HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - PPMLT - 11/12/2014 Paul Pratt Memorial Library Board of Trustees
November 12,2014
Library Meeting Room, 6 pm.
Present:Teresa Polhemus (Chair), Karen Quigley(Board of Selectman),Agnes McCann, Patience Towle,
Stephen Brown, Marylou Lawrence, Sarah Pease,Jackie Rafferty(Director)
Meeting called to order, 6:05 pm
1. The October 15, 2014 meeting minutes were approved,voted and passed.
2. Director's Report (Rafferty)
a. Jackie spoke with the Town Manager, Chris Senior, and he is enthusiastic about the Library's
plans to expand our hours on Wednesday night. They will be meeting again on November 20
to further discuss the budget for FY16.
b. The Homework Center for this year is going well with 20 participants last week, including
some older students. It was a quiet and productive event.
c. Technology—We are still waiting to hear if we will be able to keep the Dell printer that Rob
Bonnell ordered before he installed the larger copier/printer.The printer is out of ink and is
not currently being used. Jackie polled the staff and they are very interested in keeping it, if
possible. We are still waiting for the fax line to be set up and installed on the copier/printer.
d. The Meeting Room chairs were delivered a few days early with no advance notice. Our
custodian, Henry Rattenbury, was able to come in to help unload them and a storage space
was created near the DVD shelves. We have ordered 2 more dollies for moving and storing
the chairs and will pay for them from the Supplies budget.
e. The Cohasset Building Commissioner, Bob Egan, stopped by to inspect the Our World
meeting room space after we requested more chairs for the next Sunday Author Talk. He
determined that there were sufficient exits and stated that he would be posting a sign that
would specify the maximum capacity of the room.
f. A draft of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners legislative agenda was included
for review as well as the Commonwealth Ebooks Collection Steering Committee goals for
FY16.
g. Jackie discussed the OverDrive ebook platform and explained that they are now requiring
that libraries include a "Buy it Now' button on their site. This has the potential to conflict
with the library's mission to provide free content to our patrons. According to her handout
from American Libraries Magazine, so far there have not been a lot of sales generated by the
button nor many complaints about it.
3. Financial Report/Bills Payable (Rafferty)
a. The outstanding invoices were moved, seconded and approved.
4. Chair's Report(Polhemus)
a. Teresa reopened the discussion about using community resources for library programs.
Steve had recently spoken with Carol Jankowski, Director of the Duxbury Free Library. He
handed out a flow chart that showed how the Duxbury Library is able to empower the staff
and the community to create programs that will engage the patrons. They use focus groups
to identify community members who could run a program and also to gauge interest and
needs. The library benefits from a new larger building which provides the additional space
needed to run the programs.
b. There was a discussion regarding the use of for-profit businesses as presenters and when it
would be appropriate. There were questions regarding an implied Library endorsement of
the presenters and what accommodations should be made to competing businesses. It was
decided that this issue would include both the Programming Committee and the Space
Planning Committee. Steve is planning to attend the next Programming Committee meeting
to continue the discussion.
5. CLT(Brown)
a. The Endowment funds are still doing well since the last meeting. The Investment Committee
recommended 2 minor changes regarding US vs. European holdings. The full board of the
CLT must vote on any changes before they can be implemented.
6. Program Report (Lawrence)
a. The last Sunday Author Talk was very well attended despite the bad weather, with 60-65
people present.
b. The December speaker is David McCullough Jr. which is expected to generate a lot of
interest. Extra copies of his book will be available, as it is a popular Christmas gift.
Unfortunately, his talk is on the same day as the musical presented by the High School.
7. Space Planning Committee (Brown)
a. Jim was not in attendance. Steve gave the update on the Committee's work.
b. The Committee had met briefly and discussed finding more space that could be used for
programming within the constraints of our building. There was a discussion of putting in an
elevator to access the basement more easily,with the possibility of converting the
downstairs space into an archival area. This would free up the Historical Room for other
uses.
c. The Committee discussed their long and short range visions for the Library, as well as their
wish list for the future. It is hoped that the Town Manager will start work on a Town Space
Survey to assess the Town's needs and available space.
8. Building Committee Report (Towle)
a. The fabric has been ordered for the rest of the chairs that need to be recovered and the
estimate is under budget. Any extra fabric and funds will go toward recovering the chairs in
the Community Room.
b. The tiling job for the Community Room is moving forward and Facilities Manager Mark Kelly
is overseeing the project. He is also looking in to some lighting issues that are ongoing.
c. Jackie mentioned that the heating service company is ordering new thermostats in an
attempt to solve the heating and cooling problems we have had in the library. They hope to
have them installed next week.
9. Friends Report(McCann)
a. Gail Flynn was not present. Agnes McCann gave the report.
b. The Friends have raised almost$7000 so far in the current fundraising campaign. The thank
you notes to large donors will be delayed until the stickers arrive that are to be included in
the notes.
c. The Christmas ornament fundraiser will be postponed until next year.
Meeting adjourned at 7:09 pm.
Documents:
Minutes of the October 15, 2014 Trustees Meeting
November FY15 Financial Report
FY15 November 12, 2014 Warrant
Library Trustees Authorization for Payment, 11/12/14
November 10, 2014 Financial Notes
FY15 Deposits to Treasurer—Fines& Fees
FY15 Deposits to Gift Account
Director's Report November 12, 2014
Cohasset FY2016 Budget Calendar
Commonwealth eBook Collections
Libraries and Buy It Now: A Difficult Decision?
Phone Interview on 11-10-14 with Carol Jankowski
Circulation Department Report: October 2014
November, 2014 Report from the Reference Desk
Young Adult Services Report, October 2014
November 7, 2014 Report from the Children's Room