WEBVTT 00:00:01.666 --> 00:00:09.057 - like to call to order the Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees meeting for January 21st, 2026. 00:00:09.057 --> 00:00:16.166 - So happy new year, everybody. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda from last meeting? It 00:00:16.166 --> 00:00:23.205 - includes the minutes from December 10th, monthly financial report, monthly bills payment, personnel 00:00:23.205 --> 00:00:26.302 - report, and board meeting calendar. Second. 00:00:26.594 --> 00:00:33.327 - comment on the minutes from December we have an error in there under attendance I think Kathy it says 00:00:33.327 --> 00:00:40.126 - you are in attendance I believe you weren't in December so we just made an edit to that in the minutes 00:00:40.126 --> 00:00:46.727 - that we're gonna share on with the State Board of Accounts so as long as you all are good with that 00:00:46.727 --> 00:00:52.734 - we'll proceed with those edits all in favor say aye aye those opposed say nay ayes have it 00:00:54.114 --> 00:01:00.136 - And next, we're going to hear from Greer in the director's monthly report. OK. So you'll notice at the 00:01:00.136 --> 00:01:06.158 - top of the report, it says average estimated door count for the month. We don't typically do that. The 00:01:06.158 --> 00:01:12.415 - reason is our door count software was offline for much of December. So the daily visit count is an average 00:01:12.415 --> 00:01:18.846 - based on a number of previous year's December door counts rather than an actual door count from our software. 00:01:19.490 --> 00:01:26.385 - Total library card holders increased in 2025 from month to month every consecutive month. That's really 00:01:26.385 --> 00:01:33.214 - exciting to see. Usually by increments of 100 to 200 patrons a month. Our total number of library card 00:01:33.214 --> 00:01:40.241 - holders at the start of 26 is 58,931. That's about 42% of our county's total population. That's fantastic 00:01:40.241 --> 00:01:46.142 - statistics for us. So we'll keep working on that and keep pushing for 50% of the county. 00:01:47.106 --> 00:01:52.578 - As expected, we ended the year with the best overall circulation we've seen since before the pandemic. 00:01:52.578 --> 00:01:57.996 - Most of this is due to incredibly strong and increasing digital circulation. Thanks once again to our 00:01:57.996 --> 00:02:03.362 - outstanding collection development department for the selection, cataloging, and discovery solutions 00:02:03.362 --> 00:02:08.993 - they oversee and enhance on a regular basis, and of course to all of our staff for consistently promoting 00:02:08.993 --> 00:02:12.446 - and supporting the use of our collections at all service points. 00:02:12.546 --> 00:02:18.772 - We recently added a new and somewhat unique digital circulation item, our Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. 00:02:18.772 --> 00:02:24.999 - Patrons can now reserve a temporary license for Adobe Creative Cloud Suite using our room reservation 00:02:24.999 --> 00:02:31.042 - platform. We're going to track these reservations started in 2026 alongside our digital collection 00:02:31.042 --> 00:02:37.330 - statistics. And we look forward to sharing some new statistics and trends in terms of the use of Adobe 00:02:37.330 --> 00:02:40.382 - Creative Cloud Suite as we see them taking shape. 00:02:41.634 --> 00:02:46.695 - Our main downtown public elevators were offline for some extended periods of time in December. This 00:02:46.695 --> 00:02:52.060 - isn't the first time this has happened, but there was quite a bit of that in December. We plan to replace 00:02:52.060 --> 00:02:57.120 - the elevator soon, and our finance meeting report references how we're going to do this relative to 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:02.283 - the renewal of our bonds. In the meantime, a big thank you to Brian Leibacher and our entire building 00:03:02.283 --> 00:03:07.647 - services team for managing these outages and for working closely with our elevator maintenance contractor 00:03:07.647 --> 00:03:11.038 - to get these up and running as quickly as possible. And above all, 00:03:11.394 --> 00:03:16.748 - Apologies to our patrons and thank you for your patience whenever these elevators go down. There were 00:03:16.748 --> 00:03:22.312 - a ton of cool program updates and anecdotes from our December program offerings and rather than highlight 00:03:22.312 --> 00:03:27.981 - a few, I just want to thank our public services staff for planning and delivering such outstanding programs 00:03:27.981 --> 00:03:31.550 - and for engaging our patrons the way they do during these programs. 00:03:32.354 --> 00:03:37.569 - We also had a hugely successful annual open enrollment process for staff benefits, both in terms of 00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:42.940 - the ease of use of Paylocity's benefits portal and in terms of total number of staff who completed the 00:03:42.940 --> 00:03:48.207 - open enrollment process in advance of the deadline. Most people don't know this, but open enrollment 00:03:48.207 --> 00:03:53.422 - can be quite a headache when you've got over 160 employees and you need to get everybody to fill it 00:03:53.422 --> 00:03:58.637 - out even if all they're going to say is, I decline benefits. But staff did great and Paylocity made 00:03:58.637 --> 00:04:00.254 - it really, really easy for us. 00:04:01.186 --> 00:04:07.335 - And 2026 is our last year under the current strategic plan. We'll share a final update on progress made 00:04:07.335 --> 00:04:10.942 - on this plan and specific department action items completed. 00:04:11.010 --> 00:04:17.291 - on or before the July board meeting, and at the start of quarter two, give or take, we're gonna form 00:04:17.291 --> 00:04:23.572 - our new strategic planning committee, which traditionally involves one MCPL trustee, and we'll reach 00:04:23.572 --> 00:04:29.978 - out with that information and invitation at that time. The next strategic plan will be shared in draft 00:04:29.978 --> 00:04:36.197 - form at the November meeting and then formally adopted at the December meeting. Happy to answer any 00:04:36.197 --> 00:04:38.622 - questions about the director's report. 00:04:39.042 --> 00:04:46.212 - Quick question about the Adobe Creative Suite. Did we purchase more than one license, and what is the 00:04:46.212 --> 00:04:53.593 - circulation time for that for people who choose to reserve it? So I don't know, Josh, if you or Lorraine 00:04:53.593 --> 00:05:00.763 - want to speak to that with some specifics. I know you've both been involved in setting that up. Yeah, 00:05:00.763 --> 00:05:03.294 - we went round and round about that. 00:05:05.058 --> 00:05:12.956 - I wanna say two, we started with two, but I could be a little bit off and I'll circle back. We looked 00:05:12.956 --> 00:05:20.700 - at the different models for also circulation and the institutions we looked at before were doing it 00:05:20.700 --> 00:05:29.063 - for 24 hour periods, basically starting when you made your reservation, but they were academic environments 00:05:29.063 --> 00:05:34.174 - and they keep different hours. So I think we landed on six hours, 00:05:34.306 --> 00:05:43.446 - and maybe a max of 12 a week. But again, I'm not 100% sure. I will find that out and send it to you, 00:05:43.446 --> 00:05:52.586 - Greer, and then get it back to you folks. It does say on Communico. Any corrections, Lorraine? Okay. 00:05:52.586 --> 00:06:01.726 - I'm so sorry. Yeah, it's right on Communico, the same way you would do reserving a room or our Zoom. 00:06:01.826 --> 00:06:08.158 - So it works very similar to that. So I may even be able to find that before this meeting is over and 00:06:08.158 --> 00:06:14.427 - raise my hand and wave it back at you. And as a wave of apology, we were kind of doing a soft start 00:06:14.427 --> 00:06:20.320 - with that, too. We're planning a good promotion for it to get it out. Yeah, that'll be great. 00:06:20.320 --> 00:06:26.840 - Thank you. Thanks. And this wasn't in the report, but just, Greer, if you could give a reminder, I know 00:06:26.840 --> 00:06:29.598 - we are looking at severe weather coming up. 00:06:30.018 --> 00:06:35.086 - And just to remind people where they could look to see if that would impact the library. Definitely. 00:06:35.086 --> 00:06:40.204 - So for the public, always check our website. As soon as we make a decision on opening late or closing 00:06:40.204 --> 00:06:45.523 - altogether, we'll post it to the top banner of our website. But we also update our social media accounts, 00:06:45.523 --> 00:06:50.591 - and we update our voicemails. So if patrons call the library and we're not open, they're going to be 00:06:50.591 --> 00:06:53.150 - met with, hey, we're closed today, and here's why. 00:06:57.090 --> 00:07:06.380 - Yes, we do. That's probably where most people get that information when it happens. Any other questions 00:07:06.380 --> 00:07:15.760 - or comments before we move on? May I have a motion to hear and vote tonight to approve the Hoosier start 00:07:15.760 --> 00:07:21.566 - proposal? Becky, would you come on up and tell us what you know? 00:07:28.898 --> 00:07:35.572 - So as a reminder, the Hoosier start, and I apologize if I wasn't clear last month when we talked about 00:07:35.572 --> 00:07:42.116 - this, I think it got confused with our perf plan. So just to kind of start out a little bit, this is 00:07:42.116 --> 00:07:48.984 - a voluntary retirement plan for staff. It sits nicely next to perf, so it doesn't replace perf or compete 00:07:48.984 --> 00:07:54.686 - with it in any way. It is a voluntary plan that staff would contribute to on their own. 00:07:55.010 --> 00:08:02.861 - if they want to participate in it. And so it would basically be replacing our old our current 403 B 00:08:02.861 --> 00:08:10.712 - plan that we have, which is a voluntary plan and Hoosier start is a state funded plan. So the state 00:08:10.712 --> 00:08:17.150 - comptroller is the fiduciary on the plan. It gives us the ability to be part of a 00:08:17.314 --> 00:08:23.557 - 457 plan that has more than 70,000 participants. There's more than $2 billion in assets in the plan. 00:08:23.557 --> 00:08:29.738 - There are more than 60 counties who participate, fire departments, libraries, et cetera, across the 00:08:29.738 --> 00:08:36.042 - state that participate in this plan. So it gives us some of that larger benefit for staff. One of the 00:08:36.042 --> 00:08:42.347 - questions that we asked last time that I didn't have the answer to was how many libraries participate 00:08:42.347 --> 00:08:47.230 - in the plan. And there are 93 participating libraries in the state of Indiana. 00:08:47.938 --> 00:08:54.501 - And then as a reminder, this does offer folks the ability to do pre-tax or Roth contributions as a way 00:08:54.501 --> 00:09:01.127 - to save for retirement. And then we're able to offer it for all staff. So part-time staff and full-time 00:09:01.127 --> 00:09:07.753 - staff would be eligible to participate if they did want to contribute to their own retirement. And then 00:09:07.753 --> 00:09:14.443 - there's a $15 minimum contribution per paycheck. So it makes it very affordable for staff and attainable 00:09:14.443 --> 00:09:17.438 - for people to participate wherever they're at. 00:09:17.538 --> 00:09:24.257 - in life and be able to save for retirement. And then there is a $54 annual fee that staff pay. If they 00:09:24.257 --> 00:09:30.780 - want to participate, that's just the fee to manage the accounts. Most other plans have percentages. 00:09:30.780 --> 00:09:36.716 - That's how they set up their fees. And so this is just a flat $54 admin fee that's part of 00:09:36.716 --> 00:09:43.240 - staff participating in this. So there's no cost to the library. It's not replacing our current perf 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.110 - plan. It just kind of sets us next to that. 00:09:47.714 --> 00:09:54.644 - Sorry, I know that was a lot of information, but just kind of as a refresher. Yeah. You may have answered 00:09:54.644 --> 00:10:01.181 - it and I forget, so I apologize. Is this something that they can enroll and unenroll in at any time 00:10:01.181 --> 00:10:02.750 - during employment? Yes. 00:10:08.386 --> 00:10:14.958 - also change contributions to it at any point in time as well. So I did speak with three referrals as 00:10:14.958 --> 00:10:21.985 - part of my work since our last meeting where I asked libraries and county governments who are participating 00:10:21.985 --> 00:10:28.816 - in the plan how it's worked for their staff. And they've said that it is overwhelmingly positive benefit 00:10:28.816 --> 00:10:35.453 - for staff. It's very easy to administer the education piece from nationwide is very I guess above and 00:10:35.453 --> 00:10:37.470 - beyond what they had expected. 00:10:37.602 --> 00:10:45.765 - Nationwide does come in to meet with folks to educate them and help them Look at their perf plan as 00:10:45.765 --> 00:10:54.419 - well as their retirement plan and make decisions that are appropriate for them Any other questions before 00:10:54.419 --> 00:11:02.174 - we vote All in favor of the Hoosier start proposal say aye aye Those opposed say nay I have it 00:11:04.258 --> 00:11:11.604 - with an update on the question Jamie that you asked about the creative suite two licenses up to six 00:11:11.604 --> 00:11:18.949 - hours per day and 18 hours per week reserved through level up location in Communico and up to seven 00:11:18.949 --> 00:11:26.515 - days in advance for reservation thank you Josh okay next we're gonna hear about the remote work policy 00:11:26.515 --> 00:11:29.086 - update and our next steps for that 00:11:32.162 --> 00:11:38.197 - So just to be clear, we're not bringing the policy forward at this meeting. We just wanted to have more 00:11:38.197 --> 00:11:44.291 - of a conversation and share some information and then plan to bring the new policy to you all next month 00:11:44.291 --> 00:11:50.210 - to approve. So I think you can see the current policy. It's just a temporary policy that was approved 00:11:50.210 --> 00:11:53.054 - last year. It's in the packet on page 52 and 53. 00:11:53.858 --> 00:12:00.521 - Some reminders because I know not everyone has looked at that recently. This is a benefit that's new 00:12:00.521 --> 00:12:07.316 - to MCPL as of 2025. It was requested from our staff during our compensation study with NFP. So NFP was 00:12:07.316 --> 00:12:10.878 - the provider that came in for our compensation study. 00:12:10.978 --> 00:12:17.025 - They did like staff feedback where everyone got the opportunity to answer surveys and provide some feedback. 00:12:17.025 --> 00:12:22.574 - And then they also did focus groups with staff with managers and with some different cross sections 00:12:22.574 --> 00:12:28.510 - of our folks. And one of the things that we heard from staff specifically was the request for remote work. 00:12:28.642 --> 00:12:35.212 - And so we have worked very diligently to come up with a policy that we felt kept our culture because 00:12:35.212 --> 00:12:41.977 - it is unique to be in a library. We don't want patrons showing up in our living rooms and we want folks 00:12:41.977 --> 00:12:48.872 - to feel connected here at work. So we did want to protect the culture and still offer meaningful benefits 00:12:48.872 --> 00:12:52.254 - for folks aligning with strategic goal number five. 00:12:52.866 --> 00:12:59.649 - And then also staying equitable. Not every staff member is going to be eligible for remote work. Just 00:12:59.649 --> 00:13:06.433 - given the nature of different positions that we have here. But we did come up with a policy that says 00:13:06.433 --> 00:13:13.083 - you can do 90 percent or 20 percent of your non public facing work can be remote. So that gives our 00:13:13.083 --> 00:13:17.406 - folks who are public facing some opportunities to do planning or 00:13:17.826 --> 00:13:24.969 - You know training there are some different opportunities for those folks to do remote work that wouldn't 00:13:24.969 --> 00:13:31.839 - be patron facing and then our folks who are not public facing have the ability to do up to one day a 00:13:31.839 --> 00:13:38.982 - week remote. So it does give some meaningful benefit there for folks without going too far one direction 00:13:38.982 --> 00:13:39.934 - or the other. 00:13:40.802 --> 00:13:46.780 - And we do offer two different types of remote work. So there is an ongoing or like a standing remote 00:13:46.780 --> 00:13:52.759 - arrangement. So folks can ask for like a specific day of the week to work remote or a couple of days 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:59.092 - a month where they're wanting to work remote from another location. And our policies has some requirements 00:13:59.092 --> 00:14:05.189 - for the setup and the space and scheduling, communicating with their department and their manager. And 00:14:05.189 --> 00:14:08.030 - then our one-off requests are a little bit more 00:14:08.578 --> 00:14:14.396 - for like specific tasks or projects like one-off trainings that folks are attending. It works really 00:14:14.396 --> 00:14:20.560 - nicely for folks who have like a home repair that's scheduled and they need to be home to let a technician 00:14:20.560 --> 00:14:26.666 - in or some sort of a pre-arranged situation that they have where they just need to be in another location 00:14:26.666 --> 00:14:32.830 - for the day. So we tried to give a whole array of folks the opportunity to work remote and the opportunity 00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:38.302 - to have things that fit where folks were needing based on the feedback that they had given us. 00:14:39.042 --> 00:14:46.325 - We are just over a year into the pilot program. We've seen success with it I have some stats for the 00:14:46.325 --> 00:14:53.536 - number of folks who have made requests and have used the policy So we had 39 requests over the last 00:14:53.536 --> 00:15:00.892 - year 15 of those were for ongoing Requests so those are standing maybe one day a week where folks are 00:15:00.892 --> 00:15:07.454 - wanting to work remote on a specific day and Then we had 24 one-off requests. So those are 00:15:07.554 --> 00:15:14.462 - for a particular training that someone was attending or a project or like I mentioned some of those, 00:15:14.462 --> 00:15:21.438 - like I have a technician coming and I need to let them in. And so we've seen both sides of the policy 00:15:21.438 --> 00:15:28.278 - used. I think probably the biggest thing that we've had staff question wise has been if we're going 00:15:28.278 --> 00:15:30.398 - to open it up and make it more 00:15:30.594 --> 00:15:36.974 - days remote and I don't think that we intend to do that because I feel like that 20% has been a really 00:15:36.974 --> 00:15:43.230 - good balance and has given a meaningful opportunity for folks while also keeping the equity in mind. 00:15:43.230 --> 00:15:49.548 - So I think that's been the only piece of feedback that I've heard from staff where a potential change 00:15:49.548 --> 00:15:56.113 - would be looked at. But do you all have any questions or is there any other information that I can share? 00:15:56.113 --> 00:15:59.582 - Anything that I've missed, Greer? No, just I would say, 00:15:59.714 --> 00:16:05.895 - This all ties back to the compensation study and changes that we made in 22 and 23. This was one of 00:16:05.895 --> 00:16:12.077 - the big things that came back from the staff focus groups, the desire to have something like remote 00:16:12.077 --> 00:16:18.876 - or hybrid work options to some extent, with the understanding that because we're a public-facing institution, 00:16:18.876 --> 00:16:25.182 - we couldn't have a blanket remote work policy of any kind, hence what Becky's been saying about a 20% 00:16:25.182 --> 00:16:29.694 - limit. So we took a pretty conservative approach to drafting the policy. 00:16:29.826 --> 00:16:35.225 - And a pretty conservative approach to reviewing the request. But like Becky said, so far it's worked 00:16:35.225 --> 00:16:40.625 - really, really well. Our staff have used it very responsibly. So we'll probably come back next month 00:16:40.625 --> 00:16:45.971 - and say we think we ought to formally adopt it and move it out of the pilot stage and into a formal 00:16:45.971 --> 00:16:51.317 - benefit for staff. And one of the reasons we took it so seriously, apart from the fact that it came 00:16:51.317 --> 00:16:56.984 - from so many staff members, is that we recognize it keeps us more competitive in terms of the job market. 00:16:56.984 --> 00:16:59.710 - So yeah, we're pleased with how it's been working. 00:17:05.890 --> 00:17:18.262 - Do we have any additional questions? Okay. Thank you. Motion to hear from Greer about the board bylaws 00:17:18.262 --> 00:17:26.910 - update. Second. Okay. So last month we talked briefly about our bylaws. 00:17:27.202 --> 00:17:33.809 - And I shared that the state library requires that we review and approve these whether we update them 00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:40.744 - or not every three years. The last time we did that I think was 2019 at least formally. So we're a little 00:17:40.744 --> 00:17:44.734 - behind and that's OK. One of the things that we want to ask. 00:17:44.834 --> 00:17:49.964 - is something, Amy, I think that you had brought up in a meeting, which is would it make more sense to 00:17:49.964 --> 00:17:55.245 - put public comment at the top of our agenda rather than leave it for the very end, maybe for the obvious 00:17:55.245 --> 00:18:00.275 - reason that a lot of folks may come to our meetings expecting to say something about an agenda item 00:18:00.275 --> 00:18:05.405 - that they've seen advertised when we post the agenda only to learn that we go through the vote before 00:18:05.405 --> 00:18:10.485 - they have a chance. I believe the school board does this now. There are other public boards that put 00:18:10.485 --> 00:18:12.094 - public comment at the very top. 00:18:12.290 --> 00:18:17.951 - So that's something we might want to consider changing. Most of our bylaws are tied to Indiana law, 00:18:17.951 --> 00:18:23.668 - specifically what's called the library law. So there's not a lot we do in changing that. But this is 00:18:23.668 --> 00:18:29.385 - our opportunity to talk about that idea about public comment in our meeting agendas or anything else 00:18:29.385 --> 00:18:35.159 - in the bylaws you all have questions about or want to make changes to. And then we would update these 00:18:35.159 --> 00:18:37.310 - and I would inform the state library. 00:18:42.210 --> 00:18:48.454 - Do you want to lead the public comment idea? Sure. I mean, just thinking through making good use of 00:18:48.454 --> 00:18:54.822 - the public's time if they were to engage with the board and being able to provide comments so that if 00:18:54.822 --> 00:19:01.066 - someone raised a concern that led us to act differently or ask different questions, I would like to 00:19:01.066 --> 00:19:05.374 - hear that before I have the opportunity to hear that before we vote. 00:19:13.378 --> 00:19:21.505 - Also, someone wants to make a simple comment. This is a lot of board meeting for them. It's an hour 00:19:21.505 --> 00:19:29.875 - of someone's time to need to make a comment to make sure that they'll be here, able to sign in, do the 00:19:29.875 --> 00:19:38.815 - things that they need to do. So being able to leave a comment in 15 or 20 minutes time seems more reasonable. 00:19:38.815 --> 00:19:42.878 - So can we vote then to move that to the top? Yes. 00:19:43.234 --> 00:19:50.760 - We can change that under, what is this, article four, meetings, section five, order of business shall 00:19:50.760 --> 00:19:58.213 - be, and we'll just move public comment to the top. And if you're okay, we can leave board comment at 00:19:58.213 --> 00:20:05.739 - the bottom just before adjournment. And are there any other thoughts on changes to the bylaws at this 00:20:05.739 --> 00:20:09.502 - time? What we'll do is build into our calendar for 00:20:09.666 --> 00:20:15.940 - 2028, heads up, we need to review the bylaws at the start of the next year, just so we don't miss it. 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:22.152 - It's an easy thing to overlook. And we'll kind of do a version of this every three years. But we can 00:20:22.152 --> 00:20:28.365 - make this change immediately and we can start our February meeting with public comment at the top of 00:20:28.365 --> 00:20:34.823 - the meeting. So it'll be after the call to order before the consent agenda? Correct. Sounds good. Great. 00:20:34.823 --> 00:20:39.006 - OK. All in favor of moving that to the top of the meeting, say aye. 00:20:39.490 --> 00:20:49.858 - Hi. Those opposed say nay. Okay, board bylaws, we will update that part. Thank you. Okay, now we have 00:20:49.858 --> 00:21:00.531 - some new business. Motion to hear the resolution to transfer program funds between restricted categories 00:21:00.531 --> 00:21:07.646 - from our director of finance, Gary. So this resolution is to transfer 00:21:07.842 --> 00:21:20.967 - $26,390.06 from the program fund to the restricted gift fund. And what's happening here is that in our 00:21:20.967 --> 00:21:34.091 - restricted gift fund, we have these program lines that are funded by endowed accounts. And so when the 00:21:34.091 --> 00:21:37.022 - Friends of the Library 00:21:37.826 --> 00:21:46.547 - Determine their annual gift to support programs and and for 2026 that amount is a hundred and forty 00:21:46.547 --> 00:21:55.443 - three thousand dollars at this point and So we will take out of that hundred and forty three thousand 00:21:55.443 --> 00:22:03.902 - dollars twenty six thousand three ninety and Move it to the restricted gift fund for these loans 00:22:06.338 --> 00:22:21.944 - So are there any questions on that? No questions? Okay. All in favor of moving $26,390.06 from the program 00:22:21.944 --> 00:22:33.758 - fund to restricted gift fund? Say aye. Aye. Those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. 00:22:35.458 --> 00:22:46.841 - a motion to hear the resolution to transfer operating funds between major categories. So this resolution 00:22:46.841 --> 00:22:57.791 - is mainly for auditors. They insist that we do this. If we have a situation where our actual cost in 00:22:57.791 --> 00:23:05.054 - a major category, which is wages and benefits, supplies, services, 00:23:05.314 --> 00:23:14.297 - and capital spending. So if we go over in one of those categories and we're under in another category, 00:23:14.297 --> 00:23:23.455 - we can transfer budget funds with a resolution like this. And so we were over on the wages and benefits, 00:23:23.455 --> 00:23:32.613 - wages and benefits category. And so that's why we are transferring out of the other services and charges 00:23:32.613 --> 00:23:34.270 - category $200,000. 00:23:41.986 --> 00:23:54.176 - Questions To transfer operating funds between major categories say aye aye those opposed say nay I have 00:23:54.176 --> 00:24:06.718 - it Thanks for hanging out Gary Motion to hear about the resolution to transfer funds to the rainy day fund 00:24:10.850 --> 00:24:21.744 - And we'll talk a little bit more about the results, the operating results for the library in the Board 00:24:21.744 --> 00:24:32.426 - of Finance meeting. But just for this resolution, we ended up with an operating surplus of $321,066. 00:24:32.426 --> 00:24:38.878 - And so this resolution allows us to move those surplus funds 00:24:39.650 --> 00:24:49.904 - from the operating fund to the rainy day fund. And yeah, that's what this is. Any questions? Will you 00:24:49.904 --> 00:25:00.057 - remind us please what the purpose of the operating fund versus the rainy day fund can be used for or 00:25:00.057 --> 00:25:07.998 - what the, can you explain a little bit more why this transfer is needed? Yeah. 00:25:08.290 --> 00:25:18.307 - Operating fund is basically where all of the revenue from taxes to cover operations comes in. And then 00:25:18.307 --> 00:25:28.616 - that's where we pay out all the wages and purchase books and everything. And so the operating fund starts 00:25:28.616 --> 00:25:37.758 - out the year with a million dollar balance. That's the reserve balance in the operating fund. 00:25:38.530 --> 00:25:47.346 - And so throughout the year, we have our revenue, we have our expenses. So now we're at the end of the 00:25:47.346 --> 00:25:56.163 - year and we have 1,321,066 in the operating account. So this is like a reset. We're gonna reset it to 00:25:56.163 --> 00:26:05.152 - a million dollars and we're gonna take the 321,000 and put it in the rainy day fund where we accumulate 00:26:05.152 --> 00:26:07.486 - funds for future expansion 00:26:08.866 --> 00:26:15.053 - That's generally what it's for, future expansion. By state law, we can use rainy day funds for a number 00:26:15.053 --> 00:26:21.299 - of different things if we need to, which is why they call it rainy day. It's very different from library 00:26:21.299 --> 00:26:27.307 - improvement and reserve fund, for example, which can only be used for specific types of projects. So 00:26:27.307 --> 00:26:33.672 - that's one reason why we keep a healthy balance in the rainy day account and transfer funds to it whenever 00:26:33.672 --> 00:26:37.598 - we can, because it's basically a savings account for the library. 00:26:39.746 --> 00:26:46.246 - For what? I'm sorry. Could the money be used for the bookmobile that they're trying to? I don't know 00:26:46.246 --> 00:26:52.875 - if we could use it for something like a bookmobile. We have our funds for the bookmobile. They're paid 00:26:52.875 --> 00:26:59.376 - for by the bond funds. But for rainy day, I don't know if that would qualify. I would have to check. 00:26:59.376 --> 00:27:05.876 - If we had not planned for funding the bookmobile with the bond fund, which we did, then we could. We 00:27:05.876 --> 00:27:07.614 - could use rainy day funds. 00:27:11.874 --> 00:27:24.264 - keep a healthy balance and all the time just in case. Yeah. Emergency situations as well. Yes. All in 00:27:24.264 --> 00:27:36.775 - favor of transferring the funds to the rainy day funds, say aye. Aye. Those opposed say nay. Ayes have 00:27:36.775 --> 00:27:39.326 - it. Thank you, Gary. 00:27:43.138 --> 00:27:54.933 - Next up, we have nominations for our board of trustee officers for the next year. I'm going to start 00:27:54.933 --> 00:28:07.429 - off by nominating Chris as secretary again. Anyone want to second? How about Amy Shaughnessy as treasurer? 00:28:07.429 --> 00:28:08.830 - I nominate. 00:28:16.418 --> 00:28:25.628 - I'm going to nominate you to be vice president. Thank you. And then Jamie for president. OK. All right. 00:28:25.628 --> 00:28:34.838 - OK. And the reason then Whitney is taking over for vice president for Kathy is because Kathy is leaving 00:28:34.838 --> 00:28:43.871 - us, resigning her tenure. She's given many, many years to the library. So thank you, Kathy. It's been 00:28:43.871 --> 00:28:45.022 - my pleasure. 00:28:47.746 --> 00:28:55.330 - I'm humbled by your service, Kathy. I know you've been a part of the library for a very, very long time 00:28:55.330 --> 00:29:02.696 - in different capacities. The 1970s, in fact. In fact, I met my husband here. Oh, wow. I did not know 00:29:02.696 --> 00:29:09.770 - that. Well, on behalf of everyone at MCPL, thank you so much for your service. We will miss you. 00:29:09.770 --> 00:29:15.166 - It's time. It's time. You're welcome. OK. Do we have any public comments? 00:29:17.122 --> 00:29:27.499 - Last time, I ask at the end. We do. Hi. I'm Paula Gray over to you. I work here at the library. I've 00:29:27.499 --> 00:29:37.773 - worked here at the library for like 30 years. I'm the web administrator, but I recently just became 00:29:37.773 --> 00:29:46.814 - the union president. I just wanted to introduce myself to the board, let you know that. 00:29:47.554 --> 00:29:54.991 - Tomorrow at the library, 1130 to 130, staff there in the union are using their lunch time to have a 00:29:54.991 --> 00:30:02.875 - little treat and greet. So if any of you are available, want to come by and meet some other union members 00:30:02.875 --> 00:30:10.312 - or get some coffee and cookies, chat about the union in any regard, you're welcome to do so. That's 00:30:10.312 --> 00:30:12.766 - all I have. Thank you very much. 00:30:13.378 --> 00:30:20.715 - not to embarrass or anything, but Paula, as our web administrator, is the one who has single-handedly 00:30:20.715 --> 00:30:27.980 - been modifying all of our PDFs on our website, including our board content, and making them HTML and 00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:35.389 - more accessible. So thank you for that work, Paula. Yeah. OK. At this time, we are adjourned. I'd like 00:30:35.389 --> 00:30:42.654 - to call to order the Monroe County Public Library Board of Finance Committee meeting for January 21. 00:30:42.914 --> 00:30:53.157 - I would like to nominate myself as president for the board of finance and Chris Hall as secretary. Anyone 00:30:53.157 --> 00:31:02.917 - want a second? Do we take a vote? Okay, all in favor say aye. Those opposed say nay. Okay, ayes have 00:31:02.917 --> 00:31:11.518 - it. Okay, now we're gonna hear from Gary for the review of investment report and policy. 00:31:17.730 --> 00:31:26.153 - So Indiana code requires each local board of finance to have an annual meeting in January. This meeting 00:31:26.153 --> 00:31:34.576 - provides an opportunity to review the library's investment policy and the investment report and go over 00:31:34.576 --> 00:31:42.756 - finance plans for the upcoming year. 2025 has been a year heavily influenced by Senate Bill 1, which 00:31:42.756 --> 00:31:47.454 - will decrease the expected annual revenue growth in 2026. 00:31:48.130 --> 00:31:59.054 - by about $358,000. The library has implemented operational changes to prepare for the revenue reduction, 00:31:59.054 --> 00:32:09.979 - including a reduction of five full-time employees over the 2025-26 time frame. The 2025 staff reductions 00:32:09.979 --> 00:32:17.886 - and reducing the evening hours for the downtown location have had an impact 00:32:17.986 --> 00:32:29.427 - in the library's efforts to keep 2025 operating costs lower than the 2025 operating revenue. The 2025 00:32:29.427 --> 00:32:40.644 - operating surplus of about 321,000 was less than last year's surplus of about 803,000. For the next 00:32:40.644 --> 00:32:47.710 - few years, it'll be a challenge to have any operating surplus. 00:32:49.218 --> 00:33:01.166 - The third page in the Board of Finance report is the balance sheet, and it shows the cash balance by 00:33:01.166 --> 00:33:13.942 - bank and by fund. The total cash balance for all MCPL funds at the end of 2025 is about $8,012,000 compared 00:33:13.942 --> 00:33:18.910 - to about $8,064,000 at the start of 2025. 00:33:20.226 --> 00:33:31.305 - The rainy day fund will have a balance of about $3,365,000 after the 2025 surplus transfer. And a million 00:33:31.305 --> 00:33:41.861 - of that balance is kept in reserve. So $2,365,000 is the balance carried forward for future planning 00:33:41.861 --> 00:33:50.014 - in the rainy day fund. Most of the library's cash is at First Financial Bank, 00:33:50.562 --> 00:34:00.905 - where we have a checking account and a money market account that is currently earning 3.1% a year. The 00:34:00.905 --> 00:34:11.048 - balance in the money market account at the end of the year was about $7.8 million. Interest earnings 00:34:11.048 --> 00:34:17.374 - for 2025 on the money market account funds was about $215,000. 00:34:18.754 --> 00:34:29.043 - On the second page of the Board of Finance report, I have presented an option for a long-term plan to 00:34:29.043 --> 00:34:39.331 - finance future projects with funds from issuing future bonds. Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond, we've 00:34:39.331 --> 00:34:48.510 - started planning for the next general obligation bond. The current general obligation bond 00:34:48.802 --> 00:34:58.821 - was for $2 million and it was issued in 2021. So it's a six-year bond and it'll be paid off at the end 00:34:58.821 --> 00:35:08.841 - of 2027. So our current plan is to renew the bond, which is a process involving bond attorneys and the 00:35:08.841 --> 00:35:17.790 - process will start in early 2027. So next year at this time, that's gonna be on the agenda. 00:35:18.818 --> 00:35:30.498 - And we expect it to be a seven-year bond for $3 million. The current six-year bond is being used to 00:35:30.498 --> 00:35:42.528 - purchase the new bookmobile. And then facility needs like elevator repairs and that type of thing. And 00:35:42.528 --> 00:35:47.550 - it's also being used for technology needs. 00:35:47.842 --> 00:35:59.615 - We have a replacement cycle that keeps our tech equipment from becoming obsolete. And so bond funds 00:35:59.615 --> 00:36:12.094 - are the source of funds for buying computers and tech equipment software. How often do we like the cycle? 00:36:12.094 --> 00:36:15.390 - I think it's five years. So 00:36:16.450 --> 00:36:26.653 - Looking ahead to the new bond that would cover the 2028 to 2034 timeframe, we would still use the bond 00:36:26.653 --> 00:36:36.559 - to pay for facility needs and technology needs. One major additional project that we're considering 00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:44.286 - for the next bond is the replacement of the tall shelving at the main branch. 00:36:45.026 --> 00:36:54.627 - so that it has shelving similar to what is at the southwest branch, which provides a big improvement 00:36:54.627 --> 00:37:04.229 - in visibility. Another big project being discussed is the need to replace the aging elevators at the 00:37:04.229 --> 00:37:14.686 - main branch. Maintenance is extremely costly for the old elevators, and reliability is deteriorating rapidly. 00:37:15.106 --> 00:37:25.755 - So next year at the annual Board of Finance meeting, we will discuss the bond renewal in more detail. 00:37:25.755 --> 00:37:36.299 - And then the operating fund surplus report is on page four of this report. And this report shows the 00:37:36.299 --> 00:37:43.294 - actual revenue and operating cost trends from 2021 to the present. 00:37:44.130 --> 00:37:53.693 - and an estimate for revenue and operating costs for 2026. We won't go into the detail unless someone 00:37:53.693 --> 00:38:03.539 - has a question. It's more of an informational report to put 2025 operating numbers in context with past 00:38:03.539 --> 00:38:11.966 - years and the upcoming year. So the final report in the packet is the investment policy. 00:38:12.130 --> 00:38:29.563 - We haven't made any changes to that this year. And if there's any questions on that, I'd be happy to 00:38:29.563 --> 00:38:38.366 - talk about them. That's all I have. Any questions? 00:38:42.978 --> 00:38:52.961 - Assuming things may change funding-wise for libraries in the future, will it make a difference? I mean, 00:38:52.961 --> 00:39:02.655 - will we just update it on a? Yeah, I expect we'll sort of see this long-term plan get adjusted every 00:39:02.655 --> 00:39:11.294 - year. And so, yeah, just depending on what happens, we may just be struggling to keep our 00:39:11.554 --> 00:39:21.304 - head above water for several years. But on the other hand, something may change. We could be in a position 00:39:21.304 --> 00:39:30.964 - where revenue does go up as fast as it did in the years leading up to when we built the Southwest Branch. 00:39:30.964 --> 00:39:40.167 - You'll notice on page two, there's a reference to the subsequent bond and the idea of something like 00:39:40.167 --> 00:39:41.534 - an East Branch 00:39:41.698 --> 00:39:47.948 - construction project. So this is something we've kind of kicked around very quietly among ourselves 00:39:47.948 --> 00:39:54.449 - for a few years. It's not a commitment necessarily to building another southwest, but on the east side. 00:39:54.449 --> 00:40:00.824 - But a number of us, Gary and myself in particular, have been talking about how we need to continue to 00:40:00.824 --> 00:40:07.324 - look for opportunities to expand MCPL's presence, physical presence throughout the county. And the east 00:40:07.324 --> 00:40:11.262 - side is conspicuously without any MCPL presence apart from our 00:40:11.394 --> 00:40:16.530 - outreach services department. So we want to keep that in our minds as we're planning financially for 00:40:16.530 --> 00:40:21.616 - the long term that there should be an opportunity somewhere down the road to continue to expand our 00:40:21.616 --> 00:40:27.006 - footprint. Don't really know exactly when it's going to be, so we're keeping that in our reports as well. 00:40:42.882 --> 00:40:55.243 - That's it. Okay, thanks Gary. Okay, we don't have any more questions comments. Motion to adjourn. Second, 00:40:55.243 --> 00:40:57.342 - we are adjourned.