Board of Trustees
of the
Huntley Area Public Library District
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
January 21, 2026
Call to Order: A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Huntley Area Public Library District was held in Program Room 3 at the Huntley Area Public Library District, 11000 Ruth Road, Huntley, IL 60142 on January 21, 2026. President Threadgill-Smith called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Attendance:
Trustees Present: Linda Benigno, Sandy Domagalski, Katie Kunde, John Schmelzer, Leslie Threadgill-Smith, and Stephanie Weil
Trustees Absent: Jerry Reedy
Library Staff Present: Frank Novak, Library Director; Loralei Getty, Business Manager
Visitors Present: Vito Benigno, Anay Menta, and Natalia Tokakska
Pledge of Allegiance: President Threadgill-Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Comments: Great work from the marketing staff for producing an excellent newsletter for January & February 2026. In general, it is easy to read, good layout making it visually appealing, a lot of programs, it arrived late December 2025, and the Friends information returned to the back page. Conversely, the cover of the newsletter doesn’t flow with anything in the newsletter. Benigno spoke with 7 Huntley residents. Five residents are still unhappy with the outside book return, one resident wishes the library had more large print books, and one resident would like to see a closer relationship between the Friends and the library.
Secretary’s Report: Weil motioned, Benigno seconded that the Board approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on December 17, 2025 as presented. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Financial Reports and Checks: Domagalski motioned, Benigno seconded that the Board approve the checks and financial report for December 2025 as presented. Roll call votes were: Benigno-Aye; Domagalski-Aye; Kunde-Aye; Schmelzer-Aye; Threadgill-Smith-Aye; Weil-Aye. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried. Check #32178 payable to TeamViewer Gmbh for $2,400 is for a 3-user license to be able to get certain staff computers logged in remotely. Check #32131 payable to River East Public Library for $10 is the HAPLD contribution for the Library Lovers 2026 Grand Prize. Check #32132 payable to Schaumburg Township District Library for $90 is the HAPLD contribution for the Paul Lisnek Speaker Fee. Check #32156 payable to Joanna Morse was voided because the Head of Youth Services needed two separate checks for Joanna Morse and not one check. Check #32156 was replaced by check #32183 and check #32184. In the December 10, 2025 fnbo Business Card Activity report, Aime DeLattre purchased pens from Pens.com for $858.75. The pens are branded with the library logo and will be used as promotional items to be distributed to event attendees and staff.
Monthly Income/Expense Report (Discussion): Trustees reviewed the Income/Expense Report-December 2025 and there were no questions.
Library Director’s Report: Presented by Novak. The Business Manager is retiring, after being in her position for 19 years, and the library is currently setting up interviews. Our current Business Manager will stay in her position a little longer to train a replacement. Novak is preparing the Per Capita Grant application which is due on January 30, 2026. The Head of Marketing will prepare the report for future filings. The Post-Holiday Party is set for January 30th at 6 p.m. at More Brewing Company in Huntley.
Committee Reports:
Policy: The committee met tonight at 4:30 p.m. to review policies that fell under the three-year policy review cycle. Benigno motioned, Kunde seconded that the Board approve the following policy changes as presented by the Policy Committee.
- Check-Out Policy: Under Section 4-Interlibrary Loan Service, bullet b., add the wording patron accounts must be in good standing for a request to be processed.
- Public Participation and Comment at Meetings: The Policy Committee unanimously agreed to change the time allowed for each person to speak, in bullet #5, from two minutes to three minutes and remove bullet #6.
All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Finance: There was no report.
Facilities: There was no report.
Friends’ Liaison: Presented by Getty. The Baubles & Bling Fundraiser will be on Saturday, February 7 in Program Room 3.
New Business:
Charging for Programs: This fiscal year, the library began offering free programs with Mr. Sven Hansen such as Sound Therapy and a Sound Healing Experience with the Poetry of Walt Whitman. In the January/February 2026 HAPLD Newsletter, the library is beginning to charge $10 per person to attend A Sound Healing Experience with the Poetry of Walt Whitman, with Sven Hansen. This program has become increasingly popular among our patrons, and the library would like to continue to offer the program monthly. Unfortunately, offering this program monthly would exceed our current budget allocation in FY25-26 and as a result the library began to charge for the program as of January 2026 to cover the cost so it could continue to be offered. Following a lengthy discussion, the Board does not like to see patrons getting charged for programs unless there is a consumable. Future programs offered by Mr. Hansen, which were not budgeted for, should be paid out of 7800-00 Contingency. Contingency is a budget line used to cover potential misestimates and unforeseeable events. In addition, the Board would like Novak to not charge for non-consumable programs until there is further direction from the Board. The Board has asked Novak to see if other libraries are charging for programs and if they charge for non-residents versus residents. An email blast will need to be sent notifying patrons that the library will not be charging for this class this month.
Old Business: There was no Old Business.
Upcoming Dates: The next Regular Monthly Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees will be Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.
Board Discussion:
Board Member Photos and Bios: Photos will be taken on February 18, 2026 in front of the green screen in the Recording Studio. Do not wear green. Please forward your bio to Novak prior to the February Regular Board Meeting. Novak will contact Reedy.
Post-Holiday Party: The event will be held on January 30, 2026 at More Brewing Company in Huntley. The event will begin at 6 p.m. If you haven’t done so already, please RSVP to Novak by Monday, January 26th.
The 2026 State of Huntley will be on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Huntley Fire Protection District.
Executive Session: Kunde motioned, Benigno seconded for the Library Board to convene in an Executive Session at 6:37 p.m. under the exception of the Open Meetings Act ILCS Chapter 5, Act 120, Section 120/2 for the purpose of discussing 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11) Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21)—Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the Open Meetings Act, whether for purposes of approval by the body or semi-annual review of the minutes. Roll call votes were: Domagalski-Aye; Duncan-Aye; Kunde-Aye; McKibben-Aye; Threadgill-Smith-Aye; Weil-Aye. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried
- Benigno, Menta, and Tokakska left the meeting at 6:37 p.m.
The Board left the Executive Session at 6:50 p.m.
Items from Executive Session for Action: Benigno motioned, Domagalski seconded that the Board release the following closed session minutes: December 20, 2023, September 18, 2024, November 20, 2024, January 15, 2025, April 16, 2025, June 16, 2025, and June 17, 2025. Roll call votes were: Benigno-Aye; Domagalski-Aye; Kunde-Aye; Schmelzer-Aye; Threadgill-Smith-Aye; Weil-Aye. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Adjourn: Kunde motioned, Weil seconded to adjourn the meeting at 6:52 p.m. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
__________________________________________
Stephanie Weil, Secretary
