River Forest Public Library
Board of Library Trustees
Minutes of Regular Meeting
January 16, 2007



Call to Order
	President Mark Coe called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

Roll Call
	Present at the meeting were Director Dawn Bussey and Trustees Mark Coe, Joan Cusack, Diane Daly, Liz Fischer, Margaret Horstman, Molly Ryan and Lenny Soffer.

Audience to Visitors, Trustee and Staff Comments
	There were no visitor or trustee comments. Staff members Rebecca Vnuk and Nancy Kerr were in attendance as well as one visitor, Joan O’Connor.
A. Presentation about adult programming, Rebecca Vnuk
	Ms. Vnuk, Head of Adult Services gave a presentation to the Board which focused entirely on current trends in the attendance at adult programs. In the past few years, there has been a marked decrease in the number of attendees at programs, including those given by the Friends of the Library during the day when school is not in session. Other libraries are experiencing the same trend which is showing that the cost-attendance ratio can make it not cost effective to have many of the programs traditionally offered. Busy lifestyles, an abundance of programs in the area, and lack of parking during the day contribute to the lack of attendance. Family programs here at the library continue to be successful and well attended. The Director, staff and trustees will continue to look at the numbers of attendees in order to make decisions about adult programming in the future.

Consent Agenda	
	Ms. Ryan moved that the Board approve the Consent Agenda which consisted of the minutes of the December 19, 2006 regular meeting, the Warrant and Benefit List for 12/20/06 to 1/16/07 which included checks # 6771-6801 for a grand total of $53,133.13 and the December Treasurer’s Report. Mr. Soffer seconded. Roll call vote was taken. Voting aye were Trustees Coe, Cusack, Daly, Fischer, Horstman, Ryan and Soffer. There were no nays: the motion carried unanimously.

Communications
	There were no announcements. Trustees reviewed the Patron Suggestions, #234 to 243, for the month of December, 2006, and the replies.

Director’s Report
A. Statistical Report- Mrs. Bussey again commented that due to the software upgrade in the catalog system, “Release 2005”, there is a discrepancy in the statistics, so comparing last year’s to this year’s statistics will be inaccurate. This year’s statistics are accurate. Mrs. Bussey pointed out that there has been a great increase in database usage, thanks in large measure to the presentations the librarians have done in the schools and also due to educating the patrons on the use of databases.
B. Board members reviewed the Director’s Report for December, 2006. There were no questions.
C. Departmental Reports: Mrs. Bussey asked whether Board members found the monthly departmental reports valuable.  Members said they find these reports to be extremely valuable, but said that if the department heads wanted, the reports could be written in the more concise, bullet point format.

Old Business
A. Committee of the Whole Meeting-
	The next Committee of the Whole will be held on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. Agenda items will be: capital improvements and strategic planning.

New Business
A. Calendar of Meeting Dates – 2007 – Mrs. Bussey
	Mrs. Bussey distributed a list of the meeting dates for 2007. The regular meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. and the committee of the whole meetings on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Due to a scheduling conflict, new dates will be scheduled for the March meetings, and there will be no meeting on December 25th.
B. Proposed Budget FY 2007-2008 – Mr. Soffer
	Treasurer Lenny Soffer presented the proposed FY ’07-’08 budget which had been approved by the Finance Committee of the Board at its January 3, 2007 budget meeting. This budget must be approved by the entire Board to become effective. Mr. Soffer gave the Board written explanations of context. There was a discussion regarding the increase of $20,000 in performance pay. The amount budgeted in ’06-’07 was $15,000. The proposal brought to the board was that this $20,000 was a tentative amount that would be considered budgeted if:  The Board adopts a revised performance pay policy which would be justified by market data, and that the Board determines that an increase in total compensation beyond the usual amounts is warranted.  Further discussion ensued. Ms. Horstman moved that the budget presented to the Board be approved with two caveats: 1.That the Board adopt a performance pay policy which would include market data as well as specific data for evaluating employee performance, and, 2. That the Board approve the line amount for performance pay not to exceed $35,000. Mrs. Fischer seconded the motion. In further discussion, Mr. Coe requested a more in-depth exploration of performance pay. He felt that the Board did not have all of the information necessary to make a good decision about performance pay at this time. Ms. Horstman withdrew her motion. Then Ms. Ryan moved to adopt the proposed FY ’07-’08 budget with one amendment: that $15,450 be budgeted for performance pay instead of $35,000 as originally stated. For the record: Mrs. Fischer requested that once the above noted caveats are fulfilled, the Board address the performance pay issue no later than the April 2007 meeting.  Mr. Soffer seconded Ms. Ryan’s motion. Roll call vote was taken .Voting aye were Trustees Coe, Cusack, Daly, Fischer, Ryan and Soffer. Trustee Horstman voted nay: the motion carried.

There was no call for executive session. 

Adjournment
	At 8:10 p.m. Ms. Ryan moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Soffer seconded. A vote was taken: there were all ayes and no nays hence the motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted, 
Diane Daly, Secretary