Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of July 15, 2025

No July meeting due to lack of a quorum on the original meeting date of Tuesday, July 15, 2025 or the rescheduled meeting date of Tuesday, July 22, 2025.

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of June 17, 2025

Board members present: Craig Beals, Michael Garrard, Rhonda Moade, Guy Rumler (had to leave @ 5:55 p.m.), Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Todd Liston

Total board members present: 6

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper

Library staff absent: Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Guests present: None

Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:25 p.m.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the May 20, 2025 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of six approved.
Approved the May Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of six approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year-to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Approved the proposed staff salaries for FY 2026. A roll call of six approved.
Approved the proposed district budget for FY 2026. A roll call of six approved.
Approved Ordinance 2025-1 Summary of prevailing wage rates. A roll call of six approved.
Approved Ordinance 2025-2 Establishment of Board of Trustee meeting dates, place and time for FY 2025-2026. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the Notice of Public Hearing for Ordinance 2025-3 Annual Budget & Appropriation Ordinance. A roll call of five approved.
Approved Ordinance 2025-4 Authorization for transferring monies from the Special Reserve to the general library fund. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the Interfund loan policy. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the Disaster plan manual. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the new Non-Resident fee. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the estimate from T-Graphics to install new 8” cast aluminum letters for the exterior of the Robinson Public Library to show the correct name of the facility. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the hiring of Weston Roberts as a temporary summer helper for the month of July at 10 hours per week. A roll call of five approved.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

No report.

Board heard Director’s report which highlighted the following:

Summarized the participation results at each location for the first two weeks of summer reading. Our results down in comparison to past years and we wonder if the first summer of the Boys & Girls Club operation has not had some impact on our numbers.
Hosted another American Red Cross blood drive on Friday, June 6. We had 13 donors.
Submitted the bid notice to the Robinson Daily News for the two-year insurance bid on Wednesday, June 11.
Have had some issues with the EnvisionWare Branch Manager. This is the program that alerts us at various computer stations when an RFID tag is not disabled and sets off the gates. Lazerware is partnering with EnvisionWare to correct the issue.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events and then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 6:28 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of May 20, 2025

Board members present: Guy Rumler, Todd Liston, RJ1onda Moade, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Craig Beals and Michael Garrard Total board members present: 5

Libra1y staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper; Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Libra1y staff absent:

None Guests present:

None Public Present:

None

Meeting called to order at 5:00 p.m.

Following roll call, and prior to addressing general action items, the following election-related action items were completed:

The oath of office was administered to newly elected (re-elected) trustees Debbie Scott and Rhonda Moade by board Vice-President Debbie Walls.
The board voted to approve Debbie Scott as the new board President for two consecutive years (until May 2027). A roll call of five approved.
The board voted to approve Debbie Walls as the new board Vice-President for two consecutive years (until May 2027). A roll call of five approved.
The board voted to approve Michael Garrard as the new board Secretary and Treasurer for two consecutive years (until May 2027). A roll call of five approved.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the March 27, 2025 Budget & Finance Committee Meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of five approved.
Approved to accept the April 15, 2025 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the April Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of five approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year- to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Reviewed and approved the district Ethics Policy (Ordinance 2025-7) as written. A roll call of five approved.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

Assignment of board members to the Personnel Committee for two years. Members assigned were Beals, Moade, Rumler, and Walls.
Assignment of board members to the Insurance Committee for two years. Members assigned were Beals, Liston, and Moade.
Assignment of board members to the Building and Grounds Committee for two years. Members assigned were Garrard, Liston, and Rumler.

Board reviewed Director’s report which highlighted the following:

Innovative Office Supplies installed the new desks and cabinets in Janice and Mindi’s office on Thursday, April 17. They also made minor repairs to the magnet door strips in on privacy pods. Some had come loose since the March 2024 installation.
Lazerware moved Mindi and Janice’s computer-related equipment back into the office space following furniture installed on April 17. Mindi’s equipment was hooked back up but there was an issue with the newly installed power outlet next to Janice’s desk that kept the setup from being complete.
Janice completed the IMRF audit conducted by Sue Scofield, IMRF Employer Compliance Associate. We had our wrap-up call with Ms. Scofield on Wednesday, April 23. There were no findings, which Ms. Scofield said was rare, on the full audit.
We held the last of the community STEM workshops at the Hutsonville Community building on Saturday, April 26. We had five children and three adults in attendance.
T-Graphics installed the James Jones wall graphics in the Newlin hallway on Thursday, May 8.
Ryan Hill installed the transition strip across the doorway threshold to complete the carpet installation fully in Janice and Mindi’s office. Plans are being made to install new carpeting in Doug’s office.
I requested and received sell sheets and pricing guides from Innovative Office Solutions for shelving to house some of basement collection on a rotating basis.
I met with representatives from Multi Imaging Group (MIG) on Thursday, May 15 about the possibility of compiling a tribute video for our library’s 50th anniversary.
We provided sixty STEM kits to Lincoln Grade School for their 5th grade AR party held on Tuesday, May 20.

Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:

We had a Headstart Story Hour. There was singing, dancing and reading. We also made a craft and played a game of gigantic memory. We finished with our STEM projects.
Summer reading is just around the corner. We will start with the dinosaurs from Feller Express, followed by Chad Collyer magic, Rich Rubietta, and Babaloo music to round the first month.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events – including the date for the next board meeting on June 17. She then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah L. Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of April 15, 2025

Board members present: Todd Liston, Guy Rumler, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Craig Beals, Michael Garrard and Rhonda Moade

Total board members present: 4

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper (via phone); Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Library staff absent: None Guests present: None Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:03 p.m.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the March 18, 2025 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of four approved.
Approved to accept the revised February 1, 2025 emergency board meeting after the addition of language identifying that the money to pay for the parking lot light repairs would be allocated from the special reserve fund. A roll call of four approved.
Approved the March Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of four approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year-to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Approved the Robinson Public Library District five-year plan of service. A roll call of four

approved.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

No report.

Board reviewed Director’s report which highlighted the following:

A brief review of the key district statistics for the month of March. The director noted that even though the patron visits were down, it was only by one patron versus February’s total. Also it was noted that our downloadable audio and e-book numbers continue to rise, especially with the February addition of Libby. We had 717 checkouts in March.
We had the carpet installed (Thursday, March 20) and the walls painted in Janice and Mindi’s office during the week of March 24. First Choice installed electrical outlets and data ports on the common wall that connects the two offices. We are still on schedule for an April 17 installation date of new desks and cabinets.
The wall in the Newlin Hallway where the water fountain was previously located, has been repaired and repainted. It is now ready for the James Jones graphics to be applied by T-Graphics. First Choice also repaired the lighted table that houses our Jones collection before it is relocated to the Newlin hallway in front of the new graphics.
We had a wildly successful community shred event on Friday, March 21. In total, we dumped 38, 95-gallon totes during the three-hour event. We had a number of participants express their thanks during the event and few that called in post event to express how much they appreciated the service.
We held the second and third community STEM workshops at Oblong (March 29) and Flat Rock (April 12). We had seven participants build the “Powered Pet” project at the Oblong event. We had three children at the Flat Rock workshop. Those participants constructed a battery-powered Air Racer. Our last event will be held on April 26 at the Hutsonville Community building.

We had a homeschool co-op group visit the library on Monday, March 31 for a “show and tell” event. The event was originally scheduled for the park but because of weather, was moved to our location. We had 33 kids in attendance. We handed out 16 of the “Powered Pet” STEM build kits, that weren’t used for our Oblong event, to some of those in attendance.
Miranda and Christine attended this year’s Reaching Forward South Conference, held at the Thelma Keller Convention Center in Effingham. There were several breakout groups that focused on children’s activities. Both indicated that the conference was very beneficial.
The group was invited to preview the second episode of “Page One” following the meeting. “Page One” is the library district’s promotional program that features stories from county newspapers from various dates. The effort is to spotlight our newspaper archives that are located on the district’s website genealogy page.

Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:

We held summer reading kickoff events featuring Dino O’Dell at Washington and Lincoln Grade Schools on Monday, April 7. Unfortunately, due to a sudden illness, the Oblong program scheduled for Tuesday, April 8 was postponed and was presented on Friday, April 11.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events – including the STEM event at Hutsonville on April 26 and the next board meeting on May 20. She then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Budget and Finance Committee Meeting Minutes of March 27, 2025

FY26 Budget Planning Discussion – Thursday, March 27, 2025

President Debbie Scott called the meeting to order at 2:48 p.m. in the Robinson Library’s Newlin Room.

Members present were Michael Garrard (phone), Debbie Scott, Debbie Walls, Doug Roberts and Janice Shick.

Members Absent:

The purpose of the meeting was primarily to review and discuss the proposed salaries anticipated for FY26 in advance of Janice’s absence so that she would be able to start compiling the budget plan while out of the office.

Summary: The group reviewed and discussed the FY26 wage model developed by Janice, along with a brief review of the individual spreadsheets for all district facilities plus a corporate spreadsheet for general revenue and expense line items for FY25 and FY26.

The group agreed to the proposed wage increase percentage and will provide a recommendation for approval to the full board at the May 20 meeting. The group also discussed the long-term feasibility of continued wage increases of this size, with this size of staff. The group agreed that there was a need for both an examination of staffing requirements for the long-term (e.g. next 5-10 years) and also the development of more up-to-date job descriptions that includes salary ranges for each particular role present in the library district, including the director’s role.

The group was provided a view of operating expenses with actual – as of 3/15/25 versus budgeted FY2025 figures represented plus the preliminary forecasted FY2026 numbers.

In addition to the preliminary agreement of the payroll numbers offered, it was agreed that Janice would provide more definitive information for all other revenues (i.e. audit tax, building tax, FICA tax, etc.) and expenditures (i.e. building fund, FICA fund, IMRF fund, etc.) to be discussed and voted upon at the meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 3:34 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of March 18, 2025

Board members present: Craig Beals, Todd Liston, Rhonda Moade, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Guy Rumler and Michael Garrard

Total board members present: 5

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper; Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Library staff absent: None Guests present: None Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:23 p.m.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the February 18, 2025 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the February Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of five approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year- to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Reviewed the submitted lawn care bids for the summer of 2025 and approved JOAT Services as the company to provide mowing, trimming, fertilizer and weed control services. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the quotation provided by Innovative Office Solutions for new furniture to be installed in the administration office of the Robinson Public Library. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the estimate from Droste Concrete to do power washing and sealing work at the beginning of FY26 on all the aggregate and brick surfaces of the Robinson building. A roll call of five approved.
Approved Doug Roberts and Mindi Williamson as election officers for the April 1, 2025 Consolidated election. A roll call of five approved.
Approved Doug Roberts and Mindi Williamson as Freedom of Information (FOIA) Officers for FY26. A roll call of five approved.
Reviewed closed session minutes in accordance with 5 ILCS 120/2.06(d). Roll call of five approved the motion to keep the minutes closed.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

No report but did mention a recently had conversation regarding a possible STEM partnership between the library and the newly founded Boys and Girls Club of Robinson. Director Roberts will follow up.

Board reviewed Director’s report which highlighted the following:

The district held its first community STEM event, entitled A Passport To Build, on Saturday, March 15 at the Robinson facility. The workshop, in partnership with the University of Illinois Extension office, is the first in a series of four workshops that will be held across the district over the months of March and April. We only had six attendees (out of 24 signed up) but believe that inclement weather may have been a factor. The next event is scheduled for Saturday, March 29 at the Oblong Community Center.
RFID gates were installed on Tuesday, February 25. Limited staff training conducted by the EnvisionWare tech on Wednesday, February 26. The remainder of the training will be on-the-job, staff-to-staff training.
Janice, Mindi and Doug took part in CPR/AED training on Friday, February 28. The training was conducted by a representative from Cintas, which is the company that we lease our AED from.

We are having the carpet installed in Janice and Mindi’s office on Thursday, March 20. Patching and painting of walls will occur the week of March 24. This is in anticipation of a proposed mid-April installation date of new desks and cabinets.
The Director also mentioned a preliminary quote to re-concrete the parking spaces east of the sidewalk. A follow-up discussion and potential vote may occur at a future meeting.
Registered Miranda Waddell and Christine Cornwell to attend this year’s Reaching Forward South Conference in Effingham on Friday, April 4.
Jordon has made some nice headway in the clean-up, reorganization and research efforts in the basement. There are definitely some magazines and older books that we would like to somehow display on the main floor. We are currently entertaining a variety of options with a focus on having something in place ahead of the building’s targeted 50th anniversary celebration in the summer of 2026. Additionally, we are looking at how best display the printed DVD summary cards and checkout cards now that we have our entire collection tagged with RFID reader chips. Those cards are currently situated in a waist-high table at the beginning of the adult reading section.
Shared a document received just before the meeting related to the recent Presidential Executive Order that addresses the potential downsizing of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is the organization responsible for administering crucial grants to state and local libraries.

Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:

The Robinson Library had a Secret Agent Spy night on Tuesday, February 25th. There were 39 kids and 25 adults that attended. Participants were able to complete their training by learning about disguises (costumes), target practice (corn hole), and code breaking. Each spy also received a special code name.
Summer reading kickoff events plus Washington Grade School Fun Day is just around the corner with this year’s summer reading beginning the first week in June.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events – including the date for the next board meeting on April 15 and the community shred event on March 21. She then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 6:31 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Revised Minutes of the emergency board meeting February 1, 2025

Board members present: Craig Beals, Guy Rumler, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Todd Liston, Michael Garrard and Rhonda Moade

Total board members present: 4

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director;

Library staff absent: Janice Shick, Bookkeeper; Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Guests present: None

Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 10:00 a.m.

In accordance with 5 ILCS 120/2.02(c), an emergency meeting of the Robinson Library District Board of Trustees was convened on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 10 a.m. in the Newlin Room of the Robinson Public Library.

The reason for the emergency meeting was the ongoing operational concerns of the main parking lot lights that as result of faulty wiring, has rendered the seven lights that provide primary illumination of the facility’s parking area, inoperable. As a result, a significant safety and security risk exists for patrons, library staff, and others that may happen to on premises after dusk, until the situation is remedied.

Following a brief summary of events by the Director, Doug Roberts, a quote from First Choice Electrical Service was reviewed by the quorum of members in attendance. The quote, in part provides:

For cutting and removal of a section of the parking lot between the east mechanical room and an in-ground junction box on the east end of the center parking lot island;
Digging a ditch in the excavated section to allow installation of underground conduit.
Installation of new conduit and wiring between the existing lighting contactor in the east mechanical room and the existing parking lot light wiring in the underground junction box;
After circuit and fixture testing to ensure proper electrical function, backfill of the ditch followed by a concrete pour to repair the parking lot.
To ensure that the repairs occur as expediently as possible to limit the amount of patron and staff inconvenience, a concrete mixture with a shortened drying time will be used so that the affected area can be driven upon within 2-3 hours.

Following a motion by board member Beals to pay for the repairs with monies from the district’s special reserve fund, and a second by board President Scott, the quote was unanimously approved on a roll call of the four members in attendance.

Debbie Scott made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 10:14 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

________________________________

Michael Garrard, Secretary

_________________________________

Deborah Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of February 18, 2025

Board members present: Todd Liston, Rhonda Moade, Guy Rumler, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Craig Beals and Michael Garrard

Total board members present: 5

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper; Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Library staff absent: None Guests present: None Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:01 p.m.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the January 21, 2025 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of five approved.
Approved to accept the February 1, 2025 emergency board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of five approved.
Approved to accept the February 12, 2025 personnel committee meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the January Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of five approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year- to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Approved the six-month statement of receipts and expenditures. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the newly created job description for Circulation Manager, effective July 1, 2025. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the revised job description for Children’s Librarian (previously referred to as Youth and Programs Librarian), effective July 1, 2025. A roll call of five approved.
Approved Mindi Williamson as the new Circulation Manager, effective July 1, 2025. A roll call of five approved.
Approved Christine Cornwell as the new Children’s Librarian, effective July 1, 2025. A roll call of five approved.
Approved the newly created Remote Work Flexibility Policy, effective February 18, 2025. A roll call of five approved.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

No report.

Board reviewed Director’s report which highlighted the following:

Board provided with key metrics for the month for January. The Director noted that we continue to improve our Hoopla numbers each month. January was our most successful month yet for audio and e-book checkouts on that platform, with nearly 400 checkouts occurring.
Launched the Libby app by OverDrive as part of Rolling Prairie Digital Consortium on Monday, February 3.
Goff Plumbing capped the water lines leading to the sink in the administration office then removed the cabinet and sink in that office on Thursday, February 6.

First Choice ran new conduit and installed new wiring to repair the inoperable Robinson parking lot lights on Friday, February 7. Droste Concrete completed repairs to the parking lot surface where the new conduit was

located on Monday, February 10. The parking lot was open to through traffic on Wednesday, February 12.

Met with Dara Potts, University of Illinois Extension 4-H STEM Program Coordinator, on Thursday, January 30 about establishing a STEM-related partnership between her office and the library district. We agreed to conduct a series of STEM workshops at the different district locations in March and April. All will occur on Saturdays and there will be a different project to build at each location (for those who may attend at multiple locations).
Submitted this year’s lawn care bid notice to the Daily News on Wednesday, February 12. Bids are due by close of business on Friday, March 14. Bids will be reviewed at the March 18 board meeting.
Due to illness, EnvisionWare rescheduled the installation of the RFID gates until Tuesday, February 25.
Crawford County Broadband Project hosted a meeting with the Illinois Office of Broadband on Monday, February 10 in the Newlin room.
The Crawford County Development Association utilized one of our new meeting rooms on Thursday, February 13. Purchased a projector to use for presentations in the new meeting rooms.
We have made nice progress on the cleanup and reorganization of the former processing room in the basement. The Director offered to provide a tour of the basement to interested board members following the conclusion of the meeting. The Director also broached the subject, for board contemplation, of utilizing a part of the Newlin room to display some of the relics that currently reside in the basement and haven’t been viewed for many years by the general public.
We are in the planning stages of launching a segment on the library district’s YouTube channel that focuses weekly on different events captured in our local newspapers over the course of the past several decades. The emphasis is to promote more viewership of the newspaper archives on our website.

Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:

We will be having a Secret Agent Spy Night on Tuesday, February 25 from 4-5:30 p.m. The program is open to K-5 children. There will be secret codes to decipher, a “laser” maze with yarn, and costumes to try on and be photographed wearing.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events – including the date for the next board meeting on March 18 and the community shred event on March 21. She then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Minutes of Personnel Committee Meeting February 12, 2025

Board members present: Craig Beals, Guy Rumler, Michael Garrard, Rhonda Moade and Debbie Scott

Board members absent: None

Total board members present: 5

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper

Library staff absent: None

Guests present: None

Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:00 p.m.

The purpose of the Personnel Committee meeting was to discuss the current makeup of the Robinson Public Library District staffing and the direction that it is anticipated going in the future.

Director Doug Roberts opened the meeting with roll call of attendees and a brief summary of his thoughts on what needs to be his focus, operationally, in the next five years. Two of the main focus areas are to review the current job descriptions for all staff positions and make changes where necessary and to also create a new personnel-specific manual. Previously there was a combined manual that contained patron policy documents as well as staff specific policies. The patron policy manual was reformatted and published at the end of 2022. The two areas of focus will help to set the path for the next five years and beyond.

Roberts noted that the district is currently made up of twenty-one full and part-time staff members, but as time progresses and changes, such as improved technological efficiencies, staff attrition, etc. occurs, the need to reshape the makeup of the staff will become more imperative. One model being explored is the gradual changing of the ratio of full versus part-time employees combined with a reduction in the number of staffing positions. In part, those hired in the future would possess a greater understanding of computer-related operations and troubleshooting methods to better serve the needs of our patron base. New hires would also possess a higher degree of knowledge surrounding the use of social media tools and how the use of those tools can better benefit the marketability of the library district.

Roberts discussed the possible remote work scenario for a staff member in the near future. He indicated that plans were being put into place to ensure day-to-day activities would continue as normally as possible with the addition of a VPN account for the staff member’s computer to enable printing capabilities to an in-house printer from a remote location. This being said, the question was broached about whether a plan was currently in place should key members of the staff, specifically the Director and the Bookkeeper, be unable to perform their daily business for an extended period of time. In terms of the accounting aspect, there is the option of contracting a third party firm to pay the bills and address general ledger issues. As far as the Director is concern, there are some training opportunities that exist in terms of monthly metrics reporting but as far as the general day-to-day business is concerned in the short term, the operational responsibilities could be shared between the full time staff members.

Roberts also discussed a couple of current changes under consideration. One is the creation of a Circulation Manager position, with the current Children’s librarian Mindi Williamson, in mind to fill the role. Because of the vacancy that Ms. Williamson’s move would create, it was suggested that current staff member Christine Cornwell be selected to fill that role. Both staff members have been addressed about the potential moves and both are eager to accept the new challenges. Roberts also shared with the committee a newly created job description document for the Circulation Manager position along with revised job description document for the Children’s Librarian role. The committee recommended approval of both documents and the changes in job responsibilities for both staff members. Both documents and both job positions will be on the agenda at the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, February 18.

Meeting adjourned at 5:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary Deborah Scott, President

Minutes of the emergency board meeting February 1, 2025

Board members present: Craig Beals, Guy Rumler, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Todd Liston, Michael Garrard and Rhonda Moade

Total board members present: 4

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director;

Library staff absent: Janice Shick, Bookkeeper; Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Guests present: None

Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 10:00 a.m.

Following a brief summary of events by the Director, Doug Roberts, a quote from First Choice Electrical Service was reviewed by the quorum of members in attendance. The quote, in part provides:

For cutting and removal of a section of the parking lot between the east mechanical room and an in-ground junction box on the east end of the center parking lot island;
Digging a ditch in the excavated section to allow installation of underground conduit.
Installation of new conduit and wiring between the existing lighting contactor in the east mechanical room and the existing parking lot light wiring in the underground junction box;
After circuit and fixture testing to ensure proper electrical function, backfill of the ditch followed by a concrete pour to repair the parking lot.
To ensure that the repairs occur as expediently as possible to limit the amount of patron and staff inconvenience, a concrete mixture with a shortened drying time will be used so that the affected area can be driven upon within 2-3 hours.

Following a motion board member Beals and second by board President Scott, the quote was unanimously approved on a roll call of the four members in attendance.

Debbie Scott made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 10:14 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of January 21, 2025

Board members present: Todd Liston, Michael Garrard, Rhonda Moade, Guy Rumler, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Craig Beals Total board members present: 6

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper; Mind i Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Library staff absent: None Guests present: None Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:00 p.m.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the November 19, 2024 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of six approved.
Approved the November Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of six approved.
Approved the December Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll ca ll of six approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year- to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Approved the addition of Libby by OverDrive as another e-resource option for our patrons. A roll call of six approved.
Approved a six-month organization and cataloging project for our storage spaces utilizing Jordon Roberts. A roll call of six approved.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

No report.

Board reviewed Director’s report which highlighted the following:

Board provided with key metrics for the months of November and December.
First Choice Electrical replaced the Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) panelboard in the in the basement on Tuesday, November 26. The remaining pole light in the parking lot that was burned out was replaced on Wednesday, November 27.
The RFID tagging of our DVD collection was completed on Wednesday, December 4. The collection was moved to the main floor on Thursday and Friday, December 4 and 5. RFID tagging of all of the barcoded genealogy collection was completed on Tuesday, December 3.
Agreed with EnvisionWare on a Tuesday, February 11 install date for the new RFID gates.
Had dialogue with IHLS’s Cataloging Maintenance Center Manager on 12/ 18 about cataloging the vast majority of the remaining genealogy publications (that can’t be catalogued in-house). We will be sending the Champaign facility a couple of bins periodically to enter into Polaris. The goal is to have the entire collection, that’s viable, completed in the next year.
Received a nice note from Sharon Bogard on Monday, December 23, about our digital newspaper archive.
Discussing the addition of some classes focused on Internet Safety or General Computer Skills with our area’s Broadband Digital Equity Group Project. The group is also gathering resources for digital education and thought we might interested in some of those resources for our website.
Statement of economic interest forms must be filed with the County Clerk no later than April 30, 2025.
Submitted FY 2025 Per Capita Grant and FY 2023 expenditures report to the state library on Thursday, January 9, 2025. The application and report was confirmed received on 1/10/25.
First Choice ran the CAT6 cable and installed a port along with an electrical outlet in close proximity to where the RFID gates will be installed. They also added an electrical outlet in the Newlin hallway for the new James Jones lighted cabinet the will be coming later this spring.
Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:
No report.
Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events and then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,

No report.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events and then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of November 19, 2024

Board members present: Craig Beals, Todd Liston, Guy Rumler, and Debbie Scott

Board members absent: Michael Garrard, Rhonda Moade and Debbie Walls

Total board members present: 4

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper

Library staff absent: Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Guests present: Jodi Truitt, Kemper CPA Group LLP

Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:00 p.m.

Action Items:

After hearing the presentation of results concerning the library’s FY24 annual audit by Jodi Truitt of Kemper CPA Group LLP, the board approved to accept the findings of that audit. Roll call of four approved.
Approved to accept the October 15, 2024 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of four approved.
Approved the October Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of four approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the excess of accumulated funds report in addition to the month/year-to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Approved the FY2024 Annual Treasurer’s Report. Roll call of four approved.
After hearing a pricing quotation for internet and phone services at the Oblong location for a three-year period from Conxxus along with a revised three-year quotation for internet (phone would remain the same) from incumbent Consolidated Communications, the board, on a vote of 4-0, decided to remain with Consolidated Communications for another three years.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

Debbie Scott confirmed that this year’s Christmas party will be again be catered by A Taste of Country Catering. It will be held on Thursday, December 12 at 6 p.m. Like the events of the past two years, this will be a plus one affair.
There will be no December board meeting.
Agreed to close all district facilities an hour earlier than normal each day in between Christmas and New Year’s.

Board reviewed Director’s report which highlighted the following:

Shared the key monthly metrics for October. All measured areas showed a month over month improvement.
First Choice Electric replaced faulty wiring between the northeast parking lot light pole and the most eastern light pole on the center aisle.
Select staff received hands-on RFID tag training on Friday, October 18 and Monday, October 21. We have now begun our tagging efforts for our DVD and genealogy collection, along with select newly received material.
This year’s IHLS-wide library crawl ran from October 1 through October 31 and was our best showing yet.
Had a couple of discussions with a representative from Overdrive concerning the addition of Libby as another e-resource. Because of some questions surrounding costing, I decided not to put it on the agenda as an action item until the next, regularly scheduled meeting, which will now be in January.
Shared Chapters 9-13 of Serving Our Public 4.0: Standards for Illinois Public Libraries for the group to review.

Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:

No report.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events and then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of October 15, 2024

Board members present: Craig Beals, Michael Garrard, Rhonda Moade, Guy Rumler, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Todd Liston

Total board members present: 6

Library staff present: Janice Shick, Bookkeeper;

Library staff absent: Doug Roberts, Director; Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Guests present: None

Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:08 p.m.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the September 17, 2024 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of six approved.
Approved the September Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of six approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year-to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Approved the payout of annual staff bonuses for those staff members that worked hours during the 2024 calendar year. Roll call of six approved.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

Discussed the coffee mugs that we are using as giveaway items for library crawl participants. Handed out a mug to each board member along with a bagful of Health Toffee miniatures
Reviewed the text sent by the Director regarding the wiring work completed by First Choice Electric on the parking lot lights.
Discussed the available sweatshirt types with the library logo and advised each trustee that a form was in the individual board binder to order one personally.
Discussed this year’s Christmas party. Agreed to reach out to A Taste of Country Catering about available dates. Agreed to request Thursday, December 12 at 6 pm as the first choice and Tuesday, December 10 at 6 o’clock as the second choice. Debbie Scott volunteered to make arrangements. Also agreed to forego the December board meeting, if possible, in favor of the Christmas party alone.

Board reviewed Director’s report which highlighted the following:

Shared Chapters 5-8 of Serving Our Public 4.0: Standards for Illinois Public Libraries for the group to review.
Robinson staff took part in preliminary RFID encoding/tagging training on Tuesday, September 17. More extensive, hands-on training will take place once the new software and desk pads are installed.
Innovative Office Solutions delivered and installed our new reading area table and chairs on Tuesday, September 24.
We received our library-inspired stoneware coffee mugs that will be used, initially, as a give-away item for this year’s library crawl visitors.
Handed out the library-branded, sweatshirts that were embroidered by T-Graphics on Thursday, September 26.
Goff & Sons installed the new furnace condensing unit line set #3 on the east side of the building on Thursday, October 3 and Friday, October 4.
Participated in the annual Heath Harvest Festival for the third consecutive year on Saturday, October 5. We had 393 people (246 adults and 147 kids) stop by the booth that we know of.
Reached out to Advantage Archives on Wednesday, October 9 about digitizing paper editions of the Palestine Pioneer from 1996 – 2000 that were inadvertently missed when we sent them the 2001 – 2005 editions a couple of months ago. I also supplied them with PDF files for October 2023 – September 2024 editions of the Robinson Daily News.

Had a call with a representative from Overdrive about the possibility of adding Libby as another digital reading platform for our patrons.

Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:

No report.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events and then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 5:41 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes of September 17, 2024

Board members present: Craig Beals, Todd Liston, Rhonda Moade, Guy Rumler, Debbie Scott and Debbie Walls

Board members absent: Michael Garrard

Total board members present: 6

Library staff present: Doug Roberts, Director; Janice Shick, Bookkeeper; Mindi Williamson, Children’s Librarian

Library staff absent: None

Guests present: Bill Burke, Crawford County Board Chairman

Public Present: None

Meeting called to order at 5:27 p.m.

Following roll call, and prior to action item discussions, the board heard from Crawford County Board Chairman Bill Burke. Mr. Burke outlined the specifics associated with the proposed tax abatement resolution within the county’s enterprise zone.

Action Items:

Approved to accept the Tax Abatement Resolution 2024-09-17 Authorizing Tax Abatement within the Enterprise Zone. A roll call of six approved.
Approved to accept the August 20, 2024 board meeting minutes as written, with no changes. A roll call of six approved.
Approved the August Check Register results as presented by bookkeeper, Janice Shick. A roll call of six approved. Board was also provided with a brief review of the month/year-to-date balance sheet results and the aged payables report.
Approved Levy Ordinance (Ordinance 2024-6). Roll call of six approved.
Approved the 2025 Robinson Public Library District holidays. Roll call of six approved.
Reviewed closed session minutes in accordance with 5 ILCS 120/2.06(d). Roll call of six approved the motion to keep the minutes closed.
Approved to change the frequency of the Commercial Insurance bid process from an annual basis to every two years. Roll call of six approved.

Discussion Items:

President’s report highlighted the following:

Nothing to report.

Board heard Director’s report which highlighted the following:

Parkhurst Landscaping shaped up the recently planted shrubbery at the front entrance and in the southeast patio area of the Robinson Library on Monday, September 9. They also trimmed back the bushes at the front of the building and cleared the section of guttering just above the bush that we couldn’t get to previously.
Robinson staff took part in encoding/tagging training session on Tuesday, September 17 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
I have joined the SHARE E-Resources Committee. My first meeting with the group is via Zoom on Monday, September 23 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
This year’s library crawl will again run from October 1 through October 31. We have ordered customized, library-inspired stoneware coffee mugs to be used, initially, as a give-away item for this year’s library crawl visitors. Each mug will be filled with Hershey candy. We’re not sure yet what type – Heath, Payday, etc. This will give each visitor to our district a little piece of our community to take back with them.
Working on purchasing some library-branded sweatshirts for the staff. Also looking at purchasing a stand-up banner holder and a table cloth with the library logo emblazoned on them.
Shared Chapters 1-4 of Serving Our Public 4.0: Standards for Illinois Public Libraries for the group to review.

Board heard the Children’s Librarian report:

Started story hour has started back up again following the summer hiatus.
Planning for a couple of Halloween-related events – Trick or Treat at the Trail to be held at Lincoln Trail and our own Monster Bash.
We had a stuffed animal party. This was an event where the kids stuffed the animals with the filler (much like Build-A-Bear). In addition to constructing their new “friend”, participants were read to; danced to some songs; and enjoyed some ice cream. We had 21 participants.
Working on next year’s summer reading events scheduling. Met with other local libraries to plan out which acts to contact for dates.

Debbie Scott summarized upcoming events and then made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 6:21 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Garrard, Secretary

Deborah Scott, President