Board Minutes May 2026

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES of the CUYAHOGA FALLS LIBRARY and The William and Margaretta Taylor Memorial Association

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CUYAHOGA FALLS LIBRARY and The William and Margaretta Taylor Memorial Association 

REGULAR MEETING 
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 
Sutliff Room 

Call To Order 

Nikki Cebula called the meeting to order at 6:05 pm. 

Attendance 

Sean Blake, Nikki Cebula, Rick Rubin, Sandy Zirke, Bradley LeBoeuf, Bryan Van Sweringen, Robin Worthington, Mike Dunton, Karen Schofield, Cheryl Bruce, Director Andrew Harant, Assistant Director Jennifer Reynard, Fiscal Officer Kevin Gemmell  

Adoption of Agenda:  

Karen Schofield moved to adopt the agenda. 2nd by Sean Blake. Motion passed unanimously. 

Approval of Minutes  

Karen Schofield moved to approve the Regular Board Meeting of April 15, 2025 as amended. 2nd by Cheryl Bruce. Motion passed unanimously.  

Board Education: 

  • Collection Development Manager Jack Phoenix presented on Rotating Reads and Collection HQ. He explained that Rotating Reads is a book leasing program that, while slightly more expensive than book buying, allows a library to get more of the popular books and save on weeding costs. He also spoke on book classifications and the circulation and quality of items in the library's collection. 

Public Participation:  

  • Raylene Lorwinski wanted to see the inner workings of a Board meeting and wanted to know the state of the library in general. 
  • Deidrinelle Moton wanted to attend a meeting. 

Treasurer’s Report 

Sandy Zirke moved that the Board approve the payment of bills for April 2025 in the amount of $267,404.13. 2nd by Bryan Van Sweringen. Motion passed unanimously. 

  • RESOLUTION 2025-14: Move that the Cuyahoga Falls Library Board of Trustees approve the donations of $2,567.66. $2,000.00 to Library of Things (101.1.54400), $42.00 to Adult Programming (101.1.53720), and $525.66 to Staff Appreciation (101.0.53735) Sandy Zirke. 2nd by Rick Rubin. Motion passed unanimously. 

It was reported that the library received $108,623.05 in PLF revenue. 

Sandy Zirke moved to accept the April Financial Report subject to audit. 2nd by Rick Rubin. Motion passed unanimously. 

Board President Report: 

  • First, I would like to thank Jack Phoenix for his presentation tonight.  It is always fascinating to me to see how it is we choose books for our patrons, and I think that our new service will allow Jack to provide our patrons with even more new releases!  
  • I believe it must also be noted that another month has passed where our library has experienced no turnover, which is a sign of a healthy organization!  That is much appreciated!  And, Kevin- we did get $525.66 from Acme- were you in the parking lot collecting receipts again? JK, Thank you to all who brought in receipts.  Thank you to the 2 donors for their anonymous donations and Meadow city seed for the $30 donation. 
  • This month, though, there are many of our library board members that must be thanked and recognized! All our trustees bring so much to the table, and we are honestly a great group, if I do say so myself!  
  • As we all know, being a trustee is a volunteer position, and I know that for all of us, it is something that we love to do and look forward to doing.  I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that there is a great pride in this beautiful building, but more than that, there is great pride and love for the people who work here and make it the shining star that it really is- one of the highlights of Cuyahoga Falls!   
  • I would like to start by acknowledging Rick Rubin, who received the distinguished alumni award from Cuyahoga Falls City Schools this year.  It is very telling that when he was asked for his biography, he basically said he grew up, went to college, was a librarian and taught. He has a wife and a daughter who is a librarian. All of this is true, and speaks to the humble nature of Rick, but what he didn’t say was that he literally wrote the book.  He literally co-authored the book that is used nationwide in universities for the men and women who are studying library sciences. Rick is an institution in and of himself, who sits on this board- and is “wow’d” by the great things that our library does. If that doesn’t tell you something!! 
  • I would also like to acknowledge Mike Dunton. When you think of a fireman, I am not sure you think of someone who is in love with a library, but that is exactly who Mike is! Thank you, Mike!  Mike saw that we were losing money due to some of the DOGE cutbacks and whatnot and just wrote a check. He just wrote a check. He donated $2,000 to replace a grant. Just did that. Mike, you are a superstar! We did end up getting the money we were promised, but as things rolled on, we lost other money, and Mike asked that money be re-allocated, and so that $2,000 will be used to add to our library of things and increasing museum passes.  
  • Finally, tonight I would also like to give a gigantic thank you to Debbie Ziccardi. She is a life member of the Cuyahoga Falls BOT, and tonight will be her last meeting, as she is resigning her position.  Debbie is the reason that I, personally, am here.  In my short tenure on this board, I have watched Debbie lead this Board through some difficult times, which includes the retiring and hiring of a Director as well as the letting go of a fiscal officer. She has given countless hours of herself to this library, speaks only positively of our library, and Debbie has brought to the board some incredible insight that I know that I have not considered before. Debbie is a person that I respect dearly, and while she will be greatly missed, I know that she would not walk away from this board if she did not believe it was the right thing to do for herself and our board. I believe that I can speak for the entire board, and the library staff when I say to Debbie- THANK YOU for your years of selfless service, do not be a stranger, and enjoy your ever expanding family- and maybe now you will have time to read a good book! 

Committee Reports: 

  1. Building: No Report 

  2. Policies/Bylaws Review:  
    Approved Section 11 of the Employee Handbook. 
    There was discussion and two approved amendments to the draft of Section 11 of the Employee Handbook. 
    RESOLUTION 2025-14: Move that the Cuyahoga Falls Library Board of Trustees approve section 11 of the employee handbook as amended Robin Worthington. 2nd by Karen Schofield. Motion passed unanimously. 
    Will review section 12 of the employee handbook 

  3. Finance/Audit Committee: No Report 

  4. Graefe Memorial: No Report 

  5. Personnel Committee:  
    The personnel committee met on May 19th to continue working on the Directors Evaluation tool 

  6. Affleck Scholarship Committee: No Report  

  7. Strategic Planning Committee: No report 

  8. Art Committee (Ad Hoc):  
    Will be meeting on 6/10. 

 

Director’s Report: 

  • Good-bye to departing Trustee Debbie Ziccardi and thank you for all that you have done over your many years of service to CFL. 
  • Thank you to Trustee Mike Dunton for his generous donation originally given to replace the Summer Reading Grant that was withheld due to federal government issues and has since been received, but now it will be used to cover part of another grant (for an expansion of the Library of Things) that was also withheld due to federal government issues. 
  • PR & Marketing Manager Danielle Welling-Harris returned from leave on May 1, and Temporary PR & Marketing Contractor Evelyn Willet’s last day was May 6. 
  • Director Harant provided an update on the Public Library Fund in the current state budget process. 
  • OhioLink will be shutdown and unavailable for a significant upgrade beginning May 23, and SearchOhio will be down beginning August 1. They are both expected to return after October 26. The new platform should significantly improve the user experience and will hopefully integrate better with Aspen. We have messaged patrons via our website, catalog, and newsletter. 
  • Director Harant highlighted a few additions to the regular statistics reported in the board book. 
  • Physical circulation was down again, particularly adult books (all 4 months this year). The last increase in Adult physical items was in July 2024. This seems to be an overall trend in libraries. Digital circulation continues to increase. We are formulating and implementing ideas, such as Rotating Reads, a new monthly book recommendation email, and evaluating our display and merchandising practices. 
  • Director Harant will be on vacation beginning May 21 and will return on June 2. 
  • Assistant Director Reynard shared her vision moment highlighted in the written board packet: “For almost 30 years I’ve been part of the wonderful world of library land. But I can’t say it enough (or echo what I hear from other people, too) that CFL takes the wonderful world of library land to the next level...a magical amazing special place. I don’t always have the chance to directly witness the magic but this month while at the Children’s desk I had the joy of hearing a conversation between a little and Children’s Librarian Ellie Kleber. You know that the Children’s department and Miss Ellie set the bar pretty high in wonderfulness. Miss Ellie was asking Arthur about F1 racing and if he watched the race and he was so happy to talk with Miss Ellie about racing. After the interaction I commented to Ellie, I didn’t know you were a fan of car racing (well, I said NASCAR because that is the only car racing I know) and she said oh, I’m not I just watched the race to talk with Arthur about it. <3 This is just one precious example of why We are “The Place.” I know Ellie would want me to share that others throughout the library are having these wonderful moments, too. Ellie goes out of her way to commend her peers.” 

Personnel Report: 

Karen Schofield moved that the Cuyahoga Falls Library Board of Trustees approve the April 2025 Personnel Report. 2nd by Sean Blake. Motion passed unanimously. 

Unfinished Business: None 

New Business:   

  • Institution Notice for Liquor Permit: The library will be taking no action in reference to the Institution Notice for a Liquor Permit. 

Adjournment: 

Rick Rubin moved to adjourn the meeting. 2nd by Sean Blake. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm. 

Approved by Nikki Cebula Board President

Approved by Bryan Van Sweringen Secretary