MINUTES
WINFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
September 16, 2026; 7:30 PM
Winfield Public Library, 0S291 Winfield Rd., Winfield, IL 60190

I. Opening
Brown called the meeting to order at 7:32 PM.

II. Roll Call
Present: Ables, Brown, Choate, Hjerpe, Johnson, Olson
Absent: Tenyak-O’Connor
Also present: Library Director, Joe Marcantonio

III. Consent Agenda
A. Approval of minutes of the August 12, 2026 meeting
B. Financial report
C. Approval of bills paid and payable

Trustee Hjerpe pulled the minutes from the consent agenda for corrections.

The minutes were approved with corrections on a motion from Trustee Ables and seconded by Trustee Olson. All present voted in favor.

The consent agenda was approved on a motion from Trustee Ables and seconded by Trustee Johnson seconded. All present voted in favor.

IV. Communication & Correspondence
Director Marcantonio presented the following:
A. Attorney Ritzman Memo on new law requiring public buildings to display 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline information.

B. Ancel Glink Memo from RAILS on new law requiring compensation of employees at their regular rate while on Jury Duty. However, this only applies to employers with more than 25 employees.

C. Email with the examples of the Library ads ran on the Metra Line from December through January.

D. Thank you note for our participation in Operation Dropbox.

V. Citizens to Speak
None.

VI. Reports of Standing Committees
A. Finance – Approval of the tax levy and letter to Village Manager, Evan Summers.
Approved on a motion from Trustee Johnson and seconded by Trustee Olson.
YES: Ables, Brown, Choate, Hjerpe, Johnson, Olson
NO: None.
ABSENT: Tenyak-O'Connor

VII. Trustee Reports

A. Parade Report: 32 participants including several staff, most of the Board, and three participating Dolly Parton Imagination Library families all walked in the parade. The Library entry was Dolly themed to promote Winfield’s inclusion in the DPIL. Participants either wore a red cowboy hats or carried signs promoting the Library’s services to the public. We played the song “9 to 5” on a speaker and received a lot of love from the spectators. Our Dolly Parton cutout also made an appearance escorted in a wagon by the Library Director.

IX. Library Director’s Report

Building
Replaced 3 lights in the upper level: Above Katie’s desk and the two in the lounge. Joe noticed the drop ceiling in the staff lounge was sagging. Turns out a support wire had snapped and he ceiling was hanging on with the support of other wires. It was very close to falling. Fernando fixed the issue and replaced the lights. Fernando now handles the regular HVAC cleaning, filter replacement, and maintenance. This saves us a bundle doing it in-house. He replaced a couple of worn parts in the furnace this month. Unfortunately, during his inspection he found evidence of mice in the ceiling. We have put out traps and will assess the problem. We are not sure if it is an old issue or ongoing problem.

The Village Public Works director came out to meet and walk the parking lot to confirm our work on the resurfacing project. He informed me that the resurfacing project is actually for the streets and that it is different process that parking lot asphalt. Because of that, the contractor the Village uses would include the project but would use a sub-contractor and tack on additional 15% for the trouble. Resurfacing with the Village will not save us money and will not address any of the parking lot issues. Joe will resume conversation with an asphalt company to make fixes.

Personnel
Our current Technical Services Assistant announced her permanent retirement. She was intending to retire and come back to the Library at reduced hours. We have posted a job opening for the Technical Services/Circulation Assistant position. Interviews during last weeks of September, hopeful to fill at the end of October to give the current employee and new person overlap for training.

Meetings
A. Historical Society Meeting
a. Book postponed until mid-late October. Library ready to sell copies.
b. Everything ready for Good Old Days
c. Selected and approved of programs ran in conjunction with Library.

B. Winfield Library Friends
a. Book sale prep went great. Lots of books collected in shortened collection window. No donations received before first date of drop off.

C. Contractors
a. Copier/Printers
b. Lauterbach and Amen
c. TBS

D. Staff
a. YA Assistant 6-month review
b. Regular staff meetings with

Director Requirements
Vouch test for audit should be the last piece and will be ready for the October meeting report. Worked with L&A to create Treasurer’s Report. Began work on next year’s budget taking into consideration future retirements and updating of job descriptions in anticipation of changes in staff.

We received a compliment: Vi Vandercook made a point of saying how nice the new signs look on the lower level doors. She said they are very welcoming and a great way to let people know that's an entrance. She also said she never noticed an elevator until the elevator floor mats were installed.

Technology
Website quotes coming back very high ($15-25K) and will take a significant amount of staff time and collaboration. Katie and I will assess the situation. We need to get the website off the server, but that might look like copying our site as is to the new address.

X. Old Business

XI. New Business

A. 2027 Library Board Meeting Dates proposal for changing from the second to the third Wednesday of the month was discussed. The change would benefit the accountants and get our Financial Reports completed with time for the Board to review. One Trustee has a conflict but is looking into how to overcome it. The proposal is to be approved at the next Board Meeting.

B. 2027 Library Closing Dates Proposal changes the Spring Holiday closing dates (the Friday and Saturday before Easter) for the day after Thanksgiving (“Black Friday”) and December 26th. The new proposed closing dates align better with low attendance days for the Library.

C. POLICY
The Board reviewed and made changes to the Test Proctoring, Internet, Wi-fi, Notary, and Staff AI policies. They will be brought back with changes next month for approval.

Trustee Ables left at 9:11 PM.

D. The Board reviewed and discussed the Illinois Public Library Standards chapter on Access.

E. The Board reviewed and discussed the iLEAD Training Module: Guided by Ethics.

F. The Board opened the closed meeting minutes from November 12, 2025 on a motion from Trustee Johnson and seconded by Trustee Olson seconded. All present voted in favor.

G. The planned Closed Session was moved to next month.

XII. Other Announcements/Comments
None.

XIII. Adjournment
The board adjourned at 9:40 PM on a motion made by Trustee Hjerpe and seconded by Johnson. All present voted in favor.