Seneca East Public Library Board of Trustees
June 12th, 2024
The June 12th, 2024 meeting of the Seneca East Board of Trustees was called to order by Vice President Jeff Beaston at 7:30 P.M. Trustees in attendance were: Jeff Beaston, Tina Shook, Vicki Eckenrod, Michelle Zeiter and Michele Willman. Library staff attending included Fiscal Officer Pamala Dunson and Library Director Shannon Featheringill. The Library Director Shannon Featheringill swore in Michele Willman as a new board member to the Board of Trustees with a term that will end December 31st, 2030.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the May 8th, 2024 meeting were reviewed and approved as amended with a motion by Vicki Eckenrod, a 2nd by Michele Zeiter, and approval of all remaining board members by voting “aye”.
Fiscal Officer’s Report: The board reviewed the May 2024 bills as well as reviewing and initialing the May 2024 Bank Reconciliation and Management Reports as presented by the Fiscal Officer.
Resolution #601 - To supplement appropriations according to the directions of Director Shannon Featheringill, for the unencumbered donations received from the period of 5/4/2024 –6/7/2024. The total amount of donations to be appropriated is $1524.47.
Itemization is as follows:
$31.00 Other-Supplies (Programming)
$949.00 Books & Pamphlets (Adult)
$255.66 Books & Pamphlets (Children)
$70.60 Other-Supplies (Cataloging)
$218.21 General Administrative Supplies
A motion to approve Resolution #601 was made by Tina Shook with a 2nd by Vicki Eckenrod, and the motion passed with approval by all remaining board members voting “aye”. A letter was composed by Fiscal Officer Dunson and presented to Sutton Bank regarding Sutton Bank’s Safety & Soundness Issue with FDIC. The letter included an attached section of the Board of Trustee minutes including the approval to continue a future financial relationship with Sutton Bank. This satisfies the request that was made by Sutton Bank. There was discussion of new security procedures put in place when accessing the portal in order to pay payroll taxes and/or to report financial reports.
Director’s Reports:
Statistical Report:
- Director Featheringill reported a total Patron Count for May of 3885 with 26 days open.
- The statistical report was reviewed.
Old Business:
- VoIP: Buckeye IT began installation today, June 12th, but hit a few snags. Providing an additional phone for the Children’s Library desk and fixing a fax line issue will be addressed when they return tomorrow.
New Business:
- Summer reading programming scheduled attached and reviewed.
Legislative:
- June PLF distribution is $45,091,175 (0.36% above July 2023 and 0.44% above December 2023 estimates). The OBM reports state tax receipts were 0.7% above estimates. OBM is continuing to state publicly that they are not concerned about the state’s financial picture and with one month left in FY24, year-to-date state tax revenues are down by 1.7%. Even though state tax receipts met their estimate in May, they still greatly missed their mark for the first half of 2024. This has led to PLF Calendar Year-to-Date to come in under estimate by $11.85 million so far.
- Two bills have been introduced to the Ohio Statehouse that negatively impact libraries, attack library staff and restrict our freedom to read. OLC is closely monitoring and opposing the bills. These are similar bills that we have been seeing around the country as book bans, etc. continue to be a hot topic. Neither bill has a co-sponsor nor has either bill been assigned to a committee. An attached update from OLC was discussed.
Building:
- Roof: No updates.
- Building Next Door: No updates.
- Back Room Project: J&F is complete with the second phase of the back room project except for installation of an electrical outlet for the hot water heater under the sink. We will want to start thinking about a dedication event.
Staff:
- Kim Thompson officially turned in her keys on June 5th.
- Director Featheringill will be off August 7th and August 20th-23rd.
Historical Society:
- No updates since the Community Garage Sales.
Foundation Business:
- Book and Bread Sale made the Foundation $784.50 from the Blooms & Brunch event on May 11th.
- The June meeting was canceled due to lack of quorum. July 15th will be the next meeting.
Children’s Room Report:
Programming:
- Magic scratch off flower crafts were provided for the children at Blooms & Brunch booth. Families appreciate the free activities provided for them during these events.
- Norweld had one final Camp-in-a-Box workshop and we were able to attend. These kits provided activities and supplies for programs with an engineering theme.
School Outreach:
- All preschool classes and all but one elementary class were visited to share summer reading information.
- Both preschools have welcomed visits for the next school year. IHC will be returning to two classes per week with bi-weekly visits on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Monthly visits will continue at Seneca East’s preschool.
Summer Reading:
- All ready and set for the kick off event on June 15th.
- Storytimes will resume June 18th.
- School age programs are scheduled for Thursday mornings and two teen events are planned.
- There will be three programs held in Republic this summer with the possibility of expansion next year.
- Passive programs will include “Save Princess Peach” activity, a weekly “Guess How Many” jar and Choose Your Own Adventure story.
Adult Programming Report:
Past Programming:
- May programming included 6 programs with attendees.
- The Book Club met on May 9th and discussed Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See.
- Sit and Sew met on May 8th and May 28th. It will resume in the fall.
- Exercise was held on May 1st and 15th.
- Adult Services made DIY Pink Lemonade Sea Scrub on May 20th.
Current Programming:
- Low-Impact Exercise will be held every Wednesday in June.
- DIY trinket bowls are scheduled for June 3rd.
- The Book Club will discuss The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin on June 13th.
- A Ramen Noodle night offering many different toppings for Ramen will be hosted by Adult Services on June 24th.
- Passive activities are planned during Summer Reading.
Book Displays:
- During the month of May, there were several large print book displays. This was very popular.
- Another back display featured “Summer Reads.”
Summer Reading:
- Summer Reading is planned and we are looking forward to getting started this week.
Board Old Business: No old business.
Board New Business: No new business.
The next meeting of the Seneca East Library Board will be July 10th, 2024 at 7:30 P.M.
There being no further business to conduct, Tina Shook made a motion to adjourn at 8:07 P.M.
________________________ _________________________
Janet Ruffing, President Tina Shook, Secretary