Seneca East Public Library Board of Trustees
September 13th, 2023
The September 13th, 2023 meeting of the Seneca East Board of Trustees was called to order by President Janet Ruffing at 7:27 P.M. Trustees in attendance were: Janet Ruffing, Kim Ohl, Tina Shook, Vicki Eckenrod, Jeff Beaston and Michelle Zeiter. Library staff attending included Fiscal Officer Pamala Dunson and Library Director
Shannon Featheringill.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the August 16th, 2023 meeting were reviewed and approved with a motion by Michelle Zeiter, a 2nd by Jeff Beaston, and approval of all remaining board members by voting “aye”. Fiscal Officer’s Report: The board reviewed the August 2023 bills as well as reviewing and initialing the August 2023 Bank Reconciliation and Management Reports as presented by the Fiscal Officer. A motion to allow the Fiscal Officer to move money within the General Fund without prior approval from the Board and reporting changes to the Board at the next Board meeting was made by Kim Ohl, a 2nd by Vicki Eckenrod, and approval of all remaining board members by voting “aye”.
Resolution #592 – To supplement appropriations according to the directions of Director Shannon Featheringill, for the unencumbered donations received from the period of 8/11/2023 –9/8/2023 and approve an additional $5000.00 to increase the donation revenue budget. The request for an amended certificate has been received from the County Auditor. The two certificates (one from last month in addition to this month) will increase the Revenue Budget by a total of $10,000. The total amount of donations to be appropriated is $8,095.32. Itemization is as follows: Publicity $655.00, Adult Books $4,088.00, Children’s Books $3058.50, and Supplies $293.82. A motion to approve Resolution #592 was made by Tina Shook, a 2nd by Michelle Zeiter, and the motion passed with approval by all remaining board members voting “aye”.
Tax Budget for 2024 -We have received the Official Certificate of Estimated Resources. There was a noted discrepancy and a new one has been requested. The estimated PLF money projections for 2024 as provided by the Seneca County Auditor are as follows: Seneca County $174,029.65 and Huron County $16,619.42. The total is $190,649.07. The Resolution Accepting the Amounts and Rates of the Tax Levy was given to Seneca East School Treasurer Kyle McConnell on Monday. He was going to put it on the agenda for Monday night’s school board meeting for approval and then it will be sent to the Seneca County Auditor. This is required in order to move forward with the 2024 budgetary process.
Chart of Account Change Updates - Director Featheringill and Fiscal Officer Pamala Dunson are in the process of creating and posting the new account structure. The new accounts are disclosed in the Appropriation Status Report. The new accounts have a zero balance at this time, but we are currently working on the Temporary Appropriations for the 2024 year.
Director’s Report: Director Featheringill reported a total Patron Count for August of 3487 with 27 days open. Old Business: Attica Community Events Committee will be hosting Autumn Village Day on September 30th. There will be a booth set up in front of the library with information and kids’ activities. Square dancing and an
ice cream social will take place in the afternoon.
New Business: No new items.
Legislative: September PLF distribution is $45,969,149 (0.27% below July estimate, but 6.3% above December estimate) and has rebounded from last month. The PLF Calendar Year 2023 year-to-date total is $383,655,065. GRF tax receipts for August came in $37.7 million (1.4% above estimate). OBM also announced the state’s
rainy-day fund reached a record level at $3,650,848,110. State law recently changed to allow the fund to increase up to 10% of the preceding year’s GFR revenues.
Building Update: Jason Branham sealed the annex roof. He said the lower roof is ready to be sealed as well and is working on providing a quote. The Back Room Project is set to begin October 1st. There was an issue with the men’s room toilet again. The gasket was cleaned again and it’s working fine. A strap wrench was ordered to have on hand in case it happens again. The men’s room faucet still needs to be replaced.
Staff: Director Featheringill will be attending the OLC Convention and Expo on September 27th-29th. New hire Nathan Heabler is still in the training process. Cindy’s last day was August 30th. Kim Thompson is progressing well following surgery.
Historical Society: No new items.
Foundation Business: The Reverse Raffle is being held September 16th at 5:30 PM at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church. Volunteers should be there by 4:30 PM to eat. There are still a few tickets available, if anyone would like an extra.
Children’s Room Report:
Programming: Our first combination teen board meeting/teen activity will be held September 14th. Teens will help prepare bags for the preschoolers at In His Care and will make paper squishies after. Fall sessions of Storytime and Music and Movement begin next week. Brick Builders also resumes next week. The Mini Makers program for school agers will start back on October 5th with a s’mores program. Passive programming for the month has included a “Would You Rather” contest and take and make crafts.
School Outreach: Monthly visits at the elementary school begin September 14th. We will be visiting 10 classes this year. Preschool visits at In His Care begin September 20th. Monthly visits with the Seneca East Preschool will begin in October. We have also been invited back to collaborate with the school library for maker activities. On September 25th, 27th, and 28th, we will visit 5th grade classes for activities with littleBits STEM kits. The kits have been requested from Norweld.
Upcoming Events: Autumn Village Day will be September. 30th. Our annual Halloween Party will be October 21st. We have been invited back to participate in Republic’s Hallow-EEK-ends event on October 29th. The Tiffin Storybook Festival has been postponed this year. It will probably be rescheduled for mid-winter.
Adult Services Report:
Past Events: Macrame Rainbows on August 28th was canceled. BINGO was held instead. There were 18 people in attendance. The Book Club met on September 7th and discussed We Begin At the End. There were 5 people in attendance. Adult Trivia Night on September 11th had 7 in attendance. A $25 gift certificate to Smitty’s Pizza was given to the winner.
Future Events: On September 25th, Chandler Wellness will be here to discuss Tapping for Beginners. Adult Services will be hosting a canvas painting night on October 2nd. The first week in October is Banned Books week and there will be two displays.
Other News: The Norweld Large Print collection that was expected in June has finally been delivered. They have issued us a refund for this quarter.
Foundation News: The next Foundation meeting will be held Monday, October 16th at 7PM.
Board Old Business: Diana Ruffing has declined the Board seat. Jaime Martin is interested in completing Ruth Pifher’s term. She will come to the October meeting. Scott Wise is considering the seat to be vacated by Kim Ohl at the end of this year.
Board New Business: Following the renovations in the Back Room, the new space will be dedicated as The Hollinger Room.
The next meeting of the Seneca East Library Board will be October 11th, 2023 at 7:30 PM.
There being no further business to conduct, Tina Shook made a motion to adjourn at 8:21 PM.
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Janet Ruffing, President Tina Shook, Secretary