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Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Board of Library Trustees
Date: 2017-03-20
Building: Reading Public Library
Address: 64 Middlesex Avenue
Purpose: General
Attendees: Members - Present:
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Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Conference Room
Session: Open Session
Version: Final
John Brzezenski, Chair; Cherrie Dubois, Vice Chair; Alice Collins, Secretary;
David Hutchinson, Vicki Yablonsky
Members - Not Present:
Andrew Grimes
Others Present:
Amy Lannon, Director; Ashley Waring, Asst. Director; Jeff Zager, DPW;
David Clark, Police; Kevin Cabuzzi and Joseph Huggins, Facilities; Matt
Kraunelis, Admin. Services; Vanessa Alvarado, FINCOM; neighbors and
residents (see attached list), Ruth Urell, former Director
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Alice Collins, Secretary
Topics of Discussion:
Meeting called to order 7:03 p.m.
1. Approval of Minutes:
Approval of Minutes from February 13, 2017 proposed. Spelling error noted and fixed.
(Hutchinson/Collins) Vote: Unanimous.
2. Building Update:
a. Lighting — M. Soucey, N. Hanlon, K. O'Leary, H. Clish, and other neighbors
made comments about lighting:
• Interior of building lit on holidays
• Light spilling out from entryway, stairwells, and porte cochere
• Shades on exterior lights are working well
A. Lannon confirmed exterior lights are set to go off 15 minutes after closing.
Most lights inside building are on motion sensors, and turn off after the
building is completely empty; cleaning crews and custodial staff are often
here late. Safety lights in stairwells are on at all times per emergency
protocol. Interior lighting on holidays has been mostly due to construction
workers in the building or other library events and programs. Trustees can
discuss in the future ideas to help with light spill from entryway.
D. Clark explained lighting both deters crime and promotes safety.
J. Huggins will explore if stairwell lights can be dimmed, and will investigate if
porte cochere lights are turning off properly.
b. Snow Removal — M. Soucey, N. Hanlon, K. O'Leary, H. Clish, and other
neighbors made comments about snow removal and plowing:
• Sidewalks not cleared properly
• Removal is noisy and disruptive at night
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J. Zager commented that he will look into removing some snow from Deering
St. sidewalk and stairs to help with pedestrian access to library building, and
will investigate using different machine for clearing sidewalk on Middlesex.
Removal needs to happen at night due to cars in lots during the day; the
library is first on the removal schedule and should be cleaned at around
10:00 pm. The matter of possibly changing snow removal scheduling to be on
a different day from the storm is a question for the Trustees, as this would
impact number of parking spaces in the library lot.
c. Other building items — M. Soucey inquired about plantings on School St.
side of building; A. Lannon said some gardening plans are in the works.
At 7:47 pm K. Cabuzzi, J. Huggins, J. Zager, D. Clark, and M. Kraunelis left the meeting.
d. Construction and Punch List — A. Lannon reported that castle entrance to
the Children's picture book room was completed. Three items remain on
construction list per the project plans: 1) oval windows in the Teen Room, 2)
porte cochere exterior finishing, and 3) over 40 escutcheons on the exterior
of the addition. Punch list includes: reconstructing the 4 wooden archways.
Bob Labrecque from STV and A. Lannon working with MBLC to complete final
construction report and receive final sum of state grant money. Permanent
certificate of occupancy is in the works; both CBT architects and STV
construction team are finalizing punch list items in the next few weeks.
A. Lannon met with Metro Sign to discuss donor boards, sponsor signage, and
contributor plaques. "Reading Public Library" sign has been ordered for front
entrance.
3. Financial Report:
Financials on target.
4. Director's Report:
Personnel: Currently interviewing for 12 hr/wk circulation position to replace a recent
retirement. Three interviews scheduled from a strong set of candidates. 20 applications
received for the 32.5 hr/wk Children's Librarian position to replace A. Waring. Hoping to
also use this pool of candidates to hire 24 hr/wk Children's Librarian to replace Rachel
Baumgartner who is retiring at end of fiscal year. Staff Day is being planned; staff will
tour BPL's buildings and new spaces.
Programming/Services: Writer -in -Residence program in March and April, four events in
total, funded by a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant. Saturday, April 1 is an all -day
fundraiser event from the Friends of the Library called Baking for Friends. Seth Moulton
town hall on Saturday, March 4 was very successful. V. Yablonsky expressed her thanks
to library staff who worked hard on short notice to ensure the event ran smoothly. A.
Lannon noted how well the new technology worked during this event. She also noted the
library's efforts to work with ArtsReading, an umbrella group for various local arts
organizations.
S. Other business:
A. Lannon reports that donations continue to be made, including a possible donation of
artwork.
Departing Trustees D. Hutchinson and V. Yablonsky were presented with gifts, well
wishes, and sincere thanks. R. Urell, J. Brzezenski, and A. Lannon, D. Hutchinson and V.
Yablonsky made comments.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm (Yablonsky/Hutchinson)
esp ctfully submi ted,
i
Alice Collins, Secretary
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BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
SIGN -IN SHEET
Meeting Date: March 20, 2017 Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place/Room: Reading Public Library
Name
Address
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