Switzerland County Public Library

Board Meeting Minutes

October 18, 2022

The regular monthly meeting of the Switzerland County Public Library Board of Trustees was held Tuesday, October 18^th, 2022 at 4:20 pm in the meeting room of the library. Attending were Mary Jane Rogers, Diane Sigmon, Michelle Hicks, Sharon Deck, and Emily Fox. Not attending were Diana Barry, Stacy Streett, Deborah Margison, and Heather Peelman.

Deck made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous board meeting, seconded by Hicks and passed unanimously. Reports of library activity and technology activity were shared. Circulation is dropping off due to the fall months, but e-circulations and transits have increased slightly. Leftover money allotted for Overdrive will go to the library’s Hoopla budget before the end of the year. Programming is holding steady and there are a dedicated group of patrons attending. Computer usage was down slightly, likely due to the library’s closures in September, including the closure for carpet cleaning. The library received a leadership grant from the Community Foundation to cover the full-time staff to go to the Indiana Library Federation’s annual conference in November.

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

Time for Public Comments

None.

Old Business

None.

New Business

The 2023 budget was presented for adoption. Hicks motioned to adopt the budget, seconded by Deck and passed unanimously.

Fox reported no bids were submitted to build the outdoor learning lab. She said she contacted several contractors over the past month, but contractors either did not return the call or could not do all of the work required. She is now working to collect quotes from a number of contractors to present in November. She is waiting for a response from the State Board of Accounts to see the best way to move forward with the additional appropriation to the Rainy Day fund. The funds must be spent by December 31^st. As of now, the two options would be to sign a contract with a contractor and pay the quoted amount by the end of the year and make any corrections in the new year, or the library could request the additional appropriation from the county council again next year. Fox will update the board next month.

The circulation policy was reviewed. Language was changed to address lost items; they are marked lost at 28 days overdue instead of 45 days since the library became fine-free. Rogers motioned to accept the changes, seconded by Sigmon, and passed unanimously.

The meeting room policy was reviewed. There has recently been some interest by outside groups to use the meeting room for fundraising or to charge admission to events. This has never been allowed in the past, but some of the language in the policy was ambiguous. Fox added language to state no groups could collect money for any reason and asked for feedback from the board. Hicks said it would be helpful to explicitly add “fundraising” as something that is not allowed. Fox said she would make that change and present it again in November.

With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:37 p.m.

Minutes recorded by Emily Fox.