Building and grounds maintenance. Discussed measures for preparing to serve the public in person: Josh Fenton has installed Plexiglas around the circulation desk and plastic barriers around staff desks. All computers have been separated from one another. This reduces the number of computers available, but it’s not too insufficient. He is installing a new water fountain system, which will fill cups and bottles only. The regular drinking fountain spigots will be disabled and can be re-enabled once the pandemic is over. The Brush roof is leaking. We’ve tried patching it and will try cleaning the gutters next. It is due for replacement. Since we did not get the Live & Learn grant to do construction on the main building’s roof and youth room, but we budgeted for matching funds, we believe we should be financially able to replace the Brush roof instead, which is a less expensive project.
2. Curbside service / COVID-19. Discussed curbside pickup and virtual programs, which are going well. The Director explained that most libraries in southern Illinois seem to be open to curbside service only, and many will wait until the state is at phase 4 before opening to the public. The state library is working on guidance around capacity limits for libraries. Chicago Public Library is open. Apparently their staff are very unhappy. They have a greeter and will make people wait outside prior to entry in order to maintain capacity restrictions. Their website says that patrons must wear a mask. The Director plans to require patrons to wear masks, but expressed her concern about enforcing mask-wearing rules, as there have been confrontational incidents elsewhere. She discussed ADA accommodations, and asked for the board’s opinions, concerns, and advice. Barbara Levine suggested it’s prudent to wait until phase 4. Board members expressed that it is pretty disrespectful not to wear a mask, and reasonable to ask people to wear one. We don’t want our staff to be endangered by these confrontations. The library’s plans are fluid and flexible. We will wait until phase 4 to open up the building to the public, and will revisit the issue at the next board meeting if we are not at phase 4 by then.
3.Vote to appoint FOIA/OMA officer(s). Chastity Mays made a motion to appoint Finance Manager, Gwen Hall Grosshenrich and Director Diana Brawley Sussman to be the FOIA officers, and Don Prosser to be the OMA officer. Roland Person seconded. Roll call was taken. 7 yeas. 0 nays. 1 abstention. 1 absent.
4. Review and approval of minutes from closed sessions. Don made a motion to keep Executive Session minutes closed. Roland Person seconded. Roll call was taken: 8 yeas. 0 nays. 1 abstention.
5. Other. The Director commended her staff for their flexibility and creative ingenuity. She also commended Chastity Mays’ two teenage daughters who organized and led a candlelight vigil. It was peaceful and well attended, and the community had wonderful things to say about it. What impressive and admirable work for two teens to have accomplished! Don Prosser noted that there has been some vandalism of the library’s Story Walk at Green Earth. It is an impressive project. The Director noted that Francine Wien-Frankowski is a brand new children’s librarian partway through library school having to invent new creative ways to do everything, and she is doing a spectacular job. Barbara Levine commended the Director as well.
Committee reports.
None.
Unfinished business.
None.
New business.
None.
Other.
Patron behavior.
None.
Adjournment.
Adjourned at 5:21pm
https://carbondalepubliclibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/June-2020-Carbondale-Public-Library-Board-Meeting-minutes.pdf
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