Attendance:

Nancy Gorden, President

Julie Chapman, Vice-president

Diana Kupish, Secretary

Dani Noland, Trustee

Anne Byard, Trustee

Sharon Reynolds, Trustee

Julie Jones, Librarian

Alice Reed, Consultant (and community member)

Janice Bridgeman, Community Liaison

Monday, September 25, 2023 at 6:00 p.m., the Blue Mound Memorial Library Board of Trustees met in the Annex of the Library. The Blue Mound Memorial Library President, Nancy Gorden, called to order the Board of Trustees meeting for September, 2023.

The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Decennial Committee Meeting: This meeting constitutes the second annual Decennial Committee Meeting. A detailed summary of the location, contact information, annual budget, Board members, programs, awards and recognition, intergovernmental agreements, community partnerships, policies and procedures, efficiencies and inefficiencies, and accountabilities of the Blue Mound Memorial Library was distributed and briefly discussed. The committee was asked to review the detailed summary and consider if there are any additions or corrections to be brought to the next meeting on the fourth Monday of November, November 27th at 6:00 p.m. Big thing to look for is how the Library is working with other governmental agencies. Dani Noland made a motion to close the Decennial Committee Meeting. Julie Chapman seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ‘Aye’ votes.

Secretary’s Report: President, Nancy Gorden verified that each Board member had time to review the Minutes from August 27, 2023. Dani Noland suggested all book titles should be underlined. Diana checked with Alice Reed regarding the pay period being the 15th and the 30th of each month. With these two corrections made, Anne Byard made a motion to accept the Minutes as presented. Sharon Reynolds seconded the motion. The motion carried with all “Aye” votes.

Treasurer’s Report: There are negative balances on the Balance Sheet Report in the Building & Equipment Fund, Easter Egg Hunt, and IMRF/SS funds. The reason is that the roofing materials were paid out of the August Treasurer’s report in the amount of $12,489. This amount needs to be transferred from the MMDA account and put into the Building & Equipment Fund. Anne Byard made a motion to transfer $12,489 from MMDA to Building & Equipment fund. Julie Chapman seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ‘Aye’ votes.

Sharon Reynolds made a motion to accept the Treasurers Report. Dani Noland seconded the motion. The motion carried with all “Aye’ votes.

Librarian’s Report:

· Post Office Box number has changed. President Nancy Gorden noticed the Library was being charged $152 annually for having a large P. O. Box. Julie questioned Sofia at the Post Office and after some discussion, asked to get a smaller box at no charge. New number is P O Box 294.

· Dirt in the flower box needs to be changed. Sandy Anderson and Tom Jones will work together to remove the old dirt and replace it with new dirt. Old excess dirt will be taken to Sandy’s. The box will be topped off with more new dirt in the spring.

· Blue Mound Memorial Library will participate in the Library Crawl this October in which patrons are given a ‘passport’ and can go to other libraries in the program and have their ‘passports’ stamped. Our Library will give out little gift bags to visiting Library Crawl participants. This is the 4th (or 5th) year for the Crawl and over 100 libraries are involved.

· Our Library is having a ‘Guess how many pumpkins are in the Library’ contest. Several people have already started participating.

· Memorial Bricks were engraved for Betty Ruth and Fae Bafford, Marie Souza, and Carrol Virt. Adam’s Memorial informed Julie they will now be charging a fee for engraving the previously purchased bricks (contrary to what was previously promised when the bricks were purchased).

· Julie Jones will be gone from Oct 16th – 18th and will therefore be missing one Story Time. However, she has arranged to have it covered.

· December 2nd is the date set for Santa to visit the Library. Julie was contacted by Jason White of the Masonic Lodge to coordinate a breakfast planned for the same day. The Bank is planning an Open House on that day and JB’s is also considering jumping into what is becoming a community event. The Library usually has about 100 participants for Santa’s visit.

· The automatic door has been banging into the brick wall. It was suggested to attach a door stop cushion on the bricks where the handle hits the bricks.

Library Activities:

· Adult Book Club did not meet in August.

· Book Signing and meet the author night was held on August 31st from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. with Marcy (McDonald) Bialesthki discussing her new book series Deception and Consequences that came out in August. There were 13 people who attended.

· Paw Print Ministries came to the library on Saturday, September 16th from 10:00 – 11:00 with 13 children attending.

· Ladies Night was Sept 7th with Kathy Brownlee helping the group make a Fall Wood Door Hanger. Thirteen people attended. She has agreed to come back with a craft in December.

· Book Club met September 21st to discuss No Time Like the Future by Michael J. Fox hosted by Paula Farmer with 9 people attending.

· Story Time will resume on Wednesday, September 27th and run for 8 weeks.

Upcoming Programs:

· Story Time will begin on Wednesday, September 27th.

· Library Crawl – in October, with patrons encouraged to visit other libraries in the Illinois Heartland Library System.

· Women’s Night program will be ‘Surviving the Cooking Blues’ on October 12th at 6:30 led by Cinda Stocks (Meridian Home Economics teacher).

· Book Club will meet on October 19th to discuss One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid and hosted by Jill Chlebus.

· Snakes and Bubbles children’s program (with Kathy Graven) is on Saturday October 21st

· Story Time Halloween Parade to businesses Wednesday, October 25th

Old Business:

· Paid Leave for All Workers Act effective January 1, 2024. (P.A. 102-1143) Diana Kupish will convert the principal elements of the law into a paragraph to be included in the library policy. It will be emailed to the board members for them to review and discuss at the October meeting.

· IMRF audit requires anyone working 600 or more hours to be eligible for IMRF status.

· SAM’s Club membership change to the cheaper membership has been started but not complete because the people at Sam’s were having trouble doing it. Alice will try again when the supervisor is working.

New Business:

· Review of Serving Our Public 4.0 Standards for Illinois Public Libraries:

o Ch 2: Governance and Administration by Anne Byard: There were no changes since 2022.

o Ch 3: Personnel by Anne Byard: There were no changes since 2022.

o Ch 4: Access by Dani Noland: There were no changes since 2022.

o Ch 5: Building Infrastructure & Maintenance by Dani Noland: There were no changes since 2022.

· Ordinance 23-3 to Levy Taxes for the Current Fiscal Year for the Blue Mound Memorial Public Library District ending June 30, 2024 was distributed and discussed noting the amount appropriated, $100,000 was passed last month but the amount levied is expected to be $88,000.

Anne Byard made a motion to pass Ordinance 23-3 to Levy Taxes for the Current Fiscal Year for the Blue Mound Memorial Public Library District ending June 30, 2024. Julie Chapman seconded the motion. In a Roll Call vote Anne Byard, Julie Chapman, Dani Noland, Sharon Reynolds, Nancy Gorden, and Diana Kupish voted ‘Aye’. The motion carried unanimously.

Other: None

Personnel: Library Minutes (Private Session): After some discussion, Nancy Gorden agreed that a ‘Private Session’ was unnecessary. Alice Reed informed the Board that the Library’s American Express card was hacked in August. The fraudulent charge and subsequent fees and late charges have been removed by American Express, who also put an alert on the Library’s card.

Motion to Adjourn: With no further business to discuss, Sharon Reynolds made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dani Noland seconded the motion. The motion carried with all “Aye” votes. The meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m.

The Next Regular Board Meeting will be Monday, September 25, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Diana Kupish, Secretary