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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-12-14 Board of Library Trustees MinutesTown of Reading Meeting Minutes s'f5: /NCO4p�P Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Library Trustees Date: 2015 -12 -14 Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Address: 49 Pleasant Street Purpose: Attendees: Members - Present: Time: 7:00 PM Location: Lounge Room Session: General Session TOWN CLERK RE NCI NG. Mr%SS. jWII P2=43 Vicki Yablonsky, Chair; John Brzezenski, Vice Chair; Alice Collins; Secretary; Cherrie Dubois; Andrew Grimes; David Hutchinson Members - Not Present: Others Present: Vanessa Alvarado, FINCOM; Ruth Urell, Library Director; Amy Lannon, Assistant Library Director Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Alice Collins Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order 7:07 pm II. Approval of Minutes Motion to approve minutes from November 19, 2015 ( Cherrie Dubois / Alice Collins) Vote: Unanimous III. Financial Report (Ms. Urell) In general, the library budget is on track for the year, with notable exceptions of the library substitutes and supplies budgets that are over 50% expended. No further discussion. IV. Friends Report: (Ms. Dubois) Friends of the Reading Public Library are beginning formal planning for the House Tour scheduled for May 2015. There are twelve houses selected for the theme "Renovate." V. Foundation Report (Mr. Brzezenski) The Foundation had a regularly scheduled business meeting Thursday, December 11. They issued their annual appeal letter and response has been very positive, with one large gift and slightly higher than average individual responses. The RPL Foundation will have more to report on after the December meeting. Ms. Urell also noted that she attended the meeting and the Foundation has given a small gift for 2015, with plans for a more substantive gift in 2016 with the opening of the new building. VI. Building Update (Mr. Hutchinson) The joint meeting update of the Library Building Committee and the Board of Selectmen has been postponed until January 2016. The most recent time line update indicates that the building construction should be done by April 2016 instead of March. Also the site work is very slightly delayed with an anticipated completion Page 1 1 date of June 2016. These dates are all contingent upon weather and conditions that may affect winter and spring work. Mr. Hutchinson reported the budgets all look good. STV predicts the project will consume the entire construction contingency. Also, the owner's contingency should be able to manage any hard construction overruns. The soft cost estimates (FF &E - including, furniture, shelving and technology) appear to be within the budget. Ordering is scheduled to begin in January 2016. Ms. Urell is following up with Joe Huggins about automated materials handling equipment orders. She is scheduled to meet in Boston on Thursday, December 17 with two members of the Library Building Committee and CBT designers to review furniture selections. She is also meeting on Wednesday, December 16 with the "Window Woman" and Virginia Adams from the Historical Commission to discuss preservation of several of the historic windows that require special care. Ms. Urell relayed some concerns by CBT about the location of the exterior book drop. Trustees reviewed options to address these concerns. VII. Gifts (Ms. Urell) Ms. Urell reported two recent gifts. The first gift is from the estate of Sally Stembridge which is earmarked for the Friends of the Reading Public Library. The second is a donation from a longtime Reading resident and will be used to support the preschool /early literacy area of the new children's room. Ms. Urell asked the Trustees to consider how to handle both legacy gifts from the old library, as well as publicity for current gifts and donations. Mr. Brzezenski gave a brief update on recent discussion and possible next steps for additional fundraising. VII. Directors Report (Ms. Urell) The Trustees approved calendar for 2016. Library Appreciation: The library received thank you notes from Reading Engineering teams for the Library's participation in the first annual Science Expo, and from Wingate where librarians presented earlier in the month. Grant Opportunity: Ms. Urell and Ms. Lannon submitted a letter of intent to apply for an open LSTA grant that will focus innovative civic engagement. The grant application is due early 2016. If the application is approved, the grant will be for $20,000 and run from October 2016 through September 2018. The grant will be used to focus on engaging learners of all ages and developing the library as a platform to connect and inform the Reading community. Library Certification: Ms. Urell reported that the Reading Public Library received its annual certification and the first half of the state aid funds. Communications Planning: Ms. Urell is moving forward with the communications and marketing portion of the strategic planning project. She is working on a RFP to engage one or two firms to assist with developing a visual /graphic design component and a messaging strategy. The RFP will also include a piece that will involve staff training and education. The Trustees express support for this project that is expected to run from January-June of 2016. Action Plan / Strategic Plan: Ms. Urell distributed the strategic plan recommendations from Anderson and Gray, as well as a draft action plan that will eventually be filed with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. She also reviewed the current supplemental fund sources - including the Friends of the Reading Public Library (FRPL), the Reading Public Library Foundation (RFL Foundation) and various gifts and grants. She then discussed the estimated costs to implement the six areas of focus provided in the strategic plan and as outlined in the draft action plan. These objectives and related costs are the result of a series of library management leadership meetings that included the Director, Assistant Director and the four Division Heads. The strategic plan initiatives emphasize programming which is currently 100% funded by the RFPL at a cost of approximately $30,000 per year. Page 1 2 Ms. Urell asked the Trustees to consider approaching the town with a 5 year plan to build in a programming budget to guarantee support of identified and core service programming. Ms. Alvarado asked about the impact of expected uptick in services with the opening of the new building. Ms. Urell responded that current staff will have expanded duties with respect to not only library programming and services, but also in areas such as meeting room management, technology help and audio visual support. The Trustees and Ms. Alvarado provided further feedback and recommendations on refining the different budget components related to the strategic planning and expected impact of the new building. VIII. Executive Session (Ms. Yablonsky) — called at 8:27 pm IX. New Business The Trustees will meet at Town Hall from 7:00 -8:00 p.m. on Tuesday January 19, 2016 for a General Session prior to their budget presentation at the Board of Selectmen (tentatively scheduled for 8:15 pm). X. Adjournment Motion to Adjourn at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alice Collins, Secretary Page 1 3