Seneca East Public Library Board of Trustees
November 10th, 2021
The November 10th, 2021 meeting of the Seneca East Board of Trustees was called to order by President Janet Ruffing at 7:35 PM. Trustees in attendance were: Janet Ruffing, Kim Ohl, Tina Shook, Vicki Eckenrod, and Jeff Beaston. Library staff attending included Fiscal Officer Pamala Dunson, Library Director Shannon Featheringill, Children’s Librarian Christina Lambert and Adult Services Librarian Karla Raymond.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the October 20th, 2021 meeting were reviewed and approved with a motion by Tina Shook, a 2nd by Vicki Eckenrod, and the motion passed with approval of all remaining board members by voting “aye”.
Fiscal Officer’s Report: The board reviewed the October 2021 bills as well as reviewing and initialing the October 2021 Bank Reconciliation and Management Reports as presented by the Fiscal Officer.
Resolution #563- To increase appropriations according to the directions of Director Shannon Featheringill, for the unencumbered donations received from the period of 10/7/2020 –11/4/2021. The total amount of donations to be appropriated is $473.42. Itemization is as follows: Adult Books $251.65, Adult AV $109.00, Children’s Books $108.00 and Supplies $4.77. Resolution #563 also includes interfund transfers as follows: $400.00 from Children’s AV to Adult Books, $400.00 from Children’s AV to Children’s Books and $400.00 from Children’s AV to Adult AV. A motion to approve Resolution #563 was made by Kim Ohl with a 2nd by Jeff Beaston, and the motion passed with approval by all remaining board members voting “aye”.
Resolution #564 -To review and approve the 2022 Temporary Appropriation Budget. A motion to approve Resolution #564 was made by Tina Shook, with a 2nd by Vicki Eckenrod and the motion passed with all remaining board members voting “aye”.
Director’s Report: Director Featheringill reported a total Patron Count for October of 3706 with 26 days open.
Old Business: Discussed Hollinger estate distribution. See Old Board Business.
New Business: Director Featheringill attended a meeting with other Seneca County library directors on November 10th to discuss the PFL distribution formula. The library’s website is due for an upgrade as the current version of Drupal will no longer be supported in December. Director Featheringill is working with Erica at NORWELD, which hosts the website, on the migration. OSHA requirements on covid vaccination and testing mandates do not apply to Ohio public libraries. Sometimes Ohio BWC will adopt OSHA’s rules. However, SEPL does not employ 100 employees so even if that happens, the library should be exempt. OLC is working with their legal counsel and will update accordingly. The Drop-In Holiday Open House with a Cocoa Bar, Elf Selfies and Santa’s Prize Wheel will be held December 20-23.
Legislative: All fifteen library levies across Ohio passed on the November ballot. November PLF distribution was $37,842,016 which is 29% above the estimate from July 2020. In addition, the state’s October 2021 GRF tax receipts came in $127 million above estimate.
Policy: Policy meeting scheduled for October was cancelled and will be rescheduled. SEO needs closed dates for 2022 by December 2. Changes can be made, if needed, after the policy committee meeting. There are no updates on the disaster plan at this time. Notary policy will also be discussed at the policy committee meeting.
Building: Dave Stallings was in regarding the roof. He will be scheduling a time soon to work on the addition of larger gutters, etc. Sheet metal has been obtained for the parking lot signs. The vinyl decals need to be applied to the sheet metal and the signs installed. There are no updates on the landscaping.
Staff: A new staff contact list was provided. Karla Raymond, Adult Services Librarian, attended a notary workshop at NORWELD and took the notary exam. Her results are pending. She wrote a policy that will be discussed and approved following the policy committee meeting. Pay scale adjustments for the 2022 year were discussed.
Children’s Room Report: Attendance for October’s Storytime averaged 13 per week. There were 5 attendees for October’s Music & Movement in October. National Honor Society advisors were informed of the Teen Board in hopes of attracting more volunteers. Brick Builders Club had 23 in attendance. There was a Make a Jack-O-Lantern scavenger hunt in the Children's Room during October with 21 participants. There were 91 craft kits distributed. Disguise-A-Turkey activity and display will be in place for November. A few children have read their first 100 books for the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program. A Mini-Makers program will begin in January. The first session will be making mug cakes. The Halloween party was great. Attendance was good and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The Gingerbread Workshop will be held December 9th.
Foundation News: Treasurer reports total funds of $59,813.59. The quilt raffle still has tickets available. The drawing will be held Saturday, November 27th. Four members’ terms will expire at the end of 2021.
At 8:36 PM, a motion was made by Kim Ohl to enter Executive Session in accordance with ORC 121.22 (G 1), to consider appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee. A second was received from Jeff Beaston and the motion passed with all trustees voting “aye”. The Board thereupon entered Executive Session until 9:54 PM at which time regular session was resumed.
Board Old Business: A waiver from Beham and Ream regarding the Hollinger estate was discussed. A motion to sign the waiver and accept agreement of Holliger estate funds was made by Kim Ohl and a 2nd by Jeff Beaston, and all remaining board members voting “aye”. The waiver was signed by Fiscal Officer Pamala Dunson and will be mailed back to Beham and Ream.
Board New Business: No new business items.
The next meeting of the Seneca East Library Board will be December 8th, 2021 at 7:30 PM.
There being no further business to conduct, Tina Shook made a motion to adjourn at 9:55 PM.
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Janet Ruffing, President Tina Shook, Secretary