Attendance:

Julie Chapman, Vice-president

Dani Noland, Trustee

Anne Byard, Trustee

Julie Jones, Librarian

Sharon Reynolds, Trustee

Alice Reed, Consultant (and community member)

Diana Kupish, Secretary

Monday, February 26, 2024 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 Vice-President, Julie Chapman, called to order the Board of Trustees’ meeting for February, 2024.

The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Secretary’s Report: Vice-President, Julie Chapman verified that each Board member had time to review the Minutes from November 27, 2023.  Anne Byard made a motion to accept the Minutes as presented.    Sharon Reynolds seconded the motion. The motion carried with all “Aye” votes.  Diana Kupish included a statement for the January, 2024 Minutes indicating the meeting was canceled due to inclement weather.

Treasurer’s Report:  Sharon Reynolds made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report.  Anne Byard seconded the motion. The motion carried with all “Aye’ votes.   

Librarian’s Report: 

• Called Trimble’s again to look at the small leak in the room with the refrigerator.
• Completed and submitted the Public Library Per Capita and Equalization Grant.
• Erin & Julie took Continuing Education classes on bar-coding. This is something new and is required every two years.  This gives the Library permission to put newly purchased books in the ILHS computer system.
• Sexual Harassment Training was taken by Julie, Erin Ellie and Monica. This is an annual requirement.
• Book Worm was held in the month of February. It is a First Grade Program at the grade school which helps encourage children to visit the library and read.
• The library was closed on Monday February 19^th for President’s Day.
• The Library continues to be used by Early Intervention and DCFS almost weekly to meet with families.

Library Activities:

• Santa and Mrs. Claus visited on Saturday, December 2^nd with 83 children attending and numerous adults. Board members and staff provided cookies.  Julie had several volunteers to help with crafts and refreshments.
• Adult Book Club met at Dippin’ Merv’s on December 21^st for dinner and brief discussion about the Christmas themed book Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock. Everyone received a small gift from Jeannie Barnes, the leader of the book club along with a mystery book from the Library.  Nine members attended.
• Adult Book Club met on January 18^th at the Library to discuss the book Midnight at the Library by Matt Haig. The meeting was hosted by Jeannie Barnes and Janice Bridgeman provided refreshments.  Five people attended.
• Adult Book Club met again on February 15^th at the Library and discussed the book Horse by Geraldine Brooks. The meeting was hosted by Vicky McCain and Barb Thiele provided refreshments.  Six people attended. 
• Kid’s Book Club was held on Thursday, December 28^th at 2:00 p.m. during the children’s Christmas break. With five children attending, they enjoyed a hot chocolate bar and Chex mix.  They discussed The Secret Santa from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler. 
• Faux Stain Glass Craft Program was held on Thursday, January 11^th, at 6:00pm. There were 20 people sign up for the class and 18 people actually attended. 
• Air Fryer Program was held on Thursday, February 22 with 14 attending.
• LEGO Club met on Saturday, January 13^th with 6 children attending.
• Valentine Craft was on Saturday, February 10^th with two children attending.
• Story Time began on Wednesday, January 24^th. Story Time will run for 8 weeks with an anticipated average attendance of 17 children per week.
• Chair Yoga began on Monday, January 8^th and is scheduled for every Monday at the Library at 10:00 a.m. There were 10 ladies attending the first Monday, but no instructor due to her car not starting that morning.  Five attended on Martin Luther King Day, the following Monday.  It was a holiday and extremely cold.  They usually have 5-6 people in attendance. 

Upcoming Programs:

• Blue Mound Police Chief Chad Lamb will be putting on an Identity Theft and Scam Program on Thursday, March 7^th from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
• Story Time Continues through March 13^th
• Chair Yoga continues meeting on Monday morning in the Annex at 10:00 a.m.
• Book Club will be meeting on March 21^st at 6:40 to discuss Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult. The meeting will be hosted by Paula Framer and Carolyn Wetzel will be providing refreshments. 
• Easter Egg Hunt will be on Saturday, March 23^rd at Wise Park.

Old Business: 

There was no Old Business to be discussed.  

New Business:  

• Carpet cleaning in main area of Library: It has been four years since the carpet in the main area of the Library has been cleaned.  After some discussion it was agreed to call Hite’s to have them clean it again.  The back annex area can wait another year. 
• Mowing: Jerry Reichert has agreed to mow for the Library again this year.
• Review Library Policies: New Library Policies and Technology Plan were distributed for reviewed and comments or suggestions should be brought to the Board at the next meeting.

Other:  

• Alice Reed brought mailing issues to the attention of the Board. On several occasions, checks were mailed for payment of bills and were not received before a late fee was added. In order to prevent this from happening again, Alice suggests direct debit from the Library account for four monthly recurring bills: power, telephone, garbage, and credit card.  Sharon Reynolds made a motion to approve pay with an auto draft from the Library’s checking account for the following bills: Ameren, telephone, garbage, and credit card.  Dani Noland seconded the motion.  The motion carried with all ‘Aye’ votes.
• IMRF regularly shows a negative balance: Alice Reed acknowledged that the IMRF/SS fund is consistently in the negative due to several past employees being eligible to draw from the account. However, it looks bad on the books, so as a temporary fix, she suggests a transfer from the Corporate Fund in the middle of the fiscal year to offset that negative in the amount of $4000.  Dani Noland made a motion to transfer from the Corporate Fund to the IMRF/SS Fund $4000.  Sharon Reynolds seconded the motion.  The motion passed with all ‘Aye’ votes.  
• Meet with attorney Ed Flynn: Alice Reed suggests that she and another Board member make an appointment to meet with attorney Ed Flynn sometime in April to discuss any possible adjustments necessary in the annual levy from property taxes.
• Easter Egg Hunt: March 17^th is the setup and numerous honor students have agreed to help in that portion of the project. The Hunt is Saturday, March 23^rd and any Board member available to help should let Alice know. 
• Economic Interest Statements were distributed to Board Members and are due by month end.
• Dani Noland asked about getting the Herald and Review digitally for the Library. After some discussion, it was decided that the cost outweighed the benefits.  The Library does carry the Blue Mound Leader and the Decatur Tribune. 
• Three years of the Blue Mound Leader were bound and returned to the Library at a cost of $169. The value of this tradition was discussed.  Julie said it is very rare that anyone comes to the Library to look at old issues of the Blue Mound Leader and ever more seldom now since the paper covers more activities in surrounding towns than it does for Blue Mound.  It was agreed not to have the papers bound anymore and to keep issues for a shorter period (3-6 months) and then dispose of them. 
• CD Renewal: Alice informed the Board that a 6 month CD has renewed with an interest income of $122.22. It will mature again in July.   

Motion to Adjourn:  With no further business to discuss, Anne Byard made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Sharon Reynolds seconded the motion.  The motion carried with all “Aye” votes.  The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

The Next Regular Board Meeting will be Monday, March 25, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.                                   

                                                                                                                                                Diana Kupish - Secretary