PEMBERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
TRUSTEES BOARD MINUTES
AUGUST 20, 2025
The meeting was called to order by President John Selzer at 4:31 p.m.
Roll Call: Members present were Mary Jo Bish, Steve Gross, Sharon Nigh, David St. Louis, John Selzer and Amber Stark. Ron Eckel was absent. Also present were Julie Getz (Fiscal Officer), Ariel Jacobs (Director), and Laura King (Secretary).
Secretary's Minutes: David made and Steve seconded a motion to approve the minutes with a correction to the transfer of funds from Star Ohio ($50,000 instead of #12,000). All ayes recorded.
Fiscal Officer's Statements: The monthly allocations were Gross $30,797.18 minus Woodlink of $1,515.36. leaving a Net of $29,281.82. Sharon made and Steve seconded a motion to accept the Fiscal Officer’s report and memorials and donations of
Adult Clay Program $64.00
Adult Felting Program $8.00
Cookbook Club $11.00
SR Festival $64.65
Jack and Nancy Rapelje $500.00 toward new adult books for SR
General $4.80
All ayes recorded.
Director's Report
WhoFi Analytics: The State Library will no longer be covering the cost of WhoFi Analytics which collects wireless statistics effective December 31, 2025. We do not use this service since Kevin handles this for us. But we also lost WhoFi Communications Calendar Spaces and Question Sets software which was effective June 30, 2025. To continue the Communications Calendar would cost $850.00 per location. Ariel will look for alternatives.
Hoopla: The library will receive a credit of $1,335.15 to our account as a result of rectifying fraud.
SR Festival: The library gave away discarded books but the traffic was slow through the tent.
OLC State Budget Webinar: Our budget is set for the next two years unless there is a reduction across the State since the library is now a line item.
Cyber Security State of Ohio Webinar: There are no details yet as to what a Cyber Security Program would look like. Our deadline is July 1, 2026 to have a program in place.
Ohio Dolly Parton Imagination Library: A pilot program has been introduced. New parents can choose to sign their children up at birth. Amber made and Mary Jo seconded a motion to accept the Director’s Report. All ayes recorded.
Wood County Board of Elecions: The Board of Elections has requested to use the Luckey Community Room for voting. Amber made and Mary Jo seconded a motion to allow the Wood County Board of Elections use of the space. All Ayes recorded.
Old Business
EPA Updates: The library will receive reimbursement for Radon testing. It was discussed using fans to exhaust air from the Luckey basement and cleaning out vegetation around the condensers so they don’t overheat.
Executive Session
David made and Steve seconded a motion to enter Executive Session for the purpose of discussing changes to hours and procedures. All ayes recorded.
Roll Call: Members present were Sharon, Amber, Steve, David, Mary Jo, and John. Ron was absent.
As a result of Ohio’s legislators reducing the Public Library Fund in the State Budget for 2026 and 2027, which is the library’s primary funding source, the Pemberville Public Library System has been forced to make difficult decisions for the financial stability of our library system.
Steve made and Sharon seconded a motion to establish winter hours effective November 3, 2025 until February 28, 2026 for all locations and has charged the Director to implement the new changes. All ayes recorded.
Amber made and Mary Jo seconded a motion to reduce the Statewide Delivery from 5 days to 3 days effective November 3, 2025 until the end of the Fiscal year 2026. Changes will be reviewed. All ayes recorded.
Amber made and Mary Jo seconded a motion to reduce the Library System’s collections budget by 10.6 percent, making the new collection’s budget $80,765.00. All ayes recorded.
Amber made Steve seconded a motion to adjourn the Executive Session and return to the regular session. All ayes recorded.
New Business
Programs: Please see the SRP Calendar for Adult and Youth programs for September.
Announcements: Laura discussed updates and programs for the Local History and Genealogy
Department.
Reminders: Pemberville Free Fair August 20-23, 2025 Commercial Booth Sign up sheet; Wood County Library Crawl June 1-August 31, 2025; Luckey Fall Festival September 26-28, 2025.
Adjournment: David made and Steve seconded a motion to adjourn. All ayes recorded.
Next Meeting: September 16, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. at Pemberville Community Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura King, Secretary
John Selzer, President