Quincy Reporter

City of Quincy Public Library Board met Sept. 12.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The regular meeting of the Quincy Public Library Foundation Board of Trustees was called to order at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Trustees present: President, Dean LaVelle, Lena Jones, Megan Duesterhaus-AuBuchon, Angela Ketteman, Cheryl Predmore, Harry Ruth, and Clairice Hetzler. Trustees Absent: Ben Uzelac and Jonathan Hoover.

Others present: Executive Director, Kathleen Helsabeck and Jess Givens.

I. CONSENT AGENDA

Cheryl Predmore moved to approve the Consent Agenda and Megan Duesterhaus AuBuchon seconded.

II. MEETING MINUTES

Dean LaVelle requested an amendment to the Meeting Minutes for August to reflect the discussion of the drop in attendance from last year and to notate that the subject was in fact spoken of during the August meeting.

III. PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS

Tracy Family presentation regarding Non-Profit Excellence Initiative Strategic Planning will be attended by a few QPL staff members and board members on October 19th and 20th. This will be held at Chaddock in the Knowledge Center. All invited parties are encouraged to attend both events on October 19th and October 20th.

IV. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY

Geri Grawe informed the board that the Friends finished out their August books at revenue of $2,100. The Friends next book sale will take place on October 12th through 14th and fliers are already being made. Quincy University’s Day of Service will arrive to help set up. FOL will invite local libraries around surrounding communities to pick out materials that can be donated to them.

Geri Grawe also mentioned to the board that they are currently at 133 members, as they recently lost Louise Burns at 107 years old. She was a long-time charter of the Friends of the Library, which lead to the discussion of QPL recognizing the loss of Friends members remaining a regular practice.

V. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Kathleen presented the most recent Discovery Guide to the Board and discussed all our upcoming new events and programs being provided to the community.

Kathleen then welcomed Ryne Burton, our new maintenance team member, and Carrie Hummel, our new Outreach team member. She also informed the board of the departure of Victoria Dement, our Communications and Development Coordinator. Her last day was September 9th, however, she will still be involved in the community read. The board was filled in on the status of the recent HVAC work. It has been completed, currently running, and Kathleen and Will, our Maintenance Supervisor, have access to

HVAC systems on their computers.

Kathleen then reminded the board of trustees of our annual visit from our insurance company to go over our tornado safety procedures. We have been instructed to all report to the basement staff breakroom and storage area in case of a tornado emergency. The Nonprofit Excellence Initiative Strategic Planning will take place Thursday, October 19, and Friday, October 20 at The Knowledge Center at the Chaddock campus. All board members and some staff members have been encouraged to attend.

Community Read Kick Off will be Thursday, October 26 at 5:30p at the library. The focus will be providing the book, Maid, and encouraging the community to sign up for related community read programs in November.

IT has upgraded our server and host with multi-factor authentication with Duo. New PCs have also been purchased for the public.

The Friends are in the beginning stages of their next book sale which will be held October 12-14 at the library. QU’s day of service is October 11, and students will be here to move books into the large meeting room for preparation. FOL has also voted and approved the purchases of 10 new patron computers, an OWL camera for the large meeting room, 6 bean bag chairs for the new Minecraft club, and 8 new tables for the children’s theater. Thank you so much to the Friends of the Library!

The $300,000.00 from the Nona Long estate was deposited into the MWB/QPL Foundation investment account. Along with the rebound in the market, the value of the foundation is at $2,200,000.00 as of the last meeting on August 16. The MWB board also voted to approve 10 more patron computers and a shed for the library’s lawn mower. MWB also discussed the hiring of a staff person, but the decision is still in the early stages.

Kathleen let the board know that she would be attending the Association of Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) conference September 20-24. Hotel and conference registration was paid for through the Tracy Family Foundation.

VI. NEW BUSINESS

Angela moved to approve the Expenditure Approval Report for August 4, 2023 in the total of $210,392.53 and Cheryl seconded. The roll call vote is as follows:

Dean yes Harry yes

Clairice yes Lena yes

Angela yes Megan yes

Cheryl yes Jonathan absent

Ben absent

There being no further discussion, the monthly meeting of the QPL Board of Trustees was adjourned at 6:33 p.m.

https://www.quincylibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2Sept-Minutes.pdf