Public Library Board April 21

Presentations

A representative from Core5 Industrial Partners LLC gave a presentation in an effort to develop the as-yet undeveloped 16 acres owned by the Boone County Public Library (BCPL) adjacent to the Hebron branch. Core5 operates as a real estate owner and developer. They specialize in the development and acquisition of inventory and build-to-suit industrial facilities. The primary financial backer appears to be a Japanese company. The company has already developed about 4 million square feet of industrial sites in Northern Kentucky. Basically, they want to build a warehouse, although the rep admitted they don’t have a client lined up at this time. They are looking to build a 190,000-sq ft facility. The Board decided to table the matter for further discussion at their May meeting. 

The Walton branch manager also gave a presentation regarding what she has seen since the grand opening last September. She has 21 staff providing 33 adult programs, 11 book groups, 16 youth programs and 105 story times. Their meeting rooms are extremely popular and have 1,087 bookings for study rooms. The volume of visits is higher than projected and circulation is going up also. 

Public Comment

There were no residents from Petersburg at this meeting. However, the BCRP rep attending this meeting (who lives in Hebron) reminded the Board that in the recent past, when Drees attempted to purchase the land for residential development (mainly apartments and condos), the Board declined and decided the community needed more green spaces. The BCRP rep stated that the last thing Hebron needs is another warehouse, and that there are several standing empty as it is. 

Director’s Report

Now that the Kentucky legislative session has ended, Executive Director Carrie Herrmann (CH) confirmed that Senate Bill 71 passed in the Senate but died in the House. The bill would have allowed a library board to make one board appointment recommendation to the judge/executive rather than two and allow the judge/executive to appoint an individual of his or her choosing if the single recommendation were rejected. 

CH is still waiting to hear if the BCPL will be given some of the grant money from the Kentucky Department of Libraries & Archives (KDLA).

The BCPL staff has mailed postcards to what they consider unreached areas such as Bullittsville, Petersburg, Belleview and Verona in order to garner more library customers. 

The BCPL experienced some unauthorized charges on the library’s credit card: two withdrawals and one deposit from the money market account. They have set up more fraud protection and know who’s responsible.

Accountant’s Report

$674,000 in revenue was received in February 2025, including a $357,000 deposit on the sale of the Hebron three acres to an individual Hebron resident. Revenues to date total just over $11 million.

New Business

There was additional discussion regarding the Hebron branch’s land usage. The last land use plan dates back to 2011 and prioritized the following: (1) park space; (2) community gardens; and (3) a senior center. As there is no rush to do anything with the land, the board still agreed to table the matter until next month at least. 

There also was discussion regarding CH’s evaluation. Chairman Jackson provided a packet of sample evaluations along with a proposed draft evaluation form for future BCPL use. Jackson discouraged discussion at this time but just wants Board members to review and will go over at the next meeting. Trustee Deborah Dutton-Lambert (DDL) requested a legal opinion, to which Jackson agreed once the form is reviewed by the Board. He will then refer the matter to the BCPL attorney. DDL still insists that the packet should include not only formats used by various Kentucky libraries but whatever the KDLA would have. Trustee Emily Meyers stated she doesn’t remember that the Board went into a closed session for CH’s evaluation and couldn’t find it in the minutes. DDL will send to her. Previous BCRP reports attest that the Board did indeed go into closed session for that evaluation. DDL reiterated that the only legal reason to go into closed session was disciplinary issues or possible termination. DDL continues to experience push back from Board members and even the attorney present at the meeting, who then indicated that it “wasn’t clear” whether there were any issues and so they went into closed session just in case. 

The Archive & History Center manager just started and will give her first report at the May meeting.

The Chapin Memorial Library (CML) ad hoc committee provided an update. They received only one response to their Request for Proposal (RFP) and the ad hoc committee members agreed it was unsatisfactory as it was provided by an architectural firm, which is not helpful for the committee’s community engagement goals. In addition, the proposal was $68,000, which was also a concern. The committee agreed they’ll need to submit another RFP and that Matthew Webster, the county administrator and ad hoc committee member, may have someone in mind.

A draft Fiscal Year 2026 budget was presented for the Board’s initial review. Revenue potential is still being discussed between the accountant and CH. There was another issue that came up regarding the across-the-board 5% salary increase proposed in the budget for all staff. DDL challenged the Human Resources (HR) manager as to why there is no differentiation between star performers and just average performers.