1999-03-15 Board of Library Trustees Minutes

Home Browse Search

Board of Library Trustees - o• Minutes of Meeting - March 15, 1999 Present: Ms. Maria Silvaggi, chair; Mr. Stephen Conner; Ms. Cherne Dubois; Ms. Donna InDelicato; Mr. Richard Ogden; Dr. Christine Redford. Ms. Silvaggi called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Minutes: The minutes of February 8 were accepted. Report of the Technical Services division: New materials: Michael Colford reported that as the materials budget increases, the workload for Technical Services increases. Including donations, there was a nine percent increase in the number of new materials added so far in FY99 over FY98; a twenty-one percent increase over the same period in FY97, and a 10 percent increase over the same period in FY96. A very high priority is placed on bestseller titles: they are ordered unprocessed from the vendor and are given a quick turnaround in- house. Unprocessed books are received from the vendor in less than twenty-four hours, as opposed to over a week for processed books. Interlibrary loan: The division is having more contact with patrons on interlibrary loan business to keep them informed about the status of their request. Recent requests include children's videos in a foreign language, and doctoral theses. One of the library networks has serious delivery problems, which makes borrowing from them difficult. Almost two-thirds of the interlibrary loan work done by the regional ILL center is for the Reading Public Library. Materials bid: There have been problems with the statewide cooperative bid for materials: a few small vendors have proved unacceptable, and a major vendor has also been difficult to work with. We have worked with the bid committee to change the criteria and it looks promising for next year. Web page: Mr. Colford does most of the maintenance of the Library's Web page. He has recently implemented a redesign, and has trained others so that they can add their own items to the Web page. Volunteers:. The departure of a hardworking volunteer couple in December made Mr. Colford realize how dependent the division is on volunteers. The division now has six volunteers, and much of his time is spent organizing their work. They do processing, mending, unpacking and receiving, photocopying, and projects that wouldn't otherwise get done. Since some of the volunteers are seasonal due to the tax abatement program for senior citizens, it was suggested that Lois Bond be contacted to see if that program could be altered. The Director said that having basic functions done by volunteers is not a long-term solution. Personnel: New desks were purchased last summer to improve the workspace in Tech Services. Interlibrary loan and inputting work have been shifted downward, allowing Mr. Colford time to work on the Web page. The pay and class study looked at the technician and senior technician positions carefully. Mr. Colford wrote a very good proposal that justified their reclassification. Mr. Colford received his MIS last year; he has worked for the library for almost twenty-one years. The Board expressed its appreciation for his work.