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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-11-19 Board of Library Trustees Minutes1 Board of Library Trustees Minutes of Meeting November 19, 1996 J it Present: Ms. Cherrie Dubois, chair; Mr. Robert Fields; Dr. Christine Redford; Mrs. Maria Silvaggi. Absent: Mr. Stephen Conner; Mr. William Diamond, due to illness. Also present: Mary Bastiani. Ms. Dubois called the meeting to order at 7:05. Minutes: Mrs. Silvaggi moved that the minutes of October 21 be approved. The motion passed. Financial report: Town Meeting approved budget transfers for the NOBLE line item ($891) and for supplies ($5053). These transfers will show on the next financial report. The state aid has been received ($26,000). Statistical report: Inactive card holders will be dropped from the database in a year or two. - Director's report: The Children's Room desk will be dedicated on Sunday at 2 p.m. in memory of Ernest Nigro. Some potential furniture for the picture book room is on loan to be tried out. HVAC for the top floor will be redone this fiscal year, perhaps in February or March. Ms. Hanley pointed out the extremely small air intake for the building. Silent bids are being sought for duplicate books from the Local History collection. The main floor catalog workstations will be moved to an area in front of the reference desk, for aesthetic and space reasons. Report from the Friends: A performance of Amelia Earhart will be the highlight of the annual meeting. Ann Marie Downing is the new chair for the house tour. Over seventy people attended the Coffee Hour this morning. Unfinished business: 1) Members of the Board expressed preferences for liaison assignments: Mr. Fields would like to continue as the building liaison; Dr. Redford is interested in either the Friends or staff assignment. These will be finalized next month when all members are present. 2) The Foundation steering committee held a very productive meeting last night. The next meeting is scheduled for December 3 (generally, the first Tuesday of each month). They established five standing committees. The Articles of Incorporation were filed and accepted. A bank account has been established. Tax exempt status is in process. 3) A draft of Board bylaws was reviewed and commented on. It was remarked that Article VII is not intended to give the Chair carte blanche. After revision, these bylaws will go to Town Counsel. 4) Trustee goals, as developed by Mrs. Silvaggi, were reviewed and revised. It was suggested that the goals be printed on the back side of the agenda every month. Ms. Dubois proposed that self-evaluations be done now and in June to determine progress. A record of Board members' activities relative to the goals will be kept in the minutes. 5) A draft of the Director's contract will be mailed to the Board. Ms. Hanley informed the Board that she has applied for the position of Director of the Wellesley Free Library. There was Board of Library Trustees Minutes of Meeting November 19, 1996 10 Present: Ms. Cherrie Dubois, chair; Mr. Robert Fields; Dr. Christine Redford; Mrs. Maria Silvaggi. Absent: Mr. Stephen Conner; Mr. William Diamond. Also present: Mary Bastiani. Ms. Dubois called the meeting to order at 7:05. Minutes: Mrs. Silvaggi moved that the minutes of October 21 be approved. The motion passed. Financial report: Town Meeting approved budget transfers for the NOBLE line item ($891) and for supplies ($5053). These transfers will show on the next financial report. The state aid has been received ($26,000). Statistical report: Inactive card holders will be dropped from the database in a year or two. Director's report: The Children's Room desk will be dedicated on Sunday at 2 p.m. in memory of Ernest Nigro. Some potential furniture for the picture book room is on loan to be tried out. HVAC for the top floor will be redone this fiscal year, perhaps in February or March. Ms. Hanley pointed out the extremely small air intake for the building. Silent bids are being sought for duplicate books from the Local History collection. The main floor catalog workstations will be moved to an area in front of the reference desk, for aesthetic and space reasons. Report from the Friends: A performance of Amelia Earhart will be the highlight of the annual meeting. Ann Marie Downing is the new chair for the house tour. Over seventy people attended the Coffee Hour this morning. Unfinished business: 1) Members of the Board expressed preferences for liaison assignments: Mr. Fields would like to continue as the building liaison; Dr. Redford is interested in either the Friends or staff assignment. These will be finalized next month when all members are present. 2) The Foundation steering committee held a very productive meeting last night. The next meeting is scheduled for December 3 (generally, the first Tuesday of each month). They established five standing committees. The Articles of Incorporation were filed and accepted. A bank account has been established. Tax exempt status is in process. 3) A draft of Board bylaws was reviewed and commented on. It was remarked that Article VII is not intended to give the Chair carte blanche. After revision, these bylaws will go to Town Counsel. 4) Trustee goals, as developed by Mrs. Silvaggi, were reviewed and revised. It was suggested that the goals be printed on the back side of the agenda every month. Ms. Dubois proposed that self-evaluations be done now and in June to determine progress. A record of Board members' activities relative to the goals will be kept in the minutes. 5) A draft of the Director's contract will be mailed to the Board. Ms. Hanley informed the Board that she has applied for the position of Director of the Wellesley Free Library. Therewas discussion about the Director's salary and classification, which had been brought up by Mr. Fields at the June meeting. A salary survey of some area libraries shows that the average director's salary --'t is $56,000-57,000. Board members discussed potential criteria for determining salary range: extent of responsibility, comparison to other towns, comparison to other departments re hours and number of people served. 6) The calendar draft was reviewed. Members appreciated that activities related to liaison assignments are all laid out in it. 7) There is no new information on the school/library project. New business: 1) The Director urged Board members to attend the meeting with the neighbors on December 2. The neighbors are much happier than they were, and Ms. Hanley acknowledged the work of many people that contributed to that. 2) Board members will each do an evaluation of the Director for the next meeting, using the form. Ms. Hanley will mail her goals for last year and the staffs evaluation of her. 3) Ms. Dubois said that the budget arguments in the proposed budget are very good, and the capital budget in particular is excellent. The cafe, proposed in the capital budget, may serve light food. It would be located by the windows near the young adult area and integrated into the library. The cost for the cafe would be about $11,000 including plumbing. An alternate idea is to change the location of the front entrance, by constructing a glass enclosure that extends out to the landing. A motion was made to accept the budget and .capital plan as presented. The motion passed. The Director and Mrs. Silvaggi will meet with the Town Manager on Friday to go over the budget. t The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diane J. Yo Assistant Director