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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-04-13 Board of Library Trustees MinutesBoard of Library Trustees Minutes of Meeting - April 13, 1987 Conference Room - Reading Public Library - 8:00 p.m. Present: Mr. William Diamond, Chairman; Mrs. Elia Dangelmaier, Ms. Cherrie Dubois; Mr. Robert Fields; Dr. Christine Redford Absent: Mrs. Carol Beckwith Mr. Diamond called the meeting to order at 8:20 p.m. Minutes: Ms. Dubois moved to accept the minutes as presented; Mr. Fields seconded. The motion passed. Financial Report: Deficits will appear in the Water & Sewer account, the Personal account (for the water cooler), and the Telephone account. Sufficient funds will remain in other areas -to offset the deficits. Statistical Report: Due to a problem with the circulation statistics, which came from the central site, no accurate monthly statistics are available. CLSI has been contacted and is working to rectify the problem. Director's Report: One addition was made to the written report (attached). The INFOTRA~C periodials' index on laser disc will be leased for the remainder of this fiscal year at a cost of $400. The microfilm Magazine Index will be returned during this period. In the interim, various possibilities will be investigated such as buying our own hardware vs leasing to assess the feasibility of continuing the service next year. Communications: 1) A donation of $150 was received from Richard Reed, a former library staff member, and has been deposited'to the NEH account. 2) A memo from Peter Hechenbleikner reports that Mr. Eugene Nigro will be the Board of Selectmen's liaison to the Human Services Department, to which the library has been assigned. 3) A letter from Ellen Moore Quinn was read requesting permission for use of the meeting room for a Celtic Christmas concert funded by the Reading Arts Council. The concert will be open to the public and free of charge; she will use a guitar and other small instruments. There were no objections to granting permission. 4) A letter was read from Mr. Roland Piggford, director of the Massa- chusetts Board of Library Commissioners regarding a MLA Pre-conference on Salaries, jointly sponsored by MLA, MLTA and MBLC on.Sunday, May 3. The letter invites Trustees to participate. Unfinished Business: 1) The Garden Club submitted an estimate of $250 for purchas- ing Christmas decorations for the library. Mr. Fields moved to expend the requested funds; Ms. Dubois seconded. The motion passed. 2) Regard- ing the trust fund interest which has been encumbered from FY86, the Town Treasurer, Beth Klepeis, will prepare a statement on the status of funds for the next meeting. 3) An estimate of $750 was received from Richard Surette to install a window in the circulation area into the foyer. Ms. Dubois moved to expend funds, (to be taken from the NEH or Library Incentive Grant). Mr. Fields seconded . Motion passed. 4) A discussion took place on replacing the glass and metal exterior doors in the Local History Room with wooden, 6 panel doors. An estimate of $1950 was received which includes brass hardware and panic bars. Mrs. Dangelmaier made a motion to expend the funds; Dr. Redford seconded. The motion passed. -2- New Business: The library is attempting to obtain permission from Dorothy Cox, who holds the copyright, to transfer to videotape An Old Fashioned Woman, a film about Mabel Coolidge. Estimates range from _$_60 to X300. The quality of the reproduction will be investigated. 2) A memorandum regarding patron fines was discussed. It was proposed that as of May 15 all fines will be cleared; patrons will have a "clean slate". The delinquency status of $1.00 in fines or 3 overdue items or $10.00 in bills will be observed. In addition, telephone renewals will be limited to 5 items at any one time. The maximum number of renewals of each item will be 2. Publicity will be sufficient to alert patrons to the changes. All Trustees agreed to the change. 3) A report on the status of the Art of the Book grant was distributed. A discussion took place on applying for a one-year extension to the grant. It was agreed that the Library will decline to apply for an extension to the grant as it is presently administered by the Massachusetts Council. Mrs. Dangelmaier abstained. 4) A proposal was presented to the Trustees for the Reference Department to offer to sell to patrons at cost copies of the Massachusetts and Reading gun laws. The Friends of the Library will be asked for funds to purchase a small number of the publication; payment will be transferred to the Friends for funding additional copies. Copies for loan will also be available, and patrons will be given the option to borrow or purchase the items. 5) It was requested that the issue of the bicycle rack be placed on the next agenda. Mrs. Dangelmaier made a motion to adjourn; Ms. Dubois seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, I'M" ~ • CLtwLmlai v Nancy S. Aberman Assistant Director and Clerk to the Board } Director's Report April 13, 1987 Personnel We just received word that Reading has been awarded two more honors in the MLA Public Relations awards: first place for the videotape on services to senior citizens and merit for the Gentle Reader newsletter. Non-professional staff members attended a meeting at Town Hall to discuss recently negotiated wage and classification study. All non-professional staff members have completed the required questionnaires and some have been interviewed by the consultants from the Massachusetts Municipal Association. The study will classify each position with others that are similar in requirements, level of responsibility, etc. Salary ranges will be established after studying those in similar communities and in the private sector. Diane Young attended a conference on CD-ROM sponsored by NEMICRO. Nancy Aberman attended a workshop on Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf sponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Deafness. The Technical Services Department is busily barcoding and inputting the local history collection. This is a difficult and challenging task which Muf Shaw has undertaken to ensure that the entire collection is in the database before NOBLE sends it out for upgrading. All members of the staff deserve a commendation for their relentless efforts to get all our circulation data into the computer within two and a half days once the computer came back up. In the end we were without the system for nine days. We had tremendous cooperation from all departments and that resulted in a minimum of confusion for our patrons. Building Charlie Darby sent over an electrician to repair one of the globes in the of the building and two lights in the secretary's closet. He has also made arrangements for the light at the Middlesex Avenue entrance to be repaired.'The front of the building is almost completely dark now. Somehow the bicycle rack was destroyed during the snow season. My best guess is that it was buried in the snow and was mashed by the snow plow. It was beyond repair so I had Peter Sheridan dispose of it. Some of our new furniture has begun to arrive. The Assistant Director's desk and the Director's credenza arrived intact. Unfortunately the Director's desk was damaged. We are awaiting a replacement. In any event the furniture looks very attractive in our respective offices, and, more importantly, it is comfortable and a joy to use. Our computer equipment has arrived and should be installed any day. Nancy will be taking a free 4 hour introduction compliments of the vendor. In spite of torrential rains the building remained remarkably dry. The only two major wet spots that I could find were the door frames of the tower emergency exits. Services Programs -2- Regular story hours for 2,3,4, and 5 year olds began. Senior Coffee Hour on Soviet Union. Art of the Book Sara Sutro,- Eaton School; Donna Diamond - Eaton and Barrows schools; Joyce Zarins - Parker; Bruce MacMillan - RMHS; John Bellairs - Parker and Coolidge; Robert McClung - Barrows and Eaton; Virginia Tasjian - Birch Meadow. Mark Feeney, book review editor for the Boston Globe spoke at the Library. Children's Librarian Corinne Fisher visited four fourth grade classes at Killam, Sixth graders from Parker came to the Library for a storytelling program by Jennifer Justice and two sixth grade classes came to the Library for tours given by Ms. Fisher and Young Adult Librarian, Sally McDonald. Library visits/tours Three first grade classes and one second grade class from Eaton Blue Birds Peter Pan Nursery Doreen Bolnick has introduced a large print version of our monthly newsletter OFF THE SHELF. The annual trip to the Boston Pops has been scheduled for Wednesday evening, May 13. Brenda Wettergreen will be handling the arrangements. Administrative I attended a management seminar, along with the other town department heads and the Town Manager, to clarify each department's role vis-a-vis the new Charter. It was a useful and productive session. I was the guest of Rep. Geoff Beckwith on his cable television program "Beacon Hill Update". It should be broadcast within the next week or two. Orders for all "wish list" items have been placed. We are anxiously awaiting their arrival. On the 25th of March the CD-ROM component of Info•trac (whi:ch we have on demonstration) was stolen. We had a few verv tenuous clues which we relayed to the detective division of the police dept. At their suggestion we,' contacted the junior high school principals for assistance. Mr. DelaneygPrincipal of the Parker Jr. High was able to identify the student involved and recover the stolen disc. The young man involved returned the disc to me accompanied by the Parker Vice-Principal. Parents of the students involved have been contacted by Mr., Delaney and he planned to meet with all of them. We couldn't have wished for better cooperation from our colleagues in the schools. Respectfully submitted, Susan M. Flannery Director