Board of Trustees & Committees

Library Board of Trustees

The Regular Meetings of the Board of Trustees of the Vespasian Warner Public Library District for the 2024-2025 fiscal year will be 6:00 p.m., at the Vespasian Warner Public Library, 310 N Quincy St., Clinton, Illinois on the following dates:

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​August 28, 2024 - Minutes (Approved 10/9/24)

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September 11, 2024 - Meeting Cancelled

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October 9, 2024 - Minutes (Approved 11/13/24)

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November 13, 2024 - Minutes (Approved 1/8/25)

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December 11, 2024 - Meeting Cancelled

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January 8, 2025 - Minutes (Approved 2/19/25)

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Vespasian Warner Public Library District

Clinton, IL  61727

Board of Trustees Meeting

January 8, 2025

 

 

President Laura Hale called the meeting of the board to order at 6:02 p.m.  Roll call was taken with the following members present:  Hale, Janelle Sams-Thomas, Matt Love, Becky Adams, Stephanie Coonce (at 6:04), and Camille Redman.  Absent: Clay Held.  Also present:  Executive Director Bobbi Perryman.

 

Corrections or additions to the minutes:  The minutes from November 13, 2024, were approved by voice vote on a motion by Sams-Thomas.

 

Approval of Bills—None

 

Correspondence—A card from Nola Hermann expressed thanks for the help and kindness of library staff members, as well as for all the library’s activities.

 

Staff Reports—

• The director noted that there was a big increase in digital services, as well as a huge increase in patron services, such as notary service.  The audit update began yesterday.  A late extension was filed, and it is now due February 25 due to the increased number of public bodies they are auditing.

• Emily Dunham conducted a new activity for adults in December, a coffee club on Fridays.  The Coffee Corner provided the coffee.

• The self-checkout machine was down in December, so self-checkout numbers were down.  Online checkouts are up since the Aspen Catalog was added.  In-person visits are up.

• After the birth of their baby, Lucas Snow will be back in a week (but plowed snow in the meantime), and Melissa Snow will be back in February.

Standing Committee Reports

1. Finance—The farm lease was renewed at the same rate with Schwartz Farms, with an annual income of $25,837.50.  CDs are up for renewal.  Treasurer Matt Love is continuing to monitor the library’s liquidity with Perryman before committing to each renewal.

2. Property—Utilities are $2,000 less than last year since the boilers were reduced to half capacity

3. Personnel—None

4. Policy—None

 

Business Items:

1. HVAC Project bid and acceptance—Dan Hawk has been to the building several times for measurements.  Revied bids will be opened Griday.  We will not be replacing the boiler to cut costs, and duplications in the bids have been eliminated.​

2. Review of Standards for Illinois Libraries.  The board reviewed and discussed state library standards.

 

Announcements—Youth Engaged in Philanthropy, a subcommittee of the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation, composed of high school students from DeWitt, Livingston, McLean, and Logan counties, directed that the library receive a $10,000 grant to purchased 10 science kits for young people to check out.

 

Adjournment—On a motion by Adams, the meeting was adjourned at 6:36 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.

 

The next meeting is Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at 6 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Becky Adams

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February 19, 2025 - Minutes (Approved 3/12/25)

 

Vespasian Warner Public Library District

Clinton, IL  61727

Board of Trustees Meeting

February 19, 2025

 

President Laura Hale called the meeting of the board to order at 6:02 p.m.  Roll call was taken with the following members present:  Hale, Matt Love, Clay Held, and Camille Redman.  Absent: Becky Adams, Janelle Sam-Thomas, and Stephanie Coonce.  Also present:  Executive Director Bobbi Perryman, Maintenance Supervisor Lucas Snow, Daniel Hawk, Katrina Held, and Sabrina Held.

 

Corrections or additions to the minutes: The minutes from January 8, 2025, were approved by voice vote on a motion by Redman.

 

Public Comment: Katrina Held, president of Friends of Warner Library, shared the club’s activities in 2024. The Friends expanded fund-raising efforts from just the semi-annual book sales to include working with businesses to raise money and administrating booth rentals during the  Apple ‘n Pork festival on the library’s Center Street green space. Library projects funded by the Friends in 2024 include, programs, a refresh of the Seed Library, summer reading club support, a collection of high-interest/low-vocabulary books for struggling readers, and the Little Free Library in Kenney (together with DeWitt Clinton Chapter NSDAR). The Friends have also engaged in other volunteer work in the community, including helping Encore Services Inc. sort through book donations and redistributing excess classroom items from Clinton Elementary School to local homeschool groups. Plans for 2025 include installation of a cover for the library’s outdoor seating area.

 

Approval of Bills—None

 

Correspondence—A letter from Nathan Hawkins, an employee at the Champaign Public Library, who visited the library, expressing his admiration of the building and staff.

 

Staff Reports—

• The director noted the continue increase in use of digital items and the increase in use of free services, such as notary and homebound delivery.

• The door count was down by about 1,000 compared to January of 2024, though circulation and program attendance remained steady.

• The Friends of Warner Library are sponsoring a year-long subscription to the language-learning app Mango Languages, which gives patrons home access to language-learning courses.

• Melissa Snow is back at work after her maternity leave and will have a report at the next meeting.

 

Standing Committee Reports

1. Finance— Love reviewed the draft audit and noted the auditing firm gave an unqualified opinion. Love said the audit was clean and there was nothing noteworthy in it.

2. Property— Discussed in the business items below.

3. Personnel— Part-time clerk April Harvey has resigned her position. Perryman has posted the opening and received 10 applications so far. The application period ends on February 21st.

4. Policy—None

 

Business Items:

1. Audit Letter Acceptance: on a motion by Love, the audit management letter was accepted. Motion passed by voice vote.

2. HVAC Project bid and acceptance—In December 2024, the library put the project out to bid, but all the bids came back higher than the $1.8 million the board originally approved. The bids came in higher than anticipated due to raising labor and material costs. Entec reengineered the plan to bring costs down and has three options for the board to consider. Dan Hawk from Entec presented the three options. Option 1 is the original plan with an estimated cost of $2.25-$2.3 million. Option 2 is the original plan but does not replace the boiler and with less expensive cooling equipment and has an estimated cost of $2.05-$2.10 million. Option 3 is the original plan without replacing the boiler and changes the cooling and humidity control from units inside the building to a rooftop unit and has an estimated cost of $2.15-$2.19 million.  Entec recommends Option 3. The roof-top unit will provide the best humidity control, be safest for the building, and will likely last the longest. Hawk left the meeting after his presentation.  The board discussed the options and had input from Snow. Held moved to accept Option 3. Roll count vote as follows: Hale, yes ; Love, yes ; Held, yes ; Redman, yes. Motion passed. Entec will take approximately three weeks to finalize the design, then the plan will go out for bids.

 

Announcements—None

 

Adjournment—On a motion by Love, the meeting was adjourned at 7:17 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.

 

The next meeting is Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at 6 p.m.

  

Respectfully submitted,

Bobbi Perryman

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March 12, 2025 - Minutes (Approved 4/9/25)

Vespasian Warner Public Library District

Clinton, IL  61727

Board of Trustees Meeting

March 12, 2025

 

 

 Vice President Janelle Sams-Thomas called the meeting of the board to order at 6:01 p.m.  Roll call was taken with the following members present: Sams-Thomas, Matt Love, Becky Adams, Stephanie Coonce, Clay Held, and Camille Redman.  Absent: Laura Hale.  Also present:  Executive Director Bobbi Perryman and Youth Services Manager Melissa Snow, back from maternity leave.

 

Corrections or additions to the minutes:  The minutes from February 12, 2025, were approved by voice vote on a motion by Love.

 

Approval of Bills—None

 

Correspondence—None

 

Staff Reports—

• Mango Language training was completed, and the portal is now live.  Cost is $1200 for 72 languages, plus $400 for learning sign language for an additional $400.  Twenty-three people are currently learning sign language.

• The library co-hosted a Meet-the-Candidates Event on March 5.  All six candidates were present and filmed by Marcus Woods for a 30-minute You-Tube presentation on our channel.  The forum lasted a full two hours and included lots of good questions from the audience.

• Digital circulation is way up.  Only DVDs are down.

• Youth cards are way up, particularly from Douglas School.

• As of today, Minecraft is now on the library’s computers.

• Snow began working with Emily Dunham on the Summer Reading Kick-Off May 31.  The theme this year is “Color Our World.”  Monical’s is contributing completion prizes of free individual pizzas.

Standing Committee Reports

1. Finance—The audit is done and filed.  A $12,500 fee has been proposed for the audit for next year.  Dan Hawk from ENTEC outlined a payment schedule for the HVAC work so the library can plan ahead to have the monies available when needed.  The first payment in March for the equipment is estimated to be $217,000.  Work will begin in June or July, with another $217,000 due then.  Twenty percent ($431,000) will be due in each of the months of September, October, and November, with another $217,000 due in December, $108,000 in January, and $108,000iIn February, for $2.2 million in all.  The finance committee suggests a finance source to avoid wiping out all of our money.

2. Property—Maintenance Supervisor Lucas Snow is working with Thomas Meyen from the Friends of the Library on the canopy for the outdoor seating area.  Friends President Katrina Held will be looking for donations ($5,000) at the Chamber of Commerce Business Expo the last week in March.  The final drawings for the HVAC update are due this week.  Two companies want to bid again on the project.

3. Personnel—Twenty-one people applied for the position vacated by part-time clerk April Harvey.  Seven were interviewed.  Anton Meyen was hired and started yesterday.

4. Policy—None

 

Business Items:

1. HVAC Final Plan Approval—tabled since it is not in yet.

2. ENTEC Annual Maintenance Agreement Approval for the current system—Cost is $18,788, about $1,000 more than last year.  The amount will be revised down when the new HVAC system is in place.  Adams moved to accept the agreement, with the provision that the plan to revise cost downward after the new system is in is included.  The board voted unanimously to approve the motion.

 

Announcements—The library will be closed April 4 for the meeting of Reaching Forward South.

 

Adjournment—On a motion by Adams, the meeting was adjourned at 6:36 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.

 

The next meeting is Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 6 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Becky Adams

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April 9, 2025 - Minutes Pending Approval

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May 14, 2025 

June 11, 2025 

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Board minutes are available for inspection at the Vespasian Warner Public Library.