1996-09-26 Board of Library Trustees Minutes

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Board of Library Trustees Joint Meeting with the School Committee Minutes of Meeting September 26, 1996 Present: Cherrie Dubois, chair; Steve Conner; Christine Redford; Maria Silvaggi; Deirdre Hanley, Library Director; Susan Cavicchi, chair of the School Committee; Matt Cummings; Robin D'Antona; Rob Spadafora; Tom Stohlman; Tim Twomey; Harry Harutunian, School Superintendent. Absent: William Diamond; Robert Fields, due to illness. The meeting was called to order at 7:40. Dr. Harutunian and Ms. Hanley gave background on library-school collaboration. Past efforts have included book deposits, assignment alerts, and recommended reading lists. Possible future projects are sharing the electronic system which provides information on colleges and financial aid, and joint book purchasing to reduce costs and duplication. A present project is the installation of NOBLE equipment at the Coolidge library. A document produced by the school media specialists and the public librarians outlines goals for both. School libraries don't get enough funding or attention throughout the state. They have no advocacy group, are not ruled by the curriculum, and media specialists are being pulled in other directions by technology needs. What can the Trustees and the School Committee do at this point to help? Everything up until i now has been possible within the confines of the budget. Money is needed to open the school libraries at night, said Mr. Harutunian. Ms. Hanley provided information on the pilot project at the Coolidge Middle School library. It is being considered a branch of the public library. As such, Coolidge can be part of NOBLE for some startup costs and minimal local maintenance. Ms. Hanley, currently President of NOBLE, thinks it is going to offer services to towns, not based on membership, but on cost. The state will be subsidizing multi-type collaboration (school, public, academic, etc.). A formal agreement between the Board of Library Trustees and the School Committee is needed, acknowledging that the Coolidge library is a branch and that both parties support the project. The pilot will evaluate impact on students, school staff, and public staff. Mr.. Conner asked if the two boards need to address the concerns cited in a previous document ("Re: School/Public library collaboration," attached) before formalizing an agreement. Mr. Harutunian replied that the schools need to examine what the costs are. A letter can be written that meets the letter of the law as far as NOBLE goes. Town departments want to collaborate, but then pull back when it looks like it's really going to happen, e.g., the building maintenance issue. The staff need a safeguard. Mr. Cummings asked Ms. Hanley to define a branch and its parameters. According to NOBLE's standards, a branch is linked to the main library by budgetary authority. Ms. Hanley described the impact of the collaboration and how it affects service. Computers in Coolidge will be connected to NOBLE, allowing students access to the multi-library catalog, the Internet, and a fulltext