Meeting Minutes

April 2025

Approved 5/8/25

Jefferson County Public Library Board of Trustees
420 W. Main St., Madison, IN 47250
April 10, 2025

Present: Terry Phillips, President; Mary Kay Butler, Secretary; Joy Culp, Treasurer; Sally Wurtz, Board Member; Kathy Crafton, Board Member; Kathy Rosenberg, Board Member; Judi Terpening, Director.

Not Present: Kelly Joyce, Robyn Ryle.

President Phillips opened the meeting at 4:00 P.M. Wurtz made a motion to approve the agenda. Butler seconded. Motion carried.

Butler made a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes from March 13, 2025 Crafton seconded. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report & Approval of Claims
March 14 through April 10, 2025

• Operating Fund expenditures were $136,315.33. Expenditures from all funds were $170,035.89. Operating Fund receipts were $2,772.86. Receipts to all funds were $25,957.56. Balance in the Operating Fund as of April 10, 2025 was $894,426.50. Total bank balance was $1,640,371.10.

• Expenditures over $6,000:

  • $11,505.00 to Jefferson County Treasurer for health insurance premiums.

  • $14,750.00 to Midwest Collaborative, for Strategic Planning Consulting. Fee was partially paid with grant money.

  • $16,273.00 to Indiana Farmers Insurance for annual premiums; Commercial, Vehicle, Umbrella coverage and Workers Comp.

Crafton made a motion to approve payment of claims for $170,035.89. Rosenberg seconded. Motion carried.

Director Terpening’s report
Adult Programming
March Programs: 28, Attendance: 303
Programs and Attendance

• Mardi Gras Masks; Girls Weekend Craft had 15 attendees.

• American Revolutionary Experience Exhibit had 152 attendees over 9 days.

• Introduction to Drawing had 29 attendees in 4 classes.

• How Do I Use the Internet? Digital Literacy Program had 6 attendees.

• Second Saturday Stitchers had 7 attendees.

• Wood Burned Garden Signs Craft had 26 attendees in 3 classes.

• Norton MyChart Information Session had 35 attendees in 2 sessions.

• What's in Your Mind/Brain? Had 2 attendees.

• How Do I Use My Email? Digital Literacy had 4 attendees.

• Hanover Book Group read Find Layla by Meg Elison. There were 12 attendees.

• Hope Community had 5 attendees for Wood Burned Signs Craft.

• Virtual Author Talk Series:

  • Power of Reset & How to Change What's Not Working; Dan Heath: 2 registrations, 2 live views and 31 archive views.

  • How Women's Liberation Transformed America; Clara Bingham: 3 registrations, 4 live views, and 17 archive views.

  • Dreams We Chase; Jennifer Weiner: 3 registrations, 4 live views, 4 archive views.

Meetings

• 23 meetings with 133 attendees.

Outreach

• 12 deliveries and circulated 85 items.

Children’s & Young Adult
March Programs: 10, Attendance: 276

Children’s In-House Programs (all ages)

• Air Dry Clay had 55 attendees in 2 sessions.

• Lego Club had 27 attendees.

• Spring Sand Art had 35 attendees.

• Home School Hangout had 25 attendees.

Young Adult

• Glass Mosaic Coaster Craft had 28 attendees.

Outreach

• Story Line had 38 calls.

• Read Across America; 3 visits at Anderson Elementary had 68 attendees.

Social Media/Circulation Statistics

• Website had 3,058 visits.

• Local History website had 1,287 visits.

• Monthly newsletter went out to 4,894 recipients.

• Facebook followers 3,901. Top post by engagement was Reading to Dogs Photos. Top post by reach was the Winter Reading Winner.

• Link Clicks on Facebook:

  • How Do I Use the Internet? 23

  • How Do I Use My Email? 110

• Instagram followers 818. Top post by engagement was Invasive Plants. Top post by reach was the Clara Bingham Author Talk.

• YouTube had 104 views.

• Niche Academy had 14 views.

• FAQ had 17 views.

• Circulations in March were 15,769.

• There were 99 new library card registrations.

• Visits to the Library in March were 6,652.

• Public computer users were 718. Wifi users were 567.

Staff and Volunteers

• Terpening, McAlister and Bowman attended the Bethany Legacy Grant Workshop. They want to pursue funding for a bookmobile.

• Terpening attended the Evergreen Annual Meeting virtually.

• Terpening is going to be interviewed by a WHAS 11 photojournalist about the funding cuts to libraries and how that could affect JCPL.

• Terpening was invited to represent public libraries on an IU Library and Information School Panel on June 11, regarding challenges that libraries are facing today.

• Five staff members will be attending the ILF Regional Conference on April 11.

• The Hanover custodian will be off on leave in April and the Madison custodian will cover.

Ongoing and Upcoming Events

• To celebrate National Library Week, staff members dressed for a different theme each day. Photos will be available on the Library Facebook page soon.

• Mother Goose on the Loose, Story Times and Reading to Dogs will return in April.

• Crafts, Virtual Author Talks and Drawing Classes will continue.

• The Annual Plant Exchange will be on May 3 from 11:30am to 1:30pm.

Community

• JCPL is #10 in resource sharing out of 131 Evergreen libraries.

• The American Library Association is suing the Administration over the gutting of IMLS. Terpening updated Board members on the status of Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1001. Those bills will directly impact the cost of library services from the State Library, such as Info Express, Libby and Inspire.

• A large photo of the Library, on a surfboard shaped surface, was donated by a resident. He said it was found in a chicken coop.

• Residents of the Waters of Clifty Falls sent the Library bookmarks they made to show their appreciation during National Library Week. Other patrons have brought in flowers and cookies for staff.

Buildings/Renovation/Technology

• The Library van was involved in a minor accident, causing damage to the driver side door. The van driver was not at fault, so a claim has been filed with the other driver's insurance.

• Elevator upgrade timeline: Terpening will advertise for bids, as well as emailing companies to let them know they will be receiving a bid request in the mail. The process could take a few months, unless an emergency situation arises.

• The Library's insurance is currently with Indiana Farmers through Encore Insurance Agency. It was due by May 1 this year and has been paid. But there are other companies interesting in bidding for that coverage. Terpening will begin looking into other companies to consider for next year.

Strategic Plan

• The Committee Retreat was on April 7 and the All Staff Operational Retreat will be April 14. After that, everything done by the staff and committees will be complete. There were 518 surveys received, well over the goal of 380. Terpening will be working with the consultant after all information is received to come up with the results. Benchmark reports showed that the Library does not have enough square footage for the number of people served.

Friends of the Library

• The annual meeting will be held at 5:00pm on April 15. It will be open to the public and refreshments will be served. Volunteers will be recognized at the meeting and new volunteers are welcomed. Their board is also in need of some at-large members.

• The Spring Book Sale will be only 2 days this year; May 16-17.

Correspondence

• The Library received 3 grant checks, totaling $4,933.21, from the Library Endowments at the Community Foundation.

Continuing Business - None

New Business

• Butler made a motion to approve the updated Borrower Services Policy. Rosenberg seconded. Motion carried.

• Terpening shared a few of the updates being made in to the Personnel Policy. More will be shared at the next meeting.

• Terpening contacted AVC to review the Disaster Recovery Plan, since they handle the backups and other aspects of the computer systems. Crafton made a motion to approve the Disaster Recovery Plan for computer systems as amended. Wurtz seconded. Motion carried.

Motion to adjourn by Crafton at 4:37 P.M. Meeting adjourned.