Chambana Sun

City of Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees met March 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Call To Order:

The Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees met in the Lewis Auditorium of The Urbana Free Library on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. The meeting was called to order by the president, Chris Scherer, at 7:05 p.m.

Attendance:

Present: Geoff Bant, Barbara Jones, Anna Merritt, Jared Miller, Beth Scheid, and Chris Scherer.

Absent: Barb Bennett, Michael Weissman, and Jane Williams

Staff present: Dawn Cassady, Celeste Choate, Rachel Fuller, Anke Voss, and Liz Wittrig

Also present: Shauri Gonzalez and Ruth Wyman

Additions, Corrections, Modifications Of The Agenda:

None.

Approve The Agenda:

It was moved by Beth Scheid, seconded by Geoff Bant, and passed unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

Call For Executive Session:

None.

Public Comment:

Ruth Wyman, President of the Library's Foundation, started a conversation with the Board about direction for the Foundation. Given the difficult budget times, the Foundation is moving their focus to supporting the Library in a more nuts and bolts way, funding such items as the HVAC replacements. There was discussion about ways to reach different populations, using mailings, social media, and other methods. Library strategic planning in the fall will also help define direction for the Foundation.

Presentations:

Liz Wittrig, an Archives intern, gave a presentation on the cataloging of the Chanute collection. Two huge projects have been sorting photographs and sorting personal donations made to the Chanute Museum from the organizational materials that came from the Air Force base. About half of the collection is personal donations. Bronwyn Schell, another intern, has been working on 23 large moving boxes of AV material, containing 12 boxes of photographs, and approximately 100 VHS tapes, 300 u-matic tapes, and 3 Betamax tapes. The collection also includes 24 boxes of annually written historical reports dating back to the opening of the base in the 1920's. Liz and Bronwyn have been creating finding aids to make the reports and photographs available for searching by the public. Both interns will be graduating in May and are working towards getting the collection organized to help the next interns with the task of cataloging items.

Celeste Choate gave a presentation on the budget. Certain sections of the budget need to be reworked in the new financial system, so she presented the budget in the old format. The Board reviews the budget at the March meeting and votes on it at the April meeting, before it goes to City Council. Celeste explained that the City is cutting $500,000 from their FY19 budget, and $750,000 from their FY20 budget. Geoff Bant asked if the Library had been given a percentage to cut from the budget. Celeste said that the Library has been asked to keep the budget flat, except for raises, step increases, and health insurance. After all the City departments present their budgets, there may be further directives. Ultimately the Board decides the budget to present to City Council. Celeste anticipates changes before the April Board meeting, based on decisions by the Foundation and the Friends of the Library.

Action Items (Consent Agenda):

It was moved by Anna Merritt, seconded by Barbara Jones, and passed unanimously to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Action Items (Individual):

It was moved by Geoff Bant, seconded by Beth Scheid, and passed unanimously to approve the Circulation and Interlibrary Loan Policy as amended.

After discussion, it was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Barbara Jones, and passed unanimously to approve Resolution 2018-02 accepting a proposal from Henneman Engineering to oversee the chiller and compressor replacements.

It was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Anna Merritt, and passed unanimously to approve Resolution 2018-03 accepting a proposal from ESCA Consultants for services on Phase II and Phase III to replace the concrete slab.

After discussion, it was moved by Anna Merritt, seconded by Beth Scheid, and passed unanimously to approve Resolution 2018-04 accepting the proposal from Henneman Engineering for the replacement of the furnace in the Webber building.

After discussion, it was moved by Barbara Jones, seconded by Jared Miller, and passed unanimously to approve Resolution 2018-05 approving the Fourth Addendum of the JPE Service Agreement.

Discussion Items:

None.

Reports Of Liaison Officers:

Friends of the Library-

The Friends of the Library met on March 7. Anna Merritt reported that after discussion, the Friends agreed to use the proceeds of the April book sale and other accumulated funds to purchase furniture for the Library. There was also discussion about plantings around the Library and plantings in the corner lot. Plans for the corner lot will be influenced by the Green Street closure as a part of the MCORE Project.

The Urbana Free Library Foundation-

The Foundation will meet March 14. They are pro-actively preparing for a follow-up donation mailing.

Illinois Heartland Library System-

Geoff Bant reported that now that funding has come in, IHLS has been hiring to fill vacant positions. Some funding is still outstanding, but there is an anticipation that it will be received. The next meeting is scheduled to be held in Decatur, and the one after that will be in Champaign. Most members attend by videoconferencing.

Administrative Reports:

Celeste reported that the State Library has started distributing FY17 money. It is anticipated that libraries will receive FY17 money in FY18, but will not receive FY18 money in FY18.

Barbara Jones asked about the Opioid Training that was presented on Staff Day. Some staff members have expressed an interest in receiving further training.

Chris Scherer complimented Anke Voss on her upcoming involvement as a speaker at Archives * Records 2018 in Washington, DC and as a co-facilitator for the Working Group, "Disrupting Institutional Power: Imagining a Regional Model for Public History Education," being held at the National Council for Public History annual meeting.

Board President Report:

Chris Scherer disbanded the Facilities Committee.

There was discussion about the Library Campus Plan. It was created several years ago to address the needs of the Library in relation to the property surrounding the Library. Celeste would like to revisit the plan. It was decided that any Board members that are interested in being a part of developing the Plan should let Chris know.

Chris encouraged Board members to attend the next annual Fairy Tale Ball.

Unfinished Business:

None.

New Business:

None.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

https://www.urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/03-13-18_Minutes.pdf