May 14, 2018
BENTON PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2018
5:30 PM
President Sue Wells called the meeting to order at 5:32 pm.
Members Present: Debbie Clark, Stephanie Hart, Doris Heaton ( by teleconference), Pat Hollada, Jake Seymour ( by teleconference), Kathy Storey and Sue Wells.
Motion by Stephanie Hart, seconded by Kathy Storey to approve the April board meeting minutes passed. All were in favor.
Motion by Stephanie Hart, seconded by Kathy Storey to approve the financial reports passed. All were in favor.
Librarian’s Report:
Regarding maintenance of the library this month, Susan reported tha all interior and exterior lighting as well as the time clock are in proper working order. An air conditioning capacitor had to be replaced. Tree roots have been cleared from a drainage pipe and pipe has been replaced. The guttering on the building has been cleared of leaves and debris. The exterior landscaping boards that surround the building have been replaced. An exterior water faucet has been installed next to the patio area.
The Town & Country Gardeners have replaced the planter at the front of the building and beautiful flowers have been planted. The Garden Gate Club have once again done an outstanding job with the Freedom Plaza and the Benton Library Sign area.
The camera system has been upgraded in all areas of the library.
Regarding programming at the library, Susan is happy to report that an evening Knit & Crochet class has been added. Employee Dianne K. will be in charge of a new quilting class this fall. The Summer Reading Program begins Monday, June 18th. This year’s theme is “Reading Takes You Everywhere.” The library entered a float in The Rend Lake Parade with the theme “Fashion Through the Decades” highlighting the genealogy department this year. The library will have another fundraising rummage sale the day of the city wide sales.
The library is now offering a quarterly newspaper beginning in June. Employee Dianne Kolodziej is spearheading this project.
Old Business:
Personnel was moved to the end of the meeting.
Pat gave a progress report on the children’s area.
A commemorative book discussed at a previous board meeting won’t be considered at this time due to the magnitude of the project.
New Business:
The library was recently notified of being awarded the Live & Learn Grant for handicap improvements to the library. Also for FY18 the library will be receiving the Per Capita Grant. To date, the library has received the FY17 Live and Learn Grant and FY17 Per Capita Grant funds. The FY 18 Live & Learn Grant and FY18 Per Capita have been awarded but not yet received.
Debbie Clark presented to the board an analysis of staff expenses report and a recommendation for consideration for the 2018/2019 Budget. In the report it was recommended to increase part time staff wages by 8% and to offer Pam Teague the position title of Genealogy Director at an hourly rate of $11.00 with an increase of 8 hrs per pay. It was further recommended to increase the starting hourly wage to $9.00 per hour for new employees. It also was recommended that Kim Livesay continue to be paid $200.00 bi-monthly for her duties as bookkeeper. This salaried position was put into place January of 2018. The salary increase for Director Susan Stickel was proposed for consideration to include responsibilities as program director for the time being. A recommendation to increase the director salaried position to $50,000.00 was presented. Motion by Debbie Clark, seconded by Pat Hollada to approve the proposal for part-time staff effective July 1, 2018 passed unanimously by roll call vote. Motion by Doris Heaton, seconded by Jake Seymour to approve the proposal for Director Susan Stickel effective July 1, 2018 passed unanimously by roll call vote.
There was no other business to report and no public comment.
Stephanie motioned, Kathy seconded to adjourn the board meeting at 7:15.
Susan Stickel
