August 2022 Board Minutes

Seneca East Public Library Board of Trustees

August 17th, 2022

The August 17th, 2022 meeting of the Seneca East Board of Trustees was called to order by President Janet Ruffing at 7:28 P.M. Trustees in attendance were: Janet Ruffing, Kim Ohl, Tina Shook, Heather Stockmaster, Ruth Pifher, Vicki Eckenrod, and Jeff Beaston. Library staff attending included Fiscal Officer Pamala Dunson and Library Director Shannon Featheringill.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the July 13th, 2022 meeting were reviewed and approved with a motion by Kim Ohl, a 2nd by Ruth Pifher, and approval of all remaining board members by voting “aye”.

Fiscal Officer’s Report: The board reviewed the July 2022 bills as well as reviewing and initialing the July 2022 Bank Reconciliation and Management Reports as presented by the Fiscal Officer.

Resolution #576 - To increase appropriations according to the directions of Director Shannon Featheringill, for unencumbered donations received from the period of 7/12/22-8/8/22. The total amount of donations to be appropriated is $488.33. Itemization is as follows: Publicity $200.00, Adult Books $118.08, Children’s Books

$10.00 and Supplies $160.25.

The Official Certificate from the Seneca County Auditor has been received for Budget 2023. She is projecting $14,343.33 more in PLF revenue over this year (reflecting the 1.7% temporary increase). A Resolution Accepting the Amounts and Rates has been submitted to the School for their signature and then will be submitted to the County Auditor. A copy will be given to us for our files. The Everett CD has been cashed in and the surrender value is $7,356.58. After considerable research and help from UAN, the Special Revenue Fund for the Everett CD has been closed out and this amount has now been transferred to the Capital Improvement fund. For future reference, a Special Revenue Fund should never be set up for a simple investment as this was the case. An updated Appropriation Report is available. The gift of the Mary Jane Brakeall estate is pending.

Director’s Report: Director Featheringill reported a total Patron Counts for July of 4353 with 25 days open.

Old Business: There are no updates on the Brakeall estate. Total attendance for Summer Reading for all (39) programs equaled 669. There were 157 people registered for Book Bingo. In 2021, we had 39 programs with attendance of 582 and 196 registered for Book Bingo, but we had a higher percentage of completion for Bingo

this year.

New Business: Discussion was had on the current Xerox copier which is leased from MT Business. Modern Office Methods has proposed an offer to buyout the lease and replace the Xerox with a Ricoh machine at a price less than is currently being paid.

Legislative: The ODT posted the August 2022 PLF distribution of $35,441,838. PLF Calendar Year 2022 year-to-date total is $335,331,423.

Building: Matt Gahring was contacted to schedule the library for yearly maintenance on the gutters and downspouts. Bob Herbert has the library on the schedule for the week of August 22. Perry’s Plantation finished landscaping work on August 8th. A sign was installed.

Staff: Two interviews were conducted last week for the part time clerk position. Another interview is scheduled for August 18th.

Foundation News: A book sale will be held August 22-26 during library hours. Reverse Raffle tickets are available for sale. The Foundation has asked for as much help as we can offer. They ask anyone that plans on helping be at the fairgrounds on Saturday, September 17 by 4:00 P.M. to eat. Doors open at 5:30 P.M. and serving begins at 6:00 P.M. The Jett and Lillian Mohr Service Award will be given to Jan and Bob Featheringill this year.

Children’s Librarian Report: The Summer Reading Program wrapped up the summer reading program on July 30 with a show from Talewise and a sundae bar. It was a great show! Program attendance was good throughout the summer. Thursday morning school-age programs averaged 34 in attendance and we averaged 6 teens for teen programs. Passive programs were a major hit. The programs in the children’s room had approximately 290 total entries. The summer sessions of Storytime and Music and Movement also ended the last week of July. The overall summer session attendance for Storytime was an average of 22 per week- the highest since we resumed in person storytime last summer. The fall session of Music and Movement will begin September 2nd and Storytime resumes September 13th. Brick Builders will return September 15th. Teen board meetings will also resume in September. For the fall schedule, the meetings will be immediately followed by a teen activity. We are planning a game night for September. We have contacted teachers to remind them of the support services which we provide. It is still early, but we have gotten confirmation from a handful of teachers that they would like to be put on the schedule for classroom visits or in the rotation for classroom collections. The Tiffin-Seneca United Way contacted us to participate in their Storybook Festival. The event is Saturday, October 1st from 9 A.M to 1 P.M. Winter Wonderland at the Attica Fairgrounds will also be returning this year.

Adult Services Librarian Report: On July 19th, we had “Shark-Cuterie” boards with the Cutie Chick. There were 15 open spots which were all filled and 3 on the waiting list. Unfortunately 2 people did not show up. Sushi 101 on July 25th was canceled by the presenter. The Book Club on August 9th had 5 participants. The Guardians by John Grisham was discussed. Three were in attendance ( five were registered) for the Puzzle Piece Art on August 15th. Upcoming activities include: SEPL Foundation Book Sale on August 22nd-27th, Recycled Book Art craft August 29th, Magazine Strip Silhouette Art September 12th, and Book Club on September 13th. Kristin Harmel’s

The Book of Lost Names will be discussed. Passive Programming includes Guess That Book Quote (Summer Reading challenge) with 12 participants. Four books have been checked out from the two current book displays. These will be kept up until September 1st. A booth was set up at the Attica Fair with flyers for upcoming programs as well as other programs offered by the library.

Board Old Business: A motion to take possession and accept the Attica Area Historical Society’s collection was made by Vicki Eckenrod, a 2nd by Heather Stockmaster and approval of all remaining members by voting “aye”.

Board New Business: No new business items.

Next FDN Meeting: Tuesday, September 19

Next Board Meeting: Wednesday, September 14

The next meeting of the Seneca East Library Board will be September 14th, 2022 at 7:30 P.M. There being no further business to conduct, Tina Shook made a motion to adjourn at 8:22 P.M.



_______________________                                                                                                _____________________

Janet Ruffing, President                                                                                                           Tina Shook, Secretary