Metro East Sun

East Alton Public Library District Board of Trustees met March 16.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Call to Order: The regular meeting of the East Alton Public Library District Board of Trustees was called to order at 6:01 p.m. by Sally Hierman at the library. Those in attendance were C. Wiegand, J. Richie, J. Bricker, M. Funke, L. Silkwood, and A. Harris. Also present was the Director, Richard Chartrand.

7 present, 0 absent. Quorum established.

Public Comments: None

Approval of Minutes: Motion: Funke Second: Harris

Approve the minutes of the February 16, 2017 board meeting. Roll call vote: Funke, aye; Harris, aye; Richie, aye; Hierman, aye; Bricker, aye; Wiegand, aye; Silkwood, aye. 7 ayes, no nays, 0 absent.

Motion carried.

Correspondence: •2016 Levy Confirmation for East Alton Library District

Finance: Motion: Funke Second: Wiegand

Approve wages and expenditures as presented for February 2017.

Roll call vote: Funke, aye; Wiegand, aye; Richie, aye; Bricker, aye; Silkwood, aye; Hierman, aye; Harris, aye. 7 ayes, no nays, 0 absent.

Motion carried.

Director’s Report: 1. I would like to thank everyone for their healing thoughts and prayers during my recent hospitalizations.

2. Volunteers hours for February

Will – 34 hours

Rich – 96 hours

3. On the agenda as “New Business” is the hiring of East Alton resident Drew Verdun for approximately 20 hours per week. This position was planned under the staff reorganization.

4. The Tax Preparation service is continuing to be popular with the area filled with people waiting.

5. A disbursement of $59.42 in Mobile Home tax was received as well as a $9,231.24 in replacement taxes.

6. I will be reimbursing the Library for the $25.00 that was spent for me to attend the Legislative Breakfast.

7. I am corresponding with IMRF regarding the payment of my compensated absences. We mailed documents to show it was not intended to be a pension spike.

8. The book club selection for March is ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen.

9. My heartfelt thanks to the staff for pitching in during my recent illnesses, especially Natalie and Darlene.

10. Our volunteer, Will, is now working when I am not present. He is doing a great job.

Youth Services Report:

March 2017

Family movie night for February was the popular “Trolls” movie. Some boys dared to attend, ha. There were 16 in attendance. Not only “treated” them to popcorn but with Kool-Aid pops too. Since the trolls are certainly full of color, so was our movie refreshments. Next month’s movie will be Disney’s new release “Moana.”

Story time themes for February were books written by Hans Christian Andersen. I read The Little Mermaid and The Emperor’s New Clothes. As I read each story, we compared the Disney versions to Andersen’s versions. The children were quick to notice the differences in illustrations. We also celebrated Valentine’s Day and Mardi gras. Coordinating crafts were fitting the emperor with new clothes, creating little mermaids and enhancing them with red yarn hair. For Valentine’s we decorated valentine boxes, shared valentines, and snacks. Mardi gras crafts were decorating bizarre masks.

The SWAYS meeting in February was held at the Columbia Public Library. We discussed possible library grants for young adult programs. Some grants are based on city population and coordinating efforts with the public schools. Next month the SWAYS meeting will be in Collinsville.

I read to 20 lovely 4-5 year olds at Toddle Town Learning Center. They are so well-behaved and all seem so eager to hear me read. Each book that I read was chosen with many animal characters. I always bring stuffed animals from our collection (or mine) to enhance the stories. I also made yellow bird bookmarks to coordinate with one of the books. Each child was excited that they could keep these bookmarks because they were not the traditional paper bookmarks. Always enjoy treating them to a snack. So I read The Cookie Fiasco and my coordinating prop was to eat cookies!

I signed up to partner with the national “Read Aloud 15 Minutes—Every child. Every parent. Every day.” campaign. I have been conversing through email with Bob Robbins, Executive Director of the “Read Aloud 15 Minutes National Campaign.” I believe this is a great program. I took handouts, coloring pages, and bookmarks to share with the Toddle Town families. I’ve been promoting this idea to my story time families as well. When summer reading rolls around, I will be able to reach more families. I will see to it to put info on our FB page and website. There are handouts available for our patrons as well. Read, read, read is my motto, and to help facilitate reading relationships between children and their families.

Submitted by Maury Reynolds

Discussion: •Board meeting time changed to 5:45 starting May

Old Business: None

New Business: Motion: Funke Second: Richie

Approve the hiring of Drew Verdun at $8.25 for approximately 20 hours per week.

Roll call vote: Funke, aye; Richie, aye; Wiegand, aye; Bricker, aye; Harris, aye; Hierman, aye; Silkwood, aye. 7 ayes, no nays, 0 absent.

Motion carried.

Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:23 pm.

http://www.eastaltonlibrary.org/board-of-trustees/meeting-minutes/march-2017