Library Board Approved Minutes - October 6, 2022

DeForest Area Public Library Regular Library Board Minutes
Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 6:00 p.m.

  1. Call to Order and Roll Call
    • The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m.by President Kathy Van Iten
    • Present: Gorres, (arrived at 6:10), Englesby, Landgraf, Lawrence, Toetz, Van Iten, Zeimet
    • Absent:
    • Also present: Jan Berg, Library Director and Andrea Lerum, Technical Services Librarian
  2. Approval of Agenda
    • Motion to approve as presented: Landgraf
    • Second: Zeimet
    • Discussion: None.
    • Action: All approved.
  3. Approval of Minutes of the September 8th, 2022 Meeting
    • Motion to approve the minutes: Lawrence
    • Second: Landgraf
    • Discussion: None
    • Action: All approved.
  4. Public Presentations / Communications
    • Berg noted that in an email dated September 28th the library was informed that we had been voted “The Best Place for Kids to Do in the Area (DeForest Windsor). There will be an “official” announcement and a banner and newspaper ad will help proclaim this honor. The library won this award in 2016 as well.
  5. Approval of Bills – Berg had emailed out the bill run prior to the meeting
    • Motion to approve the bill run: Zeimet
    • Second: Lawrence
    • Discussion: Berg pointed out that there is a separate sheet for the Madison Community Foundation and another one for credit card purchases. One for a Database based in Australia of stories in Languages Other Than English (LOTE). The other a UW class for our Children’s Librarian. This would be a Youth Services 101 type course. Otherwise the bills are utilities and mostly books.
    • Action: All Approved
  6. Reports
    1. Director's - Planning for the Halloween Haunted House at the library continues. The library is working with the high school and Parks & Rec. November is Dinovember month and Dinoday. After that Santa will be at the library and that ends the year of programming except for the traditional yuletide festivities. The website is also being updated and should be the new and improved version around the end of the year.
    2. President's - None.
    3. Village Update - Landgraf noted that Mark Tenjum retired and would be hard to replace. He got a standing ovation and a certificate appreciating all his work for the village. Taysheedra Allen has resigned as a village trustee. The village board would be accepting applications and making an appointment to fill the vacated seat. There was discussion about creating a new benefit called Administrative Time off as part of a wellness program. It would cost more money to cover that time and would, for instance, mean the police department would be staff at only 95%. There was talk about other employee groups getting a 4% increase. Parks & Rec was talking about loaning equipment out like ping pong tables and corn hole set ups, and pickle ball racquets, etc. Landgraf talked to Reese at Parks & Rec about working with the library to loan those materials. The library knows how to loan items and is open on the weekends and evenings.
  7. New Business
    1. Staff Showcase – Andrea Lerum, Technical Services Librarian
      • Lerum replaced the longtime employee who retired this spring. She has taken a cataloging course and has been managing serials, school bags, busy bags, and other small collections for years. Lerum talked about all the collections and labels she and her helpers have been cleaning up. She also talked about working with staff members who read graphic novels to get the collections sorted, cataloged, labeled, and shelved where patrons will find them. She noted that she and Brian Rogers (the Circulation Librarian) worked to figure out how best to circulate puzzles and board games.
  8. Old Business
    1. 2023 Preliminary Budget Discussion and Draft
      • Berg presented the draft budget at the Committee of the Whole meeting at Village Hall on Tuesday evening. She did a flyover of the library program and budget. Feedback seemed supportive. She told the village board that the numbers for insurance were still an unknown and that she had used a 10% increase as a place holder. Numbers may go down based on what the village does with health insurance. Numbers in the building maintenance area are still unknown as well. This is a process that will continue until the budget hearing in November. Berg is still working on getting insurance numbers so that salary and wage numbers can be refined.
  9. Future Agenda Items
    1. Approval of 2023 Budget
  10. Adjournment
    • Motion to Adjourn: Landgraf
    • Second: Van Iten
    • Action: All approved.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:16 p.m. Next meeting November 3rd, 2022.

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