Seneca East Public Library Board of Trustees
December 15th, 2022
The December 15th, 2022 meeting of the Seneca East Board of Trustees was called to order by President Janet Ruffing at 7:27 PM. Trustees in attendance were: Janet Ruffing, Kim Ohl, Tina Shook, Ruth Pifher and Jeff Beaston. Library staff attending included Fiscal Officer Pamela Dunson and Library Director Shannon Featheringill.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the November 2022 meeting were reviewed and approved with a motion by Kim Ohl, a 2nd by Jeff Beaston, and approval of all remaining board members by voting “aye”.
Fiscal Officer’s Report: The board reviewed the November 2022 bills as well as reviewing and initialing the November 2022 Bank Reconciliation and Management Reports as presented by the Fiscal Officer. PLF is still running above budget. December is up 10.8% and Year is up 13.38%.
Resolution #582 - To appoint the Fiscal Officer to pay bills for 2023. A motion to approve Resolution #582 was made by Ruth Pifher, with a 2nd by Jeff Beaston, and the motion passed with approval by all remaining board members voting “aye”.
Resolution #583- To approve backing the 30th of December payroll date to the 29th so it posts on the 29th. OPERS and taxes could be paid on the 30th and there would be no encumbrances carried over into 2023. This makes the Fiscal Year End reporting cleaner. A motion to approve Resolution #583 was made by Jeff Beaston, with a 2nd by Ruth Pifher, and the motion passed with approval by all remaining board members voting “aye”.
BWC AUDIT – Audit went very well. Only one exception was found where Nancy Clark’s pay was not reported. We owe $15.00.
YEAR END UPDATE TRAINING – Completed the all day Webinar Monday, December 5th. After performing this 13 times now, there seems to be no surprises on what is required. But as always, there are no shortcuts as it is always described as a marathon. Once the 2023.1 update is installed, 2023 can be set up in Temporary Mode.
CHART OF ACCOUNT CHANGES COMING – No further updates at this time. Work will probably begin in March or April once we have received the definitions of each Purpose Codes. Hopefully in place before the 2024 Tax Budget is to be completed.
Director’s Report: Director Featheringill reported a total Patron Count for November of 2742 with 23 days open.
Old Business: There are no updates on the Brakeall estate. The new copier was installed November 10. There has been positive feedback from staff and patrons. Letters were sent to Julie Miller, Jacki Tilton, Dawn Martin, Dawn Reichert and Tonya Walker for board vacancy. A response of interest was received from Julie Miller. The rest were declinations that would like to be considered for future vacancies so their applications will be kept on
file. New computers are being installed Monday morning.
Legislative: The ODT posted the November and December PLF distributions. November: $39,855,858 — which is 9.78% above the July 2021 estimate. December: $43,227,920 – which is 10.8% above the July 2021 estimate. 2022 year-to-date: $502,387,686 – which is 13.38% ($59 mill) above the July 2021 estimate. -2022 distribution is 8.18% ($37.98 mill) more than ‘21 & 22.71% ($92.98 mill) more than ‘20.
Building Update: No roof updates at this time. We found some mouse droppings in a few places a few weeks ago. We set a few snap traps, caught one mouse and haven’t seen any more signs of mice. The traps will be set for a few more weeks to be safe.
Staff: Director Featheringill and Ariel received certificates from the Secretary of State, ordered our stamps and supplies and are ready to notarize. The OLC’s Ohio Public Library Administrator's Handbook on salary adjustments and staff raises was presented. Page16 contains an excerpt on budget considerations and notes they recommend 50-70% be budgeted for personnel costs. In addition, a worksheet demonstrating these considerations is attached. (Please also see the attachments from November meeting)
Foundation Business: There are three expiring terms (Becky Allgyre, Cathy Limbird & Bonnie Ohl). President Ariel Fry has accepted another 3-year term. Total Money is $61,188.05.
Children’s Librarian Report: We have wrapped up the fall sessions of Storytime and Music & Movement. We averaged 13 per week for Storytime and 5 for Music & Movement. The winter sessions will begin the week of January 16th. There were 21 in attendance for Brick Builders Club in November. During our November teen board meeting, we had 7 teens volunteer to build houses for our Gingerbread Family Nights. We later had a “Nailed It” cupcake decorating program where the teens decorated cupcakes to look like turkeys. Passive programming for the month of December includes a Grinch ornament and Christmas themed Take and Make crafts. We collaborated with SE’s school library to offer a robot program in November for 5th graders. In addition to using robots that we have here at the library, we borrowed a robot kit from Norweld. The kids really enjoyed having the opportunity to explore different types of robots. The kindergarten classes at SE have requested us to do a Christmas storytime December 20th. Both evenings of our Gingerbread Family Nights were well attended. We were invited to participate in Christmas in Republic on December 4th and provided crafts and activities for the kids. Winter Wonderland at the Attica Fairgrounds returned on December 11th and we provided storytimes.
Adult Services Report: On November 21st, Adult Services hosted an Ugly Christmas sweater decorating party. We had 15 patrons in attendance. On December 8th, the book club met to discuss House Rules by Jodi Picoult. There were 4 patrons in attendance. The Kindness book display resulted in 4 check outs. Five patrons won prizes in the Golden Ticket drawings. We had 40 participants throughout the month of November. The Historical Fiction book display resulted in 3 check outs. The Staff Selections display was very popular and resulted in 10 checkouts. We have two Christmas displays. One contains only Christmas books and the other is books with villains who will be getting coal in their stockings. So far, there have been 2 checkouts. Adult Services is not doing any in person activities this month. On January 23rd, Adult Services will be having a craft night and will make Upcycled Button Art. This is not correct on our schedule of events because it was scheduled originally for MLK Jr Day and we will be closed. On January 30th, Adult Services will be hosting BINGO with prizes and refreshments, and an extra special BINGO caller, Shannon. The patrons seemed to really enjoy this last time. Starting January 2023m SEPL Book Club will be meeting on the second Thursday of each month.
Foundation News: The next Foundation meeting will be held Monday, January 9th, 2023 at 7 PM
At 7:57 PM, a motion was made by Janet Ruffing to enter Executive Session in accordance with ORC 121.22 (G 1), to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee. A second was received from Tina Shook and the motion passed with all trustees voting “aye.” The Board thereupon entered Executive Session until 8:53 PM at which time regular session was resumed.
Board Old Business: The Historical Society transition is still pending.
Board New Business: Contacting J and F to get an estimate to refurbish and update basement space. A motion for pay rate adjustments (provided to the Fiscal Officer) for 2023 was made by Kim Ohl, with 2nd from Tina Shook and the motion passed with all remaining trustees voting “aye.” This pay rate change will be effective December 24th, 2022.
The next meeting of the Seneca East Library Board will be Wednesday, January 11th, 2022 at 7:30 PM.
There being no further business to conduct, Tina Shook made a motion to adjourn at 9:04 PM.
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Janet Ruffing, President Tina Shook, Secretary