Jacksonville Public Library Board of Trustees met February 12.
Here is the minutes as provided by the board:
The regular meeting of the Jacksonville Public Library Board of Directors was held
February 12, 2018 in the library’s conference room. Present were President Mary
Fergurson, Noel Beard, Craig Albers, Katie Weeks, Forrest Keaton, Elizabeth Kennedy,
Ted Roth, Robert Underbrink and Library Director Chris Ashmore. Absent was Kevin
Eckhoff.
President Fergurson called the meeting to order at 4:32 PM.
It was moved by Beard and seconded by Albers that the minutes of the January board
meeting be accepted as submitted. Motion carried.
It was moved by Roth and seconded by Kennedy that all financial reports for February
be approved and that all properly approved bills for February in the amount of
$57,483.49 be paid out of general funds as funds are available. Motion carried.
Fergurson reported the balance from the latest Endowment Report.
Director’s Report
Several staff members suffered from a stomach virus in January, causing some shortstaffed
days. Everyone chipped in to help when someone was out sick, so things
worked out well. Between illness, freezing temperatures and the traditional holiday
hangover, January seemed like one of the longest months in history. With all this being
said, much was accomplished at the Jacksonville Public Library in January.
Hillary and I met with local free-lance writer Kaleigh Moore on January 3. Kaleigh has a
strong background in job seeking skills, including resumes, cover letters and
interviewing. She will be doing several workshops for the library this year on these
different job-seeking topics. Her first workshop was on resume writing and was held on
January 25. Several patrons attended her session and were eager to learn more.
One of the main accomplishments in January was getting MacMurray College Social
Work student Darin Michael started on his practicum at the library. Hillary and I met
with MacMurray College’s Director of Field Education for Social Work Jodi Pupillo on
January 10 to discuss our role as Field Instructors for Darin and what expectations we
should have for this practicum. Darin started on January 16 and was a steady presence
in the library throughout the month. He is working 9-2 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
and Friday and from 9-5 on Saturday. His availability to help patrons seeking
employment, applying for social services, needing a referral to another agency or simply
needing to talk confidentially was promoted in a variety of ways and he spent time with
several patrons with a variety of needs throughout the month. So far so good on this
partnership with MacMurray College.
On January 23, Kim and I met with Amy Jackson a final time to finalize our new
Personnel Policy. The new policy incorporates changes suggested by the library’s
Personnel Committee and changes suggested by Amy. This policy will (hopefully) be
approved at the February board of trustees meeting.
Of course, various meetings kept me busy throughout the month. I attended the
Children’s Foundation Meeting on January 23 to accept the grant money awarded for
the S.T.E.A.M. programming in Youth Services. I appeared on WLDS radio on January
25 to promote library events including Kaleigh Moore’s resume workshop and Darin
Michael’s presence at the library. I attended the library’s Book Club meeting on January
25 and the library’s weekly English Conversation Group meetings. Community
involvement such as Sunrise Rotary, Jacksonville Main Street, and the sack lunch
program at the Jacksonville Congregational Church also kept me busy and visible.
Other tasks keeping me busy in January included the library’s weekly Shelf Life column,
collection development, Facebook maintenance, working on the library’s annual report
and maintaining the day-to-day operations of the library.
Adult Services
Hillary spent a great deal of time arranging adult programming for 2018. She lined up
several entertaining and educational presenters for the upcoming year, including
programs on history, health and Social Security. After a successful Resume Writing
Workshop on January 25, she arranged for the program to be repeated and followed by
an interview skills program to help prepare job seekers for job interviews.
She worked closely with Chris to establish Darin Michael, the MacMurray social work
intern, as a presence in the library. She has worked with Darin as a field director,
signing off on his consultations as well as answering his questions about library
operations.
Hillary created the January newsletter and e-newsletter and distributed it to patrons as
well as social service and media outlets. She continued her efforts to develop targeted
email marketing, resulting in a record registration for the February craft program. She
helped several patrons with e-books, advised dozens of patrons on computer related
questions as well assisted on microfilm related questions and Special Collections
resources.
Interlibrary Loan/Holds
In January, there were 1009 items borrowed from other libraries; 707 items lent to other
libraries; and 396 reciprocal circulations.
Circulation Services
Circulation staff continued to provide excellent customer service to every patron that
entered the library. January was much busier than December due to the holidays being
over and everyone getting back into the swing of things. Circulation staff withdrew
around 160 books as part of an ongoing project to ensure that the library is collecting
items that are relevant to our community. Sarah ran a number of reports in January to
ensure that our catalog and system are well maintained. She ran the following reports:
missing books report, expired users report, lost books report, and an amnesty report.
She will continue to use these reports for the next few months as all the behind-thescenes
work is done. She also ran a weeding list to help Hillary with the weeding
project.
Circulation staff reorganized the magazines to reflect and display the most current
subscriptions. Sarah created a six-year comparison of checkouts as well as the
comparative services report for the past two years. She also wrote blog posts including
a comprehensive list of the best books that came out in 2017 to highlight everything in
the library’s collection. Sarah completed staff evaluations for everyone in circulation.
In addition, Sarah had two one-on-one technology appointments and attended a
circulation committee meeting to stay up-to-date about the goings-on of the library
system. Circulation staff continued working to more prominently display the items that
are new to the library. This project will continue until each item has a ‘new’ sticker
instead of a metal tab on the inside pocket. Last but not least, Sarah created a new time
sheet for circulation staff.
Extension Services
The flu and pneumonia hit the local nursing homes/assisted living centers pretty hard in
January and Diane lost five of her homebound patrons before the month ended. The
library is grateful to the family of Anna May Flynn for designating memorials to the Large
Print Collection. Tom Atkins, representing the Jacksonville Lions Club, dropped off a
donation ($1200) on January 25 to purchase additional large print books. The Lions Club
has offered faithful support since 1976, with donations totaling approximately $31,650
over the years -- all dedicated to the purchase of large print books. These donations and
the resulting wide variety of titles/authors offered by our library are greatly appreciated by
our patrons.
Diane attended the January 4 meeting of the Morgan County Professionals for Senior
Wellness at Heritage Health. The activity director from Aperion Care stopped by the
library to pick up information on Talking Books and books available on CDs, with
additional requests for Talking Book registrations and returns of unused machines coming
in during the month.
Long-time volunteer, Lloyd Bryant, celebrated his 70th birthday on January 17 and
continues to assist Diane with deliveries to Heritage Health. The Morgan County Jail
bookshelves were replenished with 152 paperback books from library
donations/withdrawals, a service which provides leisure time activity for the inmates.
"Elvis Presley" was the topic for the January 19 Knollwood and the January 30 Senior
Center book clubs. Several participants remembered events in Elvis' life and shared
stories of visiting Graceland.
Bridget worked hard to add "new" labels to the large print books on the shelves and
weeding is scheduled to start in February to make room for more books!
Youth Services
January was the official start for two of the three new S.T.E.A.M. programs, Geeky Girls
and Full STEAM Ahead. Both programs are for kids in 2nd-5th grade, but Geeky Girls is
for girls only. Cindy is limiting registration to five so that everyone has a chance to get
some hands on time and to allow for more interaction. Both groups had an extensive
waiting list, so Cindy is thinking of adding more sessions in the future. Geeky Girls
worked on paper light up circuits (cards that have a light in them) and Full STEAM
Ahead worked on Snap Circuits. The third group, Little Learners, will start in February.
Also during the month, Youth Services and Early Years celebrated 10 years of working
together to provide Lap Sit. This was a great opportunity for families to come together
again to see old friends and catch up. Cindy had several people tell her that Lap Sit was
where they met friends and was a great way to be introduced to Jacksonville and all of
the activities in the area. Cindy intends to keep the program going for the next
generation of little ones to come and play. All of this was in addition to the regular
programs of Story Time, Lap Sit and Lego Club.
Technical Services
Lauren continued to excel in her role as cataloger. With Linda’s cataloging assistance
and Heidi’s and Kim’s efficient processing of materials, things ran very smoothly in
Technical Services.
Committee Reports
Automation/Technology
None
Building and Grounds
Ashmore reported that Sam’s Mowing was cutting back their workload and would not be
able to maintain the library’s landscaping any longer. Ashmore will get bids from other
landscapers and have someone in place starting this Spring.
Finance
None
Personnel
Ashmore presented the library’s new Personnel Policy. Three corrections were
suggested by the board. These were adding the chair of the personnel committee as
someone that a library employee could contact about sexual harassment if he or she
was not comfortable contacting his or her supervisor or the library director; making it
clear that unused sick days are not paid out on termination of employment; and stating
that a doctor’s note may be required if someone takes three or more consecutive sick
days.
Albers made a motion to approve the new Personnel Policy with these three changes,
seconded by Underbrink. Motion carried.
Public Relations
None
Friends of the Library
Ashmore reported on the Friends of the Library January Board Meeting.
Rails/RSA
Ashmore reported on an upgrade made to the library’s circulation software.
Old Business
None
New Business
None
The meeting was adjourned at 5:24 PM. on a motion by Keaton, seconded by Beard.
https://www.jaxpl.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Minutes%20of%20February%20Board%20Meeting(1).pdf
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