Notice: This meeting of the Lake Bluff Library Board of Trustees was held with a quorum of Trusteesphysically present. The meeting was simulcast for any members of the public who did not wish to attendthe meeting in-person at the Lake Bluff Public Library building. Guidelines and access codes werepublished before the meeting so members of the public could log in. The meeting was recorded, with therecording made available through the Library’s website. As required by law, at least one representativefrom the Library was present at the Library while participating in the meeting.

  1. Call to Order: Board President Bonnie Shaul called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm.
  2. Roll Call: Trustees Friedeman, Jardine, Zaute, Graziano, Shaul and Jerch were present; TrusteeHayes was absent. Library Director Renee Grassi and library staff members Eliza Jarvi, KatieHorner and Martha O’Hara (remote) were present. Regis Charlot (Lake Bluff Village BoardPresident), Kathy O’Hara (Lake Bluff History Museum) and Shaun Kelley (Engberg Anderson)were also in attendance.
    1. Trustee Jerch moved to approve Trustee Graziano’s remote participation for thebeginning of the meeting; Trustee Zaute seconded; all voted aye.
  3. Additions & Corrections to the Agenda:
    1. Trustee Friedeman requested that the Bylaws & Policy Committee membership in theagenda be amended to reflect the most up-to-date members with the removal ofTrustee Graziano from the committee.
    2. Trustee Friedeman requested to amend the fiscal year budget stated as “FY 2025-2025”to “FY 2025-2026” due to a typo in the agenda.
    3. Trustee Shaul requested to move January 2024 Financial Reports earlier in the agenda tofollow the Building Presentation by Engberg Anderson Architects with CheckDisbursements preceding Revenue & Expense report.
  4. Opportunity for Public to Address the Board: There was none.
  5. Remarks by Village Board President Regis Charlot: Regis Charlot made statements to the Boardfollowing Board President Bonnie Shaul’s presentation to the Village Board on January 8, 2024.Regis commended the Library’s initiation of a long-term plan and emphasized that the Libraryshould consider short-term, technical (one year) and strategy goals (3-5 years) as components ofthe plan. He expressed the Village’s unwavering support of the Library as an asset to thecommunity.
  6. Building Presentation by Shaun Kelly, Engberg Anderson Architects:
    1. Shaun Kelly provided an overview of the 2022 Building & Site Facility report thatincluded a capital reserves study broken into five year periods for a 20-year lookahead atfacility needs and costs associated with life safety, near-term system integrity, long-termsystem integrity and aesthetics systems.
    2. Shaun Kelly provided an overview of the 2023 Universal Design Assessment report thatdetails short, mid and long-term projects that would increase universal access to theLibrary, as well as adhere to all accessibility code.
  7. Approval of Board Meeting Minutes
    1. Trustee Jardine moved to approve the Board meeting minutes from January 24, 2024,Trustee Jerch seconded; Trustees Friedeman, Jerch and Jardine voted aye; TrusteesShaul, Zaute and Graziano abstained. The motion did not pass. The January 24, 2024meeting minutes will be included for approval in the March Board meeting.
  8. January 2024 Financial Reports:
    1. January Monthly Check Disbursement (15905-15940): The Board reviewed all checksfrom January 2024. Trustee Jerch moved to approve checks numbered 15905-15940,Trustee Zaute seconded; all voted aye.
    2. January 2024 Detailed Revenue & Expense Report: Trustee Jerch moved to approve theJanuary 2024 revenue and expense report, Trustee Zaute seconded; all voted aye.
  9. New Business:
    1. Vote to approve and adopt the FY 2024-2025 Budget: Trustee Jerch moved to approvethe amended FY 2024-2025 Budget, Trustee Zaute seconded; all voted aye.
    2. Vote to approve and adopt the FY 2025-2026 Budget: Trustee Zaute moved to approvethe FY 2025-2026 Budget, Trustee Jardine seconded; all voted aye.
  10. Library Director Updates:
    1. Director’s Report: Library Director Grassi provided an overview of January 2024happenings at the library. She highlighted that the winter reading club participation thisyear grew in every age group and digital circulation broke records in January 2024.
    2. Monthly Statistics Report: Director Grassi provided a Library usage overview, with afocus on additional statistics that will be tracked in the future, including study room useand number of questions answered at the circulation desks.
  11. Committee Reports
    (Met)
    1. Bylaws & Policy Committee (CHAIR: Friedeman. MEMBERS: Zaute): The Bylaws & Policycommittee postponed its update for a future meeting due to the action item on thisagenda.
    2. Building & Grounds Committee (CHAIR: Jerch. MEMBERS: Berg, Shaul): The Building &Grounds committee postponed its update for a future meeting due to the action item onthis agenda.
    3. Finance Committee (CHAIR: Hayes. MEMBERS: Shaul, Zaute): The Finance committeepostponed its update for a future meeting due to the action item on this agenda.
    4. Technology Committee (CHAIR: Berg. MEMBERS: Graziano): The committee isrequesting that the Bylaws & Policy Committee amend bylaws to reflect a combinedTechnology & Finance Committee. The committee evaluated the state of the laptops inthe building, with many of them dating back to 2012 and the most updated laptops from The Technology committee is exploring how to build in a budget line item for a30% replacement rate of laptops annually. The committee also discussed the grantawarded to the Library in 2019 and its possible use for security systems, a paging system,access control and door alarms.
    5. Engagement Committee (CHAIR: Jardine. MEMBERS: Graziano): Trustee Jardine providedan update from the engagement committee, which includes building a Trusteeonboarding process and identifying Trustee connections with local groups in the villageto present a cohesive message to the community.
      (Did Not Meet)
    6. Human Resources Committee
    7. Long Range Planning Committee
    8. Intergovernmental Committee
    9. Intergovernmental Committee
    10. Special Topics Committee
  12. New Business (continued)
    1. Vote to updated Collection Development Policy: Trustee Jerch moved to approve therevised Collection Development policy, Trustee Graziano seconded; all voted aye.
    2. Vote to approve Resolution 2024.2.20.A Resolution in Support of SB2787 – Amendsthe Illinois Local Library Act and the Public Library District Act of 1991 RegardingCompetitive Bidding: Trustees Shaul, Friedeman, Jerch, Graziano and Jardine voted ayeto approve Resolution 2024.2.20.A.
    3. Hours Pilot Report for Jan. 2024: Library Director Grassi provided an overview of thefirst official Hours Pilot Report, which included quantitative overview of visit count, staffleave, programs and library services. It also included staff and community input, analysisof library services and a heat map from January 2024. Library traffic on Tuesdays andThursdays (later operating hours until 9 pm) has not experienced increased trafficcompared to prior to the pilot. Saturday visits increased in January after the start of thepilot. There continues to be higher levels of traffic in the morning close to openinghours, which is also supported by anecdotal feedback from the community that earlieropening hours (9 am) would be desirable for caregivers and parents of young children.Youth services visits are not fully counted in the heat map due to the bypass of the doorcounting software when using the elevator. Eliza Jarvi has been conducting informalassessments of youth services usage for patrons going directly to the elevator. DirectorGrassi analyzed staff leave percentages from January 2024 at 13.3% of total work hours.Program cancellations were due to the HVAC issues, not staffing issues. A survey for thecommunity to provide input on the hours pilot will launch with the spring newsletterthrough a QR code link that will help identify how the library is being used and whatfuture changes are desired.
  13. Library Correspondence: Director Grassi provided copies of the PPRT Lake Forester Article, PPRTweb announcement and Lake County Chronicle article. The Chronicle article will be reprinting anamended article due to multiple incorrect data points and statements.
  14. Any and all other business which may come before the Board:
    1. The Board Retreat is scheduled for Saturday, February 24 from 9 am – 1 pm at Lake BluffPark District
  15. Executive Session(s) if needed: There was none.
  16. Adjournment: Trustee Jerch moved to adjourn, Trustee Friedeman seconded; all voted aye. Themeeting adjourned at 10:07 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Alexandra FriedemanSecretary