1996-09-26 School Committee Minutes - Board of Library Trustees

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READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts Joint School Committee Meeting With the Board of Library Trustees JOINT SESSION MINUTES September 26, 1996 CALL TO ORDER Chair Susan Cavicchi called the session to order at 7:40 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. All members were present; Mr. Matt Cummings, Ms. Robin D'Antona, Mr. Robert Spadafora, Mr. Tom Stohlman and Mr. Timothy Twomey. Also present was Superintendent Dr. Harry K. Harutunian. Chair Cherrie Dubois, called the Board of Library Trustees to order at 7:40 p.m. Members present were Mr. Steve Conner, Ms. Christine Redford, Ms. Maria Silvaggi, Ms. Deirdre Hanley, Library Director. Absent were Mr. William Diamond, Mr. Robert Fields, due to illness. Dr. Harutunian and Ms. Hanley gave background on library-school collaboration. Past efforts have included book deposits, assignment alerts, and :,e^ommended 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. 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 goats for both. School libraries don't get enough funding or aa°ion throughout the state. They have no advocacy /group, are not ruled by the curriculum, and m; a -specialists are being pulled in other directions by technology needs. What can the Trustees and the School Comm ""JPF: k"') at this point to help? Everything up until now has been possible within the confines of the buds; : ,ney is needed to open the school libraries at night, said Dr. Harutunian. Ms. Hanley provided information on the pilot ~`.c at the Coolidge Middle School library. It is being considered a branch of the public library. As s -cll..., Coolidge can be part of NOBLE for some startup costs and minimal local maintenance. Ms. Hanley, c- - :riztly President of NOBLE, thinks it is going to offer services to town, not based on membership, but.Cast. The state will be subsidizing multi-type collaboration (school, public, academic, etc.). rj, ::r :gal agreement between the Board of Library Trustees and the School Committee is needed, acknowle-`.5_'Ng that the Coolidge library is a branch and that both parties support the project. The pilot will evalm: ° impact on students, school staff, and public staff. Mr. Conner asked if the two boards need to add=.-s:3 the concerns cited in a previous document ("Re: School/Public library collaboration," attached) tf: e formalizing an agreement. Dr. Harutunian replied that the schools need to examine what the costs are. A letter can be written that meets the letter of the low 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. 1v11. 1-U111111111YJ dJxeu 1v1S. rnamey io aenne 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