HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-11-17 Board of Library Trustees Minutespf
s Board of Library Trustees
Nlinutes of Meeting - November 17, 1997
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Present: Mrs. Maria Silvaggr chair; Mr. Stephen Conner; Mr. Robert Fields; Dr. Christine
Redford.
Absent: Mr. William Diamond; Ms. Cherrie Dubois.
Also present: Mr. Bruce McDonald.
Mrs. Silvaggi called the meeting to order at 7:05.
Minutes: The minutes of October 14 were accepted.
Statistical report: The trend is upward. The state average of circulation per capita is seven, and
Reading is seventeen.
Report from the Chairman: Mr. Fields moved that Karen Sawyer be the Board's nominee for
the Millenium Committee.
Mrs. Silvaggi related her experience with the Budget Council, whose meetings she has been
attending. It would behoove the Board to make a formal request of the Council for the Board to
become an official member. Mr. McDonald noted that Budget Council meetings are public
meetings: each board calls a meeting, then they hear a common report. It makes sense to him for
the Library Board to be represented. Mrs. Silvaggi thinks that the Budget Council may become
engrained in Town budget activity. The Library should be involved because 1) technology is a
budget-busting issue and that is the Library's future, and 2) the Library has major salary issues.
Decisions about the Town's budget are being made apart from an arena in which the Library can
participate. Concern was expressed about the three boards going into joint executive session.
The possibility of a single representative instead of frill board membership was discussed. Mr.
Conner said that the chosen designate path does not give the Board the power that it needs; for
instance, it was not part of the conversation about building maintenance consolidation. Mr.
McDonald said that the Board will need to present a rationale for its inclusion; the question will
arise, Why not other boards? Mr. Conner moved that the Board of Trustees petition the Budget
Council for participation on a full board basis. The motion passed unanimously, with a letter
from Cherrie Dubois offering her supporting vote. Mrs. Silvaggi will update Mr. Diamond. The
Council's next meetings are January 28 and March 4.
Mrs. Silvaggi thanked Mr. McDonald for his attendance and activity as a liaison to the Board of
Selectmen. He will also be a member of the Library's long-range planning committee.
Unfinished business: 1) Budget: The numbers are not yet done. The major issue is salary. The
Town uses as comparison Belmont, North Andover, Andover, Tewskbury, Wakefield, and
Wilmington. The Library adds Belmont, Concord and Hingham, because they have similar
levels of library service. Reading answers the most reference questions of that group, but our
librarians' salaries are not at the top. Reference questions are our most expensive service because
of the expertise they require. The Town Manager has asked the Director to submit salary
increases as a "new program" with rough numbers. He said that increases may not have to wait
until next fiscal year.
Ms. Hanley informed the trustees that nonprint items account for twenty percent of adult
circulation, and should be supported by a comparable~percentage of the materials appropriation,
that is, at least $18,000. Audiobooks especially are expensive. The Board agreed that additional
- money for that line item should be requested, as long as the priority-salaries-is clear.
Ms. Hanley asked Mr. McDonald why step raises were not on the list of town budget priorities,
since it is the highest priority for all department heads. He responded that the list was developed
independently by the Selectmen, without the Town Manager's input.
The Board approved the Director's approach to the budget. It will be approved formally at the
December 9 meeting. The Library would prefer that step raises be handled in a way other than as
a "new program," and that they appear in each department's budget.
2) HVAC: The completion date for the HVAC project is still mid-December. The electricity was
shut down Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and a huge electrical pane was installed overnight. However,
the electrical conduits barely miss the biography shelves, which will have to be corrected. To
avoid closing the Children's Room, work was done on Veteran's Day.
3) Building maintenance: There is a problem with the turnstile installation.
4) Long range planning committee: Dick Ogden and Bruce McDonald have both agreed to
serve on the long-range planning committee, which will kick off in the new year.
Liaison reports: The staff Christmas party is Friday, December 12 and trustees are invited to
join in hors d'oeuvres at 5:30. The Friends' Nutcracker trip is sold out. A trip to see "The Diary
of Anne Frank," which the Friends sponsored was successful.
New business: The Director and Chair reported on an excellent MLTA/1NIFOL conference. Mrs.
Silvaggi enjoyed the chance to talk to other trustees.
The Director would like to have last year's evaluation given to her to be added to her personnel
file. In the future, these evaluations will be the basis for raises. The Board will receive a copy of
the staff's evaluation of the Director. Ms. Hanley will fill out an evaluation form for hersel f to
give to the Board, and will also evaluate the Board.
Both budget and evaluation will be covered at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.rn.
Diane J. Young
Assistant Director