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Geauga County Public Library (GCPL) - March 19, 2024

Meeting: The GCPL Board met on Tuesday, March 19th at 4:00 pm at the Chardon branch. This meeting was in-person with a virtual option. The meeting was not recorded. Minutes of this meeting will be posted on the GPL website/ GPL Board after they are approved at the April 2024 meeting.

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 Paul A. Newman, Vice President Karen Delano, Secretary Kristen Brickman, and trustees  Joshua Hutchinson, Crist Miller, and Kate Pitrone were present. Jake Yanchar was absent.

Staff Attendance: 

• Kris Carroll - Director

• Katy Farrell - Assistant Director

• Lisa Havlin - Fiscal Officer

• Nicole Burnside - Human Resources

• Judy Lasco - Chardon Branch manager

• Debbie Schrock, Development Coordinator 

• Rachel Hartman - Foundation Board of Trustees (virtual)

• Kevin Barton - Thompson Branch Manager

• Denise Javins- Marketing Manager

• John Johnson - Facilities Manager

• Erika Noark - Geauga West Branch Manager

• Marlene Pelyhes - Tech Services Manager

• Mike Pope - IT Manager

• Joya Hoge - Assistant Manager/Head of Youth Services
  

Public: This Observer attended virtually

President Mr. Newman called the board meeting to order at 4:00pm and roll call was taken.

Minutes: February Board Meeting minutes were approved without discussion and are available online. The minutes are posted as soon as they are approved at the following month’s Board meeting.                

Agenda: Agenda was approved with no changes or additions

Communications: A certificate of Appreciation from ESC (Educational Service Center) of the Western Reserve was read, which expressed appreciation to the Library Administrative staff members for support of their Job Training Program.

Fiscal Officers Report – Ms. Havlin 

• The February disbursements and Gifts were approved

• The Mellon Grant Agreement was approved.  Observer Note: This Grant was in the Board packet and is available through a public records request.  It is a $250,000 grant starting on April 1, 2024 and ending March 31, 2028 to support the activities of the memory lab.

• The Fiscal Director’s report is also available through a public records request and was contained in the Board packet.  The balance of all funds as of 2/29/2024 was $19,174,263.28.

Director’s Report – Ms. Carroll

• On February 27 and March 13 there were roundtable discussions with all staff.

• Property options for the Chardon branch are still under discussion, but there is nothing new to report.

• The Clevnet app has been reinstated. Observer note: For more information about Clevnet, see the website here.

Assistant Director’s Report – Ms. Farrell

Human Resources Report - Ms. Burnside

• All personnel actions in the Board packet were approved.  These included: 4 new hires,  5 terminations, and 1 transfer (voluntary decrease in hours).

• Sensitive personal information about staff injuries was being shared with too many supervisors. Ms. Burnside said they have made adjustments to the submission form, policy, and procedures to limit the people that receive incident reports related to staff injuries.

Local Branch Manager's Report -  Ms. Lasco

• Ms. Lasco mentioned that the Library is handing out eclipse glasses as of March 18, 2024.  It was noted that 510 patrons were at the library on this date, while the average number of patrons on this date is usually 400. This was an increase of 110 people that was likely caused by the solar eclipse glass giveaway.  

• Ms. Lasco thanked Chris Peace (Chardon Library staff) for the March Madness challenge. The challenge this year was to recognize Literary Places, and they are down to the Final Four.

• There is also a photo display of Women in Geauga County put together by Lynn Vandevort, Family and Local History Specialist at GCPL.

• There is a focus on families in the library.  There is a passive program every month with “I Spy” as one such program. There are 90 children participating every month and are entered into a drawing for a free book.  

• There is a scavenger hunt around the library with a different set of pictures each month.  This month, patrons will receive a bookmark for participating.  There are 100 children signed up.

• Meeting space is at a premium with an increase in requests for meeting space.  There are 18 different spots in the evening for meetings.  This month there were 11 library programs, 3 patron meetings and recently 3 additional meetings were booked.

• Big programs coming up are:  Saturday, April 6th - Passport Fair; Saturday, April 18 - Author Fair; April 20 - Volunteer Fair; April 27 - Maple Fest Book Sale, and March 26 - Star Trek Program.

Committee Reports - None

Unfinished Business - None

New Business - All of the following items were approved:

• Letter recommending Reappointment of Library Trustee Joshua Hutchinson was approved to send to Geauga County Commissioners.

• Approval of Personnel Policy Performance Evaluation.

• Approval of Personnel Policy for Staff Recognition.  It was noted that this includes a change to allow recognition of excellent job performance by a one-time merit pay award.  

• Approval of Personnel Policy Mileage and Reimbursement.  Reimbursements should be made to employee's direct deposit accounts.

• Approval of policy to report incidents. It was  noted that going forward incidents may include reports of injuries to patrons, property damage, disappearance or damage of equipment, safety issues, irate patrons and any other unusual behavior by patrons. Staff medical information or unusual behavior should not be included in an incident report.

• Approval of the March Discard List.

Board Development 

Seven employees are attending the PLA (Public Library Association) Conference in Columbus.  On May 2nd, Ms. Pitrone and Ms. Farrell will be attending the Trustee Dinner in Independence for OLC (Ohio Library Council).

Development Coordinator - Ms. Schrock

Another successful Mini Golf Fundraiser was held this year on Saturday, March 9th and Sunday, March 10th at the Bainbridge Branch. Over 150 people attended the Adult event on Saturday, and over 200 attended the Family event on Sunday.

There was a brief discussion about changes to the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the GPL and the Foundation.  The changes centered around making clear that employees of GPL are not required to assist with Foundation projects. Observer Note: The Geauga County Library Foundation, referred to as “the Foundation,” is an Ohio nonprofit corporation organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the Foundation is a separate and distinct legal entity from the Library.  Their mission (as stated in the MOU) is to support and promote the Library, and to encourage literacy in Geauga County. 

Upcoming Community Events

• March 23: Gardening and Cookbook Pop Up at Middlefield

• April 25 – 28: Chardon Branch Book sale

• May 11: Book Donation Drive

Public Comment - There was no one from the public who spoke.

Executive Session - No Executive Session was held.

The meeting adjourned at 4:26.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 16 at the  Geauga West Branch at 4:00 pm. 

Minutes:  The latest minutes are posted here.  Prior to March 2023, videos of meetings were available to the
public here.  The GCPL is no longer posting videos of their meetings.

Observer: Gail Roussey

Editor: Anne Ondrey

Reviewer: Sarah McGlone

Date Submitted:  3/26/2024

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