2016-03-21 Board of Library Trustees Minutes

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e�' orq o Town of Reading ni Meeting Minutes RECEIVED Ma�a°s:,MaRa °R �1 TOWN CLERK a Board - Committee - Commission - Council: ENDING, MASS. Board of Library Trustees 2016 APR 12 P I: 3b i Date: 2016 -03 -21 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Public Library Location: Address: 80 General Way Purpose: Session: General Session Attendees: Members - Present: Vicki Yablonsky, Chair; John Brzezenski, Vice Chair; Alice Collins, Secretary; Cherrie Dubois; David Hutchinson Members - Not Present: Andrew Grimes Others Present: Vanessa Alvarado, FINCOM; Ruth Urell, Library Director; Amy Lannon, Assistant Library Director Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Alice Collins Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order 7:09 pm II. Approval of Minutes from February 10, 2016 Motion to accept minutes as presented. (Hutchinson /Collins) Vote: Unanimous III. Financial Report (Ruth Urell) Ms. Urell updated the Board on the status of the current fiscal year budget. She noted that the library has funds this fiscal year for preliminary communications Implementation of the new Plan of Service. Ms. Urell and the staff will divide the project up to locate experts who specialize in print and online communications. Ms. Urell also reported that the library has received the second portion of the annual state aid. The revolving fund is significantly less than previous years; we think this is a result of the change of use in the temporary location at 80 General Way. IV: Budget FY 2017 Ms. Vanessa Alvarado reported that the FINCOM will be meeting soon to vote on the proposed town budget. The Board asked for more details on the status and expectations of the potential override. Ms. Alvarado reviewed the current fiscal state of the town and gave examples of various scenarios and outcomes of the vote scheduled for September 2016. Mr. Hutchinson asked for clarification on how any override funds would be distributed and noted the difficulty of evaluating library budget requests in terms of percentages. Ms. Urell reported that the library budget Is 1.27% of the overall town budget according to MBLC 2013 data. The Board reviewed recent responses to budget requests and provided Ms. Alvarado with additional background details about structure and limitations of the library budget. Ms. Alvarado appreciated the comments and discussion, and recommended the Board prioritize requests and continue to detail needs and complexity of the library budget Issues. Mr. Hutchinson also suggested that the trustees reach out to town management to see what the information, data or projections the library could provide regarding the override Issue. Page 1 1