November 2017 Minutes

LIBRARY TRUSTEE MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 16, 2017

The meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m in the Community Room at the library.

In attendance were: Trustees Gloria Parkinson, chairwoman; Wendy Neil, vice chairwoman, Tracy Colangione, Angela DeVivo, Karen Nugent, secretary; and Alex Zapantis. Also in attendance were Library Director Marie Mueller, and Donna Jones, of the Friends of the Bigelow Free Public Library.

The minutes of the October 12, 2017 minutes were unanimously accepted.

There was no public comment.

A motion (made by Ms. DeVivo; seconded by Ms. Nugent) passed unanimously to move discussion of the Community Project, under Old Business, up on the agenda to discuss the update with Ms. Jones, who is experienced in fundraising.

  1. A. Community Room Update:

Ms. Jones said the Friends group would like to fundraise for the library, but needs to get more cohesive, and increase its membership. She mentioned asking the high school Excel Club to help with physical activities. Ms. Jones said paperwork is pending on getting a federal tax identification number,but they have registered with the state as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit.

Ms. Jones said the Friends bylaws also need to be updated.

Ms. Zapantis said she knows the Excel Club and will reach out to them.

Ms. Colangione said she has access to many school groups (PTA, sports) and will give contacts to Ms. Jones and try to help recruit parents to join the Friends.

Ms. Parkinson said she and trustees will distribute information to the Friends pertaining to the library budget, accounts, and gift account in time for their next meeting.

  1. Donation: A gift of $37,000 from the Clinton Home Foundation has been granted to refurbish the Community Room. A  motion (made by Ms. DeVivo; seconded by Ms. Nugent) to accept the $37,000 gift from the foundation and put it into the gift account for refurbishment of the Community Room passed unanimously. Contractors and vendors will be paid from that account.

Ms. Parkinson said the Clinton Home Foundation board was impressed with the quality of the grant writing (by Ms. Mueller.) Library trustees thanked Ms. Mueller for her good work on the request.

  1. Window replacement quotes: Nugent and Ms. Parkinson are still meeting with window and door contractors for the Community Room. Ms. Parkinson will contact Phil Duffy for the door specs. So far, there are two bids: From Michael Record of TMR Siding and Construction in Boylston (verbal); and Mike Tucker of Advanced Glass in Westminster (written.) AGM Glass of Clinton turned down the project due to lack of manpower. The board voted unanimously to have Ms. Mueller call David Priest, a local window contractor, for a third quote.

Ms. Neil suggested looking into prices for new program chairs as well.

NEW BUSINESS

  1. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

 A new action plan will be submitted to the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners by Dec. 1, 2017

  1. The new lights in the Children’s Room have been adjusted to prevent shadows, but more lights are needed as it is now too dark in spots.
  2. There was a $4,000 furnace repair.
  3. The old microfilm reader is broken and cannot be repaired. A new one, which can digitize everything but bound newspapers (the process ruins bindings) would cost around $5,000 including a monitor and printer.
  4. A staff training session is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1, 2017.
  5. SCHEDULE DIRECTOR’S PERFORMANCE REVIEW

A subcommittee of Ms. Parkinson and Ms. DeVivo will work on Ms. Mueller’s performance review and report back to the board. Ms. Mueller celebrated her 4th anniversary as director on Nov. 21.

  1. OPEN MEETING LAW: Trustees were advised to review amended and new sections of the state Open Meeting Law. Ms. Colangione, Ms. DeVivo, and Ms. Neil plan to attend a seminar at the Sudbury library at which it will be discussed. They will report back.

OLD BUSINESS

  1. Community Room refurbishment-see above.
  2. Capital Campaign: Ms. Parkinson is still gathering information, including a PowerPoint presentation. Ms. DeVivo and Ms. Neil are working as the strategic planning committee.
  3. Subcommittee Reports:
  4. Children’s Room Policy: DeVivo and Ms. Zapantis, as a subcommittee, are working on a new policy. Ms. DeVivo spoke with Children’s Room librarians and assistants about their concerns, including teens being left alone at the library all day, hidden spaces such as stairwells where children could potentially be accosted, and parents not picking up their children at closing time.

Ms. Mueller said the library has an existing policy that addresses behavior, but an amendment called “children’s room etiquette” could be added. She said the Leominster library has a separate set of safety guidelines for teens, but also has a separate teen area in their library. Ms. Colangione noted that our policy already states that library employees are not responsible for unattended children.  It was decided that Ms. DeVivo will re-write the latest draft after consulting with Ms. Mueller and trustees.

  1. Publicity and Marketing: Tabled.

NEXT MEETING: Trustees will meet at 6 p.m. Dec. 21, 2017.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Karen Nugent, secretary.