1998-09-29 Board of Library Trustees Minutes

Home Browse Search

Board of Library Trustees Minutes of Meeting - September 29, 1998 Present: Ms. Maria Silvaggi, chair; Mr. Stephen Conner; Ms. Cherrie Dubois; Ms ' Donna InDelicato; Mr. Richard Ogden; Dr. Christine Redford. Ms. Silvaggi called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Minutes: The minutes of September 21 were accepted. The Husariks will not be leaving their volunteer positions after all. Trustees are invited to attend one of three public meetings on school-public library cooperation, sponsored by the Board of Library Commissioners. Budget: The Board discussed the proposed FY00 budget as presented by the Director. New programs include: early hiring of a circulation division head to allow for overlap before the retirement of the incumbent; additional librarian hours focussed on improved customer service and technology training; an increase in the materials budget. The inclusion of professional development and travel reimbursement is new; these were formerly in the Town Manager's budget. The supplies budget is not sufficient, but no increase was requested. The $200 that has been in a Postage line in previous budgets has been combined into Other. Any job reclassifications will be presented in the General Services budget. Priorities as determined by the division heads were: materials, circulation head overlap, reference ' staffing, Children's Room staffing. The consensus of the Board is that materials are the first priority for a budget increase. The Board discussed the importance of presenting decision- makers with all of the existing needs, even if they cannot all be funded in FY00. Trustees aproved a three-month overlap for the new Circulation head, and twenty-five hours of librarian, with desk coverage to be distributed as needed. Dr. Redford pointed out that the need for more librarians is not something that will lessen over time; the role of the librarian is changing, becoming more of an instructor. Putting off the request for professional hours will not serve any purpose, since the trend will continue. Ms. Silvaggi said that the Library is beginning to operate at a deficit in terms of staff. Past increases in FTEs have been accompanied by increases in hours open. Mr. Conner noted that this is the first request post-Internet for staffing that does not add hours of service. Capital requests include items already in the Town's capital plan, and new ones. Costs for existing projects were increased by the index recommended by the Town Manager. They are: computers, a self-checkout system, new security system, renovated circulation desk. New projects include an upgrade of the phone system and expansion of the building. The Director also developed a list of maintenance projects in conjunction with Mike deBrigard, such as replacing windows, exterior painting, new gutters. Maintenance items that were not included because of the proposed expansion will be listed under the expansion as expenses to be incurred if that is delayed for a substantial amount of time.