Peoria Standard

City of Peoria Public Library Board of Trustees met Sept. 19.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

CALL TO ORDER

Board President Edward J. Barry, Jr. called the meeting of the Board of Library Trustees of Peoria Public Library to order at 5:01 p.m. This regular meeting was held in the Lower Level 2 Conference Room of Main Library, 107 Northeast Monroe, Peoria, Illinois.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

The President requested that all those who are able to please stand and join him in saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL

Board Members Present: Edward J. Barry, Jr., Patricia A. Barton, Stephen M. Buck, Norman H. Burdick, Margaret E. Cousin, Tiffanie S. Duncan, Barbara Van Auken, and Jeanne Williamson Board Members Absent: Lucy D. Gulley Library Staff Present: Carolyn Conklin, Reference Assistant; Liza Hickey, Manager of Technical Services; Kris Holden, Finance and Budget Coordinator; Alyce Jackson, Manager of Programming; Leann Johnson, Executive Director; Roberta Koscielski, Deputy Director; Trisha Noack, Manager of Public Relations; and Jenny Sevier, Manager of Reference Services

Others Present: None

President Edward Barry welcomed Jeanne Williamson back to the Library Board of Trustees.

CORRESPONDENCE TO THE BOARD

Correspondence was passed among Board members. Mr. Barry mentioned that a 94-year-old library user wrote a very nice letter to Leann Johnson and enclosed a very generous donation in appreciation for the recent assistance she received from Carolyn Conklin.

PRESENTATION BY AUDIENCE ON AGENDA ITEMS

None

CONSENT AGENDA

A. #2017-96: Request to Approve Minutes as listed below:

1. Minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of June 19, 2017

2. Minutes of the Community Relations Committee meeting of August 1, 2017

3. Minutes of the Regular Board meeting of August 15, 2017

B. #2017-97: Request to Approve Expenditures as listed below:

1. Payroll for Period Ending August 5, 2017 $ 146,953.37

2. Payroll for Period Ending August 20, 2017 $ 145,232.99

3. Payroll for Period Ending September 5, 2017 $ 145,898.20

4. Regular Expenditures for September 2017 $ 239,076.49

5. Capital Development Fund Expenditures for September 2017 $ 3,955.22

C. #2017-98: Request of the Executive Director to Approve Personnel Actions for the period ending September 15, 2017

D. #2017-99: Finance Report from the Executive Director for the month of August 2017 with Request to Receive and File

E. #2017-100: Library Use Statistics from the Executive Director for the month of August 2017 with Request to Receive and File

F. #2017-101: Request to Affirm Board Committee Assignments

Mr. Barry asked Board members if they wished to have any of the Consent Agenda items removed for further discussion. Mr. Barry requested that item #2017-101 be removed from the Consent Agenda for further discussion. A motion was made by Margaret Cousin, seconded by Barbara Van Auken, to approve Consent Agenda items #2017-96 through #2017-100 as presented. Motion carried by viva voce vote.

F. #2017-101: Request to Affirm Board Committee Assignments

Mr. Barry said that Jeanne Williamson graciously volunteered to take Debbie Ritschel’s former committee assignments. He added that no other changes have been made in the assignments. A motion was made by Edward Barry, seconded by Barbara Van Auken, to affirm the Board Committee Assignments as presented. Motion carried by viva voce vote.

OTHER ACTION ITEMS

A. #2017-102: Request for a First Reading Review of a Recommendation from the Administration to Adopt Revised Peoria Public Library Bylaws Leann noted that this revision reflects the merged committees of Building/Long-Range Planning, Nominating/Appeals, and Personnel/Negotiations. A motion was made by Barbara Van Auken, seconded by Jeanne Williamson, to approve the first reading of item #2017-102 and then place it on the agenda for the next Regular Board meeting on October 17, 2017. Motion carried by viva voce vote.

B. #2017-103: Request for a First Reading Review of a Recommendation from the Administration to Adopt the revised Peoria Public Library Circulation Policy Manual Leann noted that the Library offers teacher cards and student cards which have specific eligibility guidelines. Both cards are valid year-round and expire annually. For consistency, a revision to the Circulation Policy Manual makes both of these cards expire at the same time and makes them valid year-round from August 1 through August 15 of the following year. A recent policy change is that patrons must use their library card or a digital image of the barcode to check out library materials. The Circulation Policy Manual is being revised to reflect this. A motion was made by Jeanne Williamson, seconded by Margaret Cousin, to approve the first reading of item #2017-103 and then place it on the agenda for the next Regular Board meeting on October 17, 2017. Motion carried by viva voce vote.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

A. Upcoming Programming and Exhibits

Leann reported that there will be two events celebrating Little Golden Books on Saturday, September 30 at Main Library. A Picnic with the Poky Little Puppy will be held at 11:00 a.m. and a presentation by authors Leonard S. Marcus and Diane Muldrow will begin at 2:00 p.m. In addition, exhibits of Little Golden Books and related items are on display at North Branch and in the Wheeler Case at Main Library during the month of September.

Tiffanie Duncan entered the meeting at 5:11 p.m.

B. Summer Reading Program Survey

Leann reported as of yesterday, we have received 87 responses to the survey. A reminder will be sent out this week and the survey results will be reported at an upcoming meeting.

C. Police Department Survey

Leann reported that the Library was asked by the Peoria Police Department to promote the Policing in Peoria survey through the month of September. A link to this survey has been placed on the Library website.

D. Bequest

Leann announced that the Library received a bequest from former staff member Joyce Johnson in the form of an annuity of over $43,000. Her family requested that funds from it be used appropriate to Ms. Johnson’s love of history. The funds have been placed in the Gifts & Memorials account and will be used toward digitization of historical items.

E. Staff Day

Leann announced that Staff Development Day will be held on Monday, October 9 from 9:00 to 4:30 with lunch around noon. Board members should let Leann know if they plan to attend. Mr. Barry encouraged all to attend or stop by if they can. Leann added that this year’s focus is on safety and responding to emergency situations.

F. Next meeting at Lincoln Branch

Leann reminded Board members that the October Board meeting will be held at Lincoln Branch with a reception for Hall of Fame honorees beginning at 4:00 p.m. Mr. Barry encouraged everyone to attend this event and invite others to attend as well.

REPORT OF LIBRARY BOARD LIAISON TO THE FRIENDS OF PEORIA PUBLIC LIBRARY

Margaret Cousin reported on the following items from the September Friends Board meeting. More detail was provided in her report that was distributed to Board members.

• There were two funding requests this month from the Executive Director’s Office:

1. $100 for Katy Bauml’s “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” – prize levels for 500 and 600 books read

2. $250 for Random Strangers, a duo of local musicians who will perform Vietnam-era music as one of the Library’s tie-in programs being scheduled, as a result of Peoria Public Library’s applying for and being awarded one of 50 ALA comprehensive programming kits for PBS’s upcoming acclaimed series, The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

• The September book sale did not produce the number of walk-ins hoped for, perhaps because of reduced publicity and perhaps because of other popular local events taking place at the same time. Friends will focus on identifying new ways to promote awareness of the organization and specifically the Friendly Finds bookstore.

Avenues to explore include:

1. Peoria Public Schools peachjar and Remarkable Times, both digital tools that link to 13,000+ households connected to PPS (parents/teachers/students)

2. Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s newsletter – Roberta could help with this

3. A Friends page on Facebook, where photos and blurbs can be posted

4. A monthly promo posted by Chris Farris on his PPL Local History Collection Facebook page, which has quite a following

• Opening Friendly Finds an additional afternoon each week has been put on hold due to the unexpected lack of availability of the volunteer who was going to help with the new Thursday slot.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

(alphabetical listing of committee reports follow the agenda) The Building/Long-Range Planning, Executive, Nominating/Appeals, and Personnel/Negotiations committees did not have a report.

B. Community Relations Committee

1. Report of the meeting of September 5, 2017 

Barbara Van Auken reported that Alyce Jackson had spoken with Alexis Khazzam and he is enthusiastic about having a Little Free Library at Junction City. Roberta Koscielski reported that the Library has been chosen as one of 50 libraries in the country to receive a grant to do programming related to a new Ken Burns documentary. Dr. Sharon McDonald of Illinois State University will present a program related to the documentary at North Branch on October 26. On Veterans Day, local veteran Randy Prunty will speak about his Vietnam War experience followed by a performance of Vietnam era music by local duo Random Strangers. 22VA will once again display their artwork in the Main Library Gallery in December and January with a reception scheduled for December 9. Ms. Van Auken added that the Bookmobile is doing an outstanding job primarily in their service to schools and noted that Jeanne Williamson suggested that it be brought to a future Board meeting. She said that the Hall of Fame committee will meet later this month to select this year’s honorees. She noted that Mr. Barry received photos from Jwaneng of the children at their library and acknowledged Margaret Cousin for securing the funding for sending shipments of books and puzzles to Jwaneng. Barbara Van Auken said that she is thrilled to have Jeanne Williamson back on the Community Relations Committee.

D. Finance Committee

Stephen Buck reported that the Finance Committee met last Friday afternoon and noted that the Library is planning for a flat budget in 2018 and 2019. Leann presented a draft proposed 2018-2019 operating budget. The committee also reviewed the five-year Capital Development Plan as well as the Gifts & Memorials Fund. No action needed to be taken at this meeting.

PRESENTATION BY AUDIENCE

None

OTHER BUSINESS

Edward Barry noted that this Saturday is the 100th anniversary of Chillicothe Public Library and he would like to draft and send a letter from the Board in congratulations. The letter would be signed by Leann Johnson and Edward Barry and include a list of our Library Board members. He might also arrange for a gift to be sent to the Library. Board members agreed that this is a good idea.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

None

AGENDA BUILDING

None

#2017-106: ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made by Barbara Van Auken, seconded by Pat Barton, that this meeting be adjourned at 5:40 p.m. Motion carried.

http://www.peoriagov.org/content/uploads/2017/10/2017-September-19-MINUTES-REGULAR-MEETING_1509652892_add.pdf