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Home My WebLink About2020-10-13 Board of Library Trustees Minutes Town of Reading RECEIVED Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK rtT, ,A�- Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2821 OCT 15 AM 10; Oi Board of Library Trustees Date: 2020-10-13 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Public Library Location: History Room Address: 64 Middlesex Avenue Session: Open Session Purpose: General Meeting Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Monette Verrier, Vice-Chair; Alice Collins, Secretary; Andrew Grimes; Cherie Dubois, John Brzezenski Members - Not Present: Nina Pennacchio, Chair Others Present: Amy Lannon, Director; Michelle Filleul, Assistant Director Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Alice Collins, Secretary Topics of Discussion: This meeting occurred via Zoom but was not properly posted due to an error in the Office of the Town Clerk. The notes are provided for the purposes of transparency. Votes on policy and position are vacated and will be revisited at the next General Meeting in November 2020. A video of this meeting is available via RCN's regular local government media outlets. I. Call to Order 7:02 pm II. Approval of Minutes from September 14, 2020 There is an outstanding question on reporting on page 2 with regards to Mr. LeLacheur's comments. Ms. Lannon will review the recording and correct minutes accordingly. Motion: Table minutes pending resolution of question. (Collins, Dubois) Vote:Approved: 5-0 III. Public Comment No public comment. As of 5:02 pm today, October 13, 2020, there were no requests for public comment. IV. Financial Report FY 21 Update: Ms. Lannon reported that there is nothing outstanding in the financial update. As of September 30, salaries continue to run under budget as there is still a full-time librarian vacancy. Materials spending is on track. The library's ARTS, Financial Compliance Report, and Application for State Aid have Page 1 1 been filed with the MBLC. The library will not have to apply for waiver. V. Director's Report(COVID-19 Response Update) a. Building/Facilities Update: Ms. Lannon reported that all employees now have phone headsets is one strategy to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmissions when using shared telephones. The library had temporarily implemented an automated phone tree until headsets were available. The library will now be returning to in-person phone response. Ms. Lannon thank I.T. for finding and purchasing headsets that are compatible with the phone system. b. Early Voting Early voting begins Saturday, October 17, 2020. Ms. Lannon continues to work with the Town Clerk in ensure safety of voters, public library users, and staff. Voters will be using the School Street side entrance to enter and then exit through the community room emergency door. Residents with accessibility issues will still be able to use the main entrance and elevator; however, most foot traffic and activity will be contained to the ground floor community room area. Ms. Verrier asked if someone from the Town Clerk's office will be at the door. Ms. Lannon confirmed the Town Clerk is arranging for this staffing as well as additional signage directing people to the side door. c. Cleaning: The Facilities Department has purchased misting machines that quickly sprays an area with a fast-acting disinfectant. These machines will be used in all the buildings, including the library. The custodians plan to use in the public areas of the library on Thursday mornings or last thing at night depending on building usage. The machine will not be used in office spaces for now. Ms. Lannon noted this ss not "deep cleaning.", The "deep cleaning" for COVID-19 response is contracted out with a vendor through the Facilities Department. d. Programs and Services: The library is at about 40% [correction needed] of regular circulation statistics which is excellent. Additionally, library staff are looking to ways to make collections more browsable online if patrons are not comfortable coming into the building. The library's goal is to achieve 50% regular circulation during COVID-19. The library continues to almost daily programming. Ms. Lannon commended the programming staffs response to COVID-19. While this is less than half of the library's normal programming, she noted that virtual programming takes more time to prepare. The response from the public has been great and Ms. Lannon noted that the staff is able to provide both synchronous (live) and asynchronous (pre- recorded) programs. Ms. Verner said she is amazed at all the staff is doing and appreciated the unique offerings. There were 190 In-Library Services Reservations for September 2020. These services included computer use and study spaces. As of October 13, browsing by appointment is also available. Ms. Lannon Page 1 2 noted that the library tracks risk levels for Reading and surrounding communities to monitor local COVID-19 trends. This data impacts decisions to add/expand services. The library also looks to the Board of Health for additional guidance regarding COVID-19 risk to inform decisions to expand or contract service models. e. Personnel: There will be a virtual Staff Development workshop: November 6, 2020. Normally, this is a full-day team building and educational event in the spring. However, this has been modified to a 3.5-hour online workshop led by Anika Nailah, an educator, author, and consultant. She has presented to the Connecticut Library Association and was to present at the spring 2020 the Massachusetts Library Association Annual Conference. The workshop will be co- facilitated by Deborah Gilburg of Gilburg Leadership, Inc. and structured around Ms. Nailah's book "Every day in the U.S.A.: 30 Black Moments." Lisa Racine will be starting as the new Children's Services Librarian on November 2, 2020. Ms. Racine joins the library from Seattle, WA. She has worked as a school library media specialist and youth services librarian in both California and Washington. Logistics of moving have slowed down the process, but the library is very excited to welcome her. Ms. Lannon thanked the Children's Services Team for their hard work in maintaining high-quality services and summer programming while also being down one full time team member. She also thanked the search committee Lorraine Barry, Cate Zannino, Olivia McElwain, and Sean Donahue, HR Director for the Town of Reading. f. Strategic Plan Update: Ms. Lannon noted that work continues on the vision/mission/core values statements and the strategic plan. The goal is to have a revised draft for by November. Ms. Lannon noted that a strategic plan is a map and set of recommendation that is filed with the MBLC. If filed by end of November, the library will be eligible to apply for the next round of grants. VI. Other Business Ms. Verrier asked about the college students using study space. Ms. Lannon reviewed the capacity calculations and noted that services have launched within or below capacity guidelines to help staff assess and be flexible as they adjust to new workflows and support the community in other ways. For example, the library can use community rooms and conference space for study, but those rooms are currently being held for early voting. This means more study space and computers will be available in November and December. Page 1 3 Ms. Lannon said she anticipates an uptick in study space reservations after Thanksgiving when more college students return home for the remainder of the semester. Ms. Lannon noted that there was a records request for a copy of the draft minutes of the September 2020 meeting from a town resident. The individual received a copy of the packet and the draft minutes for that meeting. Mr. Grimes reviewed accommodated costs in response to earlier discussion of the September meeting minutes. Mr. Grimes asked if the library had volunteer hours available. Ms. Lannon said there may be opportunities and that there is quite a bit of work going on behind the scenes at the library. Ms. Collins asked if the Trustees could make a statement of support regarding early voting. Motion to accept the following statement of support for early voting: The Board of Library Trustees is proud to continue its support of the democratic process by providing access to our facility as an early voting location for the 2020 presidential election. (Vernier, Dubois) Vote:Approved 5-0 VII. Executive Session (Security) Motion to move to Executive Session to discuss security(Vernier, Grimes) Vote:Approved(5-0) 7:52 pm Motion to leave Executive Session (Verner, Dubois) Vote:Approved(5-0) 8:27 pm Ms. Vernier asked that when September minutes are clarified that corrected minutes be sent to the individual who requested them. Motion: To Adjourn (Dubois, Grimes) Vote: Approved 5-0 Adjournment at 8:31 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Alice Collins, Secretary Page 14