The Jackson County Public Library Board of Trustees approved salary changes and 2025 personnel budget increases during its regular monthly meeting Monday at the Seymour Library.

All position pay rates will increase by $.50/hour effective June 30, for the July 18 payroll.

Trustees also approved a salary increase of 4% for 2025 for budgetary purposes. The 2025 pay increases will be determined after staff evaluations this fall.

With this increase, Director Julia Aker said the hope is there will be more applicants. There have been issues finding people to fill positions because other libraries are paying more or the same amount per hour, such as the Brownstown library, she said.

Trustees also received an evaluation form for Aker, and they are due to Trustee Matt Lorenzo, the board’s personnel committee chairman, at or before the July 15 board meeting. On June 19, Aker marked 37 years of service with the library including the last 27 years as director.

The board also approved changes to the personnel policy and were told the library has renewed Gale Courses for another year through the Evergreen Indiana library consortium at education.gale.com/l-evergreenin/. Courses supports libraries as educational institutions and gives community members easy access to lifelong learning opportunities including professional development, technology, and personal enrichment courses.