In attendance were Vince Volpe, President, presiding; and Keith Savage, Vice President; John Dubinsky, and David Sweeney. Jacque Land, Janet Rainford, and Tom Schlafly attended virtually. Lisa Stump attended from Lashly & Baer.
Also present were Chief Executive Officer Waller McGuire and staff members Maryann Brickey, Jon Drakesmith, Amanda Endicott, Cathy Heimberger, Mary Meyer, Joe Monahan, Tiffany Peck, Liz Reeves, Jim Slattery, Laura Stallings, Justin Struttmann, and Jen Wiese.
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by President Volpe.
Minutes:
Mr. Schlafly's motion, seconded by Mr. Savage, to approve the minutes of the March 2, 2026, meeting was approved.
There was no public comment.
Chief Executive Officer's Report:
Mr. Slattery reported on the the Library's financials as of February 28, 2026:
The Fiscal Affairs Committee met with Rubin, Brown, the Library's auditors, to go over the 2025/2026 Fiscal Year Audit. The Library received a completely clean annual audit report. The full audit and auditor's letter, included in the Board packet, have been filed with the state.
Cash and Investments: At the end of February 2026, Cash and Investments totaled $54.7M which was $5.4M higher than month end January and $2.7M higher than last year. The increase from last year was due to the January 2025 tax revenue from the City not being received until March 2025. The statement does not reflect the $1.58M debt payment to UMB Bank that was made in the beginning of March.
Revenue: Tax revenue from real estate, personal property and surtax in February was about $225k higher than last year, and year to date, those three tax categories are $1.96M higher. We posted the $50k gift from the Carnegie Foundation in the Contributions and Bequests line. As budgeted, year to date interest income is about $189k less than last year due to decreased interest rates. In February, the Library received $137k in Energy Rebates from the federal government for last year's Buder and Julia Davis solar panel tax filings. Total Revenue year to date is $2.9M higher than last year.
Expenses: Through 5 months the Library's expenses should be 41.7% spent and are currently at 40.0% of the operating budget. Year to date, total Operating Expenses are 1.7% lower than
last year, mostly due to the timing of processing invoices. Most expense categories are in good shape relative to budget and last year. Capital Expenses are $833k lower than FY25 on a year to date basis.
Mr. McGuire reported on an attempted theft of a first edition Twain novel, which was prevented by Renee Jones, Research Manager in Rare Books & Manuscripts. Staff are working with the police on the matter.
Mr. Struttmann updated the Board on capital projects and the tornado repair work going on at Cabanne and Julia Davis libraries. The two libraries are scheduled to reopen in late May.
Jen Wiese reported on five HR policies being updated, which will include minor language changes, such as updating "executive director" to "CEO," and updating legal terms to match revised federal requirements. The Employment policy (001) is being renamed "Recruitment" to accurately reflect its focus and will now note that the CEO position falls under the authority of the board. The recommendation is to remove the requirement for candidates to submit two employment references and to remove the residency requirement for the CEO.
FMLA and Holiday Policy (013) Family Medical Leave Act policy, was cleaned up with language standardization, such as updating references from "executive director" to "CEO". The recommended Holiday Policy (015) categorizes holidays as fixed date or variable date, and adds Juneteenth as a closed holiday. Additionally, employees may now use their available Paid Time Off in minimums of one hour, removing the previous administrative burden of having to use it in amounts as approved.
Updates to the Employee Tuition Reimbursement policy (009) include adding language that limits reimbursement to the funding approved in the board budget for that year. Dollar-specific language was removed from the policy and placed into tuition reimbursement guidelines to allow for flexibility, though no changes to the dollar amount are currently planned. More specific language was also added regarding the repayment of funds if an employee separates before completing the established service time.
Mr. McGuire stated that the policies will be included in the May Board packet to be considered for approval.
Liz Reeves summarized the Foundation Report and reported the foundation is currently working with a fundraising consultant to begin feasibility studies for an endowment campaign, intended to provide sustainable annual funding to the library. The current endowment is approximately $9.8 million. Mr. Dubinsky raised a question about whether prioritizing the endowment over higher reserves is in the library's long-term best interest, and it was agreed to discuss this topic further at a future Fiscal Affairs Committee meeting.
At 6:10 p.m., Mr. Dubinsky's motion, seconded by Mr. Savage, that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss negotiated contracts and legal matters was approved by roll call vote.
At 6:30 p.m., the Board came out of Executive Session and Mr. Schlafly moved the meeting be adjourned, seconded by Mr. Dubinsky. The motion was approved.
At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Public Library on April 20, 2026, the following actions were taken:
| Mr. Schlafly moved: |
that the Board approve the minutes of the March 2, 2026 meeting. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Mr. Land, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |
| Mr. Dubinsky moved: |
that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss negotiated contracts and legal matters. MOTION APPROVED by roll call vote. (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Mr. Land, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |
| Mr. Schlafly moved: |
that the meeting be adjourned. MOTION APPROVED by roll call vote. (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Mr. Land, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |