Quincy Reporter

City of Quincy Public Library Board met June 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Board President Jon Hoover welcomed former Mayor Mike Troup to the meeting of the Quincy Public Library Board of Trustees and thanked him for his support to QPL and his years of service to the community. The former mayor of Quincy responded by thanking the board and the library for all they provide to community members and reiterated the importance of getting the word out that the library provides basic services for so many people who have no alternative to said services, varying from internet to a place to cool down in the summer temperatures. He concluded his recognition of beneficial library services and thanked the board for their service.

The meeting of the Quincy Public Library Board of Directors was called to order at 6:07 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, by President Jon Hoover. The roll call attendance was as follows:

Jon Hoover: present Clairice Hetzler: present Lena Jones: present Dean LaVelle: present Scott Walden: present Kelly Mays: absent Cheryl Predmore: present Harry Ruth: present Megan Duesterhaus-AuBuchon: present

Present: 8 Absent: 1

Others present: Kathleen Helsabeck, Natascha Will and Jess Givens.

I. CONSENT AGENDA

Dean made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Megan seconded and the motion carried.

II. PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS

Jon suggested the board schedule a special meeting next month to follow up on parliamentary procedures for upcoming board member replacements. He then informed the trustees that he had received feedback from them regarding the monthly meetings being so lengthy, and suggested they discuss the current consent agenda at the special meeting as well.

III. PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments at this time.

IV. RECOGNITION OF PATRON CORRESPONDENCE

A patron donated $200 to the library with a card thanking the Reference department’s Elivia Edge for her kindness and excellent service.

Another patron of the community sent an email to the library board of trustees’ email address with a complaint regarding patrons eating in the library. The board reiterated that the policy says food and beverage are not allowed at computers or in the Illinois Room. Further patron correspondence provided the library with an original poem written by a community member of one of the book clubs hosted by QPL. The subject matter of the piece indicated appreciation and gratitude toward the Reference department’s Reference Librarian Lauren Cunningham for her continued dedication and efforts in running her book club, facilitating insightful discussion, and maintaining relationships with members.

V. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Kathleen reported that Summer Read Kick-off 2025 was a successful turnout with repeating numbers of engagements that the event had in 2024, and she thanked all board members who volunteered.

She then informed the trustees that she has been accepted for a position on the Resource Sharing Alliance board with the goal of helping solidify and strengthen the state statute for public libraries, specifically municipal city libraries.

Included in the Director’s Report was an article from Orange Boy Savannah, a cloud based platform that provides tools for measuring, managing, and marketing library services. The article indicated a study performed by Orange Boy to show the decrease in physical library circulation since the start of the pandemic. Dean highlighted the decline in young families using the library and the impact on senior outreach services and discussed trends in library usage, comparing QPL’s statistics to the contents of article and noting the decline in physical media and increase in digital streaming. He then provided statistics on the decline in cardholders and circulation, emphasizing the need for strategic planning to address the trends.

VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

LIBRARY DISTRICT DISCUSSION – Kathleen informed the board that RAILS Assistant Director Joe Filapeck has been recommended for the library district discussion. He will be available via Zoom for the July board meeting. He was the board member for the Aurora Public Library when it was a city library before they continued to become a district.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT/HISTORY COLLECTION UPDATE – Kathleen updated the trustees that staff were able to recover about 1300 items that were incorrectly weeded from the history collection and staff are still researching a plan to add more back.

VII. NEW BUSINESS

EXPENDITURE APPROVAL LIST – Megan made a motion to approve the expenditure approval list. Lena seconded and the motion carried. The roll call vote is as follows:

Jon: yes           Clairice: yes

Lena: yes         Dean: yes

Megan: yes      Kelly: absent

Cheryl: yes      Harry: yes

Scott: yes

Yes: 8 Absent: 1

APPROVAL OF AMENDED BYLAWS – The library bylaws were presented with an amendment to the year in the Municipal Code of the City of Quincy, Illinois. Cheryl made a motion to approve the amendments to the Bylaws document. Megan seconded and the motion carried.

APPROVAL OF PATRON CODE OF CONDUCT- Scott made a motion to approve the proposed amendments to the Patron Code of Conduct policy that was drafted by QPL staff. Dean seconded and the motion carried.

APPROVAL OF NON-RESIDENT FEE – The board discussed and unanimously decided to set the non-resident library card fee to $97. Clairice made a motion to approve the fee adjustment. Megan seconded and the motion carried.

BOARD MEMBERS RECOMMENDATION – The Nominating Committee met to discuss recommendations for new board members. Dean made a motion to approve Tony Crane for QPL Board consideration. Megan seconded and the motion carried.

MWB DONOR LEVELS – The board was presented with the Mobile Library donor recognition levels decided upon by MWB. Cheryl made a motion to approve the donor levels as presented. Scott seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

VIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION (5 ILCS 120/2) c) (1) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees. – Dean made a motion to go into executive session at 7:37 p.m. Scott seconded and the motion carried.

Scott made a motion to come out of executive session at 8:22 p.m. Dean seconded and the motion carried.

IX. ADJOURNMENT

Scott made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dean seconded and the motion carried, concluding the monthly meeting at 8:22 p.m.

https://www.quincylibrary.org/sites/default/files/content/minutes/4.%20Minutes.pdf