Board Meeting – June 1, 2026

In attendance were Vince Volpe, President, presiding; and Keith Savage, Vice President; Alison Ferring, Nina North-Murphy, Tom Schlafly. John Dubinsky, Jacque Land, and David Sweeney attended virtually. Lisa Stump attended virtually from Lashly & Baer.

Also present were Chief Executive Officer Waller McGuire and staff members Lauren Brickey, Maryann Brickey, Amanda Endicott, Cathy Heimberger, Stephanie Jones, Sarah Matusz, Mary Meyer, Joe Monahan, Tiffany Peck, Liz Reeves, Jim Slattery, Laura Stallings, and Justin Struttmann.

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 May 4, 2026 meeting was approved.

There was no public comment.

President’s Report
Mr. Volpe introduced Karen Avery and Robin Dougherty, attending remotely from the CEO search firm of Isaacson, Miller. Chief Executive Officer’s Report: Mr. McGuire reported on another instance of the Library’s extensive and historic collections being nationally important, when a musician in California discovered a rare arrangement of a Tchaikovsky score in our collection - the only holding in the World Catalog. Mr. Struttmann reported on the reopening of the Cabanne and Julia Davis libraries, closed for a year because of tornado damage. Patrons were welcomed into Cabanne on May 18 with a reopening celebration. Some work remains to be done, but the building is beautiful and usable, with the original clerestory reopened and restored. Matt Villa, former Board member, arranged to research and donate new chandeliers for the historic space which will come later in the summer. Structural inspections and repairs have been completed throughout the building, with over $120,000 spent so far and estimates for roof repair under insurance review, with proposals between $320,000 - $360,000.

Julia Davis reopened to the public on May 18, with a celebration held on May 21. Some work remains, including the replacement of the solar equipment and soundproofing in the recording rooms, but again the building is beautiful, restored, and operable, and the community anxious to return. $2,241,055 in repair work has been contracted so far, with $1,707,031 received from the Library’s insurance. The community was very pleased to have the two libraries reopened and there has been extensive media coverage, with almost 200 separate broadcasts being recorded. A new tool lending program was introduced at Julia Davis and immediately used.

Financial Reports:

Cash and Investments: Total Cash and Investments at the end of March, 2026 was $52.8M, which is $2.8M higher than March 2025 but $1.9M lower than month end February 2026. The month to month decrease is primarily due to the decreasing cash coming in from the City for tax revenue and the annual bond payment (principal and interest) made to UMB in March. Revenue, Support and Expenses: Revenue from the City was $458k in March which is $88k higher than last year. On a fiscal year to date basis, the City tax revenue for real estate, personal property and surtax is $2.05M higher than last fiscal year through 6 months. As budgeted, Interest and Dividends is $256k lower than last year on a fiscal year to date basis. Other Income of $1.15M includes the money we received from insurance for Julia Davis, which was not in the budget.

Expenses: Through 6 months, total Operating Expenses of $15.2M represent 47.3% of the annual budget and are $243k lower than fiscal year 2025. Collections expense is at 49.3% of its budget, which includes a significant amount of annual costs already incurred for databases. Compensation and Benefits are tracking as planned and are at the levels communicated to the Fiscal Affairs Committee in March. Compared to last fiscal year, there have been the same number of payroll periods through March, and this year's expense is only 2.8% higher than fiscal 2025. The final audit fees were paid in March, and although Professional Fees year to date are lower than last year, that category is at 60.3% of budget. However, the audit is one of the largest vendors in that category. The Library paid $1.58M for the bond's principal and interest in March. Total Expenses year to date are $17.7M which is 45.9% of the annual budget and $1.5M lower than fiscal year 2025.

New Business:
Amanda Endicott, Director of Collection Management, and Mary Meyer, Director of Digital Services, presented a draft Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy. The policy is intended to clarify and provide guidance for issues of security and reliability, data protection and privacy, responsible and ethical use, bias and equity, and copyright and intellectual property when using AI tools. The policy will be reviewed by counsel and brought to the Board for approval next month. President Volpe summarized the process to date of choosing and beginning work with Isaacson. Miller on the CEO search process. He asked Mr. Slattery to summarize the bid and selection process, and Ms. Avery and Ms. Dougherty to introduce themselves, their background, and their approach to the search.

Executive Session:
Mr. Schlafly's motion that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss negotiated contracts, personnel, and legal matters, seconded by Ms. North-Murphy, was unanimously approved by roll call vote at 6:20 p.m. At 6:42 the Board came out of Executive Session and Ms. North-Murphy moved the meeting be adjourned, seconded by Mr. Schlafly. The motion was unanimously approved.

At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Public Library on June 1, 2026, the following actions were taken: