2024-2025 Board Members
Kyla Ward, President July 2024 – June 2025, Board term expires June 30, 2027
Rosetta Ballew-Jennings, Vice President, July 2024 – June 2025, Board term expires June 30 2027
Bobbie Cronk, Treasurer, July 2024 – June 2025, Board term expires June 30, 2025
Harriet Gordon, Secretary, July 2024 – June 2025, Board term expires June 30, 2026
Joshua Bachman, Board term expires June 30, 2025
Heidi DeSchepper, Board term expires June 20, 2027
David Jordan, Board term expires June 30, 2025
Jonht Slayden, Board term expires June 30, 2026
LaTonya Williams, Board term expires June 30, 2026

Meeting Rotation Schedule

The next regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at the Washington Park Library.

Minutes from the September 26, 2024 Board meeting:

ST. JOSEPH PUBLIC LIBRARY
Meeting of the Board of Trustees
September 26, 2024, 6:00 p.m., Downtown Library

M I N U T E S

The Board of Trustees of the St. Joseph Public Library met on September 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at the Downtown Library along with Northwest Health Services Board for an informal meet and greet. The Boards separated and held their separate monthly meetings at 6:45 p.m. SJPL Board members in attendance were Joshua Bachman, Rosetta Ballew-Jennings, Bobbie Cronk, Heidi DeSchepper, Harriet Gordon, David Jordan, Jonht Slayden, and Kyla Ward. LaTonya Williams was absent. Mary Beth Revels, Jen Wildhagan, Evelyn Holtzclaw, and Katie Green were present from the staff.

President Kyla Ward called the meeting to order and the roll call was taken.

Upon review of the August meeting minutes, Joshua Bachman moved and Rosetta Ballew-Jennings seconded that the minutes be approved as presented. All Board members in attendance voted “yes.” Motion carried.

Bobbie Cronk presented the Report of the Treasurer.  Heidi DeSchepper moved and Joshua Bachman seconded to approve checks #35067 through #35109, August electronic withdrawals, direct deposits, and journal entries. All Board members in attendance voted “yes.” and the motion carried.

The August monthly financial reports were reviewed. Bobbie Cronk and Mary Beth Revels met with accountant Tim Gawatz earlier in the month to discuss the financial reports and no concerns were noted. David Jordan moved and Rosetta Ballew-Jennings seconded to approve the monthly financial reports prepared by library staff and office of Liechti & Gawatz, LLC. All Board members in attendance voted “yes.” Motion carried.

There were no Committee Reports.

Under Old Business, the Board discussed a plan to revise the SJPL logo, using SJPL’s vision statement, “St. Joseph Public Library offers our community a window to the past and a gateway to the future.” as inspiration for the design. A committee consisting of interested Board members and staff members will meet to begin work on updating the logo once a meeting time is determined.

Mary Beth Revels presented a report on progress related to the Long-Range Plan.

There was no other old business.

Under New Business, Evelyn Holtzclaw talked about a new staff-created committee, FAME. FAME stands for Fun, Acknowledgement & Morale for Employees. Every branch and stand-alone department has a representative on the committee. Some of the items they’ve discussed are a Secret Skeleton gift exchange, a ‘Fall-iday’ Party, staff movie night, and fund-raising to pay for events by selling breakroom snacks at affordable prices.

Mary Beth Revels presented a request from the Carnegie Library to add on to the circulation desk and move back it to its original, more central, location. Five proposals were presented, to replace or add on to the existing desk, with the bid from Trevor Sawyer being the most economical and the one staff prefer.  Bobbie Cronk moved and Rosetta Ballew-Jennings seconded to accept Trevor Sawyer’s bid for a total of $9,825.00. All Board members in attendance voted “yes.” and the motion carried.

There was no other new business.

In the Director’s Report, Mary Beth Revels reported that Washington Park’s participation in the Jewels of St. Joseph tour was very successful. She talked about the Aspen Pilot Project that SJPL is participating in as a member of the Missouri Evergreen Consortium. Aspen is software that will allow the library to highlight eContent and online databases as well as print materials in the library’s public catalog. The projected go live date is October 31st.

There was no Board discussion.

There was no public comment.

The next meeting will be on October 24, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at Carnegie Library.

There being no further business, Rosetta Ballew-Jennings moved and Jonht Slayden seconded to adjourn the meeting. All Board members in attendance voted “yes.” Motion carried.

Harriet Gordon
Secretary