In attendance were Vince Volpe, President, presiding; Keith Savage, Vice President, Janet Rainford, and David Sweeney. John Dubinsky, Jacque Land; Nina North-Murphy, and Tom Schlafly attended remotely..
Also present were Chief Executive Officer Waller McGuire and staff members Maryann Brickey, Jon Drakesmith, Amanda Endicott, Cathy Heimberger, Liz McArthur, Joe Monahan, Daisy Porter-Reynolds, Justin Struttmann, Liz Reeves, Jim Slattery, Jen Wiese, and Lisa Stump, Lashly & Baer.
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by President Volpe.
Minutes
Mr. Sweeney's motion, seconded by Mr. Dubinsky, to approve the minutes of the February 5, 2024 meeting was approved.
Chief Executive Officer's Report
The Library's summer camp programs, funded by the Foundation, opened registration and signed up 74 families in the first three minutes. 27 camps - 66% of the available slots - are full. These creative and hugely popular programs are planned for months and feature presenters from an enormous variety of local talent.
Mr. Slattery summarized the financial reports through January, 2024, pointing out significantly higher cash investments due to tax revenue received. Real estate and personal property revenue are approximately $1.4 million higher than this time last year. Revenue from Financial Institutions and Machinery & Equipment taxes are down significantly from fiscal year 2023. The Library has had five full payroll periods since adjusting the salary band structure and is right on budget. The annual bond payment is due in one week which will total $1,542,900. On a question from Mr. Savage, Mr. Slattery stated that operations in the business Office were proceeding smoothly, that a number of procedures had been modernized, and that generally the Library was in good financial shape.
- The Human Resources report contains a summary of staff training provided in 2023 with more being planned in 2024 by Manager of Training & Development Megan Bograd. The Board asked about the quality and number of applications, with Jen Wiese noting that the change to $14.00 beginning wage had resulted in more and better qualified applications. Mr. Struttmann and Mr. McGuire reported on a major facilities problem at Buder Library, when water lines outside the building broke and caused flooding within the building. Repair work is still underway. Mr. Struttmann reported on HVAC work underway at several locations throughout the system, including the administrative building, which has been offline for several days. Large scale replacements will be necessary before long.
Executive Session
Ms. Rainford moved, seconded by Mr. Savage, that the Board go into executive session to discuss legal matters. The motion was unanimously approved by roll call vote. The Board went into executive session at 6:12 p.m.
The Board came out of executive session at 6:25 p.m.
Adjournment
Mr. Schlafly's motion, seconded by Ms. Rainford, that the meeting be adjourned was unanimously approved, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:26 p.m..
At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Public Library on March 4, 2024, the following actions were taken:
| Mr. Sweeney moved: |
that the Board approve the minutes of the February 5, 2024 meeting. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Mr. Land, Ms. North-Murphy, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |
| Ms. Rainford moved: |
that the Board go into executive session to discuss legal matters. MOTION APPROVED BY ROLL CALL (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Mr. Land, Ms. North-Murphy, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |
| Mr Sweeney moved: |
that the Board come out of executive session. MOTION APPROVED BY ROLL CALL (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Mr. Land, Ms. North-Murphy, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |
| Mr. Schlafly moved |
that the meeting be adjourned. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Mr. Land, Ms. North-Murphy, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |
