Library Director Suchy gets standing ovation, 3.7% raise

After a report on the evaluation of the work of Belleville Area District Library Director Mary Jo Suchy, the library board voted unanimously to give her a 3.7% raise in salary and then stood up for a standing ovation of her work.
Her base pay goes from the current $81,000 to $83,997.
At the board’s regular meeting Dec. 10, board member Linda Priest, chairperson of the Personnel Committee, explained that all the board members filled out evaluation forms and rated Director Suchy’s work for the year.
She said on a scale of 1-6, with 6 being “outstanding,” Suchy was above average in all categories.
“She was scored high by all board members in a very challenging year,” Priest said, referring to construction of the new library. “We wanted to be prudent, but let her know how much we appreciate her.
“We took it very seriously,” she said of the evaluation.
When asked how they came up with a 3.7% raise, Priest said they averaged the scores and not everyone gave a 6 score.
When asked, Suchy told the board the other employees are getting 2.5% raises.
After the board stood and applauded Suchy’s work, board chairperson Sharon Peters said to Suchy, “Just keep doing what you’re doing, sweetheart. We are very fortunate.”
She said Suchy’s hard work makes the whole board look good and she thanked Suchy deeply.
When it got to Suchy’s part of the meeting for her report, she stood and applauded.
“I give a standing ovation for my staff. They are so wonderful – flexible and ready to step up and do whatever needs to be done,” she said.
In other business at the one-hour meeting, the board:
• Approved 2020 board meeting dates and a list of days the library will be closed in 2020, including Jan. 13 through Feb. 7 when the current library will be closed in order to move into the new library. The new library is scheduled to open Feb. 8;
• Approved purchasing four Canon copiers from Applied Imaging for a price not to exceed $22,000, to service the main library and the branch. Six bids were reviewed, four from Applied Imaging, one from Konica Minolta, and one from MOS. Applied Imaging was recommended by The Library Network and members of the TLN Technology Committee. Their public library clients include Ann Arbor, Dexter, Northville, Saline, Southgate, Wixom, Lyon Township and Brighton;
• Approved the three-page Facilities Use Policy (with three more attached pages of an Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights) as discussed at the November meeting and prepared by Mary Jane Dawson, chairperson of the Policy Committee. Dawson could not be present at the Dec. 10 meeting. The policy had been reviewed by attorney John Day. The library meeting rooms are available “for use by Belleville, Sumpter, and Van Buren community groups for presentations of informational, educational, civic, and recreational meetings, and programs in keeping with the mission of the library.” All meetings and programs must be open to the public. Rooms available seat from 12 to 100 people. Chairperson Peters said this policy is a living document and after it is in place a while, may need to be amended;
• Discussed the change of the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Media Center branch in Sumpter from Dec. 14 to 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 13. Building Committee chairperson Joy Cichewicz said they were waiting for Brown Dog Millwork and John Juriga said Brown Dog is expected Dec. 13. They will be installing a staff desk, counter tops, children’s nook computer countertop, children’s nook cubbies, and other pieces. Cichewicz said before opening the millwork needs to be done, the new chairs replacing those that burned up in a fire in a Flat Rock warehouse should be on hand, and stained glass is being put into the ceiling by Diane Eissinger. Suchy is ordering a big-screen TV for the front of the building and the drive-up book return needs to be secured. Suchy said it is still her goal to have a soft opening of the Media Center in late December or early January;
• Heard Cichewicz report that in the new main library on Fourth Street, the pretesting of the alarm and sprinkling systems has been done, the staircase steps are ready for tile and the elevator is in but not yet in use. The curtain wall will be put up soon, she said, and plaques are being made to show the legacy donors;
• Heard Peters say she signed a lot of checks and they spent a lot of money on books, which are being stored before delivery to the new library when it is ready;
• Learned the library has issued job postings for part-time librarians and part-time library assistants for the new library and the application deadline for this round of hiring is Dec. 20;
• Also was informed the Friends of the Library will have their annual business meeting on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 11 a.m. in the present library in order to elect officers and file annual reports, but the more festive portions of their annual meeting will be postponed until National Library Week in April. The theme for National Library Week is “Find Your Place at the Library”; and
• Heard Suchy report that Santa was at the library to talk to the children recently. She said she’s been asking Santa for a new library for 29 years in a row and so this year she thanked Santa for the new library, but told him she didn’t know that “some assembly was required.”