HANNIBAL FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOA

HANNIBAL FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES OF THE MEETING of March 9, 2021

The Hannibal Free Public Library Board of Trustees held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. The Library Board met remotely via ZOOM and in the Library’s meeting rooms on the Third Floor. The meeting was monitored by Caitlin Greathouse from a remote location. Present: Kim Ahrens, Frank DiTillo, Annie Dixon, Roy Hark, Tom Prater, and Sara A. North. Kevin Knickerbocker, J’Nelle Lee, and Lauren Youse were absent. Also Present: Assistant Director Caitlin Greathouse, IT Manager Sheila Dennehy, and Library Director Hallie Yundt Silver.

The Meeting Notice (Agenda) advised that the public might join the meeting(s) by contacting the Library at ref@hannibal.lib.mo.us to obtain a log-in. The Meeting Notice further advised that any member of the Public wishing to comment should feel free to write a letter requesting to be put on the agenda of a future meeting. Letters should be sent to Kim Ahrens (Library Board president) or Hallie Yundt Silver (Director, Hannibal Free Public Library) at

Hannibal Free Public Library 200 S. Fifth St.

Hannibal, MO 63401

Kim Ahrens chaired the Library Board meeting. She called it to order at 5:02 p.m., and read the announcement concerning public comment.

Kim Ahrens administered the Oath of a New Member and installed Kevin Knickerbocker as a trustee of the Hannibal Free Public Library Board. Hallie Yundt Silver announced meeting notice was posted on the Library’s front doors, on the Library website, and at City Hall. Caitlin Greathouse announced that she had checked the reference email for any participants.

Moved by Annie Dixon and supported by Roy Hark to approve the Minutes of the ZOOM Meeting of February 9, 2021. Motion carried.

Final Claims for March in the amount of $47,144.61 were emailed on March 8th. MasterCard claims for March in the amount of $303.60 were in March’s main packet. In addition to the usual, Claims included $254.80 to DEMCO for clear acrylic sign holders to fit on the slat-walls at the end of the book stacks on the 2nd floor, $329.29 to NMT Corp. to pay for the digitizing of the Brewington Business Records & Journals, and $292.79 to Reliance Barcode Solutions for barcodes. Hallie Yundt Silver indicated that the Library needed foil-backed spine labels which Vernon Library Supplies manufactured for us. Their invoice in the amount of $305.11 was added to the Claims.

Moved by Frank DiTillo and supported by Tom Prater to approve the Claims for March 2021 in the amount of. $47,753.32. Motion carried

Since Roy was present in the building at the meeting, Hallie Yundt Silver announced she would ask him to sign the Claims.

Moved by Roy Hark and supported by Annie Dixon to approve the Investment Report for February 2021. Motion carried.

Discussion followed on low interest rates and the need to invest some money in shorter-term CD’s. Moved by Sara North and supported by Frank DiTillo to authorize the Investment Committee to invest up to $225,000 at the best rates for 6 or 18 months in a CD from a local bank and up to $150,000 in a similar CD at AMG.

The City Financial Report was included in the Financial Packet.

The Transfer Recommendation for March 2021 as emailed on March 8th, showing no transfer. Moved by Tom Prater and supported by Annie Dixon to amend the Transfer Recommendation to show a a transfer from F&M to Homebank in the amount of $115,000. Motion carried.

There was no Correspondence, Committee Assignments, or Committee Reports.

The Director’s written report was included in the packet. Hallie Yundt Silver added several items to her report, including:

Updated information on the Book Stack Replacement Project.
A need for Hallie Yundt Silver to step back from building construction projects and focus on the collection and staff development. That being said, she indicated she would be recommending in New Business that I write a Building Program Statement concerning the roof, skylight, and downspouts, and that she wanted to get some landscaping done where the Board of Public Works trenched.

Discussion followed about a tree in the parking lot that was dropping limbs on an electric line.

Moved by Roy Hark and supported by Annie Dixon to accept the Audit for FY2019-2020 with the understanding that neither the Library Board nor the Director completely understand how things were accrued. Motion carried.

Moved by Tom Prater and supported by Frank DiTillo to accept the following weather-related closures on February 16th, 17th, and 18th, and authorize pay for staff who were scheduled to work:

Discussion followed on local conditions vis a vis the Coronavirus pandemic. Hallie Yundt Silver indicated that she and her staff needed time to review the recently released CDC guidelines.

Moved by Tom Prater and supported by Roy Hark to re-open the Woman’s Club Room for in- person Library meetings and small programs and for public use, provided social distancing and masking guidelines are followed. Discussion followed that social distancing would allow an occupancy of no more than 11 people in the Woman’s Club Room. Motion carried (5 ayes, 1 no)

Moved by Tom Prater and supported by Roy Hark to continue virtual programming but to start offering small in-person and outreach programs. Further moved to continue to keep the Board Room closed until the Library is able to return the antique furniture to public areas without worrying about ruining finishes due to sanitizing chemicals. Motion carried.

Caitlin Greathouse commented that teens had met virtually several times and indicated that they would like in-person programs. Hallie Yundt Silver said that a Book Sale would be advertised for March 18th through the 27th. Night would begin again as an in-person program on April 5th. Adult Book Discussion would resume meeting on April 12th.

Moved by Roy Hark and supported by Sara North to set the price for the upcoming Book Sale at

$3 a bag with the understanding that Hallie Yundt Silver may reduce the amount charged toward the end of the Sale. Motion carried.

Discussion followed on how the Library Board wanted to meet as a full board and in committees. Moved by Roy Hark and supported by Tom Prater to meet in person with social distancing and masks. Motion carried. (5 ayes, 1 abstention)

The Library Board met as a Committee of the Whole to review the Budget. Discussed specifically were Capital Outlay and Technology Planning.

Moved by Tom Prater and supported by Roy Hark to approve Ron Wallace’s donation agreement and accept the Hannibal Courier Post donation of the remainder of its photo negatives, its clippings files, more photographic prints, and some videos on CD’s. The donation was described as 18 cartons, one huge scrapbook, and nine 4-drawer file cabinets full of donated material, one empty 4-drawer file cabinet, three empty 2-drawer file cabinets, and a printer. Motion carried.

Hallie Yundt Silver responded to Sara North’s inquiry at the last Library Board meeting about the roofer used at City Hall. She reported that Andy Dorian said that Treaster had been the roofer years ago. Andy also said that the City was happy with Sean Miller of MHE, who recently worked on the roof at the City-owned building at General Mills.

Moved by Roy Hark and supported by Frank DiTillo to instruct Hallie Yundt Silver to draft a Building Program Statement (BPS) for the roof and skylight. Further moved to authorize the Building & Grounds Committee to approve the BPS for the roof and skylight, and to conduct interviews of prospective engineering firms to design and oversee the work. Motion carried.

Hallie Yundt Silver reported that she had requested an emergency surplus declaration via email, so the Library could dispose of the flipper doors that had beenmused for the newspapers. She went on to report that six Library Board members (Kim, Roy, J’Nelle, Kevin, Tom, and Frank) responded positively.

Moved by Sara North and supported by Roy Hark to declare surplus the paperback/AV spinners that are no longer being used. Further moved to authorize Hallie Yundt Silver to offer the spinners to a local 501c3 organization before recycling them through 2 Rivers Industries.

Motion carried.

Moved by Tom Prater and supported by Roy Hark to authorize the use of the Library credit card for the purchase of logo-wear items for resale to Library staff. Vendors identified included CSLP and Printex. Motion carried.

Moved by Roy Hark and supported by Frank DiTillo to adjourn. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Hallie Yundt Silver, Acting Secretary Accepted,

Kim Ahrens, President