In attendance were Vince Volpe, President, presiding; and Keith Savage, Vice President; John Dubinsky, Alison Ferring, Nina North-Murphy, Tom Schlafly, and David Sweeney. Jacque Land and Janet Rainford attended virtually. Lisa Stump attended from Lashly & Baer.
Also present were Chief Executive Officer Waller McGuire and staff members Tiffany Peck, Jon Drakesmith, Amanda Endicott, Cathy Heimberger, Mary Meyer, 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 Ms. North-Murphy, to approve the minutes of the September 8, 2025, meeting was approved.
There was no public comment.
Chief Executive Officer's Report:
Mr. McGuire pointed out some unusual programming and loans of rare materials to other institutions, and the largest graduation group to date in the Library's Excel High School program.
Mr. Struttmann provided an update regarding Julia Davis and Cabanne Libraries, which have been closed since the May 16th tornado. A full remediation of the Julia Davis branch has been conducted, which involved removing all of the carpeting, drywall, the sound rooms, and the entire ceiling. Air scrubbers and cleaning of every surface were also successful. The final adjuster's report and money from the insurance company is expected next week for the Julia Davis branch. The claim is estimated to be in the $2 million dollar range. This amount includes the replacement of the roof, including solar panels, and the HVAC system (which is already done). The library is planning to revamp the entrance for Julia Davis to improve accessibility. Availability of funds will dictate how the Library is able to proceed. The Cabanne branch claim is still pending the engineer's report, but the insurance adjuster indicated that they may not cover aspects of the repairs that we may want to pursue. FEMA has also been involved, but several personnel involved in the project have been reassigned. The Library is being careful to use a competitive process for contracting to ensure eligibility for FEMA funding. Mr Dubinsky stated that the Library should negotiate the best settlement possible for Cabanne and then work on reenvisioning Cabanne as the best it could be, rather than recreating it as it was. Mr. McGuire stated that Mr. Slattery and Mr. Struttmann had been working hard with the insurance and FEMA staff, but the process was lengthy and intense. Ms. Rainford asked about deadlines for insurance applications: Mr. Slattery responded that the Library has already submitted all required information and met any deadline.
Mr. Slattery reported on the September financials that had been sent out, which will close out the end of the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
Cash and Investments: Total Cash and Investments as of September 30, 2025 was $36.7M which was $416k lower than September 2024, and $3.5M lower than August 2025. The Library's reserves at UMB, Commerce and MOSIP, increased about $1.3M over last year. Conversely, the cash and short term investments that we use for working capital at Bank of America and USBank are $1.8M lower vs September 2024.
Statement of Support, Revenue and Expenses:
Revenue: Tax Revenue for Real Estate, Personal Property and Surtax for the month was $209k which was $94 lower than September 2024. However, we will book some more revenue in FY25 when we receive the October tax receipts. YTD all three of these tax sources are about $1.3M over budget for the year. We should also be receiving State Aid and Athletes and Entertainers tax revenue from the State of Missouri in the next few weeks. I anticipate an additional $94k to be booked in FY25 from those two taxes. Interest Income YTD is just under $1.8M vs a budget of $1.25M. We are still awaiting some tax credits so the Energy Rebates category will increase. Other Income was $731k over budget and in August we posted $633k, which was the first check received for the Julia Davis tornado damage YTD the Library has exceeded the full year budget by almost $2.1M.
Expenses: As of now, without all bills paid in FY25, the Library's Operating Expenses through September total $30.2M which is $1.65M under budget and only $30k or 0.1% higher than FY24. Operating Expenses for the month of September were $2.2M. Salaries year to date were $161k under budget and are 1.6% higher than FY24. There are not any significant changes to the other expenses since last month nor the in depth review that occurred with the budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee meeting. Capital Expenses for FY25 were $4.7M, which was $1.0M higher than FY24. Bond Interest of $637k was paid in September. Total Expense for FY25 YTD was $37.1M which is $1.0M or 2.9% higher than last year.
Mr. Slattery reported on an RFP for banking services which would be awarded shortly, with the goal of simplifying and modernizing financial operations and payments.
The audit is fully underway and the figures in the Board reports do not reflect any year end audit adjustments that will occur, but Mr. Slattery stated there should be no major changes from the information that was just presented.
Mr. Schlafly asked for a report on the projected financial institutions tax, which Mr. Slattery provided.
Jen Wiese reported on HR activities, stating that the major change in reporting is reduced hiring activities because the Library is using staff displaced by temporarily closed locations to fill open positions. That will change when tornado-damaged buildings reopen.
Liz Reeves reported that the Foundation was transferring $1.2 million to the Library, about $150,000 more than last year. She reported on Foundation events and gala planning. Mr. McGuire noted that the money the Foundation raises to support the Library has an enormous impact and makes a great deal of children's and other programming possible.
Mr. McGuire reported that the Library's program of loaning hotspots is being stopped because of the cancellation of federal funding and the current loss rate.
Mr. McGuire reported that staff are seeing an increase in incidents of all kinds, and an increase in the seriousness of incidents. There seems to be generally increased societal stress and frustration, along with a decrease of federal and state support for programs intended to alleviate stress. Some of that stress is brought into libraries and results in conflict. There is nothing specific staff is asking of the Board at present - staff are handling situations conscientiously and well, but the governing Board needs to be aware. There was general discussion about resources available and best practices.
Mr. McSpadden, a member of the public, asked to address the Board and made a 10-minute statement about incidents he had been involved in at the Library, asking the Board to intervene. Board President Volpe told Mr. McSpadden that staff would respond on behalf of the Board.
Mr. Schlafly's motion, seconded by Mr. Sweeney, that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss individually identifiable personnel records, was approved unanimously by roll call vote. The Board went into Executive Session at 6:37 p.m.
At 6:57 the Board came out of Executive Session.
Ms. North-Murphy moved the meeting be adjourned, seconded by Mr. Land. The motion was approved unanimously.
At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Public Library on November 3, 2025, the following actions were taken:
| Mr. Schlafly moved: |
that the Board approve the minutes of the September 8, 2025 meeting. MOTION APPROVED |
| Mr. Schlafly moved: | that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss individually identifiable personnel records. MOTION APPROVED BY ROLL CALL VOTE (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Ms. Ferring, Mr. Land, Ms. North-Murphy, Ms. Rainford, Mr. Schlafly, and Mr. Sweeney.) |
| Mr. Dubinsky moved: |
that the Board come out of Executive Session MOTION APPROVED BY ROLL CALL VOTE (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Ms. Ferring, Mr. Land, Ms. North-Murphy, Ms. Rainford, and Mr. Schlafly.) |
| Ms. North-Murphy moved: |
that be meeting be adjourned. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Ms. Ferring, Mr. Land, Ms. North-Murphy, Ms. Rainford, and Mr. Schlafly.) |