West Central Reporter

The Jacksonville Public Library Board of Trustees met Aug. 8 to discuss a theme and possible films for the upcoming third annual Humanities Film Series. 

The Jacksonville Public Library Board of Trustees meets at 4:30 a.m. on the second Monday of each month.

Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the board: 

MINUTES OF THE JACKSONVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD MEETING

August 8, 2016

The regular meeting of the Jacksonville Public Library Board of Directors was held August 8, 2016 in the library’s conference room. Present were President Mary Fergurson, Noel Beard, Craig Albers, Forrest Keaton, Katie Weeks, Kevin Eckhoff and Library Director Chris Ashmore. Absent were Robert Underbrink, Ted Roth, and Elizabeth Kennedy.

Fergurson called the meeting to order at 4:31 PM.

President Fergurson expressed her condolences on behalf of the board to Betsy and Pat Kennedy on the loss of their son.

It was moved by Albers and seconded by Beard that the minutes of the July board meeting be accepted as submitted. Motion carried.

It was moved by Eckhoff and seconded by Weeks that all financial reports be approved and that all properly approved bills for August in the amount of $57,153.03 be paid out of general funds as funds are available. Motion carried.

At this point, Fergurson also reported on the latest Endowment Fund Report.

Director’s Report

July was another great month at the Jacksonville Public Library. Both the Children’s and Adult Summer Reading Programs wrapped up at the end of the month. They were each very successful with large numbers of participants.

While Chris battled kidney stones, he was still able to accomplish many things. The library’s anti-virus software, Symantec Endpoint Protection, was upgraded to a newer version that will work with Windows 7, 8, and 10. End of support for Windows 7 is January 2020. Between now and then, the library will be replacing most of its computers and thus moving to Windows 10 with the new computers. Chris upgraded several of the library’s newer computers to Windows 10 while the upgrade was still free so that they would not need to be replaced by the end of life for Windows 7.

The Key Ring App was corrected so that patrons searching for the Jacksonville Public Library could distinguish it from the library in Jacksonville, Florida. After downloading the App, patrons then search for the Jacksonville Public Library that says IL and has our library logo to distinguish it. All they have to do then is scan in their library card and they can then use their phone to check out if they do not wish to carry their card. Chris

sent out a press release about this new service, but nothing has been published at this point.

In the good news department, the library passed its annual elevator inspection without having to add any new features or apply for a variance. Chris met with Craig Albers on July 26th to discuss strategies for improving the appearance of the library grounds. Several possibilities were discussed and Chris is beginning to pursue those options.

On Thursday July 14th, the library hosted its second Travelogue Program of the summer. Andriy Chukin gave a fantastic presentation on his home country of Ukraine. About 25 people attended the program and were not disappointed.

Chris was also busy with a lot of planning for fall events and activities. There was a meeting at the library with representatives from MacMurray College and Illinois College to discuss a theme and possible films for the upcoming third annual Humanities Film Series.

Chris also began booking acts for the upcoming Music Under the Dome season. This season, the plans are to feature local artists to show the amazing talent right here in the Jacksonville area. At this point, we have three acts scheduled. Along these same lines, several area musicians, most of whom have performed at the library in the past, are planning a fundraising concert to raise money to buy an upright piano to give to the library to use for our concerts. Plans are just now underway, but we are hoping we might have this by next spring so that it can be used in some of the upcoming season’s concerts. This event will bring great publicity to the library and its concert series and I have no doubts that people will be willing to donate at such a benefit.

Other things keeping Chris busy in July were reviewing library policies; continued planning for the Bookstock Music Festival on October 1; organizing the upcoming Book Club season; helping maintain the library’s web site and Facebook page; and maintaining the day-to-day operations of the library.

Adult Services

In July, Hillary worked on organizing the upcoming Antiques Appraisal event with Antiques Roadshow appraiser Mark Moran. Last year’s event was an overwhelming success and many patrons requested that the program return. She worked with Children’s Librarian Cindy Boehlke on the Books on Wheels Bookmobile, which will conclude on August 15th. She also organized and shipped back issues of the Jacksonville Journal Courier to be microfilmed and continued local history research on Dr. Alonzo H. Kenniebrew, the early 20th century physician whose Jacksonville surgical hospital was the first African-American owned surgical hospital in the United States.

Hillary answered several reference and reader advisory queries as well as answered research questions about Jacksonville history and genealogy, including assisting patrons with microfilm and Special Collections resources. She created the August newsletter and distributed it to several different media and social service outlets in the area. She continues to contribute to the Shelf Life newspaper column each week.

Interlibrary Loan/Holds

In July there were 880 items borrowed from other libraries; 542 items were lent to other libraries; and there were 681 reciprocal circulations.

Circulation Services

The Circulation Department has continued to provide great customer service to all Jacksonville Public Library patrons. The Adult Summer Reading Program was in full swing throughout the month of July and proved to be a very busy time for all staff and patrons. There were 220 participants this year which is over twice as many people as last year. Fifteen weekly and grand prizes were awarded, all of which were donated by local businesses. Some examples of the grand prizes were a $250 gift certificate to be used at International Eye Care towards glasses or contacts and gift certificates to Leo’s, Jones Meat Locker, The Look, Our Town Books and many more. Each patron was given a prize for reading their first 5 books and with the higher number of participants, more prizes had to be purchased than in previous years. We received great feedback from patrons and this year’s program was a great success due to promotion by circulation staff. As always, there were many more applications for library cards and the foot traffic from the children’s Summer Reading Program made its way up to the adult desk. Sarah sent a second round of thank you letters to the businesses who donated to Summer Reading to let them know how well it went.

Extension Services

Homebound patrons received a bonus with their book deliveries in July -- Diane shared cookies leftover from all the baking she did for the Morgan County Fair. The Adult Summer Reading program ended with 34 homebound participants turning in a total of 355 books read. Prizewinners were Joyce Kreger with 40 books and Sue Dawdy who completed 30 books.

Diane attended the Morgan County Professionals for Senior Wellness meeting at Heritage Health on July 7. On July 29, she met with Becky Woiwode, Executive Director of Cedarhurst Assisted Living and Memory Care, for a tour of the facility. Regular book deliveries to Cedarhurst will start in mid-September if their official opening date stays on schedule.

The July issue of "ASSOCIATES: The Electronic Library Support Staff Journal" featured an interview with Diane in the "Spotlights" section.

The Knollwood Book Club discussed "Cowboy Life" on July 8, while the Jacksonville Area Senior Center Book Club on July 19 focused on "Amish Life" and popular authors of Amish fiction/romances. Diane also met with residents at Balsam Terrace/Spruce Manor on July 14 to talk about library services.

Now that the big weeding project is completed, Thomas Clatterbuck started shelf shifting in the Large Print area to make shelving easier for staff members and access to the books better for our patrons. It looks good!

Youth Services

July was a busy month in Youth Services as the second half of the Summer Reading program began and ended. There were movies, science programs, story times, science times, Garden club, Lego Club, an animal program, a magician and a really great juggler. The kids made Thing 1 and Thing 2, pillows, race cars and sand art. It was a busy, busy month, but also a lot of fun! The kids also made slime and a bubble snake. They also blew up some soda with Mentos and made a bouncy ball.

The Summer Reading Program winners this year were:

Kindergarten – 6th grade 1st place was a tie between Naomi and Elijah Glaenzer.

Kindergarten – 6th grade 2nd place was a tie between Hannah and Nicholas George.

Kindergarten – 6th grade 3rd place went to Akash Sudhier.

Pre-Kindergarten 1st place went to Rachel George.

Pre-Kindergarten 2nd place went to Thea Laumakis.

Pre-Kindergarten 3rd place was a tie between Jayce Sexton and Kaegen Taylor.

Teen winners were Madden Delaney and Elena Ferraro.

The Grand Prize winner for Pre-K was Charlie English who received passes to Ergadoozy in Springfield. The Grand Prize winner for K-6 was Carter McNeeley who will enjoy a trip to Chicago.

Technical Services

Things continued to operate smoothly in Technical Services. Diane Darnell efficiently kept up with cataloging. Heidi and Kim Pohlman processed materials. Volunteer Linda Little continued to work on special projects and assist where needed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Automation/Technology

None

Building and Grounds

Albers and Ashmore reported on their discussion about improvements to the appearance of the library’s grounds. Ashmore has a meeting with Mayor Ezard and Head of City Maintenance Terry Chumley set up for Wednesday August 10. After discussing things with the City, Ashmore will move on from there and report back to the board on the plans made for better upkeep of the library grounds.

Finance

None

Personnel

None

Public Relations

Ashmore reported on upcoming library events that will provide the library with good publicity. He discussed the last Travelogue program, the Antiques Appraisal Event, Music Under the Dome, Book Club, and Bookstock, A Backyard Roots Music Festival.

Ashmore also reported on plans for a fundraising concert by area musicians to raise money to purchase a piano for the library. Discussion ensued.

FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY

Ashmore reported on the July Friends of the Library board meeting. At this meeting, the board discussed plans for a concession stand at the Bookstock Music Festival, naming their annual Friend of the Year, adding new board members and different ideas for having used book sales.

RAILS/RSA

None

OLD BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS

A sympathy card for the Kennedy family was passed around for signatures.

A discussion was held on whether Ted Roth should remain on the board while he is recovering from his recent stroke. Ted offered to step down if the board so wished. The consensus of the board was that they were fine with keeping Ted on the board while he missed meetings, so long as the Mayor was ok with this. Chris will contact Mayor Ezard for his opinion.

Ashmore reported that the library received a $5,000 bequest from the estate of Alma Phebus to be spent on books and computers.

Eckhoff made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 5:32 PM, seconded by Beard. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted by Chris Ashmore