HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-02-10 Board of Library Trustees MinutesBoard of Library Trustees
Minutes of Meeting February 10, 1997
Present: Ms. Cherrie Dubois, chair; Mr. Stephen Conner; Mr. William Diamond; Mr. Robert'
Fields; Dr. Christine Redford; Mrs. Maria Silvaggi.
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Mr. Conner called the meeting to order at 7:10.
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Minutes: The minutes of January 13 were accepted.
Financial report: The Cripps and Pratt donations are being transferred to the Foundation in
tonight's bills.
Ms. Dubois took the chair at 7:15.
Report of the chair: The Endowment committee heard a presentation from Fidelity on services
available for managing investments.
Unfinished business: The Director and Mrs. Silvaggi presented the budget to the Finance
Committee last week. Ms. Hanley distributed the list of Selectmen's priorities and a draft of the
new classification plan. The Town Manager has not given out the capital budget yet.
The recommended budget from the Town Manager includes most of the money requested for
Saturdays in summer, some of the money requested for interlibrary loan clerical support, and all of
the additional materials money. The discussion at the Finance Committee centered mostly around
capital. Ms. Hanley pushed for money for chairs. Some FinComm members were taken with the
idea of postponing the parking lot.
The classification plan does not include many changes. The Town Manager acknowledged that
positions at the Reading Library cannot be compared to those at the towns generally used for
comparison; they must be compared to those at libraries of similar size, services, and use. The
Director is preparing figures form comparable libraries for all positions.
There is a gap of $15,000 now between the proposed salary for the Director and the salary for the
Assistant Director. The technicians are very upset and unhappy: they think that they are in the
wrong grade based on the job descriptions of nearby positions. The inclusion of the library page
on the classification schedule was a mistake. These positions need to be addressed: Assistant
Director, division heads, librarians, technicians. Another major issue is that reclassification is the
only way to get raises.
Mrs. Silvaggi made a motion that the Board write a letter of acknowledgment to the Town
Manager incorporating Mr. Diamond's suggestion that the Board reiterate firmly its intention to
resolve the problems in the draft classification schedule. The motion passed unanimously. Ms.
Hanley offered to draft the letter.
New business: 1) The April meeting was changed to April 7 to avoid conflicts with Town
Meeting.
2) Two representatives of the Board of Library Commissioners, Rob Maier and Elia Marnik, will
attend the May 19 meeting.
3) A legislative breakfast will be held on Friday, March 7, from 8 to 9 am at the Reading Library.
Legislators from fifty towns of the new region, chairs of trustee boards, Friends' presidents, and
directors are invited.
4) The State Strategic Plan was refiled; it was not completely passed last year. Five million dollars
is being sought for FY98 and one million dollars for FY99. A construction bill is pending also.
The eleventh annual Legislative Day will be held at the State House on Wednesday, April 9 at 11
am. to ask legislators to support this bill.
5) The Library is applying for $1000 from the Celebration Commitee for rebinding of local history
materials.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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Diane J. Yo g
Assistant Director