David Emmerling called the monthly meeting of the Van Buren county library board to order on March 13, 2024 at 5:07PM. Board members David Emmerling, Joye Hawk, David Jeffries, and Kelly Tester were present, as well as Administrative Assistant Kim Tyler, Director Deb Meyer, and Regional Director John McGraw.
Minutes of the February 14 meeting were reviewed. David Jeffries noted that the Petit Jean bill referenced is $2000, not $200. Kelly moved to approve the minutes as amended. Joye seconded the motion. The minutes were approved. Library Financials were reviewed. The First Service account saw a net increase of $641 with a final balance of $64,159. First Security had $1,604 in deposits and expenditures of $2,055 for an ending balance of $5,200. David Jeffries remarked on the disparity of interest between the two accounts. David Jeffries moved to approve the expenditures. Joye seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
DVR quotes are still pending.
Johnson Lawn submitted a quote for powerwashing. This is greater than the bid submitted last month and Deb will be pursuing that one.
A bid from Precision Floor Cleaning priced a carpet cleaning at $1461. The carpets have not been professionally cleaned since at least the year before last, possibly longer. Kelly moved to accept Precision’s bid. David Jeffries seconded the motion, which passed.
New Business
The certificate of deposit will be renewed for another six month period running from March to September.
Irregularities with gas bills prompted an inspection of the equipment and the replacement of the gas meter.
Petit Jean audit has produced a verbal report, with a final report to follow.
Deb shared some items she wished to purchase, including four book carts, two kick stools to help reach high shelves, two ipads, 2 laptops, and a display case for the circulation area. The book carts would be distributed for patrons to leave books they have browsed. There was discussion about what could be done with devices that need to retired when their replacements are purchased. The suggestion was made to prioritize the purchases and get some of the items each quarter. David Jeffries moved to authorize up to $2,000 for the book carts and kick stools in this first quarter of the year. Kelly seconded the motion, which passed. The tablets and laptops are slated for the second quarter.
John noted that February attendance was more than 1,200 people above previous February's, an increase of roughly 60%.
David Jeffries moved to adjourn. Kelly seconded the motion and the meeting ended at 6:15PM.
The next county board meeting is April 10.
The next Regional board meeting is April 28.
Minutes for April 10, 2024
David Emmerling called the monthly meeting of the Van Buren County Library Board to order on April 10, 2024 at 5:03PM. Board members David Emmerling, Joye Hawk, David Jeffries, and Kelly Tester were present, as well as Friends Of The Library President Jeff Meredith, Administrative Assistant Kim Tyler, Director Deb Meyer, and Regional Director John McGraw.
Minutes of the March 13 meeting were reviewed. Kelly moved to approve the minutes as amended. Joye seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
Library Financials were reviewed. The First Security account saw a net decrease of $300.21 with a final balance of $4900.10. First Service had $2657 in deposits and no expenditures, for an ending balance of $66,816. The deposits were especially high this month due to the quarterly Regional Reimbursement arriving. As discussed in March, First Service offers money market accounts with higher interest rates and can use Dynamic Transfer in order to continue using the current checks on the new account. David Jeffries moved to transfer the First Service funds into an account earning more interest. Joye seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Book trucks to be purchased from Brodart have a 90 day fabrication period.
The $13,732.16 expenditure to AAC is insurance on the buildings and their contents for the entire year. $2070 expenditure to Trane is on top of the $2700 already paid to Trane this year.
Kelly moved to approve the expenditures. David Jeffries seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
Building issues: The gas meter has been replaced.
The Petit Jean audit was circulated in March. It did not have clear explanations as to the dramatic increase of utilities, aside from tape on ducts needs patching.
New Business
Building Issues: Exterior outlets failed during the eclipse. Power was run from interior outlets outside.
There is a very noisy ballast in the library.
Power washing is happening this week.
Carpet and chairs will be cleaned after Summer Reading
Personnel issues: Gloria has resigned. The clerk is refusing to pay her replacement $12/hour wage Deb has set for the position.
Joye moved to adjourn. Kelly seconded the motion and the meeting ended at 5:41PM.
The next Regional board meeting is April 28.
The next county board meeting is May 8.
Minutes for May 8, 2024
David Emmerling called the monthly meeting of the Van Buren County library board to order on May 8, 2024, at 5:08PM. Board members David Emmerling, Tracy Hastings, and David Jeffries were present, as well as Administrative Assistant Kim Tyler, Director Deb Meyer, and Regional Director John McGraw.
Minutes of the April 10 meeting were reviewed. David Jeffries moved to approve the minutes as presented. Tracy seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
Library Financials were reviewed. The First Security account saw a net increase of $329.63 with a final balance of $5229.73. First Service saw a net decrease of $471.43, for an ending balance of $65344.58. Tracy moved to approve the expenditures. David Jeffries seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
Building issues: Exterior outlets tripped breakers during the eclipse but are working presently. A noisy ballast has been disabled on one bank of lights. The building was power washed. Carpet and chairs will be cleaned after Summer Reading.
New Business
With the approved April minutes, the Dynamic Transfer paperwork can proceed. There will be a signatory sheet that will need three signatures of board members.
David Jeffries moved to adjourn. Tracy seconded the motion and the meeting ended at 5:12PM.
The next county board meeting is June 12
The next Regional board meeting is July 24.
Minutes for June 12, 2024
Kelly Tester called the monthly meeting of the Van Buren County library board to order on June 12, 2024, at 5:16PM. Board members Tracy Hastings, Joye Hawk and Kelly Tester were present, as well as Friends Of The Library President Jeff Burgess, Administrative Assistant Kim Tyler, Director Deb Meyer, and Regional Director John McGraw. David Emmerling would arrive for Old Business and chair the meeting thereafter.
Minutes of the May 8 meeting were reviewed. Joye moved to approve the minutes as presented. Tracy seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
Library Financials were reviewed. The First Security account saw a net increase of $98.10 with a final balance of $5327.83. First Service moved $66447.95 into a Business Premier account, leaving $2202.31 in the checking account. The CD matures in September but might not be worth renewing if the money market account is earning more interest. John noted that the millage collection was up over 2023. Joye moved to approve the expenditures. Tracy seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
New Business
Floors and chairs are scheduled to be cleaned 8/3. The library will close for cleaning. Deb requested authorization to add cleaning the vinyl in the lobby and meeting room as well. Kelly moved to spend the requested amount to add the vinyl flooring to the cleaning. Joye seconded the motion, which passed.
David and Jeff spoke about the need to begin listing building improvements and their costs in advance of the building being paid off. Itemizing now will help prioritizing and budgeting later.
Software renewal for the lockers was discussed. As the amount did not exceed $1,000, the board directed Deb to try negotiating a better price and pay as needed.
Monthly meeting times were discussed. Joye moved to change the meetings to the third Wednesday of the month. Kelly seconded the motion, which passed.
Deb outlined a plan for a food drive for kids in June and July.
Kelly moved to adjourn. Tracy seconded the motion and the meeting ended at 6:22PM.
The next county board meeting is July 17
The next Regional board meeting is July 24.
Minutes for July 17, 2024
David Emmerling called the monthly meeting of the Van Buren County library board to order on July 17, 2024, at 5:02PM. Board members David Emmerling, Joye Hawk and David Jeffries were present, as well as Richard Roberts, Friends of The Library President Jeff Burgess, Administrative Assistant Kim Tyler, Director Deb Meyer, and Regional Director John McGraw. Minutes of the June 12 meeting were reviewed. Joye moved to approve the minutes as presented. David Jeffries seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
Library Financials were reviewed. The First Security account saw a net decrease of $364.30 with a final balance of $4963.53. First Service saw an increase of $556.44 in the Public Funds Super Now account for an ending balance of $2758.75. The Business Premier Money Market account increased $220.14, entirely due to interest on the balance. Millage spending was reviewed. There was discussion of moving expenses off the Law Library budget onto other accounts. Deb estimated that the Law Library would need to spend about $500 on books in 2024. David Jeffries moved to approve the expenditures. Joye seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
The locker software discussed previously costs $744. There was discussion about options for paying for it. John recommended the millage budget line for software subscriptions, 3102.
New Business
Deb proposed:
Ordering new checks to write against the Business Premier Money Market account.
Closing the Public Funds Super Now Account and moving the funds into the Business Premier Money. Market account.
Retiring the CD upon maturity in September and moving the funds into the Business Premier Money Market account.
This will consolidate the finances in a single account at each bank. The following board members will be available
to sign/approve these changes: David Emmerling, David Jeffries and Kelly Tester. David Jeffries moved to approve this consolidation of First Service Accounts. Joye seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Deb said she would be asking the quorum court to revise their petty cash standard from $40 to $100.
David Emmerling summarized the June discussion of prioritizing and pricing building issues. He gave the floor to Richard Roberts. Richard described his history and credentials in this area.
There was discussion about naming the land upon which the library sits.
The board by acclamation agreed to adjourn. The meeting ended at 6:04PM.
The next regional board meeting is July 24.
The next county board meeting is August 21
Minutes for July 17, 2024
David Emmerling called the monthly meeting of the Van Buren County library board to order on July 12, 2023, at 5:10PM. Board members David Emmerling, Joye Hawk, and David Jeffries were present, as well as Administrative Assistant Kim Tyler, Director Deb Meyer, Regional Director John McGraw, and Matt Walston.
Deb introduced Matt Walston, a Leslie resident with a Master of Library Science degree who is looking for work in the library field.
Minutes of the July 12 meeting were reviewed. David Jeffries moved to approve the minutes as amended. Joye seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
Library Financials were reviewed. David Jeffries asked where the copier costs were in the listed transactions.
That is listed as Xerox Financial Services, which covers the lease and the insurance on the machine. It is billed monthly. Deb reported she has replaced HVAC filters and light bulbs and needs to purchase more bulbs. The 2024 budget will need more money for electrical supplies. Planning for the 2024 budget has begun. David Emmerling asked that a draft would be available at the September meeting. Printing has increased and more toners may be needed, perhaps paid from First Security. Joye moved to approve the financial transactions as presented. David Jeffries seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
Summer Reading was well attended. Circulation increased 25%. The library issued a large number of new cards. The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program will soon have its first graduate to hit 1000 books.
New Business
Deb included a monthly statistics sheet which breaks down all the tasks' staff handled aside from checking books in and out.
Deb mentioned purchasing additional A-frame shelving, whether there were cheaper alternatives to library catalog pricing. Local craftsmen and the Arkansas Corrections Institute are two options.
John reported that two sections of Act 372 were enjoined, so reconsiderations policies were unchanged.
Mississippi has outlawed minors using Hoopla and Overdrive, and perhaps Arkansas will follow suit.
David moved to adjourn. Joye seconded the motion and the meeting ended at 5:48PM.
The library will be closed on September 4 for Labor Day.
The next county board meeting is September 13.
The next regional board meeting is October 25.
