HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-10-15 Board of Library Trustees MinutesBoard of Library Trustees
Minutes of Meeting - October 15, 1990
Conference Room - Reading Public Library - 6:00 p.m.
Present: Dr. Christine Redford, chair; Mrs. Carol Beckwith; Ms. Cherrie
Dubois; Mr. Robert Fields; Mrs. Elia Marnik.
Absent: Mr. William Diamond.
Dr. Redford called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.
Minutes: Mr. Fields moved that the minutes of September 17 be approved.
The motion passed.
Financial report: The book budget may look overspent considering the time
of year, but it includes the annual magazine subscription bill of $5000.
Balances in special funds are now included on the financial statement. The
state aid portion of the Board of Library Commissioners' budget is still
intact. It is hoped that the library will receive about $20,000 in state
aid within a few months.
Director's report: Ben Nichols informed the Director of Linda Long's
interest in establishing a trust fund for the library. Mrs. Long is a
former Reading resident. She would like to make a donation of about $5000,
possibly following up with another amount from her estate. Ms. Flannery
will write a letter to Mrs. Long.
Unfinished business: 1) Ms. Dubois asked if Beverly Levy's departure is a
forerunner of things to come. The Director responded that Mrs. Levy wanted
more hours and more responsibility, which the Reading Library could not
provide for her. Ms. Flannery and Mrs. Alworth are delighted with the
person who has just been hired. There were about seventy applicants for
the position.
2) The Selectmen did receive the Trustees' letter of June 19 concerning
reclassification. Their response was to tell the Town Manager to get the
project done. After many delays, Ms. Flannery offered to retrieve the
information and work done thus far by Doris Fantasia, which she did.
However, some of the work that Mrs. Fantasia completed seems to be lost in
her computer.
Because the Selectmen want all departments reclassified simultaneously,
about ten to fifteen job descriptions need to be written for other
departments before the reclassification can be implemented. Ms. Flannery
expects that this will require twenty hours of her time if she and Mr.
Hechenbleikner split the work. Mrs. Marnik strongly objected to using
library time to write job descriptions for other town positions. Members
of the Board concurred. Mrs. Beckwith recommended that the Director should
be paid for this work on an hourly basis from the Town Manager's account.
Ms. Flannery presented her opinion that reclassification is the most
important thing she needs to get done this year. The Board agreed to its
importance, but decided to arrange a meeting with the Town Manager to
discuss remuneration for Ms. Flannery. If Mr. Hechenbleikner does not
,agree to this, the Board could petition the Selectmen to have the library's
'professional staff be reclassified separately. Dr. Redford will make an
appointment with the Town Manager within the next two weeks. Mrs. Beckwith
recommended that this matter not be called to the public's attention at
this time.
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New business: 1) Dorothy Alworth reported news of the circulation
division. Five volunteers are doing shelf-reading: David Jesser, Joyce
Phillips, Carl and Jane Soule, and Pat Yirrell. Verna Elison also
contributed a lot of shelf-reading time. Mrs. Alworth commended the
current page staff for their conscientiousness and good work. Allison
DaSilva joined the staff on October 12. Strong reaction to the theft and
mutilation legislation has abated. For about a month, a crowd would form
at the door before the ten o'clock opening.
Mrs. Alworth is calling patrons who have books overdue over 90 days. A
lot of them have moved, making it almost impossible to recover the
materials. After it is decided whether to replace or withdraw materials
that have not been returned, notices go to the Director, who will keep
financial records on what the library's loss rate is. Ms. Flannery noted
that there are many collection agencies who would like to get the library's
business. A patron would have to have a significant dollar amount of
material to make pursuing them seriously worthwhile. She is trying to get
a sense of how many items are missing per delinquent patron. Members of
the Board praised Mrs. Alworth for the time she puts into her job and her
pleasant attitude.
2) Ms. Flannery requested that the Trustees discuss possible FY92
budget cuts, in order to determine the direction she should take in
developing the budget. The directive from the Town was to reduce the
budget by 3.20, i.e. $14,400. Since last year's budget already cut some
hours from all part-time employees, the Director suggested that a position
'be completely eliminated for next fiscal year, although no position is
expendable. Employees must maintain twenty hours per week minimum to
receive benefits. Mrs. Marnik was opposed to eliminating a position,
because it may be permanently lost. Ms. Flannery noted that one completely
new position was created during her tenure.
Ms. Flannery suggested that the card catalog be closed. The library
now duplicates its efforts by supporting a card catalog and an online
catalog. Some members of the Board expressed concern about the adequacy of
the online catalog's software and the reliability of the terminals. The
Director responded that the terminals rarely breakdown, and that other
libraries have not experienced problems in making the switch. The Board
preferred a compromise of opening at ten-thirty and closing at eight-thirty
over closing at eight o'clock. Ms. Flannery could not recommend keeping
the library open between eight and nine p.m. without a reference librarian,
because the circulation staff would be in the uncomfortable position of
being asked questions and not being able to answer them. The reference
staff also monitors the library during that busy hour. .Other
budget-cutting suggestions: close on Monday mornings or for one day a
week, reduce the number of copiers, withdraw from NOBLE, use trust funds,
eliminate weeding, eliminate fines so that the circulation desk could be
staffed by one person instead of two, use the Friends for fund-raising and
thank-you letters, continue to solicit gift donations at Christmas time.
The budget is due to the Town Manager in three weeks. Because a lot hinges
upon Election Day, a meeting was scheduled for Thursday, November 8 at 6
o'clock to settle the FY92 budget.
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3) Myrtle Cook offered to donate a collection of miniatures. The
Director visited the collection and found it fascinating but not
appropriate to the library's mission. The Board agreed not to accept the
donation.
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane J. o g
Assistant Director