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Blue Mound Memorial Library

October 2023 Board Meeting Minutes

Attendance:

Nancy Gorden, President

Julie Chapman, Vice-president

Diana Kupish, Secretary

Anne Byard, Trustee

Sharon Reynolds, Trustee

Julie Jones, Librarian

Alice Reed, Consultant (and community member)

 

Monday, September 23, 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 October, 2023.

 

The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Secretary’s Report: President, Nancy Gorden verified that each Board member had time to review the Minutes from September 25, 2023.  Julie Chapman 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 Easter Egg Hunt, and IMRF/SS funds.  The negative IMRF fund will eventually work itselves towards the positive but will take several years.  The Library should plan to seek legal advice in April, 2024 to address this trend before working on the budget for 2024-2025.  Anne Byard made a motion made a motion to accept the Treasurers Report.  Julie Chapman seconded the motion.  The motion carried with all “Aye’ votes.     

Librarian’s Report: 

  • Dirt in the flower box will be changed toward the end of October.
  • ‘Guess how many pumpkins are in the Library’ contest ongoing with many children participating.
  • Solar eclipse glasses and information regarding the October 14th solar eclipse was provided to patrons to view the phenomenon. However, cloudy skies obscured the event.
  • A Grant of $1000 was received from the Community Foundation of Macon County. The grant was suggested to them by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Burns.  (A thank you card has been sent.)
  • Door stopper for the automatic front door was installed by Tom Jones and is working well.
  • Pavers and an accordion down spout by the garbage can were installed by Tom Jones.
  • Memorial Bricks purchased from and engraved by Adam’s Memorial informed Julie that future engraving charges will be $15-$20 per brick. Typically, those who purchase bricks have them engraved at the time of purchase and are charged $40 for engraving.  The Library purchased a large number of bricks some time ago to ensure uniformity for the Memorial Walk. 
  • Illinois Public Library Internet Survey was completed.

 

Library Activities:

  • Women’s Night program ‘Surviving the Cooking Blues’ had to be rescheduled from October 12th to October 26th at 6:30 p.m. led by Cinda Stocks (Meridian Home Economics teacher). Several people contacted the library asking for copies of the materials because they were unable to attend the rescheduled event.
  • Library Crawl participation has brought in 24 visitors and 6 passports taken from our library.
  • Adult Book Club met October 19th and discussed One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The group was led by Jill Chlebus with 9 members attending.
  • Snakes and Bubbles children’s program (with Kathy Graven) was on Saturday October 21st with 5 children attending.
  • Story Time is going strong each Wednesday morning averaging 16 children each week.

 

Upcoming Programs:

  • Story Time will continue each Wednesday through November 15th..
  • Ladies Night is scheduled for Thursday, November 9th with Kathy Brownlee helping the group make a Christmas craft. Julie Jones will contact Kathy to confirm.
  • Book Club will meet on November 16th to discuss West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge and hosted by Janice Bridgeman.
  • Christmas Ornament Craft is a free program put on by the Macon County HCE (Home Community Extension) to be held on Monday, November 27th from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
  • Santa coming on Saturday, December 2nd. With 127 attendees in 2022, the Library should plan for at least 100 participants and will need lots of cookies for the event. 

 

Old Business: 

  • Paid Leave for All Workers Act effective January 1, 2024. (P.A. 102-1143):  The Board reviewed line-by-line the tentative policy written up for the Library. It was decided to change the minimum increments from “no more than two hours per day” to “no more than four hours per day”. To avoid confusion long term, it was decided to insert a disclaimer in the heading to exclude the Librarian who is already receiving paid leave.  With these two changes, Anne Byard made a motion to accept the new addition to the Library policy regarding Paid Leave for All Workers Act, effective January 1, 2024.  Sharon Reynolds seconded.  The motion carried with all ‘Aye’ votes.    The ‘Paid Leave…’ addition to the Library policy will be rewritten and distributed to all the staff as soon as it is completed.   
  • SAM’s Club membership has been changed to the cheaper membership. Alice used the Sam’s Card since the change and noticed the change has been applied.  

 

New Business:  

  • Review of Serving Our Public 4.0 Standards for Illinois Public Libraries:
    • Ch 6:  Safety: reviewed by Sharon Reynolds:  There were no changes since 2022.
    • Ch 7: Collection Management: reviewed by Sharon Reynolds:  The Library stopped using OCLC for this fiscal year.  There were no other changes since 2022.
    • Ch 8: System Member Responsibilities and Resource Sharing: reviewed by Julie Chapman:  There were no changes since 2022.
    • Ch 9: Public Services: Reference and Reader’s Advisory Services: reviewed by Julie Chapman:   There were no changes since 2022.
    • Ch 10: Programming: reviewed by Nancy Gorden:  There were no changes since 2022.
    • Ch 11: Youth/Young Adult Services: reviewed by Nancy Gorden:  BM Memorial Library does not have programs that incentivized the teenage youth to regularly use the Library.  It was mentioned that the FFA department at the school has a vibrant group that encourages community involvement for the group. It might be worthwhile to contact them.   

 

Other:  None

 

Personnel: Addition to the Blue Mound Memorial Library Policy:

Effective January 1, 2024, in compliance with the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, Public Act (P.A.) 102-1143, the Blue Mound Memorial Library will add the following benefit for each Library employee, excluding the Librarian:

  • Employees will begin to earn paid leave on their first day at a rate of one hour of leave for every 40 hours worked up to 40 hours of paid leave per year.
  • Paid leave must be used at a minimum of four hour increments.
  • Employees are required to provide at least seven days notice for foreseeable leave and as soon as possible for unforeseeable leave.
  • Paid leave accrued may be taken for any reason without documentation.
  • Employees may begin using their paid leave either 90 days after their employment begins or 90 days after the effective date of the act.
  • Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of paid leave annually.
  • Records will be maintained by the payroll program and paid leave hours accrued will appear on the paystub.

 

Motion to Adjourn:  With no further business to discuss, Sharon Reynolds made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Julie Chapman seconded the motion.  The motion carried with all “Aye” votes.  The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

 

The Next Regular Board Meeting will be Monday, November 27, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.                                           

 

                                                                                                                                                Diana Kupish, Secretary

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