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Geauga County Public Library

LWV Geauga Observer Corps

Library to Submit Revised Chardon Branch/Admin Design to

Chardon Planning Board for Approval

Geauga County Public Library (GCPL) - January 20, 2026

Organizational Meeting and Regular Board Meeting

Meeting: The GCPL Board met on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 4:00 pm at the GCPL Administration Building. This Board Meeting was in-person with a virtual attendance option. To access the virtual option see information here. The meeting was not recorded. Minutes of this meeting will be posted on the GCPL website after they are approved at the February 18, 2026 meeting.

Observer Note: Each member of the GCPL Board and Staff receives a copy of the meeting packet, as does this Observer. It is available upon request in accordance with Ohio public records law (ORC 149.43). The board discusses and votes on the information in the packet. This Observer Report is made up of discussions held at the board meeting and information taken from the board packet.

Public Comment: Permitted and included in the regular order of business per GCPL bylaws. Further clarified in Policy 215 - Public Participation at Board Meetings.

Board Attendance: President Karen Delano,, Board Secretary Crist Miller, and Board Trustees Kate Pitrone, Paul Newman and Joshua Hutchinson. Vice President Kristen Brickman and Jake Yanchar were absent.

Library Staff Attendance:

Katy Farrell - Assistant Director, Recording Secretary
Lisa Havlin - Fiscal Officer
Nicole Burnside - Human Resources
Deborah Schrock - Development Coordinator
Erika Noark - Geauga West Branch Manager
Rachael Hartman - Middlefield Branch Manager
Mike Pope - IT Manager
John Johnston - Facilities Manager
Judy Lasco - Chardon Branch Manager
Danielle Hollar - Bainbridge Branch Manager
Marlene Pelyhes - Tech Services Manager
Dawn Malaska - Deputy Fiscal Officer

Director Kris Carroll did not attend due to a family concern.

Guests: This Observer

President Karen Delano called the Board Organizational Meeting to order at 4:00 pm and roll call was taken.

Observer’s Note: This was the annual Organization meeting. The GCPL Board rotates the officers

every year. Everyone knows the rotation and the meeting goes smoothly. The board secretary

changes each year but the GCPL Assistant Director remains the recording secretary. Normally Ms. Brickman would have become president, but due to time constraints she declined at the January meeting.

The Agenda for the Organizational Meeting was approved and the meeting proceeded to the Election of GCPL Board Officers for 2026:

President - Crist Miller

Vice President - Josh Hutchinson

Secretary - Kristen Brickman

The Slate of Officers passed and the 2026 Officers were sworn in by Debbie Schrock.

Appointment of Fiscal Officer Lisa Havlin. Salary and compensation package as specified in memorandum. Bond set at $40,000. Approved

Lisa Havlin sworn in by Debbie Schrock.

Appointment of Deputy Fiscal Officer Dawn Malaska. Bond set at $10,000. Approved

Dawn Malaska sworn in by Debbie Schrock.

Appointment of Director Kris Carroll. Salary and compensation package as specified in memorandum.

Approved.

Fiscal Officer’s Report For Organizational Meeting - Ms. Havlin

Approval received of Cash Drawer Amounts

Approval received to allow Fiscal Officer to invest monies without prior Board Approval.

The Organizational meeting was adjourned at 4:10 and they moved into the Regular Board Meeting

Roll call taken (same as above)

Next the Board approved the Bylaws and Organizational Charts for 2026 and Committee Appointments.

Minutes: Minutes of the December 2025 Regular Board Meeting were approved as presented. Board minutes are available online. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to access minutes. The minutes are posted as soon as they are approved at the following month’s Board meeting. Prior to March 2023, videos of meetings were available to the public here. GCPL is no longer posting videos of their meetings.

Communications: none

Agenda: The agenda presented in the Board packet was approved with no changes.

Fiscal Officer’s Report - Ms. Havlin

Approval given to remove Karen Delano and add Crist Miller as an authorized signer on all banking and investments accounts.
Approval given to appoint Karen Delano, Finance Committee Chair, as Credit Card Compliance Officer for 2026.
Approval given to set the library mileage rate for 2026 to 70 cents per mile.
Approval given for December Disbursements and Gifts
2025 Financial Recap:

2025 actual revenue was $562,619 over the certified amount.
2025 expenditures were $1,607,969 less than originally estimated.
Personnel costs were 13% less than anticipated, due to changes in the staffing model that reduced the number of supervisory positions and Sunday branch closure. Insurance costs were also 25% less than estimated.
Contracted Services were 7.5% less than budgeted resulting in a saving of $129,650.
Capital Improvement spending was 73% less than budgeted.

Director’s Report - Katy Farrell in the absence of Kris Carroll

Approval of Tuition Reimbursement Request - five individuals received reimbursement for MLIS (Masters in Library Science) classes at Kent State.
There will be a Property Tax Series in collaboration with the Auditor and the League of Women Voters. The series will be given three times: Bainbridge Branch on February 25 at 6:30 p.m., the County Office Building on March 10 at 6:30pm and at the Middlefield Branch on April 7 at 7pm. The programs will focus on local services provided by townships, schools, and other boards and entities funded through property taxes. Registration is required for these events, and all panelists have been confirmed Reviewer Note: See information here to register.
GCPL circulated more than 3 million items in 2025 reflecting the collective efforts of the entire staff across all departments. It underscores the strong demand for library services in the Geauga community and validates the investments the library has made in its collection, programs, and facilities.
The Chardon Creative Maker Space has been closed, and equipment and furnishings redistributed.
Chardon Branch and Administration Building - Weekly meetings are being held to discuss changes and reduction of costs. The revised plan will be presented to the Chardon Planning Committee at the February 2026 meeting. Once approved, the revised plan will be presented to the public.
Director Carroll met with the Water Department to discuss a potential survey of the land near the Administration Center that may be required for additional water lines. At this time, only the survey has been scheduled, and the Water Department will examine a small section of the library property for the project. If the project proceeds, the Board will need to consider granting an easement.
The replacement boiler at Middlefield is now running properly. The rental boiler was picked up and returned without any additional charges.
A new cleaner for Geauga West was hired and began work at the end of December.
Tech services: Marlene Pelyhes completed training Sara Douglas to assume the role of OverDrive system selector starting January 15.
A “Register for a New Library Card” link has been added to the Aspen sign-in form to make it easier for patrons to access services like placing holds and using digital resources (e.g., Hoopla, Libby).
Mass market paperbacks are ending in the U.S. due to declining sales and rising costs, with Readerlink ceasing distribution at the end of 2025. Future titles (e.g., William Johnston Westerns) will be printed in digest size (5.5" x 8.5") on higher-grade paper, while only back stock will remain in the traditional 4.25" x 6.87" pulp-like format.

Assistant Director’s Report - Ms. Farrell

Statistics (from the board packet):

December 2025 Statistics:

• 32,625 patrons served at the branches

• 15,272 computer and wi-fi uses

• 166 programs presented for 3,524 patrons

• 9,797 reference and circulation interactions

• Total circulation of items: 244,260

2025 Year-End Statistics:

• 451,414 patrons served at the branches

• 203,210 computer and wi-fi uses

• 2,383 programs presented for 52,835 patrons

• 140,052 reference and circulation interactions

• Total circulation of items: 3,011,954!

Observer Note: The board packet contains a report of activities from all branches and departments. This is under the heading of the Assistant Director’s Report. The report includes Patron feedback reported at the branches. The host/local branch manager gives an oral report at the board meeting. This month that report was given by Facilities Manager John Johnson.

The following highlights are from the Board packet:

Bainbridge - The STEM Club theme for December was Cozy Creations With Yarn. Kids learned about measuring with yarn and how to crochet and use a loom. There was also a well attended program called Adventures in Virtual Reality.

Chardon - A new program is Drop-in Tech Help with no appointment required. A patron came into the library for assistance with filing county paperwork online after the county had referred the patron to the library. The Librarian helped the patron open an email account, create an additional county log-in account with two factor authentication, and then download and attach documents.

Geauga West - Jack Tayek played holiday songs on the piano and sang along with patrons. It was noted that clients from Metzenbaum stop by anytime Jack has a piano performance. Leftover program supplies were made into 90 take and make kits.

Middlefield - In 2025 Middlefield had a Thermo-bind machine to use in mending books. Between Middlefield and Mobile Services, they mended 100 books per month with the machine, saving 1,200 books in the collection. At the solstice program 12 participants used jars and tissue paper to create lanterns and learned about the winter solstice. Patrons were very happy with the Jane Austen 250th Birthday celebration at the library.

Thompson - The Branch participated in the community window decoration contest and served as a voting site for the event. Branch manager, Mary Balog, attended the town’s Christmas Tree Lighting, where she read a story to local families. Young patrons created festive gingerbread houses decorated with an assortment of candies, while adults participated in a program hosted by Robin Kuhlman to learn how to crochet a winter hat.

Mobile Services - Rae Buck joined the Mobile Services team as a full-time Driver in December.

The team collected 306 homemade holiday cards from young patrons, using them to decorate both the Bookmobile and the Fun Bus.

Human Resources - Ms. Burnside

Board approval was obtained on 1 retirement, 1 transfer and 1 employee leaving.
Approval was obtained on 10 quarterly Outstanding Service Awards. The fourth quarter had 34 total submissions and 20 unique individuals were nominated.

Observers Note. The Outstanding Service Awards were instituted in 2024. There is an online form and any staff member can nominate any other employee for any action that falls under external or internal customer service. The focus is on improving the patron experience, systemwide or branch organizational improvements, teamwork or completing a task no one else wanted to do. At the end of each quarter, the Administration Team and Chair of the Staff Advisory Committee discuss the nominations and award 4 hours of Paid Time Off to up to 10 people. Because staff are awarded time off, the awards must be approved by the GCPL Board of Trustees.

Local Manager’s Report - John Johnson, Facilities Manager

Mr. Johnson told about things that came up and were repaired in 2025.

Committee Reports - none

Unfinished Business - none

New Business -

Approval of Foundation Capital Campaign MOU (Memorandum of Understanding)

Board Development

Debbie Schrock and the GCPL Marketing Department have been collaborating with United Libraries on a potential feature article highlighting the Indoor Mini Golf fundraising events. United Libraries plans to draft an article for their monthly newsletter. This feature would provide valuable exposure for the Foundation, highlight GCPL’s successful partnerships, and promote GCPL as a model for creative fundraising within the library community.
The 2026/2027 Strategic Plan was approved. It was included in the Board Packet and titled “Learning & Education Community Engagement Staff Engagement & Morale Goals Goals Goals”

Library Foundation Report - Ms. Schrock

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library, in partnership with the State of Ohio, will be covering the cost of the program for four months. This generous support helps ensure that children five and under in Geauga County can continue to receive books at no cost to their families.
Over the past two years, the Foundation made significant progress strengthening its organizational infrastructure, financial stewardship, and community presence while increasing overall awareness of the Geauga County Library Foundation. In 2024, the Foundation successfully transitioned to a 501(c)(3) public charity, adopted a formal Code of Regulations, engaged a new accounting firm, and expanded financial safeguards through Directors & Officers and General Liability insurance coverage.
Community outreach and fundraising efforts grew. The Foundation increased its visibility through consistent presence at library-sponsored and community events, presentations to civic organizations, and meetings with major donors.
Fundraising expanded through signature events such as Mini Golf, the Christmas Tree Auction, the Murder Mystery fundraiser, and the Maple Festival Parking fundraiser, alongside robust Friends Committee book sales.
Appreciation events for volunteers and donors, along with continued support for branch initiatives, reinforced the Foundation’s commitment to stewardship, partnership, and community impact.

Public Comment - none

Executive Session - none

The meeting was adjourned at 4:28 pm.

Next Meeting: The next Regular Board meeting is March 17, 2026 at 4:00 pm at the Administration Building. See website for information on meeting dates and locations.

Observer: Cris Takacs

Editor: Gail Roussey

Reviewer: Carol Benton

Date Submitted: February 13, 2026

The League of Women Voters of Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org.

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