Jasper Library Board may be losing member and strong proponent to new library
Mary Ellen Backer, a strong proponent of the library move and referendum, may be off the Jasper Public Library Board. According to the board’s appointed counsel Bill Shaneyfelt her term ran out in August of 2011 and was just recently noticed by Library Director Rita Douthitt.
Shaneyfelt explained that if a board member’s term expires and the member is not replaced within sixty days, that seat becomes vacant until the appropriate board appoints someone to the position. Backer’s appointment is made by the Jasper Consolidated School Board, but Backer stated she doesn’t think the school board will reappoint her to the position due to the 2011 referendum.
“I spoke with them (school board) and Nancy Habig (Jasper Consolidated School Board president) stated they would like to appoint a teacher or retired teacher to correlate the school and library programs.” Backer said. “It’s all political. I was for the referendum and there’s a few there that weren’t.”
The school board has stated it will make an appointment at the next meeting.
Due to the period of time that has passed, Douthitt reviewed all the decisions made by the board since the sixty day time frame passed and noted they were all unanimous decisions. Therefore, the motions would have passed regardless of Backer’s vote.
Backer attended the meeting as an inactive member but did express her opinion on several matters.
The board then voted on the appointment of officers. Vice-President Jim Siefert expressed he would like to see the officers remain the same. The board voted five to one to approve the officer appointments. Board member Karin Gray was the lone dissenting vote. President Bill Hewitt asked if Gray would like to discuss the motion to which she declined.
The officers on the Jasper Public Library Board will remain President Bill Hewitt, Vice-President Jim Siefert, Treasurer Deb Stemle, and Secretary Karin Gray.
Douthitt presented the board with the statistics for Jasper Public Library for 2011. The book rentals fell overall or remained stagnant in 2011. The two new library branches may have contributed to the lower numbers in Jasper as populations shifted to the new branches. Douthitt also expressed that the limited capacity of the Jasper library in regards to events held there contributed to the static numbers of attendance in those events.
In contrast the Jasper Library’s in-house usage was up 260%. In-house usage includes computer use, tests proctored, periodical usage, as well as other services the library offers.
Douthitt then explained to the board that the Jasper Library building was developing more leaks. Douthitt contacted the contractor that repaired the roof, Schmidt Contracting. According to Schmidt Contracting the roof is fine, however the coping is pulling away from the roof allowing water to access the library.
According to Douthitt water is coming into the library in the walkway that separates the Adult Book Section and the Children’s Section. Water is also leaking in the Genealogy Room and other areas.
The board then discussed re-examining the option to remodel the workroom to allow for more workstations. Backer stated she thought Jasper Seating had volunteered to help with that project years ago but since they were supposed to begin work on a new library they did not pursue that option.
The board asked about plans that had been drawn up for the workspace done by a contractor. Douthitt stated they had been thrown away and they would have to have someone come in and start over.
President Bill Hewitt then brought up the idea that Douthitt and the new bookkeeper could be transferred to one of the other new libraries. Backer stated that the idea to move the genealogy material to Ferdinand had been floated around as well.
Dean Vonderheide stated the space was limited and these were options that should be considered to alleviate the tight quarters at the Jasper Library.
The board then discussed future plans. Hewitt announced there would be nothing to report on the building plans until the February meeting.
