Trustees of the Newton Public Library District met September 15, 2025 at 5:00 P.M. Present were Travis Farley, Emily Carroll, Jennifer Hinterscher, Ilene Woods, Pete Pasero, Amanda Lessley and Director Jacque Cowger.
President Farley called the meeting to order.
Minutes of the August meeting were reviewed and will stand as presented.
The August financial report was reviewed. Bills were presented. Trustee Lessley made a motion to pay the ills, seconded by Trustee Woods, motion passed.
Director’s Report
Circulation for August was 3,013. Money collected from fines, faxes, copier, book sales, cards, and miscellaneous was $822.52. Sixteen new cards were issued. The patron door count for the month of August was 1,501.
The exterior signage at the library has been updated. Akra has started the process of replacing the upstairs windows.
There will be a story walk posted around the square at participating businesses during the month of October. The title of the story will be “Creepy Carrots” by Aaron Reynolds.
Old Business
Trustee Hinterscher gave an update on the museum.
The photography show was held during the Fall Festival and photos were displayed from September 2nd – 12th. The public voted for their favorite photo. Wyatt Zumbahlen earned first place, Sarah Mason earned second place and Cathi Higgins earned third place. The library expressed appreciation for everyone who participated.
New Business
The Trustees discussed the usage of the Genealogy Room and the end of life for maintenance on the microfiche machine. Jacque will reach out to other libraries concerning their Genealogy department to gain ideas and will explore costs to digitize information.
On October 12 & 14, the library will be consolidating the large print books with the regular print books. this will make it more efficient for staff and patrons to locate books.
The 7th annual library crawl will take place during the month of October. The library has passports available should patrons want to participate in the program. Over 100+ libraries in the Stat of IL are participating in the program.
The library will be participating in Scare on the Square on Saturday October 18.
The next board meeting is October 20, 2025 at 5 pm.
Meeting adjourned.
Emily Carroll
Secretary, Board of Trustees
Newton Public Library District
