Benton Public Library District
Board of Trustees Meeting
Minutes
June 10, 2024
5:00 p.m.
Board President Sue Wells called the meeting to order at 5:06 p.m.
Members Present: Theresa Bates, Debbie Clark, Pat Hollada, Larry Journey, Kathy Storey, & Sue Wells.
Members Absent: Brian Crisp
Also Present: Administrative Assistant Kimberly Livesay and Director Susan Stickel
Motion by Kathy Storey, seconded by Pat Hollada to approve the minutes of the May board meeting passed. All were in favor.
Motion by Debbie Clark, seconded by Larry Journey to approve the payment of bills passed. All were in favor.
Motion by Kathy Storey, seconded by Debbie Clark to approve the financial reports passed. All were in favor.
Librarian’s Report:
Maintenance:
Midwest Construction has been contacted to clean gutters around the building.
An air conditioning unit is needing replaced soon. I have obtained an estimate.
Reading Garden:
Lisa cleaned the tables in the pavilion for the Memorial Day weekend.
The gazebo is needing another coat of stain in some places. I have contacted the company that built the gazebo to make arrangements for the work to be done.
Plantscape sprayed the garden for ants May 30th. This spraying had been delayed due to the excessive amounts of rain. Spraying sooner would have been in vain.
Work is progressing with the character chairs. This is a slow process because of the detailed art work on the chairs. Each chair needs some type of attention.
Incidents:
The yellow stop post in the parking lot was uprooted. I viewed the surveillance camera then notified the police as we have identified the vehicle and trailer but was unable to read the license plate.
Other:
We want to thank the Catholic Church for their donation of children’s chairs. We are able to use these chairs for various programs.
The library has been awarded a Technology Grant from the State of Illinois. It is to be used for technology infrastructure.
Old Business:
The board went into executive session at 5:58 p.m. for the purpose of discussing salaried raises. Executive session ended at 6:04 p.m. Salaried positions received a 4% raise effective July 1, 2024.
New Business:
The draft of the annual budget was presented to the board for review. The budget hearing is set for July 8, at 4:45 p.m.
Motion by Theresa Bates, seconded by Debbie Clark to keep the closed session minutes sealed. All were in favor.
Motion by Kathy Storey, seconded by Debbie Clark to participate in the Non Resident Fee program beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2025. All were in favor.
Other Business:
At a previous meeting there was discussion about eliminating hard copy board packets. It was decided that email was the preferred choice. One complete hard copy will be available at the meeting. It was requested that each board member receive a hard copy of the agenda and check register.
President Sue Wells began a discussion on Solar Energy. She is going to make arrangements to have a company speak at an upcoming board meeting.
Treasurer Kathy Storey will check on the CD at The State Bank of Whittington. The Board asked that I make arrangements for the Bernardi Securities representative and the library attorney to be present at the July board meeting.
President Sue Wells asked Susan to check on getting a flag for the library meeting room.
There was more discussion on the library purchasing an electronic sign. The goal and hope is to increase patron usage of the library and Reading Garden by providing information about the library and its various programs. Kimberly asked Dale to step into the meeting. He gave an informative talk about signs. He has years of experience in this field and we appreciated him sharing his knowledge.
There being no public comment, Theresa Bates motioned, Debbie Clark seconded to adjourn the meeting at 6:12 p.m. Motion passed.
Susan Stickel