Champaign Public Library: Board of Trustees

The Cheat Sheet has never been able to cover much news coverage or do meeting write-ups for the area library board of trustees. It has generally been an overwhelming project just to keep up with some of the more prominent municipal and local government bodies in Champaign-Urbana (and at the County level too!) over the years. We've often had to do round up Cheat Sheets highlighting updates over several months to catch up on those! 

With our new collaboration with the League of Women Voters and the NAACP of Champaign County observer project, we will be able to share updates on far more meetings and more regularly.

Natalie Frankenberg is a LWV Observer who has been attending Champaign Public Library Board of Trustee meetings regularly for 15 years as of this month. This post links to those annual reports from April 2019, a two year 2020 and 2021 report, and her most recent multi-year report that covers meetings from April, 2021 through June, 2024.

  

The most recent report includes an explanation of how the Board of Trustees is appointed, its policy role, and other helpful details about when and where it meets. I've had links where appropriate:

The nine-member board meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. Since 2018, there is no scheduled meeting in December. Most of the meetings are held at the main library and twice a year they are held at the Douglass Branch. The meetings are open to the public and posted on the events calendar on the library website. All Library Board minutes, policies and annual reports are posted on the CPL website as well. Additionally, beginning in February, 2020, an audio link is included with the minutes on the website. 

Library trustees are volunteers appointed by the Mayor of Champaign and approved by the City Council for staggered terms of three years. Trustees may be reappointed. As of June, 2024, Trustees are Maryka Baraka , Katie Blakeman, Tricia Crowley, Michael Foellmer, Michael LaDue, Charles Lansford, Rajeev Malik, Minnie Pearson, and Chaya Sandler. During the years covered by this report, previous Trustees have been Deb Busey and Craig Rost. Foellmer is the City Council liaison to the Board, a position mandated by the joint governance agreement with the city. At the end of the June, 2024 meeting, Maryka Baraka and Tricia Crowley are retiring. They will be replaced by Daly Andersson and Charlisa Hart. The Board sets policy for the library and appoints the library director, who serves as the library’s chief executive officer.

In March, 2022, Donna Pittman, Library Director announced her pending retirement. The Board voted to move forward with an internal search first. In May, 2022, Brittany Michaels was selected as the new Library Director... 

The Board has representation, and acts as liaison, to the Champaign Public Library Foundation, Friends of the Champaign Public Library, and Douglass Branch Advisory Committee. Due to difficulty in obtaining a quorum, The Douglass Branch Library Advisory Committee convenes only if the need arises and there is a request by at least 2 members.

The current Library Director, Brittany Millington, it should be noted, previously went by Michaels, her maiden name, when she was the Library's Deputy Director, according to the News-Gazette. The paper also interviewed her in their "Beyond the Boardroom" feature in 2022 here.

I won't excerpt the entire reports here, but I will share a couple highlights from the most recent report and link the to the full reports below. From the 2021-2024 report:

In September, 2021, plans were introduced for “The Studio,” an 8000 square foot expansion planned in the lower level. This area will be for teens after school as well as community members of all ages evenings and weekend. The CPL Foundation committed $1 million for the $2.5 million project. The City Council voted to fund $1.5 million (City Council video of 2/1/2021 vote, agenda, bill).

Approval for construction was voted on November 10, 2022. The Studio officially opened the weekend of October 7-8, 2023. The Studio has tools like circuit machines, laser cutters, sewing machines, a recording studio, a 3D printer, just to name a few of the things available. 

Following the opening of The Studio, the CPL has new projects: the maker space at Douglass Branch, the lobby flooring, and updates to the 2nd floor. The CPL received a $50,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The funds will be used for the Douglass Branch maker project. Also contributing to the project, The Foundation raised $88,000 and The Friends of the Library pledged $50,000. The funding goal was reached.

The CPL Board has formed a Strategic Plan Steering Committee to develop a new strategic plan for 2025-2028. 

...

In the past the Library Journal awarded the CPL Star Library status. This recognition is based on number of visitors, computer use, checkouts, and other statistics. CPL has consistently received three-star rating ranks. Due to the pandemic and interruptions in reporting, Library Journal has decided not to issue data index or star designations this year, and it is unclear if they will in the future.

During the period of this report, the annual audit reviews were conducted by Lauterbach & Amen, LLP and the library continued to receive the highest rating.

Serving as the LWV Observer to the Champaign Public Library Board of Trustees continues to be an interesting experience and a privilege.

Full reports:

• Annual report from April 2019. 
  
  
• Two year 2020 and 2021 report. This report includes an overview of some of the interruptions and adaptations during the pandemic response.
  
  
• Multi-year report that covering meetings from April, 2021 through June, 2024.