HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - PPMLT - 08/12/2015 Paul Pratt Memorial Library Board of Trustees
August 12,2015
Library Historical Room, 7 pm.
Present: Carolyn Coffey(Chair), Sarah Pease, Marylou Lawrence, Lynne DeGiacomo,Agnes McCann,
James Sandell,Teresa Polhemus,Jackie Rafferty(Director), Rod Hobson
Meeting called to order, 7:08 pm
1. Minutes
a. The July 8, 2015 Trustees meeting minutes were discussed, with many of the Trustees
expressing frustration with the email newsletter. Even with the change to MailChimp,the
newsletters are arriving in an unreadable form and the number of patrons receiving the
newsletter has dropped greatly. Jackie said she will talk to Gayle about the problems and call
in Tom Rose, who installed MailChimp, if necessary.
b. The July minutes were voted and approved.
2. Director's Report (Rafferty)
a. Building:The security gates have been removed and new carpeting in the front hallway has
been laid. The tile for the Community Room has arrived and an installer is being sought by
Mark Kelly. There are concerns about rumors that Henry Rattenbury's position will be
eliminated. Jackie and Carolyn offered to put in a good word for him with the Town Manager.
b. Chris Senior is open to allowing the library to maintain a revolving fund account where fines&
fees would remain at the library and be used to purchase books and materials. The Recreation
Department currently has such an account. The Trustees decided not to pursue creating the
account due to concerns that the town would reduce our materials appropriation to offset the
loss of library revenue.
c. Jackie included a draft of the FY17 Annual Action Plan. She asked that the Trustees review it
and give her feedback at the next meeting.
d. Jackie discussed the ARIS report which is a summary of circulation data and other statistics.
Total circulation may be down a bit but it has not yet been determined. However, ebook and
Young Adult numbers are way up over last year.
e. The motion to approve the revised Internet policy was passed unanimously. The section
stating that the workstations are not to be used for games or chat rooms was removed.
f. In her report, Gayle suggested that the library consider installing a Little Free Library at a
location around town. The Trustees were concerned about who would monitor the content of
what is offered in the Library. They would be willing to donate seed books to get it started but
did not want to take sole responsibility for the project. It was felt that it might be a better
project for the Friends, possibly in conjunction with the Boy Scouts.
g. Funding Requests: Gayle submitted 4 funding requests. The Movie Site license and the Great
Decisions Discussion Group requests were voted and passed unanimously. The requests for
authors Eric Jay Dolin and Michael Tougias were not approved. The Trustees felt that it was
inconsistent to ask the Sunday Author Talk authors to speak for free but then pay some
authors to speak at other programs. In addition, Michael Tougias is already slated to speak at
the Historical Society's annual meeting. Sharon's funding requests were moved,voted and
approved.
h. Jackie discussed the MLBC Legislative Committee meeting that she recently attended. The
Small Libraries in Network Grant that we received for the first time this year has been
eliminated for next year due to budget cuts. Letters are being sent to legislators who
represent the towns of the impacted libraries. Also,Jackie suggested that there be a 3D
printer available on Legislative Day to help demonstrate how one works and what it can do.
i. Ebook Collections update:The rollout of the Commonwealth eBooks Collection improved one-
step app. is about 2 weeks away. The group is working with Baker&Taylor to insure that it will
be a one-step application that is easy to use.
j. Jackie discussed purchasing a Lynda.com subscription which will provide online learning
opportunities. It costs approximately$2500 per year.
k. There was a discussion of the need to generate more publicity for the databases, platforms
and materials that the library currently offers. It was suggested that perhaps a staff member
could be dedicated to showing patrons what is available and to answer questions. An
alternative idea was to have an open house that would showcase all that we have to offer. It
was also mentioned that when the lobby screen is up and running, patrons will have current
information.
3. Financial Report (Rafferty)
a. The outstanding invoices were moved, seconded and approved.
4. Chair's Report (Coffey)
a. August 22 is the official date of Teresa's resignation as a Trustee. Roger Lowe has volunteered
to fill the position until the spring election. To be officially named a Trustee,the Board of
Selectman must vote on his nomination. The vote will take place at either the August 25 or
September 8 Selectman's meeting, depending on the amount of space on the agenda. It is
considered a Trustees meeting as well and at least 5 Trustees must attend to have a quorum.
b. Carolyn met with Chris Senior and Ted Carroll to get an update on the town's plans for the
Museum space. It was discovered that the space needs repairs to the HVAC system as well as
a new water heater. In addition, it needs new carpeting, paint and other repairs. The Rec.
Dept. would like to start the work in the fall and will try to work around the library
programming such as MamaSteph and Sunday Author Talks. If not,the programs will have to
be held in the Meeting Room. Carolyn is hoping to get more information about the Rec.
Department's long term plans for the upper meeting space and how much input the library will
have.
5. CLT(Brown)
a. The CLT has not met since the last Trustees meeting but plans to meet in September.
b. Marylou noted that the Development Committee is still working on their list of possible donors
for planned giving arrangements.
6. Program Report (Lawrence)
a. The Program Committee has procured a new sponsor for the Sunday Author Talks. Goodale
Insurance is giving$1000 which matches the$1000 received from Tom Hamilton. A Taste for
Wine &Spirits is also a sponsor.
b. Tom Hamilton wanted a friend of his,John Spooner,to be included in the Author Talks and will
pay the additional costs involved in printing a larger flier. The fliers will be ready to print
shortly as soon as all the authors speaking dates are finalized.
7. Space Planning Committee Report (Sandell)
a. The Space Planning Committee plans to meet soon to discuss the new developments with the
museum space.
8. Friends Report (McCann)
a. The Friends did not meet last month.
Meeting adjourned at 8:07 pm.
Documents:
Minutes of the July 8, 2015 Trustees Meeting
Director's Report August 12, 2015
August FY16 Financial Report
FY15 & FY14 ARIS Highlights & Comparisons
FY17 Action Plan
Meet Your Maker I Maker Movement
SELF-e I Biblioboard
Alternet Article—7/16/15
August 12, 2015 Accounting Report
FY16 August 12, 2015 Warrant
Library Trustees Authorization for Payment, 8/12/15
Disbursements by Account Number August 12, 2105 FY16
FY16 Deposits to Treasurer—Fines& Fees etc., August 12, 2015
Funding Requests for Adult Programs 2015-16
Circulation Department Report:July 2015
August, 2015 Report from the Reference Desk
Young Adult Services Report,July 2015
August 5, 2015 Report from the Children's Room