City of Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees Met Feb. 9.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
CALL TO ORDER
The Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees met via Zoom. The meeting was called to order by the President, John Thies, at 7:00 p.m. John cited the State Executive Orders which temporarily suspend the in-person presence requirements and eliminate the limitation on remote access of the Illinois Open Meetings Act due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ATTENDANCE
Present: Barb Bennett, Shirese Hursey, Lupe Mejia, Beth Scheid, John Thies, Michael Weissman, Jane Williams, and Gloria Yen
Absent: Mark Pelmore
Staff present: Becky Brown, Celeste Choate, Rachel Fuller, Donica Martin, and Amanda Standerfer
Also present: Brianna Gaspar
ADDITIONS, CORRECTIONS, MODIFICATIONS OF THE AGENDA None.
APPROVE THE AGENDA
It was moved by Barb Bennett, seconded by Shirese Hursey, and passed by roll call vote to approve the agenda as presented. Votes were as follows:
Ayes: Barb Bennett, Shirese Hursey, Lupe Mejia, Beth Scheid, John Thies, Michael Weissman, Jane Williams, and Gloria Yen
Nays: None
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
PRESENTATIONS
Amanda Standerfer updated the Board on the Strategic Plan. How the plan is used is reflected in the Director’s Report each month. After the plan was adopted, the Library started creating activity plans at the department levels to align activities to the Strategic Plan goals. Amanda has consolidated all of the departmental activity plans into one plan, which will be updated as needed. The Activity Plan has helped departments see where activities overlap and given a better sense of what is happening in the Library.
Amanda also reported on the Strategic Plan evaluation process and gave the Board an evaluation framework that details some of the data that will be gathered. Some data is more near-term with statistics already collected, and other things will need to be created to get data, such as surveys, focus groups, and various feedback loops to see what the community thinks about the Library. One challenge will be how to bring all of the data together to create a report that shows tangible progress towards the Strategic Plan goals. The hope is to provide the Board an evaluation report every six months covering various data points that have been gathered.
Celeste Choate gave the Board a high level financial update of the Year To Date report that is on the Library’s website. Revenue has been affected by the fact that the Library was closed for fifteen weeks in FY20 and not charging for most things. However, FY21 is looking fairly solid. The FY21 property tax line is inflated, because the last property tax payment for FY20 was not received until July 2020. Spending is generally on target, and the underspending in some lines will help offset the revenue losses. She encouraged the Board to let her know if they had any questions as they looked at the report. The draft budget for FY22 will be presented in April, for the Board vote in May to align with the City’s budgeting process.
ACTION ITEMS (CONSENT AGENDA)
Being that John Thies asked and saw that there were no requests to separate the items, it was moved by Beth Scheid, seconded by Jane Williams, and passed by roll call vote to approve the consent agenda as presented. Votes were as follows:
Ayes: Barb Bennett, Shirese Hursey, Lupe Mejia, Beth Scheid, John Thies, Michael Weissman, Jane Williams, and Gloria Yen
Nays: None
ACTION ITEMS (INDIVIDUAL)
After discussion, it was moved by Shirese Hursey, seconded by Jane Williams, and passed by roll call vote to update the Display Policy, formerly the Posted Advertising Policy. Votes were as follows:
Ayes: Barb Bennett, Shirese Hursey, Lupe Mejia, Beth Scheid, Michael Weissman, Jane Williams, and Gloria Yen
Nays: None
Abstain: John Thies
It was moved by Lupe Mejia, seconded by Barb Bennett, and passed by roll call vote to approve the FY21 budget amendments. Votes were as follows:
Ayes: Barb Bennett, Shirese Hursey, Lupe Mejia, Beth Scheid, John Thies, Michael Weissman, Jane Williams, and Gloria Yen
Nays: None
After discussion, it was moved by Shirese Hursey, seconded by Michael Weissman, and passed by roll call vote to approve the Resolution 2021-01 to accept gifts. Votes were as follows:
Ayes: Barb Bennett, Shirese Hursey, Lupe Mejia, Beth Scheid, John Thies, Michael Weissman, and Gloria Yen
Nays: None
DISCUSSION ITEMS
None.
REPORTS OF LIAISON OFFICERS
Friends of the Library
Celeste Choate reported that the Friends of the Library are moving ahead with the Etsy store.
The Urbana Free Library Foundation
Celeste Choate reported that the Foundation is continuing to reach out and build relationships with community members. A new Board member started last month, and a new treasurer is being trained.
Illinois Heartland Library System
Lupe Mejia reported for IHLS that there were no operational items to report, but that IHLS is encouraging Library staff and Board members to participate in the legislative meet-ups that are happening this month. IHLS is also continuing to advocate that Library staff be included in an early vaccination group. There is a list on the ILA website under the COVID heading as to which counties have been contacted and their responses, because decisions are being made at the county level.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Celeste Choate reported that Fred Schlipf met with the Management Team this week, and he will talk with staff on Staff Day about the Building Program process. Celeste reminded the Board that the Illinois Library Legislative Meet-up is February 26 and encouraged those interested in attending to let her know.
BOARD AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
No report.
BOARD PRESIDENT REPORT
No report.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Shirese Hursey thanked the Library staff for the help with the Resolution she wrote for the City.
NEW BUSINESS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:47 p.m.
http://urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/02-09-21_Minutes.pdf
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