The regular meeting of the East Alton Public Library District board of Trustees was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by president Sally Hierman at the library. Those in attendance were C. Wiegand, J. Podesva, and Beverly Werts. Also present was the Director, Richard Chartrand. Absent were Larry Thatcher, Eileen
Long, and Van Long. 4 present, 3 absent. Quorum established.                                                                                                  

            Motion: Werts                Second: Podesva                              Approve the minutes of the December 20, 2012 board meeting.          Roll call vote: Werts, aye; Podesva, aye; Hierman, aye; Wiegand, aye. 4 ayes, no nays, 3 absent. Motion carried. 

   Thank you card to the Board from library staff (Christmas gift
   cards).                              

            Motion: Wiegand          Second: Werts                              Approve wage and expenditures as presented for January 2013.                                                                                          Roll call vote: Wiegand, aye; Werts, aye; Hierman, aye; Podesva, aye. 4 ayes, no nays, 3 absent. Motion carried.                                                           

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->The candidates for the election are as follows:
 Four year term:                  2 year unexpired term:
 Eileen Long                          Van Long
 Charlotte Wiegand               Beverly Werts
 Jerome Podesva
 (vote for three)                     (vote for three)
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]-->

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->I continue to decimate the reference collection. Sometime in February we will begin to move the large print to the reference area. There will be much more space for the large print. What
is left of the reference will move to the current large print area.              

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->Sally provided the snowmen for our winter display. The snowmen are located at the far end of the circulation desk.       

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.      <!--[endif]-->This year’s gift of choice seemed to be an e-reader. Many of
the people who received them have no clue how to get the
book on the e-reader. Tanna and Kevin are coming to their rescue.               

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.      <!--[endif]-->On the agenda as New Business is the hiring of Braden
Henson as a shelver. Braden is home schooled and lives by Charlotte.              

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.      <!--[endif]-->I will be in Davenport the first weekend of every month. Due
to the distance, it will be a three day trip. We are sharing the
job of seeing to my dad.    

<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.      <!--[endif]-->In preparation for our migration to the new automation system the staff will have training in February and March. I am not particularly comfortable with a decision that was made to have all 400 plus locations go on-line simultaneously. Originally we
were phasing in the migration in four groups.              

<!--[if !supportLists]-->8.      <!--[endif]-->The demolition of the defense area will begin late spring/early summer.              

<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.      <!--[endif]-->After almost two decades, Darlene convinced me to buy a
space heater for my office. It works and was a wiser choice
than a gas fire place.           

<!--[if !supportLists]-->10.  <!--[endif]-->The Financial information will be available at the board
meeting.     

<!--[if !supportLists]-->11.  <!--[endif]-->Youth Services: Family movie night featured the new release
“Santa Paws 2.” There were 12 in attendance. We had Christ-
mas cookies, popcorn, and punch for refreshments. It was a
very cute movie, and all the children seemed to enjoy it.
SWAYS meeting was held at the Mississippi Valley Public
Library in Collinsville. There was a book discussion on
several books that we had chosen to review. Most of the books
chosen to discuss were for juvenile and young adult readers.
A Christmas potluck was enjoyed.
Story time themes for the month of December were a variety
of Christmas themes. Coordinating craft activities were
Christmas beads and baubles (necklaces), Christmas mice and
moose tales & tails (felt Christmas mice with candy cane tails),
and gingerbread houses. I had an extremely great attendance
rate all month for my story times. The gingerbread house craft
was a huge success. The 20 children who attended this activity
were very excited with the many decorative candies that I
supplied for the craft. I had to make sure they didn’t eat all of
their decorations before assembling the gingerbread houses,
hah! I will definitely do this craft again next year! A small
party was held with cookies, punch, and small gift items for
each child. All-in-all my attendance for story times has sub-
stantially increased—with an average of 6 in the AM and 9-13
children in the PM sessions.       
Submitted by: Maury Reynolds

             Motion: Podesva                      Second: Werts
Approve the hiring of Braden Henson as Clerk 1 at $8.25 per hour.    
Roll call vote: Podesva, aye; Werts, aye; Hierman, aye;
Wiegand, aye. 4 ayes; no nays; 3 absent. Motion carried.