HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - PPMLT - 01/14/2015 Paul Pratt Memorial Library Board of Trustees
January 14, 2015
Library Meeting Room, 6 pm.
Present:Teresa Polhemus (Chair), Agnes McCann, Patience Towle, Stephen Brown,James Sandell, Carolyn
Coffey, Lynne DeGiacomo,Jackie Rafferty(Director), Karen Quigley(Board of Selectman). Also present
was Peter Pescatore, Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Town of Cohasset
Meeting called to order, 6:03 pm
1. The December 10, 2014 meeting minutes were approved,voted and passed.
2. Director's Report(Rafferty)
a. Jackie discussed a Small Libraries in Network Grant, administered by the MA Board of Library
Commissioners that Dave Slater from OCLN forwarded to her. This is an annual grant for
libraries serving populations under 10,000. We are eligible for a grant annually that we can
either use to as a credit toward our FY16 membership assessment or keep the funds on
account to be used to pay library invoices. It was decided to use the funds to pay future
invoices.
b. The problems with the heat in the library have improved but some areas are still too cold. The
HVAC contractor has determined that the issue is faulty thermostats and has replaced some of
them. He apparently has not kept Mark Kelly in the loop about his progress. He has ordered a
new thermostat for the Periodicals Room, which will arrive in a few days. In addition, we are
still waiting for the ceiling tiles to be replaced, as was scheduled earlier but not done.
c. Technology—The self-checkout station in the Children's Room has been out of order for a few
weeks. We do not currently have a service contract with 3M and the hourly rate for service
calls is$250 per hour plus a $325 call-out charge. At 3M's suggestion, Rob Bonnell had made a
copy of the hard drive and it is hoped that reinstalling it will repair the machine and thus avoid
the expense of the service call. We are waiting for Rob to bring the copy to the library and
reinstall it or give it to Tom Campbell to install. Jackie will speak to Chris Senior about this and
report back. We are also waiting for an update on the progress in ordering the public display
monitor but have not heard anything new. The fax line was installed and it is up and running.
d. Kristin Norton has suggested speaking with the company that owns and maintains our public
copier/printer to consider making color capabilities available. Currently the only color printer
available to the public is at the front desk and must be accessed by a computer in either the
Children's or YA Rooms. The public printer may have to be relocated to make this plan work
and the Building Committee would have to determine the best location. It was decided to
proceed with upgrading the printer.
e. Jackie spoke at a recent Massachusetts Library System forum to discuss the advocacy of all
libraries in the system in support of the statewide ebook platform.
f. Jackie attended the monthly meeting of the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners to
participate in the presentation of an update on the status of the ebook platform. A publicity
campaign will be rolled out shortly and the program is now financially sustainable. The ebook
Steering Committee met with the library director and the head of the technology lab at the
Perkins School for the Blind to learn about the challenges they face in accessing ebooks.
g. The OCLN annual breakfast will be held on February 61"at the Thomas Crane Library in Quincy
and all are invited to attend. The Friends will be making a $25.00 donation.
h. A new study from the American Library Association regarding the Library of the Future had
many interesting suggestions and predictions for what the next generation of libraries will look
like.
i. The Buy It Now link that was mandated by Simon &Schuster in Overdrive is now optional for
libraries to participate in or opt out.
j. The OCLN network subscription will lower the price per library for Bookletters. Also,Jackie
spoke with the CEO of SirsiDynix who contacted her in response to a survey she completed.
She was able to convey to him some of the problems the staff has had with certain aspects of
the program, specifically, searching and fees and fines payment tracking.
k. Jackie handed out and read from the introduction to the book The Republic of the Imagination
by Azar Natisi,which provides great insight in the essential contribution literature makes to
democracies through the conveyance of ideas. The book illustrates that it is for this reason
that censorship is aggressively enforced in non-democratic countries.
3. Financial Report/Bills Payable (Rafferty)
a. The outstanding invoices were moved, seconded and approved.
b. John Flanagan of the CLT notified Jackie that the Endowment takeout for this year will be
$58,000.
4. Chair's Report(Polhemus)
a. Teresa asked Peter Pescatore for his thoughts on the budget progress. He said that the FY15
budget was on track with spending and revenues in the acceptable range. He also mentioned
that there was money available in the maintenance budget and suggested that the library
make Chris Senior aware of any maintenance needs we may have. In addition, he anticipated
that the budget for FY16 would be smaller than this year's budget.
b. Teresa and Patience met with Susan Franklin who is a new member of the Capital Budget
Committee to discuss the library's needs as well as filling her in on our annual action plan and
our 5 year plan for the library.
c. Peter mentioned that the Capital Planning Committee has a 10 year spreadsheet mapping out
anticipated needs across the town. He said that the library's plan for expansion needs to get
on the spreadsheet so that we will be in line for funds. He said that Brian Joyce keeps the
spreadsheet and as soon as the Building Committee has the necessary information, they
should get in touch with him.
5. CLT Report (Brown)
a. The CLT has not met since the last Trustees meeting.
6. Program Report (Rafferty)
a. Marylou was not present. Jackie read her report.
b. The last Sunday Author Talk had about 65 patrons in attendance. Future plans from the
Program Committee include events to tie in with Poetry Month and National Women's Month.
c. Steve mentioned that there may be a chance to have a program with a group of exchange
students from many countries who are staying with host families all over New England. The
meeting is tentatively planned for March 14 at lunchtime.
7. Building Committee Report (Towle)
a. Patience plans to meet soon with the Space Planning Committee to put together the
information that the town will need to put the library expansion on the Capital Budget
spreadsheet.
8. Space Planning Committee Report (Sandell)
a. There has not been a meeting since the last Trustees meeting but the group will meet soon
with the Building Committee.
9. Friends Report (Flynn)
a. Gail was not in attendance. Agnes McCann read the report.
b. As of January 7,the Friends had approximately$30,700 in their treasury,the highest in their
history.
c. The Marathon fundraiser inspired the Friends to apply for a grant from the American Library
Association pertaining to original fundraising ideas. They plan to do the Marathon fundraiser
every other year.
d. Jackie mentioned the new Homework Center and Funded by the Friends signs that we received
this week. They are much more professional looking than the former signs.
10. Other
a. There was a discussion of the ongoing problems with the shared Museum space. Most
recently, Sharon had a program planned for the space and had to move a large amount of
furniture and other items out of the area. It was decided that the staff would document any
time there are issues with the space.
b. Agnes mentioned that the grandson of the painter of the murals in the hallway was interested
in seeing them and was able to replicate the disks that the painting copies are stored on.
c. Agnes also thanked Jackie for forwarding a note from the Senior Center inviting townspeople
to tour the Center. They have space available in case there is a program that is too large for
the library. However,the library would be charged a fee to use the space.
Meeting adjourned at 7:01 pm.
Documents:
Minutes of the December 10, 2014 Trustees Meeting
Director's Report January 14, 2015
RFID service and repair issues,January 2015
HVAC communications& updates re: repair work
January 14, 2015 Expenditure Analysis
FY15 January 14, 2015 Warrant
Library Trustees Authorization for Payment, 1/14/15
January FY15 Financial Report
FY15 Deposits to Treasurer—Fines & Fees,January 14, 2015
FY15 Deposits to Gift Account,January 14, 2015
Circulation Department Report: December 2014
January, 2015 Report from the Reference Desk
Young Adult Services Report, December 2014
January 12, 2015 Report from the Children's Room