Will County Gazette

New Lenox Public Library District Board met Nov. 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The regular meeting of the New Lenox Public Library District Board of Trustees was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President Dr. Edward A. Tatro on November 13, 2018 at the New Lenox Library, 120 Veterans Parkway, New Lenox, Illinois.

Present were Trustees: President Dr. Edward A. Tatro, Vice President Linda Evans, Colette Loecke, Lou Broccolo, Michelle Monbrod, Bonnie Ulstad

Absent: Ann Podoba

Staff present: Michelle Krooswyk: Director and Recording Secretary, Michael Stubler: Business Manager, Phillip Bormet: Information Technology Manager, Ashley Middleton: Digital Services Manager

Visitors: None

Minutes

 Meeting minutes from the October 8, 2018 meeting were approved on a motion by Trustee Evans, seconded by Trustee Broccolo.

 Meeting minutes from the October 8, 2018 Personnel Committee meeting were approved on a motion by Trustee Evans, seconded by Trustee Broccolo.

 Meeting minutes from the October 22, 2018 Policy Committee meeting were approved on a motion by Trustee Evans, seconded by Trustee Broccolo.

 Meeting minutes from the October 22, 2018 Special meeting were approved on a motion by Trustee Evans, seconded by Trustee Broccolo.

Audience to Visitors

 None.

Staff Report

Phillip Bormet: Information Technology Manager – Phillip reported on the upcoming selection of a printer solution vendor. As background, he explained why we have a contract with a company; leasing, toner, and maintenance fees are all rolled into a monthly expense. Buying printer and copiers would be too large of an expense. The finalists for the printer contracts are Proven and COTG; Proven is our current vendor and COTG is a Xerox company. Phillip provided the Board with a “like for like” comparison between COTG and current plan with Proven. Currently we are in a net 15 agreement with Proven, which is resulting in a $200 per month late charge per month. The Board asked why we are frequently getting charged for this. According to Business Manager Michael Stubler, he has tried to contact the third party billing company and they wouldn’t alter the structure. Director Krooswyk mentioned that this process of going through vendors for selecting a final candidate has been a learning experience for both her and Phillip. The original contract was signed by Kate Hall and our previous IT Manager had no involvement in the process. Both Director Krooswyk and Phillip have learned a lot about how they can select terms that work best for the library as well as tweaks going forward for saving money and remaining more efficient with our use of paper and toner. COTG is offering an entry level production machine that will enable Liz Wetmore to print out Guides pre-folded and stapled, which saves Liz hours every month. COTG also allows us to pay for what we print, instead of potentially losing money with an allotment. President Tatro asked if COTG would replace machines if they become outdated. Director Krooswyk said that she asked that exact question of COTG representatives when they visited, and COTG said they would. Of course, this would be expected and looked for in the final contract. In addition, COTG is offering (for an additional fee) a program called Fiery, which will allow Liz to maintain colors and branding standards. COTG was selected as the preferred printer vendor on a motion by Trustee Evans, seconded by Trustee Loecke and motion passed by unanimous roll call vote.

Correspondence Newspapers

 None Other

 Channel 6 – Ghouls and Golf

Director’s Report Administration

 January Community Conversations: As a reminder, Director Krooswyk will be taking the information provided and creating a contact list by the December Board Meeting so that the Board and Director can have conversations with 8-10 community members regarding future funding options.

 DVD Trays: We have had some recent complaints about the clear, acrylic DVD tray browsers. Upon calling the manufacturer, he is going to send out new rubber, corrugated matting (at no charge) that can be placed in the bottom of the trays to hopefully prevent the DVD sleeves from sliding around. Long term solutions for easier browsing and storage of DVDs is being discussed with managers to ensure a better customer service experience.

 Election Day: As mentioned in an email to staff and Board Members, we were a polling place for the very first time on Election Day. The election officials were easy to work with and Brian, our Maintenance Manager, did an excellent job ensuring the area was prepped and coming early to set up. Staff took turns working a table in the lobby encouraging people to sign up for library cards; this resulted in 103 brand new library cards! President Tatro commented that he heard from others that the library was a great polling place; people especially commented on how nice library staff were throughout the day.

 Ghouls and Golf: We had approximately 1,000 attendees once again this year. We had a record year for sponsors (22 total) and every patron left happy! This year brought more staff assisting with the event, which was a big help. We received 3 mini golf rental checks so far this year ($300 each equaling $900) Our totals for the past few years are as follows:

FY2019: $10,448.10 (without the three course rentals $9,548.10,)

FY2018 $8,430.90

FY2017: $8,729.25

FY2016: $6,697.00

FY2015: $5,719.50

FY2014: $5,865.45

 Guest Lecture: The guest lecture at Dominican University to a MLS graduate course on Management went very well. The class was very engaged and asked excellent questions. A week later, feedback was provided that was extremely positive from the students.

 March Board Meeting: Tentatively, John Chrastka will be visiting our March Board meeting to follow up with the Board regarding future funding plans.

 Strategic Plan Tactics: The Management Team is working on the year 2 strategic plan tactics, which will be ready to present to the Board at the regular December Board Meeting.

Upcoming

 Finance Committee Meeting: Monday, December 10, 2018 at 6:30 pm

 Next Board Meeting: Monday, December 10, 2018 at 7:00 pm

Marketing Department

Outreach events:

 Trunk or Treat in the Commons on Sat., Oct. 27, 2018. This was very well attended with 300-500

people. We had out mini golf course set up and gave out candy. This was a great way to promote our mini golf event.

Mini Golf:

 We had 22 sponsors this year, last year we had 17. We had 989 attend the event. This was a huge success, and we exceeded last year numbers in funds.

 We promoted mini golf this year with live streams, and channel 6 interviews. Our Facebook was at record numbers for likes, views, and comments.

Information Technology Department

 Printer contracts companies have been narrowed down to COTG and our previous printing company Proven. This will be discussed in more detail at the Board Meeting during the Staff Report.

Adult Services Department

 In October, Adult Services Department welcomed Reference Assistant Julie Perenchio who is already adjusting very well and doing fantastic job.

 Tana Petrov and Monica Waligorski met individually with all staff in the department to discuss future projects, as well as everyone’s progress with their annual goals.

 Tana Petrov attended 2018 ILA Annual Conference in Peoria, where she presented on the topic of the importance of collaboration and communication between staff from different departments in order to provide excellent customer service, as well as to increase program attendance.

 October was also the Adult Services Department turn to keep the staff lounge in clean shape; all of us pitched in to contribute to keeping the area in clean condition.

 We also worked together to move the genealogy books from the non-fiction collection to their new home by our local history books. By completing this project, we eliminated an empty shelf in a central location of the floor. In addition, patrons will now have an easy access to both local history and genealogy books as both of these collections are now located in the same area.

 Melissa Leggero, Julie Perenchio, Tana Petrov, Monica Waligorski and Dawn Szostak helped with the Ghouls and Golf event. Sue Mountford decorated the department for Halloween (just in time for the Ghouls and Golf) and we received many compliments from patrons. Monica Waligorski also attended the Chamber of Commerce’s Trunk or Treat event.

 Melissa Leggero’s pizza tasting contest for teens was a huge success. We’d like to thank all of our fabulous pizza restaurants that donated pizza – Beggars Pizza, Pizza Mia, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Chicago Pizza Dough, Nancy’s Pizza, and Lou Malnati’s!

Circulation Department

 Kristi Parks has been hired to fill the 15 hour position of Circulation Clerk. Her first day is Monday, November 26th and she will be filling the position previously held by Erin Collins. Erin Collins will be transitioning to the Technical Services Department.

 Circulation decorated the department with lots of fun decorations for Halloween and we heavily promoted Ghouls for Golf. Circulation assisted Liz Wetmore in stuffing over 800 candy bags that were given out to children that attended Ghouls for Golf. Over half of the Department worked this very fun family event and I was impressed with the staff and community’s involvement making this a very successful fundraiser.

 PrairieCat Member Update meeting attended by Jolyce and Cari was a great experience for us to not only network with some surrounding area libraries but also to better understand how our ILS system works and to meet some of the system administrators. We learned that 8 new libraries will be joining our network and that Prairiecat is in the process of updating their web page design and their logo. The new website should be fully launched by the end of the calendar year. We also learned that there is going to be a material type expansion within Prairiecat. Several new types of materials are being introduced into libraries and prairiecat. The new material types are Braille, Board Books and DVD/Combo Packs.

 Unique collected $190.25 in Collection Fees during the month of October. Youth Services Department

 The department was once again invited to participate in the Park District’s Big Bad Pumpkin Party on October 14.

 Liz O. took a spooky book talk out to the schools for grades 1-3.

 The parenting collection has been absorbed into the adult non-fiction section.

 The new format of staff picks has been very successful, and additional copies have been run several times.

Maintenance Department Electrical:

 Parking lot lighting was repaired on October 16th and 17th with new Lithonia LED fixtures, installed by Indicom Electric.

o Power consumption has been reduced from 7,200 watts to 2,100 watts.

o Maintenance was informed of first complaint from adjoining resident about brightness of lighting by Director. The possibility of dimming the lighting at a designated hour to a “security level” using the current controller system will be explored. Right now, the lights operate on a photo-cell which turns all of them on at dusk and off at dawn.

Mechanical:

 Precision Control Systems has performed the following work in preparation for the heating season:

o Serviced and tested all three hot water boilers.

o Repaired hot water base pump #1 and inspected hot water base pump #2, tested both for proper operation.

o Will plan for the servicing of the central steam humidification system.

Building & Grounds:

 K&S Landscaping made preparations for the end of the mowing season and began preparations for winter.

o Performed a final grass mowing for the season. K&S will return during November to perform Fall cleanup of leaves and debris for the end of the season.

o Filled in pot-hole areas of parking lot.

o Notified Maintenance of dead and dying shrubs and trees. Provided a quote for removal and replacement of dead shrubs, old mulch, and planting of a new tree at a cost of $1,200. Maintenance has declined said work in anticipation of this and much more needing to be done in the Spring. At that time there will also be a clearer idea of how much funding can be responsibly allocated from the 2018 Building & Grounds budget for this work.

Preventive Maintenance Performed:

 Emergency lighting tested

 Water heater flushed

 HVAC filters checked

 A.E.D. inspected

 Floor drains flushed

Treasurer’s Report

 Michael Stubler gave the Treasurer’s Report explaining income and expenses for October 2018.

 Budgeted expenses should be at 33.33%, and the actual expenses were 27.52%.

 Trustee Monbrod moved and Trustee Ulstad seconded to approve disbursements for October 2018 in the amount of $75,424.46; motion passed by unanimous roll call vote.

Board Reports

 None

Committee Reports

A. Personnel: Met October 8; minutes were just approved.

B. Finance: Committee will meet on December 10, 2018 @6:30 pm

C. Building and Grounds: Trustee Broccolo mentioned the dripping gutters where the seams are in addition to adding dirt from the dug up flower beds to areas that are sunken between curbs and grassy areas. Decided to meet Wednesday, December 12 at 2:00 pm

D. Policy: Met October 22; minutes were just approved.

E. Fundraising:

F. Other:

Old Business

 DISCUSS: Strategic Plan Review: Pillar One Research Assistance and Instruction – The library has met all the goals for this calendar year.

 REVIEW: New RAILS Membership Standards: Professional Leadership and Training - The library has met all exemplary standards.

 REVIEW: Serving Our Public Chapter 7 – Collection Management – The library meets all the requirements for this chapter.

 REVIEW: Regular Policy Review Schedule: Personnel Policy 203 & 205 – The Board reviewed these policies and there were no questions from Trustees.

New Business

 APPROVE: Christmas in the Commons Extended Hours for Just 4 U Café – Director Krooswyk presented an email from Café owner, Debbi Vejvoda, regarding dates that the café wants to be open when the library is not open. A motion was made by Trustee Broccolo, seconded by Trustee Monbrod to allow the café to be open extended hours during the Christmas in the Commons event. A roll call was taken and motion passed with 5 ayes and 1 nay (Trustee Loecke).

 APPROVE: LIMRiCC Rate Adjustment (Healthcare Coverage Costs) – Director Krooswyk and Business Manager Michael Stubler presented historical data about what the library has paid for health insurance for full time staff members. Overall, health insurance rates increased by 2-3%. Options were presented regarding library vs staff financial responsibility for costs. Trustees mentioned the issue of sustainability if the library took on all the cost of health insurance premiums, and that we might not always have the money to support that decision. After discussion of current trends in workplaces regarding employer responsibility for expenses, a motion was made by Trustee Ulstad and seconded by Trustee Loecke to absorb the additional $13 per month from the insurance increase resulting in staff paying $30 per month for individual health insurance costs, which is the same cost to staff as the current fiscal year. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote.

 APPROVE: Update to Personnel Policy 203 – Motion was made by Trustee Evans, seconded by Trustee Broccolo to accept the state updates to Personnel Policy 203. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote.

 APPROVE: Printing Contract (approved earlier in the meeting; see Staff Report)

 APPROVE: Update to General Policy 220 – Director Krooswyk provided a background on why we had originally created the credit card authorization forms. Prior to entering the items into Sierra, we needed a way to recover costs associated with high dollar DML items. Since the form was put into place, we have cataloged all the equipment. As a result, if an item is damaged or lost, they will be billed through our checkout software, Sierra, and if not paid in time, they will be contacted by a collection agency. Digital Services Manager Ashley Middleton explained how she checks out an item and can charge for missing pieces. She also stated that we have not lost anything in the past 4 years since we started the DML. The forms are redundant, so she requested that the forms be removed from the DML policy (General Policy 220). Trustee Evans moved, seconded by Trustee Monbrod, to remove the two credit card authorization forms from General Policy 220. Motion passed with roll call vote - 5 ayes and 1 nay (Trustee Broccolo).

Board Continuing Education: The Director and the Board reviewed the next section (pages 30-36) of the Illinois Public Library Trustee Manual.

Executive Session

 Discussion of status of existing closed meeting minutes has been moved to December.

Trustee Comments

 Trustee Monbrod mentioned that the date for the Chamber of Commerce Jingle and Mingle on December 7 has been scheduled.

 Presidnet Tatro offered to assist with the Bicentennial Party on Friday. Director Krooswyk asked interested Board Members to contact either Tana Petrov or Liz Wetmore if they want to help at the event.

 Trustee Evans asked if staff were planning to have a staff Holiday party again. Director Krooswyk mentioned that the library has been holding a post-holiday gathering with a white elephant gift exchange. Trustee Evans was wondering if the rest of the Board was interested in financially supporting the staff gathering.

Adjournment

Trustee Evans moved and Trustee Loecke seconded that the meeting be adjourned 8:26 p.m. Motion passed by unanimous vote.

https://www.newlenoxlibrary.org/files/board/minutes/nllb1118.pdf