Switzerland County Public Library

Board Meeting Minutes

August 9, 2022

The regular monthly meeting of the Switzerland County Public Library Board of Trustees was held Tuesday, August 9^th, 2022 at 3:30 pm in the meeting room of the library. Attending were Mary Jane Rogers, Stacy Streett, Debbie Margison, Diane Sigmon, Heather Peelman and Emily Fox. Not attending were Diana Barry, Michelle Hicks, and Sharon Deck.

Rogers made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous board meeting, seconded by Sigmon and passed unanimously. Reports of library activity and technology activity were shared. Circulation lowered with the end of summer reading but many people are signing up for cards and e-book services. Fox reported that the library has stayed busy throughout the summer and the meeting room was always booked. The final summer reading numbers were 209 participants for children and 55 for adults, both significant increases from 2021 numbers.

Bills and claims were presented. Margison made a motion to approve the claims, seconded by Rogers and passed unanimously.

Time for Public Comments

None.

Old Business

Fox reported on the Outdoor Learning Lab. She met with K2M Design contacts this week to finalize blueprints and discuss advertising for bids. The advertisement will go in the newspaper next Thursday or the next Thursday, but will run for two to three weeks. She will also advertise on Facebook. If all goes well, a contractor will be voted on in September. The biggest concern is spending all ARPA funds by the September 30^th deadline. Fox said another extension may be given but is not guaranteed, so she is doing everything possible to spend all $16,365 in time. She is meeting with AVC Technology next week to discuss boosting the wifi signal and seeing if there may be anything else the library can spend money on with them that would be within the scope of the grant project.

The telecommuting policy was presented again with the changes discussed last month. Sigmon made a motion to approve, seconded by Margison and passed unanimously.

New Business

Fox presented a resolution to join the e-rate consortium for 2023. The resolution allows the library to receive a highly discounted rate for internet services as long as the library agrees to have filtering software. Streett motioned to approve, seconded by Rogers and passed unanimously.

Fox presented a preview of the 2023 budget. She said she met with the DLGF budget representative and he said our estimate will not require a binding review from our county council. The preview will be presented again at the September meeting along with the current appropriation report as part of the public hearing and the budget will be voted on at the October meeting.

The program policy was reviewed. Language was changed to reflect that the library is no longer home to Ivy Tech’s Learning Center. Rogers motioned to accept the changes, seconded by Margison and passed unanimously.

The meeting room policy and library behavior policy were reviewed. No changes were made.

The library will close early on August 25^th and 26^th and will close completely on August 27^th due to the Swiss Wine Festival.

Fox said that Wayne Robinson has presented a quote to clean the library’s carpets for $850. The tentative dates for that service are September 10^th and 11^th. Since it is a two-day job, the library will need to close that Saturday. No opposition was voiced.

Fox will be taking leave from August 10^th through 16^th.

With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4 p.m.

Minutes recorded by Emily Fox.