Jasper Library meeting minutes: Seeking new bookkeeper

The Jasper and Contractual libraries are without a bookkeeper for now.

Bookkeeper Jim Sheets resigned abruptly last week citing family issues and has left the department in the hands of library director Rita Douthitt.

Douthitt told the board in Thursday night’s meeting that she has taken over the processing of payroll, but the rest of the bookkeeping duties need to be allocated soon.

The board discussed contracting the services of local company Bookkeeping and More to handle the duties. However, Douthitt said that doing the bookkeeping means sorting and organizing invoices and processing accounts payable. A job that is better handled by a full-time in house employee.

The board agreed that it was the best option, but meanwhile the paperwork is building up and they agreed to allow Douthitt to get firm costs on what it would take to hire the outside company to handle the tasks until a new bookkeeper can be hired.

Douthitt will gather the information and call a special meeting of the board to approve the costs and get the company under contract.

Also in the meeting last night, Douthitt presented the annual contract between the Jasper and Contractual libraries. The contract calls for the contractual board to pay $70,000.00 to the Jasper board for services provided by the Jasper library like the bookkeeping and other operational overhead. Both boards passed the contract, but not before the Jasper board questioned the amount, saying that it should be considered for an increase due to the handling of an additional library now, Birdseye.

Douthitt said that the issue would be taken up at the next budget meeting.

Also, the boards passed an increase in the non-resident library membership fee from $45.00 to $50.00 to take effect this year. The state of Indiana sets the method for determining the fee, which is based on per capita numbers.

In reviewing the January numbers for the Jasper Branch, Douthitt said that the 2014 numbers in January were lower than 2013 figures. She attributed the higher 2013 numbers to the fact that the Jasper Library had just re-opened after the renovations that kept the library closed for about a month at the end of 2012.