Lawton Memorial Library Board Meeting

                 Regular Board Meeting          Tuesday, November 28, 2023

                                                                                                

*5:15 p.m. Chair Barbara Melvin called the meeting to order at the Lawton Memorial Library. Roll call was taken with board members Melvin, Gwendolyn Hatfield, Carol Persons, Georgia Everson, Donna Niles, and Kimberly Walker present. Absent was Gail Muller. Also present was Librarian Lisa Ahler, Toby Grotz, Victoria Strauser, and Samantha Laskowski.

 

*The guests were moved up on the business agenda. Samantha Laskowski, with Vernon County Energy District was present for a presentation on the Emporia energy monitor in the library. After the 2018 big flood, when the library was closed due to a loss of power, people inquired on solar and batteries to make the library a resilient place. She reviewed the solar panel information on producing energy, what happens during a grid outage, and the role of energy monitoring.   

 

*Next, Toby Grotz had a monitor to show how to track the information. There are 16 circuits that can be monitored. He showed some graph info, specifically on the water heater and the women’s bathroom heater. He told how to get the app to monitor how things are going. First, go to Google Play store, and locate the Emporia Energy App. Then you need to go to the power panel, as you need to be within 5’ of it to be able to download it. So if anyone is interested in this, these are the steps to follow. The board thanked them for coming to explain this process.  

     

*Verification of posting at the Bank, Post Office, and Village Office on November 27, 2023, was given.         

   

*Hatfield moved, Niles seconded to approve the minutes from the October 16, 2023, meeting. (Carried).

    

*Financial report: Reviewed the report from 1/1/23 to 11/27/23. The balance is $15,425.40. Of this amount, $2,508 is for donations, leaving an operating budget of $12,918. The regular savings has $21,038, plus the 2 CDs of $4,054 and $31,374. Carol inquired if anyone knew of anything major coming up to pay for. If not, look at moving some money from the savings to a CD special the La Farge bank has now, for 11 months at 5.5%. The current rate on the savings is .10%. Persons moved, Hatfield seconded to approve the financial report and to take another CD out now for $12,000. (Carried). The board wanted the minutes to show the money put into savings was started quite a while back, as we were afraid of loosing our state funding one day, and wanted to make sure we had funds available. Also, the board was thankful to the village for the $65,000 budget amount for 2024.  

        

*Statistical Report: Lisa reviewed the statistical report for October numbers. Looked over the circulation count, community room use, and the various groups. Also looked at the revenue from fines, copies, faxes, and donations/miscellaneous.

       

*Friends Update: Carol reported they are decorating a tree in Bean Park. They’re looking to start a coffee and conversation time. The first one is scheduled for January 19th. Will see if people have an interest in this. They are continuing to support programming and talked about paying for a different projector.  

   

*Directors Report:      

**The 100-year celebration went well in the month of October. We had over 600 people come through according to the 100 count give away. The “Critter Hunt” had 18 participants. “Blind Date with a Book” was slow but picked up in November. The “Flicks and Floats” had 8 the first night, but 27 the second night.   

**The conference Lisa went to was well attended, and she had a good session on passive programming.

**The Friends have agreed to purchase 20 state park (one day) passes. They are free to people.

**On December 9th, at 10:00 a.m., is the Audubon Bird Count at the library.

**Lisa is currently looking into a new projector/screen setup, or maybe a smart TV. Getting numbers and comparisons on both.

 

 

 

**Per Police Chief Steve Palmers request, the Wi-Fi is turned off from 11:00 p.m. to 6 a.m. There have been people around the building late in the evening, early mornings using this.  

 

*Business:  

**Closed dates for 2024 (Holidays):

Monday, January 1st - New Years’ Day

             Saturday, May 25th and Monday, May 27th - Memorial Day

                   (Extra day for the Good Friday Holiday not taken)

             Friday July 5th - Independence Day

Saturday, August 31st and Monday, September 2nd - Labor Day

                   (Extra day for Thanksgiving that always falls on Thursday, which is a closed day)

Wednesday, November 27th – closing at 5 p.m. for Thanksgiving 

Friday, November 29th - Thanksgiving 

             Tuesday December 24th and Wednesday, December 25th – Christmas

             Tuesday December 31st and Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 - New Years’ Day  

*Niles moved, Everson seconded to approve the closed dates for 2024. (Carried).

 

*Public comments: Barb mentioned a new flag is needed out front by the Veterans stone. Kim will ask Wayne. And the library sign repair was inquired about. Barb will check with Aaron Nemec on this.             

     

*The next meeting was scheduled for January 23, 2024, at 5:15 p.m.  

               

*Hatfield moved, Persons seconded to adjourn. (Carried). Adjourned at 6:36 p.m.

 

                                                                         __________________________________

Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer