HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-05-15 Board of Library Trustees MinutesBoard of Library Trustees
Minutes of Meeting - May 15, 1995
Conference Room - Reading Public Library - 6:00 p.m.
Present: Mrs. Elia Marnik, Mr. William Diamond, Mr. Robert
Fields, Dr. Christine Redford, Mrs. Maria Silvaggi.
Also present: Mrs. Rachel Baumgartner, Mr. Stephen Baumgartner.
Absent: Ms. Cherrie Dubois.
Mrs. Marnik called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Minutes: Mr. Diamond asked that the minutes of April 24 be
amended to include the announcement of the donation of a
microwave oven by Gray's. Mr. Fields moved to accept the minutes
as amended. The motion passed.
Financial report: There are two more bill rolls remaining in the
fiscal year. The budget is on track.
Statistical report: ILL statistics are not available yet for
April. Corrected statistics will be issued when they are
complete.
Chair's report: Town Meeting went very well for the Library.
Bill McLaughlin has been recommended for the Celebration
Committee. The Chair and the Director will be doing some serious
thinking about trust funds over the summer. Mrs. Marnik
encouraged trustees to attend the Friends' annual meeting. The
house tour was a fantastic success, the nicest to date.
Director's report: Ms. Hanley attended the Massachusetts Library
Association conference, and reported that programs on Friends
issues are getting better and more political. Reading received
two PR awards: first place in Coordinated Campaign for the tenth
anniversary celebration, and a second place award for the Wee
Care brochure. Some rugs were cleaned on Friday, in the lobby,
the meeting room and the picture book room. The lobby needs more
work.
This Saturday will see the Friends' book sale, the Garden club's
sale, and 'the Friends' concert. Summer reading club themes are
rainforest/environmental for the. Children's Room (with the idea
.a tree planting on library property) and "Mall Madness" for
young adults.
The Library Services and Construction Act, thirty years old, is
gone now as far as we know, ;which is devastating news for library
service in Reading, the state, and the country. It supports
grants and staff at the Board of Library Commissioners. Ms.
Hanley is expecting to hear from ALA on what we can do to get it
back.
Unfinished business: 1) Ms. Hanley distributed policies on fax
use and Internet use, amended as suggested at the last meeting.
The fee policy is not done yet, it is still being discussed by
division heads and may be sent out before the June meeting. The
Director would like to have a public hearing in June. There was
discussion about staff use of fax and relevance of profit-making
charges. Personal use of the fax machine is treated the same as
use of telephones. The Board authorized the Director to advertise
a
public hearing next month.
2) Dick Ianetti will donate labor. He is coming in Tuesday
evening with elebtrical and plumbing people. The Director will
have more information on Wednesday as to how much labor will be
involved and how much of it will be donated. The cabinets will
be all new and grey. The total is estimated at $12,000. Mr.
Diamond suggested that we solicit appliances at cost, and the
markup could be considered a donation. The Friends will be able
to meet their pledge of $5000 for the kitchen. The Chair asked
to have a report next month on donations for the kitchen that
came directly to the Library. She also urged that, if it came to
a question of a couple of thousand dollars, the job should be
done right the first time. Mrs. Silvaggi asked if this job needs
to go out for public bid.
New business: A report from Nancy Aberman concerning the
Computer Center was distributed. It shows the need to change the
fee structure. The Friends will discuss it at their next meeting
in September.
Friends' update: A tentative budget for the next fiscal year has
been prepared and will be voted on at the annual meeting. The
last coffee hour and the last concert are this week. The Pops
trip sold out, and the Gardner trip was very good. The Friends
will run a bus trip to Newport in September, to the Pops at
Christmastime, and to the Winslow Homer show at the MFA in March.
For this year's summer reading clubs, which straddle the Friends'
fiscal years, they will donate $3200 to the Children's and $1200
to -the Young Adults'. These programs involve over fifty percent
of the school population. The Children's Room will request
program money also from Eugene Nigro. The Friends will be having
a picnic in June or September and the Trustees are welcome to
come.
The meeting was-adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
1
Diane J. oung
Assistant Director