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  Lawton Memorial Library Board Meeting

  Regular Board Meeting          Tuesday, October 18, 2022

                                                                                               

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

   

*Verification of posting at the Bank, Post Office, and Village Office on October 17, 2022, was given.         

 

*Hatfield moved, Persons seconded to convene into closed session, in accordance with Wisconsin State Statutes section 19.85(1)(c), for considering compensation and performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. (Carried).

 

          ***CLOSED SESSION***

 

*Hatfield moved, Everson seconded to return to open session and continue with the meeting. (Carried).

   

*Hatfield moved, Persons seconded to approve the minutes from the July 26, 2022, and September 6, 2022, meetings. (Carried).

   

*Financial report: Reviewed the report from 1/1/22 to 10/17/22. The balance for 2022 is $33,630.42. Of this amount, $564.63 is the Gates grant, $258.31 is the Cropp grant, and $2,862.74 is the balance in donations.  This leaves $29,944.74 in the operating budget. The savings has a balance of $20,710.72, plus the 2 CDs of $3,986.99 and $30,627.70. Niles moved, Hatfield seconded to approve the financial report. (Carried).

      

*Statistical Report: Lisa reviewed the stats of the circulation. She added a column for how many times the community room is being used a month. The computers are getting busier and looked at the revenue numbers. The summer reading had 33 participating. Storytime started mid-September and is going well.      

  

*Friends Update: The “little libraries” at the Village Park and on Main Street are going well. They’ve talked about “Love your Library” month and may do something this year. The fundraisers they’ve had are doing good. Would like to collaborate with the schools more, maybe have a square dance. And looking to do the trees in the park for Small Town Christmas.     

     

*Directors Report:      

**Lisa received a call from the school, asking her about doing a reading for their literacy night. Then the kids can sign up for library cards. They’re looking at having this every couple of months.

**The library has been busy, with traffic on a steady rise.

**The circulation computer is installed and is great!

**The new computers are in and should be installed within the next couple of weeks.

**We have been accepted as a “Family Research Library”.

**Lisa attended an Integrated Library system demo last week and will be attending another next week.

**Lisa received a $600 scholarship to attend the conference in November.

**The community center meeting room has seen an increase of use over the past couple of months.

**Had an incident October 1st involving some children and inappropriate behavior. Becky documented it, which Lisa gave a summary of the problem. In the future, document these and call the police.         

**Programming: Lisa reviewed what’s been going on with the Page Turners Book Club, Knitting group, Mah Jong, Take & Make bags, Storytime, Chess Club (to start October 26th), and Cooking the Books.  

**The inverter for the solar panels is not working. A part is on order.   

 

*Business:  

**Covid Update: Not much new to report.

 

**Persons moved, Niles seconded to approve the employee compensation package for 2023 as discussed in closed session. (Carried). 

  

*Reviewed the revenues and expenditures of the 2022 budget year. Projected revenue is $96,752.97, and projected expenses are $89,317.60. The proposed budget for 2022 was $96,809.00.             

              

*Set a projected 2023 budget. The county aid went down $761, from $36,309 to $35,548, which now only includes Vernon and Richland. The copies & fines category stayed the same at $500. For expenses, the materials line was split into 2 categories to track the numbers for reporting purposes. Changed materials to Print/Periodicals and budgeted $8,000 and added Audio Visuals for $2,000. With raises, Payroll was raised $6,000 to $61,000. Social security went from $4,200 to $4,700. Retirement went down $200 to $2,800. The % the employer and the employee pay went up, from 6.50% to 6.80%. This is on Lisa’s pay only. The life insurance went from $30 to $235 (age based). Public relations, repairs, heat, miscellaneous, telephone, and utilities all stayed the same. Supplies was also split out for reporting. Budgeted $2,952 for supplies and $1,200 for programs. Raised Workshops/conferences by $400 to $1,000. The WRLSWeb costs are $4,961.00. The health insurance line is $2,000. This is for an HSA plan for Lisa as agreed in closed session.   The board agreed upon an overall balanced budget of $98,048. Will ask the village for $62,000. This is up $2,000 and is the first increase asked since 2019.    

         

*Hatfield moved, Muller seconded to recommend the proposed $98,048 budget for 2023 as agreed upon, and to ask the village for $62,000.00. (Carried).

       

*Public comments: Carol asked the minutes show appreciation to Lisa and Kim for their budget work.          

    

*The next meeting was scheduled for November 29, 2022, at 5:15 p.m.  

             

​*Niles moved, Everson seconded to adjourn. (Carried). Adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

 

                                                                         Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer

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