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Elgin library renews executive director's contract

Gail Borden Public Library Executive Director Carole Medal got a renewed vote of confidence from the library board, which approved a new three-year contract Monday night.

Medal's salary, retroactive to Aug. 1, is $178,150, up from $162,259 in 2014 with yearly raises upon review by the board. Board vice president Beth Kruger said Medal has set the library on a positive, fiscally responsible course.

"She's done a great job for us," Kruger said Tuesday. "And we did negotiate (her salary). It wasn't just, 'Give her this' and everybody agreed. It was a positive solution for everyone."

Hired in Elgin in 2004, Medal says she loves her job.

"We have a phenomenal creative staff, which I feel I had a hand in building and expanding," she said. "And the community is wonderful. I love the diversity of Elgin, South Elgin, Bartlett, Streamwood and all the communities we serve. It makes it challenging and it forces us to be innovative."

Medal lives in Arlington Heights and was elected to the Arlington Heights Memorial Library board in 2015. That has provided ideas she brought to Elgin, such as implementing more efficient "dashboard" data reports, she said.

Board president Jean Bednar said Medal knows how to maximize tax dollars.

The library's 2017-18 operating budget accounts for $13.1 million in expenses, up $188,000, or 1.46 percent, over last year. Altogether, the library is planning nearly $15.7 million in expenses, including capital purchases and bond payments.

Personnel expenses last year were $7.3 million, or about $132,000 under budget. Much of that comes from strategic choices, such as hiring part-time personnel after full-timers retire, which leads to health and pension costs savings, Medal said. The library employs 78 full-time staff members and 145 part-timers.

"We are not just going to wind up with all part-time, we have to keep the proper ratio," she said.

The library is increasing its expense to buy e-books and lease books, typically new releases in high demand for a short period, library spokeswoman Denise Raleigh said. Savings include $30,000 from downsizing the newsletter from 16 to 12 pages, she said.

New expenses include $30,000 to install a BluePoint alarm system in the main library. Already in place at the two branches, it is a direct alarm to the police station. Other capital expenses include $80,000 for upgraded computers, $30,500 to replace an 19-year-old cargo van, and $22,000 to upgrade audiovisual components in the "story room."

Medal said that in the next three years, she hopes to move forward with the expansion of the South Elgin branch, which opened in summer 2016 and whose hours recently were expanded to seven days a week. Medal said she'd like to add Friday night hours at the branch.

Gail Borden also will become a Passport Acceptance Facility designated by the U.S. Department of State, Medal said. Staff members have been trained, but the library hasn't been notified of the official start date of the service, she added.

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