Erin Meine- Director
Mary Salonek - Librarian
Lauren Vogel - Librarian
Abby Jensen- Librarian
Sharon Pieschel - President
Dotty de Lambert - VP
Mary Glaeseman - Treasurer
Deb Beyer - Secretary
John Sagan - CD Manager
Tina Hamilton
Clair Thorston
Wendy Krier
Denise Reiner
Springfield Library Board Meeting
March 12, 2025
12 noon
Present: Board Members: Dotty d., Denise R., Sharon P, Deb B and Claire T.,
Present via Google Meet: John S. and Tina H.
Also present: Shelly Frantz and ( Rep. from City Council), and Erin Meine Library Director and Justtina E. Absent: Mary G. and Wendy K.
Agenda:
· Call to Order by Sharon P.
· M/S/C (Denise & Dotty) to approve the minutes of the January 8, 2025.
Director’s Report: Erin reported on the following items:
· The Children’s Section is being updated. She is looking into various grants available. She is going to talk to the Lion’s Club, The Springfield American Legion and Rotary Club for donations as well as pursuing other possible funding sources.
· Erin is looking into possible grants for an Infinity Table. This would be used for Family game nights, etc.
· The Summer Reading Program details are nearly completed.
· The Blind Date with a Book had 41 participants.
· Some shelving is being moved and moving the “new books” more towards the front and the DVDS and audio books towards the back.
· Erin has toured the Sleepy Eye Library and plans to tour more area libraries.
· Looking into the Early Literature Southern MN Grant (Books to give to kids).
· Library is fully staffed presently.
· John noted that taking some of the children’s book, as well as older cookbooks, that are being culled, to the Food Shelf ended up being a great idea. We will continue to do that.
· Erin is looking into having a youth movie night outdoors.
· Erin reported patrons are now able load their library card on their phone and check out books without the actual card.
Financials:
· M/S/C, (Denise and Dotty ) to approve the January and February 2025 financials and February 2025 Balance Sheet Revenue/Expense Report as presented by Justtina.
· CD Report: Written reports were made available to all. John reported there are 2 CD’s coming due: 4/29/25 #42288 $78,000 at MC Bank, and 5/12/25 #54893 $100,028.32 at F&M Bank. M/S/C, Dotty & Deb , authorizing John to check out the best rates and maturity dates at the local financial institutions. He also reported the 4M CD (Altermatt) CD matured and he opened a new $60,000 SP 4.01% CD on 3/24/25 that matures 4/4/26. Cash Accounts balance as of 2/28/25 is $749,585.59
· Amy V. from the City is working on 2024 year end.
Old Business:
· The 2025 Committees were reviewed. Tina H will attend the Spring County Board meeting and Denise R. will attend the fall one.
New Business:
· Erin and Justtina reported on the finishing up of the 2024 State Annual Report. They will let us know when it is finished. They mentioned the report may look different for 2024 then in other years. They will also keep footnotes of how they came up with the numbers.
· The board has instructed the Policy Committee to look into developing a policy on books, etc that are donated to the library. The Book Sale takes a lot of work. The books that are left over are now stored upstairs. Looking into possible other ideas such as having a specific book shelf with books for sale all year round. Will consider “only” accepting book donations if there is room on the book sale shelf (as Sleepy Eye does). The reason for the proposed change is that the storage of donated books takes up a lot of space that can better be utilized as well as tyin gup the Altermatt room for several weeks
· Dotty mentioned the idea of how a Friends of the Library group would be helpful with things like the book sale, etc.
· Erin & Deb will work on putting together a monthly “library article” in the A-P. Perhaps using pictures of new books. Erin will also look in the Mpls. paper to get ideas of what the best sellers are and she is always willing to order books that patrons want.
Committee Reports:
· Grounds & Maintenance: Denise and Tina provided the board with a report on the library walk through conducted on 1/22/25.
ü Ceiling tiles on SW corner have water damage. Jim R. will look into it.
ü Ends caps on book shelves are damaged. Library will replace these.
ü Book Section signage is needed. Erin is checking into Section signs that will hang from the ceiling.
ü The Junior Book Section is going to be updated to make more appealing for young readers. Erin is working on ways to engage more youth.
ü The Altermatt Room was discussed. The board’s consensus is that an upgrade to the room as well as the kitchen would make it more appealing to those wishing to rent a room for events. M/S/C, Deb & Dotty, authorizing Erin to look into options for enlarging, adding refrigerator and any other ideas a designer may have for the room. It was also discussed to take out the carpeting and put in flooring as to not have to worry about spills. This project would be funded by the Library.
ü Possibly arranging a Minnesota author section and moving the older books to items that are not being checked out very often, to the back of the library and using the front of the library space for the “newer” items.
ü The book sale books are now being stored upstairs in one of the study rooms to make it easier to get to them.
ü Possibly making one of the study rooms a place for people to participate privately in zoom meetings with Computer and Internet access. This would be a more “homey feel” to the room where patrons could perhaps enjoy a cup of coffee, etc.
Meeting adjourned at 1:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Deb Beyer, Secretary
Next meeting May 14, 2025 at 12 noon at the library.