HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-11-22 Board of Library Trustees Minutes"ASS.
Board of Library Trustees
Minutes of Meeting - November 22, 1999
1q4 rrt MPiaLJSi& ggi, chair; Stephen Conner; Donna InDelicato, Cherrie Dubois; Richard
Ogden, Christine Redford.
Also present: Matt Cummings, selectman liaison.
Mr. Conner called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
Minutes: The minutes of October 18 were accepted.
Financial report: We are starting to spend the security system capital. Close to $10,009-is
expected in additional state aid. Mr. Ogden asked if push came to shove, could this°fiew
$10,000 be used to support the new program requests, e.g., extra hours in Technical Services?
State aid can be used for anything. Next fiscal year, the Library should get another $9,000-
10,000 for surpassing minimum requirements. The Director expects to have to spend a chunk
of this FY's additional aid on materials, because of the 15% requirement.
Statistical report: Circulation is down, the lowest October we've had in years. Ms. Brennan
suggested that the opening of the YMCA impacted library use, providing another outlet for
family activity. She is encouraging the development of programs shared between the Library
and the Y, perhaps a library outlet at the Y. Concerning theories that information gotten from
the Internet causes a decline in borrowing, Ms. Young reported that circulation is down in
every category, not just nonfiction. The Library currently samples Internet use, by time, on
several workstations throughout the building. We are reluctant to invest in software that
collects information on Internet use until the Board of Library Commissioners determines
what statistics should be collected.
Report from the Chairman: Members of the board attended diversity training, the financial
forum, and a budget meeting with the Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager.
Director's report: There is no additional staff time budgeted to process materials for the new
security system. We are relying on staff, primarily pages, and a few volunteers to give time to
the project. Ms. Young was thanked for housing the Husariks for one week while they
processed books as volunteers. The system will be installed next week.
NMRLS received only two proposals for after-hours reference service, one from Reading and
one from Andover, who proposed outsourcing the service outside the library. A team will
evaluate the proposals and reissue an RFP.
The Board agreed to Ms. Brennan's suggestion that young adult and adult services librarians
-give occasional reports to the Board, also.
The Director asked the Board's support to send three staff members to the Public Library
Association conference in North Caroline in March. The Town Manager indicated he may be
able to supply some of the funds. Motion: to make up from trust funds whatever the Town
Manager cannot pay for the attendance of three people at PLA. The motion passed.
Two focus groups for the planning process were run, only two people attended each. There
was discussion about the value of running them at a later date.
The Friends have $23,000 in the bank. They will be purchasing upholstered chairs to replace
those on the main floor and in the media room, and listening and viewing stations.
Trustee liaison reports: Mrs. Silvaggi reported that the Foundation is doing very well: two
$10,000 gifts were received in the past month, and a donation of stock came in today. The
total is about $310,000. The Library will be getting the first annual check soon. The Dennis
Lehane event was well attended.
Ms. Indelicato reported on the MLTA conference. She was impressed by a "Books for
Babies" program in Philadelphia, the lobbying potential of the 2,581 trustees in the state, and
the MBLC-funded video, "Telling Our Stories." Ms. Brennan will try to get the video shown
at Rotary and Chamber of Commerce meetings and on cable. Fundraisers mentioned at the
conference included a golf tournament and a wine tasting.
Unfinished business: 1) The Board of Selectmen will discuss an override for general
operating expenses at tomorrow night's meeting. Budget projections are ugly. Mrs. Silvaggi
and Ms. Brennan met with the Assistant Town Manager and gave him background
information on state aid requirements and Sunday pay.
2) Data from planning process surveys was included in the mailed packet.
3) Action on the film festival has been suspended. The Board was asked to develop a list of
questions, both philosophical and practical, that need to be addressed before we proceed.
Members of the Board differed as to whether a film festival is part of what this library should
do. Issues raised included: will content be appropriate to be shown in a library? How will we
stretch people if we always worry about what they're going to say? Alcohol in the field house
for the 350t' generated a lot of controversy. What is the correlation between the content of
what is shown at the festival and what is purchased for the Library's collection? If we want to
present film as a literary medium, we want to put our best foot forward. This issue never came
up in the Library-sponsored art shows. The film judges should keep the sense of the
community in mind during selection. A desire to safeguard the reputation of the Library was
expressed, as was an unwillingness to be the moral arbiter of the community.
Mr. Conner voiced the blended opinion of the Board as a very cautious okay. The concept
will be revisited when the fact-based questions have been answered. The Board will discuss
the topic of what needs to come before the Board.
New business: 1) The Board will evaluate Ms. Brennan's performance at its next meeting.
Trustees would like to see the goals established by the Town Manager and the Director, and
the evaluation of the Director by the division heads.
- 2) The Girls Scouts have requested permission to sell cookies at the Library for a week in
January. The Board concluded that, if it is not prohibited by Town policy, they may sell
cookies in the Library for one day only. The Director will determine that and respond
accordingly to the Girl Scouts.
3) NOBLE is about to implement a new circulation system. The vendor is III (Innovative
Interfaces, Inc.). The circulation system will go down on December 10 while the network
switches over to the III system. The downtime will be transparent to the user. The III system
is Y2K compliant.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
Diane J. Yo ng
Assistant Director