1997-10-14 Board of Library Trustees Minutes

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Board of Library Trustees Minutes of Meeting - October 14, 1997 Present: Mrs. Maria Silvaggi, chair; Mr. Stephen Conner; Ms. Cherrie Dubois; Mr. Robert Fields; Dr. Christine Redford. Absent: Mr. William Diamond. Mrs. Silvaggi called the meeting to order at 7:05. Minutes: The minutes of September 15 were accepted. Statistical report: A few hundred of our registered patrons are non-resident. Eighty to ninety percent of residents have library cards. Report from the Chairman: Mrs. Silvaggi and Ms. Hanley met with the Town Manager about salaries, and let him know of the possibility of a vote by the staff to unionize. He assured Mrs. Silvaggi that progress is being made on the issue of step raises. The question remains as to whether it will be tied to performance. The committee's latest proposal is to have a one-step increase for fulfilling the expectations of the job, and an extra amount for excellent performance. The Director said that the Library staff was much more interested than the step raise committee in being aggressive about the step raise system, for two reasons: the Library has been doing performance evaluations for years and the staff is comfortable with them; the Library has a very specific problem with division head and librarian salaries. It seems that we just about do some catching up, when other towns jump ahead. Ms. Hanley offered to come up with some rough numbers and put them in the FY99 budget proposals. The Town Manager will in no way relinquish building maintenance entirely. All money spent on building maintenance requires his signature. Although a study is underway on how building maintenance should be handled by the Town, a new Director is being hired now. Meanwhile, the Library still has no turnstile. Mrs. Silvaggi will represent the Board as an observer at the Budget Council meeting tomorrow night. The Chronicle has published three letters to the editor about the material available to children in the Library, on the Internet, on video, and in print. One letter criticized the Library's policy; the other two acknowledged the responsibility of the parent and the difficult issue of Internet filtering. A program on children and the Internet sponsored by the Library recently was poorly attended. The Board discussed the need to provide customers with some privacy in their use of library materials including the Internet, for example, information relating to health, investments, and employment. Staff will consider putting an Internet PC in the quiet study room. The Director's evaluation will be done at next month's meeting. Director's report: Information was distributed about the Children's Room "Kids' Sites of the Month," a new book review group for adults, and the Foundation's new brochures. Ms. Hanley attended Library Technology Day at the State House to lobby for S3.5 million. s