Board of
Library Trustees Meeting
August 1, 2006
7:00 p.m.
Attendees:
Meena Jain
Nina Hunt, Acting Director
William Roberts, Secretary
Chuck Rockwood
Wendy Rowe, Chairman
Citizens:
Judith Moffatt
Minutes:
Motion to approve agenda: (MJ1, WLR2) passed unanimously
Motion to approve the July 11 Minutes: (WLR1, MJ2) passed unanimously
Our citizen chose to bide her time and spoke helpfully later about fundraising and other topics
The one lone lorn bill was overwhelmed and signed by four trustees
Senior center volunteers may deliver books to shut-ins
John from the DPW cleaned most of the gutters. Hopefully this will help with the mold problem.
There was a discussion of Museum Passes. This is another pleasant dilemma. Many of these passes are expensive (generally the more expensive the more they're used too). The Friends have been paying for them, but the Friends are now being tapped for our materials and other expenses (all the town money is going to salaries) and don't feel like they can keep paying for these and take over the ones that had previously been paid for by the library. However the passes are popular and do bring people into the library. There was a suggestion that the passes be put on the giving tree.
Did not go well. Town Administrator generally felt that any available money should be saved in reserve accounts.
Suggested that Chuck gear it for money for materials. May ask later for donations for a silent auction. Some discussion of this, possibly get energetic volunteers to take the lead. A committee seemed a good idea.
Need to get Holiday Schedule to Metrowest
Need to start procedure for replacing her. This involves posting the vacancy (via a letter to the Town Administrator), then the trustees interview any candidates, and choose. The lucky winner is then a temporary trustee and must run for election in the spring (presuming they want to of course).
Wendy has been talking with the state about what the exact wording of the Revolving Fund Warrant should be. It's a bit tricky since it's fine for fines and printer and copier fees to be used for general library operation (like our Minuteman Bill) however funds from meeting room usage should really be spent on the meeting rooms (custodial services, mold eradication, etc).
We need this warrant so that the Revolving Fund can be counted by the MBLC as part of our Municipal appropriation.
We need a Special Town Meeting to authorize our revolving account, specifically allocate our staff health insurance costs in a line item, and give us 88K in a additional money to bring us up to the level of spending that will allow the MBLC to consider us for a waiver.
This needs to happen in September as we need to hire some staff in order to be open 32 hours to meet the minimum hours open for certification. We need to be open 32 hours come October.
It's the Selectmen who generally call Special Town Meetings (if they balk, we'll need to have a petition drive), so:
Motion to ask the Selectmen to call a Special Town Meeting to be held before the end of September: (WLR1, CR2) passed unanimously
Wendy will have the exact wording of the library articles for that Town Meeting at our next meeting (August 15).
They need access to empty the dehumidifiers, change light bulbs etc so:
Motion to give John from the DPS the keys and security code: (MJ1, WLR2) passed unanimously
Difficulty in hanging the quilts. Need to be hung from the ceiling. Walter always used to do it. Chuck volunteered to teeter on a ladder and hang them.
Discussion of what to do if we're down to only 1 staff due to sickness or other emergencies. It was generally felt that it was OK to operate with just one staff member and a trustee or reputable volunteer for a short period of time (like an hour). Operating for a whole day with just one staff member is another matter. The staff are the only ones who can check in & check out materials and are the only ones really trained. The trustees did not choose at this time to change the current policy of closing if only one staff member is available.
We will need to make our policy formal at the next meeting.
There was a suggestion that we post the policy at the circulation desk so possibly it won't be such a surprise when it happens.
Motion to adjourn: (MJ1, WLR2) passed unanimously.
* - Table of additional plagues we can be looking out for soon.
Director’s Report
August 1, 2007
There are six topics for this report:
Mold is growing at a rampant pace throughout the lower level. John, the DPS worker in charge of the library, recommends that we lower the thermostats to reduce moisture/humidity in the building. I have explained to him that lowering the thermostats is not an option at this point since we lack the funds to pay for it. He is presently running two humidifiers in the Cole room and has the air conditioner down to 68 degrees. The mold is still growing rapidly. John is also examining options on how to fix the problem.
John has requested Walter’s keys and the security codes to the building so that he can do various projects when no one is available like empting the humidifiers and changing light bulbs.
The Large Print books have been actively weeded and withdrawn. Bill and Missy at the Senior Center are working out a plan to take the better ones over to the Center.
I have begun working on the Biography section. In the first phase, I took the very old volumes that are, for the most part, in poor condition and no longer read. Because they are of historical value, I placed them into storage and changed their library designation to “Library use only”. This includes Louisa May Alcott’s “autobiographical” letters, Byrd’s autobiography and others of this sort. There are three main reasons for putting them in storage:
They are in very poor condition with brittle or loose pages.
It creates more room in the biographical section without losing valuable information.
A few of the books are of significant value.
Bill has been notified of the lack of decision on the part of the selectman and the probability the problem will go into arbitration.
Respectfully submitted,
Nina M. Hunt
Acting Director/Children’s Librarian