Du Quoin Library board approves financial report

The Du Quoin Public Library Board of Trustees discussed and accepted the city's financial report on the library for January, the first month of the fiscal year, and its budget details as listed for the year at its recent meeting.
The library anticipates $101,084 in income from sources that include property taxes and grants; sales, cards, fines and services; donations and memorials; and interest from the library's reserve fund of about $73,000, made up of about donations, memorials and trust and some restitution funds, library Director Kristina Benson said.
"We've seen a big cut in our annual per capital grant," Benson said. "We received about $7,000 in 2015, but last year it was cut back to $4,000, which is in keeping with what we've budgeted this year for that grant money, $4,700."
Benson also reported on a Live and Learn grant that would pay for new windows, and how the application was progressing. The next step is a teleconference March 2.
Benson said she would attend, but wasn't really looking forward to the pressure involved in the process.
"It's like a firing squad or an episode of the TV show 'Shark Tank,'" she said.
If the Du Quoin library does receive the grant, the subsequent replacement of so many large windows will force the library to close for about two weeks so that one unit at a time can be replaced.
The library has budgeted $102,000 in expenditures, including wages for the director, circulation manager Barb Croessman and library assistant Elizabeth Wall; subscriptions and programming; audio-visual materials; computer software; and grant expenditures.
The library plans to spend almost as much on computer maintenance this year, $11,000, as it does on books, $11,080.76.
At the end of January, the library had $39,000 in its operating fund.

Board submits report as required by law
Every public library in Illinois is required by law to file a current annual report within two months of the new fiscal year with the Illinois State Library. If not, that local library risks losing its grant funding from that institution, which included the state per capital grant (nearly $5,000 for Du Quoin) and Live and Learn Grant (enough to pay for new windows here).
At the board's recent meeting, Director Benson passed out copies of the library's report that will be submitted to the city and the state library.
It's 13 pages long, and aside from listing the basic information about the library, its staff and its board -- addresses and phone numbers -- it also goes into detail on the library's rooms, the age of the facility, estimates of work needed, assets and liabilities, funds and grants received, income and expenditures, programs and attendance, number of computer -- 19 in Du Quoin -- and computer use.
"It is as thorough as one would expect a library report to be," Benson said. "You know we are all about complete and accurate records."
Aside from a few corrections in the contact information for trustees, which Benson said she would make, the report was approved.

Library sees lots of computer usage
Benson told trustees that the library had received a $1,500 reimbursement for the installment of a network enhancement package.
"This upgrade was essential in allowing us to even consider the speed increase," Benson wrote in her report.
She was talking about a bit of "new business," Clearwave Communications' proposal to increase the library's Internet speed from 20 Mbps to 100 mbps. (That's megabits per second, how fast you can download and upload data) for a $50 increase in their monthly charge, from $300 to $350 per month, with most of that cost offset by grant money.
But back to that Internet speed: That's what Benson is talking about when it comes to driving the number of library visitors higher each year. She may not be able to accurately describe Clearwave's "state-of-the-art, self-healing, redundant fiber optic ring architecture," but she knows what she wants.
"I just want to have the fastest Internet in town," Benson said, "well, OK, maybe second fastest after the gaming center in the old Horstmann Cleaners' building. I want to be the place the kids want to be because we can stream their games and let them bounce around YouTube or Facebook."
Benson bases her enthusiasm for speed on the library's stats.
Circulation, the checking-in and -out of material, has increased much for the past 15 years. Du Quoin's was 22,321 in 2010 and 21,631 last year.
But take one look at the number of computer sessions and you'll see what Benson sees, a way to tap into the younger generation and pull them into the library.
"We've only been keeping track of these numbers for six or seven years," Benson said. "But in that time, computer use has gone through the roof."
In 2011, about 15,000 people visited the library or about 50 per day; 4,733 visited specifically to use the library's computers. Last year, there were 24,000 visitors or about 80 per day, and 7,661 visited to log on.
The library does not charge visitors to use computers, but there is a charge for printing and faxing.
"If you have an email address, we will scan documents and send them to you via email for no charge," Benson said.

Director crosses item off wish list
When the monthly task of "bills payable" rolls around, even the most enthusiastic trustee might stifle a yawn. But at this month's meeting of the library board, that routine agenda item was punctuated by the enthusiasm of Library Director Benson.
"We have our new laser printer!" she announced. The printer cost $655.
Benson said the new printer would allow patrons to print in black and white or color.
"Isn't that exciting?" she asked. "We've crossed another item off of our wish list -- paid for entirely by donations and memorials -- and added another incentive for visitors."
She was almost as excited about the $979 charge for access to Ancestry.com's Fold3 database. It's an extensive collection of military records that Benson is sure will get more people into the library.
"Patrons will be able to access the database at home with a card," she said.
Just don't get her started on the new books and multimedia this month.

Trustees volunteer for another term
Another item on the agenda was the annual election of officers and appointment of special committees.
"We work so well together," President Joy Upton said before asking members for a motion on any changes. The motion was made and seconded and approved for all of the trustees to remain in their positions on the board and on the board's committees.
Trustees for 2017 are President Upton, Vice-President Sarah Doerner, Treasurer Jacob Emling, Secretary Leanna Leek, and trustees Gail Durkota, Carol Downs, Joyce Calvert, Larry Underwood and Betty Eastman.
"East trustee has found the best place to use his or her talents," Upton said. "That's why this group is so cohesive."
The board next meets March 13.