HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-02-11 Board of Library Trustees MinutesBoard of Library Trustees
Minutes of Meeting - February 11, 2002
Present: Stephen Conner chair; Donna InDelicato; Roberta McRae; Eugene Nigro; Maria
Silvaggi.
Mr. Conner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Minutes: The minutes of January 14 were accepted.
Financial report: Shelving for the picture book room cost $3,000. The Director proposes to
pay the bill from the Edward Appleton trust fund, pending approval of the Town Treasurer.
Statistical report:- Interlibrary loan statistics continue to rise, especially outgoing ILLS. The
increase is desirable, but changes the workload.
Chair's report: Mr. Conner will give a state-of-the-library report at Town Meeting. He asked
board members to pass along suggestions for what to cover to the Director or himself.
Director's report: Mary Jo Nordstrom is resigning in a month. Carol Macomber has been
hired for the position. Carol will continue to work as a page for ROC.
It looks like Nextel is going to contract with the Old Schoolhouse condominiums for their
antennas, and has dropped the Library as a potential site.
There was a flood in the basement level on February 12, with seepage in the boiler room and
near both sets of stairs. The cause, a sewer blockage in the middle of the front lawn, had
probably been developing over time. Custodian John Davis handled it very well. No damage
is apparent, although the carpet is frayed and worn through from use in those areas. The
Health Department approved the measures that were taken to clean up.
Police Officer Pat Iapicca is running for trustee. If elected, he would ask the Selectmen to
resolve the conflict of interest.
The Library is in the process of signing up to participate in a 24/7 Web-based reference
service developed by a California library system. Each participating library is required to be
available ten hours a week to answer questions that come in to the 24/7 Website from
anywhere. For Reading, these ten hours will be during ROC shifts. NMRLS will reimburse
the Library for the monthly fee and the training, and will pay the $4,000 joining fee. The
contract will be between the Reading Public Library and "24/7 Reference," an organization
administered by the California State Library. Reading should be up and running on the service
within a month. The Boston and Andover libraries are already participating.
The recent business center breakfast and Chamber of Commerce meeting have resulted in the
perfect kind of contacts for the Library. Ms. McRae heard very positive feedback about the
business center from some freelancers.
I
Ms. Lynn asked the trustees to sign up for time slots for the Open House on March 23.
FY00 bE Ott: The Selectmen meet tomorrow night to cut the F`_ '3 budget. The Library
requires a minimum of $816,665 to meet state certification requirements. Staffing of public
desks for full service costs $129 per hour. Some libraries use all of their state aid for materials
in order to meet the materials expenditure requirement.
Corporate sponsorships of Web site: She would like the Board to consider how to handle
corporate sponsorships on the Library's Web site. A company has asked about it. She would
like to feature a sponsor each month, for instance, with a link to the rest of the sponsors. The
sponsors would pay a fee to the Library. Issues to consider: is endorsement implied? can we
be selective? Ms. Lynn is waiting to receive a copy of the Palmer library's policy. She has
been speaking to a designer about a possible redesign of the Library's Web site. Mr. Nigro
requested a link to the Foundation on the Web site.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 in order for member to attend the Financial Forum.
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Diane J. Young
Assistant Director