Jeff Whittingham called the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library Board to order on January 22, 2025 at 5:11PM. In attendance at the Van Buren County Library were Regional Board members Kellie Cardin, Tracy Hastings, David Jeffries, Cindy Stage, Kelly Tester, and Jeff Whittingham, as well as Faukner County board member John Gray, Van Buren County board member Joye Hawk, Van Buren County Library Director Deb Meyer, Regional Director John McGraw, and Jenn Wann of the Arkansas State Library.
Minutes of the October 23 meeting were reviewed. David moved to amend the minutes to reflect that no action was taken on Old Business. Cindy seconded the motion, which passed. Cindy moved to approve the minutes as amended. David seconded the motion, which passed.
Nominations were opened up for Regional board chair and vice-chair. David volunteered to chair, and Cindy volunteered to serve as vice-chair. With no other nominees presented, Kelly Tester moved to approve the slate. Kellie Cardin seconded the motion, which passed.
Bookkeeper reports for October, November, and December were reviewed.
Statistics were reviewed. Libby lending increased by some 40,000 over 2023 total. There was discussion of Hoopla and the return on investment for each platform. John reported that he had pressed the state library to meet with Arkansas Digital Library Consortium members about moving into Hoopla, but there seems to be no new money available and little will to divert money from Libby to Hoopla. Social media numbers jumped in 2024 due to a viral Tiktok video.
State aid expenditures were reviewed. David asked about a partial payment to the courier, which John explained was due to the Thanksgiving holiday eliminating half the deliveries that week. Cindy moved to approve the expenditures. Jeff seconded the motion, which passed.
There was a call for old business.
Jenn Wann provided a brief training session for library board members, primarily for county-level concerns. Recommendations included regularly scheduled bylaws
reviews, regularly scheduled policy reviews, policies and procedures around public speaking at board meetings, and periodic reviews of job descriptions.
Kelly Tester moved to adjourn at 6:59 PM. Cindy seconded the motion and the board adjourned.
David Jeffries called the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library Board to order on April 23, 2025 at 5:31PM. In attendance at the Faulkner County Library were Regional Board members Kellie Cardin, David Emmerling, David Jeffries, Kelly Tester, and Jeff Whittingham, as well as Van Buren County Library Director Deb Meyer, Regional Director John McGraw, Circulation Manager Jessica Rutherford, Assistant Circulation Manager Ammie Gilson, and Network Administrator Christopher Bowen.
Minutes of the January 22 meeting were reviewed. Jeff moved to approve the minutes as presented. Kellie seconded the motion, which passed.
Bookkeeper reports for January, February, and March were reviewed.
Statistics were reviewed. John reported that downloadables, particularly Kanopy, continue to rise in popularity. There was discussion of Envisionware’s mobile printing service.
State aid expenditures were reviewed. There was discussion of future ILS spending. The current contract ends in 2027, and bidding will need to happen over time prior to that. The Faulkner County attorney would like to manage the collection and opening of bids. John suggested a subcommittee of board members and library staff be involved in creating the bid requirements. A board meeting will be needed to assess which bids meet the specifications and select the lowest qualified bid. Jeff moved to approve the expenditures. David Emmerling seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
There was a call for old business.
New Business
The Regional board took up the Code of Conduct policy for patrons for review. John had solicited staff input and condensed that into a number of amendments. Jeff moved:
To add “bathing in bathrooms to Prohibited Behavior (#1)
To add “within 20 feet of entryways” to the Tobacco policy (#4)
To add “in designated areas” to the food policy (#5)
Kellie seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Jeff further moved:
To add “scooters” to the Bicycle policy (#6)
To add to the criminal offenses policy “Persons who urinate or defecate anywhere on the premises other than authorized restrooms shall be immediately suspended from the library and may be charged under appropriate ordinances, statutes, etc.” (#10)
To add “or illegal drugs” to the alcohol policy (#11)
Kelly seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Jeff further moved to amend the unattended child policy to raise the age of children who must have a parent/caretaker on the premises to 13. (#12)
Kelly seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
John asked that the Regional board support AAAL with an institutional membership again. They had worked hard during the legislative session to keep library-related bills on our radar. Membership is based on population, and would cost $720. Jeff moved to approve the expenditure. David Emmerling seconded the motion, which passed.
John asked if anyone had strong opinions about policies to review at the July meeting. The board left it to the Director’s discretion. John noted that the Regional bylaws require a week’s notice of agenda, and promised to meet that deadline in the future, unless the board wanted to revisit that part of the bylaws.
David Emmerling moved to adjourn at 6:36 PM. Kelly seconded the motion and the board adjourned.
Minutes for July 23, 2025
David Jeffries called the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library Board to order on July 23, 2025 at 5:31PM. In attendance were Regional Board members Kellie Cardin, John Gray, David Jeffries, Cindy Stage, and Kelly Tester, as well as Van Buren County Library Director Deb Meyer and Regional Director John McGraw.
Minutes of the April 23 meeting were reviewed. Cindy moved to approve the minutes with the header corrected to specify the April meeting. Kelly seconded the motion, which passed.
Bookkeeper reports for April, May, and June were reviewed.
Statistics were reviewed. There was discussion around the downloadable collections, as well as what could happen to state aid in the near future with the zero-ing out of federal aid to states’ libraries. Program numbers for June were shared.
State aid expenditures were reviewed. Cindy moved to approve the expenditures. Kelly seconded the motion, which passed.
Old Business
There was a call for old business.
New Business
There was a call for new business.
The October meeting will be the budget meeting.
Cindy moved to adjourn at 5:52 PM. Kelly seconded the motion and the board adjourned.
Minutes for October 22, 2025
David Jeffries called the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library Board to order on October 22, 2025 at 5:31PM. In attendance were Regional Board members David Emmerling, David Jeffries, Cindy Stage, and Stephanie Vanderslice, as well as Van Buren County Library Director Deb Meyer and Regional Director John McGraw.
Minutes of the July 23 meeting were reviewed. Cindy moved to approve the minutes. Stephanie seconded the motion, which passed.
Bookkeeper reports for July, August, and September were reviewed. Topics of discussion included Overdrive spending this year, the conclusion of the Miscellaneous/Scholarship pass-through for Hailey Beliew, and the reconciling of Summer Reading expenses. John discussed shifting Overdrive spending to the Faulkner County book budget, but noted that the Regional account has a robust carry-over. Cindy moved to increase the 2025 budget for Overdrive by $15,000 to finish out the year. Stephanie seconded the motion, which passed.
State aid expenditures were reviewed. David Emmerling moved to approve the expenditures. Stephanie seconded the motion, which passed.
Statistics were reviewed. There was a discussion of the downloadable collection shifting toward audiobooks currently. There was discussion of the timeline for selecting a new ILS for the Regional system. The library will attempt to time the selection of a winning bid at the July 2026 Regional board meeting, with a specially called meeting being an alternative if needed.
Old Business
There was a call for old business.
New Business
John presented a 2026 Regional budget. On the income side, there is an $18,000 decrease in state aid. On the expenditures side there are slight increases to Symphony, the web site, and Overdrive. Stephanie moved to approve the Regional budget as presented. Cindy seconded the motion, which passed.
John presented a request to remove the limit of five (5) compact disks per card. This is a dwindling collection, which is why it was not adjusted when similar limits on other audiovisual material were lifted. David Emmerling moved to remove the limit on compact disks. Cindy seconded the motion, which passed.
The January 28 meeting will be include an ILS search update.
David Emmerling moved to adjourn at 6:09PM. Stephanie seconded the motion and the board adjourned.
