City of Yorkville Public Library Board of Trustees met Sept. 11.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The Board of Trustees meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by President Theron Garcia, roll was called and a quorum was established.
Roll Call:
Jackie Milschewski-yes, Ryan Forristall-yes, Theron Garcia-yes, Rosie Millen-yes, Bret Reifsteck-yes, Tara Schumacher-yes, Jason Hedman-yes, Keri Pesola-yes.
Staff Present:
Library Director Shelley Augustine
Others Present:
Sue Smithmeyer-Friends of the Library, Daniel Chacon, Russ Walter via Zoom, Amanda Standerfer-Fast Forward Libraries via Zoom, Molly Krempski, Mike Krempski, Brynn Krempski, Rick Koshko-WSPY Also 2 attendees who signed in as “Good Guy” and “Good Citizen”
Recognition of Visitors:
President Garcia recognized staff and guests.
Amendments to the Agenda:
Ms. Garcia asked to move up the item “Board of Trustees – Oath of Office”, from New Business.
New Business (out of sequence):
Board of Trustees – Oath of Office
Lead by Board Secretary Rosie Millen, the Board members recited an oath to support the Constitutions of the United States and State of Illinois and to faithfully discharge their duties as trustees for the Yorkville Public Library. They also signed their oaths.
Presentations:
Ms. Amanda Standerfer of Fast Forward Libraries was present via Zoom and gave a presentation regarding Strategic Plans. She said Director Augustine had attended her Zoom program regarding Strategic Planning and gave Ms. Augustine a proposal to present to the Board. She said Strategic Plans are road maps for the future for dealing with all aspects of the library. Ms. Standerfer said there are 3 phases: Learn phase, Dream phase and Do phase and she explained the components of each phase. A Vision Statement and Mission Statement will also result from this project. Ms. Standerfer made the following comments in response to Board members' questions.
1. An estimate for ala carte assistance vs. doing the entire plan will depend on the library's budget and staff capacity.
2. She has worked with several suburban libraries and others.
3. The deliverables she provides if working with staff, would be notes and whatever the staff requests. If she reviews the community survey administered by staff, it would be $200 for the review.
4. If a staff member works with her, Ms. Standerfer would be the resource, however, it becomes expensive if she coordinates committees. It is better if a staff member takes the lead.
5. A Board member commented that a big part of a Strategic Plan is finding out what we don't know about trends at other libraries, what is happening there, etc. She would only be able to share minimal information from other libraries since it is intellectual property and she would need their permission to share. For smaller libraries, she looks at local censuses, internal data trends and focus groups.
6. Through the survey, Ms. Standerfer said she could bring in fresh ideas after seeing interest levels. It is during the retreat sessions, that ideas come out, what is working and how to use the data gathered. The trends will be brought forth by staff and the Board since they know the community the best. Ms. Standerfer would be the facilitator.
7. Many libraries do 2-year plans, but 3 years is standard. The goals are focused, but changes can be made in the Activity Plan to respond to changes in the community. After a 3-year period, another survey can be done or new focus groups can be formed. The Activity Plan is used to do specific things that will have impact in the community.
Ms. Garcia thanked her for the information and said the Board will be discussing this further.
Minutes: Personnel Committee August 14, 2023; Board of Trustees August 14, 2023; Policy Committee August 23, 2023; Special Board of Trustees August 28, 2023
Mr. Hedman moved and Ms. Garcia seconded the motion to approve all minutes as presented. Roll call: Forristall-yes, Garcia-yes, Millen-yes, Reifsteck-yes, Schumacher-yes, Hedman-yes, Pesola-yes, Milschewski-yes. Carried 8-0.
Correspondence:
Ms. Augustine read a letter of resignation from a part-time library employee who is leaving to assist a family member.
Public Comment:
Mr. Mike Krempski discussed the oath the Board members took and said they swore to uphold both Constitutions. He said the people have the authority to give the Board instruction per Article 1, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution. Further, he said the Board swore to vote without favor, partiality or prejudice. Mr. Krempski said failure to carry out the law in good faith is punishable by law. He discussed various maxims of the law and asked the Board to please study the documents they swore to uphold.
Ms. Molly Krempski thanked the Board for taking the oath and had given each Board member a copy of the Illinois Constitution. She asked them to pay attention to the Preamble which says that the state was formed for the purpose of seeking God's blessings. She also referred to the Bill of Rights. Section 20 prohibits communications that display depravity or lack of virtue. She said there was an article from the ALA President whose beliefs are different from the constitutional government. She said people may come before the Board that push the same beliefs and Ms. Krempski is counting on the Board to stand up to the people/groups because the Board members have an obligation to the oath they took. She said that state funding will be withheld if the library does not follow the state laws and Ms. Krempski called that extortion. Now that the oath has been taken, she asked the Board to uphold the Constitution regarding material selections for this library.
Ms. Brynn Krempski read a Q&A regarding depravity, the oath and Constitution. She also asked if materials should be included in the library, if the majority of the staff or patrons favor the materials, even if they infringe on the rights of the people that are protected by the Constitutions? She said the Library Trustees, by taking the oath, have agreed to the terms of the Constitution.
Friends of the Library Report:
Ms. Smithmeyer said the Friends of the Library did not meet today, but they postponed their meeting to the following Monday. She said the used book sale made over $8,000 and the remainder of the books were donated to the public, which was well-received by them. Over 4,000 books were given away.
Staff Comment: None
Report of the Treasurer:
Financial Statement and Payment of Bills
Treasurer Milschewski reported there were no big bills this month, but the final cleaning bill was received from the former cleaning service. She moved to pay the bills as follows and Ms. Garcia seconded.
Accounts Payable: $16,202.04
Payroll: $39,157.00
Total: $55,359.04
Roll call: Forristall-yes, Garcia-yes, Millen-yes, Reifsteck-yes, Schumacher-yes, Hedman-yes, Pesola-yes, Milschweski-yes. Carried 8-0.
Report of the Library Director:
Director Augustine noted the following: she listed the special programs coming up, reported there were city-wide internet issues one day, the new cleaning company has begun and the library hosted the Hometown Days musical entertainment during one day of the festival. She displayed a book written by staff member Mike Curtis, who also donated a copy to the library. There are 2 new part-time staff members, however, 2 have also resigned. A donation of hand sanitizer was received from the Police Department. Ms. Augustine reminded the Board that the library will be closed on September 29th for PUG day training.
City Council Liaison: None
Standing Committees:
The Policy Committee previously met and Ms. Pesola said policy approvals will be discussed in New Business.
Unfinished Business:
HVAC Update
Director Augustine said Trico and Ted Milschewski will be at the library tomorrow to inspect VAV's and equipment in the ceiling.
Strategic Planning Discussion/Action
The Board discussed this topic in more detail and questioned if it should be an in-house project or done with Ms. Standerfer's assistance. It is not budgeted, but there is savings from using a new cleaning company. Ms. Augustine checked her references and she is highly recommended by other libraries. There was concern that she does not bring perspectives from other libraries, but is more just a facilitator and if there is value to this. The timeline of this project would allow for expenses to be spread over more than one FY. It was suggested that a lead person could be appointed and then bring the consultant in after the project starts.
Other comments were: A community needs assessment is critical to kick off this project. Ms. Augustine had initiated a community survey to get started. Survey Monkey collects the data, so the value of the consultant doing the survey for $11,000 was questioned. Another opinion is that the administration of the survey and getting replies takes time, so there is value in spending money on this phase. On the other hand, if the library is doing the work on the survey, recording responses, what are we saving? Ms. Standerfer spoke of responses as being in the single digits. The library has an internal resource in the marketing person. A planning team is needed, comprised of a staff member, board member and the Director. Another suggestion was to have Ms. Standerfer do the Learn & Dream phases and the Do phase be done in-house. The scope of this project is massive, part time employees are not paid enough to do this. A facilitator keeps the “ball rolling”. Ms. Standerfer laid out 8 months of time for this Plan.
President Garcia asked each Board member for their input on this matter. Some were supportive of having Ms. Standerfer do the first phase since it gathers the info that influences everything else. They thought the survey could be started in-house and bring her in for the last 2 phases. Some felt the entire project should be done by her since the project stopped when initiated 3 years ago. She only provides templates for the survey and should this item be re-negotiated? Getting Ms. Augustine's input was recognized as being valuable. It was also suggested to look at other proposals to better make a decision. Cost must be considered as well since there are many projects at the library that the library cannot afford now.
President Garcia asked Ms. Augustine to look at 2 other possible consultants and Ms. Augustine noted that Ms. Standerfer is the only one who does ala carte. Mr. Forristall said that we must have the same scope of work in order to compare costs.
Future Library Planning Discussion/Action
Ms. Garcia referred to a memo from City Administrator Bart Olson which prioritized the library needs discussed in a previous meeting with him. The first priority is the electric panel breaker in the older part of the library. The Facilities Manager Jesus Navarro contacted an electrical contractor for a quote. The cost estimate is $3,693 which is below the Director's staff authorization level so the library can move forward with this. The second request is for an RFP to be drafted. Mr. Navarro contacted Trico for a quote for specs for the RFP. Mr. Forristall questioned the fact that Trico would draft the RFP and then possibly do the work, though the price is very reasonable. Ms. Augustine will clarify that with the city to avoid a conflict of interest.
Regarding the IT room HVAC, Mr. Navarro said the mini-split discussed at the last meeting is feasible for this project. The mini-split quote is for $10,300. Electrical work is needed prior to that and that quote is $2,068 for total of $12,368. The scope of work has not been determined yet.
Mr. Navarro is still working on a proposal for the building LED lighting and has a meeting with Verde next week.
The Board had previously asked for a list of lifespans for building equipment which was provided by Mr. Navarro. Mr. Hedman noted the exterior wall paint was done about 5 years ago, not the 11 years as indicated on the report. Ms. Milschewski asked for a list that shows all dates. Ms. Augustine is updating a list that Dixie DeBord had begun.
New Business:
Disaster Plan Update
This plan was originally created in 2019, updated in 2021 and now. Ms. Augustine added these categories: purpose, succession and definitions in the policy. She also briefly described the many additions to the policy.
Approve Reference Service Policy
Ms. Pesola said this is a new policy, it was reviewed at a committee level and is brought forward to the Board for their approval. She moved to approve the policy as written and Ms. Milschewski seconded. Roll call: Garcia yes, Millen-yes, Reifsteck-yes, Schumacher-yes, Hedman-yes, Pesola-yes, Milschewski-yes, Forristall-yes. Carried 8-0.
Approve Updated Public Comment Policy
This revised policy was also reviewed at the committee level. Ms. Pesola entertained a motion for approval as presented and Ms. Milschewski seconded. Roll call: Millen-yes, Reifsteck-yes, Schumacher-yes, Hedman-yes, Pesola-yes, Milschewski-yes, Forristall-yes, Garcia-yes. Carried 8-0.
Approve Updated YPL Statements
Ms. Augustine said these statements (Mission/Value/Vision) will be updated with the Strategic Plan. The Library Bill of Rights had no changes. The American Library Association's of Code of Ethics was previously titled Code of Ethics. Number 9 was added to “G” Code of Ethics statement. Ms. Schumacher said she struggled with this particular statement in the committee meeting and said she preferred that the ALA did not dictate policy. She would rather have local control where the Board can protect the rights of the U.S. and State constitutions, even if ALA does not. Ms. Pesola moved to approve the Item G—American Library Association's Code of Ethics. Ms. Milschewski seconded. Roll call: Reifsteck-no, Schumacher-abstain, Hedman-yes, Pesola yes, Milschewski-yes, Forristall-yes, Garcia-yes, Millen-yes. Carried: 6-yes, 1-no, 1-abstain.
Ms. Pesola moved to approve item “H” Public Library Trustee Ethics Statement as presented and Ms. Milschewski seconded the motion. Roll call: Schumacher-yes, Hedman-yes, Pesola-yes, Milschewski-yes, Forristall-yes, Garcia-yes, Millen-yes, Reifsteck-yes. Carried 8-0.
Approve Updated YPL Board ByLaws
Ms. Augustine said the ByLaws were revised in 2018. There were many changes made to this ByLaws revision. Mr. Hedman noted that Article VIII requires that notice be given prior to approval of the By-Laws. He said notice needs to be given at this meeting that the amended ByLaws will be addressed at the next meeting. A motion was made by Ms. Milschewski and seconded by Ms. Garcia to table the ByLaws until the next meeting. Ms. Milschewski asked to see old language vs. new language when changes are made, in order to see the changes.
Additional Business:
Mr. Hedman noted that pdf page 65 (Mission/Values/Vision Statements) in the packet, is the result of the Strategic Planning begun in 2019.
Adjournment:
There was no further business and the meeting adjourned at 8:39pm on a motion by Ms. Garcia and second by Ms. Milschewski.
https://www.yorkville.il.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5368
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