October 2025 Minutes
Switzerland County Public Library
Board Meeting Minutes
October 14th, 2025
The regular monthly meeting of the Switzerland County Public Library Board of Trustees was held Tuesday, October 14th, 2025 at 3:30 pm in the meeting room of the library. Attending were Don Tolliver, Mary Jane Rogers, Sharon Deck, Diane Sigmon, Diana Barry, Norman Miller, and Emily Fox. Not attending were Michelle Hicks and Heather Peelman.
Miller made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous board meeting, seconded by Barry and passed unanimously. Reports of library activity and technology activity were shared. Fox said Peelman is working on adding another toddler play program and trying to begin regular story times at Head Start again. Adult Services Coordinator Samantha Minch will be doing another sushi program on October 22nd. Fox reported that Baker and Taylor, the largest vendor of library books in the country, is going out of business after almost 200 years. SCPL will be switching to Ingram and titles might be slow to arrive for the next few months.
Bills and claims were presented. Tolliver made a motion to approve the claims, seconded by Sigmon and passed unanimously.
Time for Public Comments
None.
Old Business
None.
New Business
The 2026 budget was presented for approval. Deck motioned to accept the budget, seconded by Rogers and passed unanimously.
The 2026-2030 strategic plan was presented. Fox developed the five goals and objectives by analyzing survey results and discussing with the board and staff members. The technology replacement schedule was developed using AVC Technology’s annual review report. The board thought this version was acceptable, so Sigmon motioned to accept the plan, seconded by Barry and passed unanimously. Fox will turn the plan into the Indiana State Library for approval. If any changes are necessary, she will bring the plan back to the board for approval.
Snow removal was discussed. Fox reached out to Gary Cain, who currently does lawn maintenance for the library and does some snow removal. He said he could do removal on a case-by-case basis but wouldn’t be able to do an exclusive contract. Fox reached out to Parham Excavating, who typically does the removal, and has not heard back. Tolliver contacted Kable McAlpine but also had not heard back. Fox stated she discussed removal with the funeral home and they have considered getting their own removal equipment due to rising costs. Tolliver stated if that were to happen, we could give the funeral home a discount on their annual donation for use of the lot in exchange for help with snow removal. The topic will be revisited in November.
The Background Check Policy was reviewed. Tolliver asked what the policy was for. Fox explained a background check policy is required due to state legislation and our policy requires any staff member who interacts with children or money to have a background check done every five years. No changes were made.
The Circulation Policy and Damaged Material Policy were reviewed. No changes were made.
The next board meeting will be a week early due to Veteran’s Day. It will be November 4th at 3:30 p.m. Fox will be taking vacation on October 31st, the Friday before the meeting, so she will send the agenda and policies on October 30th, so board members should be on the lookout early.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:56 p.m.
Minutes recorded by Emily Fox.