HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - PPMLT - 01/10/2018 Paul Pratt Memorial Library Board of Trustees
January 10, 2018
Library Historical Room,6 pm.
Present: Carolyn Coffey (Chair),Agnes McCann, Sarah Pease, Lynne DeGiacomo,Stephen Brown, Elaine
Breslow,Jackie Rafferty(Director)
Meeting called to order, 6:02 pm
1. a. The minutes of the December 13, 2017 Trustees meeting were moved,voted and approved
unanimously.
2. Director's Report(Rafferty)
a. Jackie met with Chris Senior and Don Piatt,the new Town Accountant,who replaced Mary
Gallagher. They discussed the library's budget request submission for FY19. Jackie pointed
out that since the OCLN fee decreased and the only increase is in the Supplies line, it is
essentially the same request as last year. They also discussed the propriety of using State
Aid Grant funds to purchase books and materials. Don agreed that it was not proper to use
State Aid for that purpose and that materials should be paid for out of town appropriated
funds or Endowment monies.
b. Technology—i. Ron Menard emailed Jackie today with information and questions about the
wireless technology upgrade. He wondered if there would be funds in our budget to pay for
the service annually. He is hoping to have the provider install the equipment for free and
then bill us annually for usage. He is still waiting for a rate quote from the company. ii.
Dave Slater,from OCLN, has scheduled a webinar for January 18t"about MeeScan, which
allows patrons to check out materials using their smartphones. Jackie has concerns about
patrons walking out without checking out items, now that the RFID gates are no longer in
place. There are also questions about the system's compatibility with the 3M RFID tags that
we currently use.
c. Jackie will not be attending the February 91" Legislative Breakfast which will be held at night
in Brockton.
d. Program Committee—i.The two interns are settling into their positions and have created
new programs aimed at young people. Maddie will be hosting a story and craft program
that will feature High School students reading to preschoolers. In addition to the weekly
Drop in Tech Help,Jason is offering a superhero drawing class on the next early release day.
ii.Tom Olson,the Eagle Scout who built the Little Free Libraries, is interested in volunteering
at the library and will work with Sharon to develop science programs for children. iii.The
most recent Sunday Author Talk was well attended and the first author for next year's series
has been determined.
e. Jackie included a list of the top checkouts at the Paul Pratt from 2017 and the Trustees said
they appreciated and enjoyed receiving that information.
3. Financial Report/Bills Payable (Rafferty)
a. The outstanding bills were moved, seconded and approved unanimously.
b. Bronwyn and Jackie provided an update on the A/V project and explained that Ron M.
examined the microphones and agreed that they are not meeting our needs. He plans to
research the system and hopefully determine how to properly adjust them,thus avoiding an
expensive service call.
c. Bronwyn explained to the Trustees her issues with the Treasurer's Office involving incorrect
crediting of donations or other deposits. Steve will come by with Jane Goedecke sometime
soon to discuss possible solutions.
4. Chair's Report(Coffey)
a. The next meeting will be moved from February 14 to February 13,to avoid meeting on
Valentine's Day.
b. Carolyn spoke to Chris Senior about his interest in using the Children's Room closet for the
Safe Harbor project. They discussed other sites in town that might have a more appropriate
space for such a use. Chris was also interested in possibly renovating the basement to use it
for storage for records that the town is required by law to preserve. The idea is that the
footprint of the Town Hall could be shrunk without the need for the records storage, which
might lower the cost of the renovation project. This could be beneficial to the library in that
some of the renovated basement area could be used to store library records. There is also
the question of where the employees who work in Town Hall will be relocated when the
renovation is underway. It is possible the library will be asked to find space for some of
them, possibly upstairs.
c. With the current climate in town, Carolyn wondered if it might make more sense to reduce
the size of the library renovation project and just focus on smaller, interior projects. There
are a number of large town projects looming in the future and the townspeople may be
reluctant to fund the library project as well. The Trustees discussed the issue at length, with
some suggesting that they need to be sensitive to the limited resources of the town. Others
felt that it is easier to scale back larger plans rather than to ask for less and then have to go
back a year or two later and request more funds for the rest of the project. There was also a
suggestion that the project could be broken down in phases, with the first part implemented
soon and the rest at a later time. Steve asked if it would be possible to relocate the Rec.
Department at some point so that the library could expand into that area and would not
need to add on to the building. This would also solve some of the parking issues. In the
end,the consensus was that it was more desirable to present the whole vision for the library
and scale back the plans if necessary. Carolyn plans to meet with Jen Thomas to discuss the
process and options and to make plans for a survey to determine needs and usage. The
committee should be prepared to discuss and justify the need for the project with the
proper boards before the next Town Meeting where they plan to ask for$50,000 for design
fees.
d. There was a discussion of the fact that the Children's Room circulation numbers are down
and the Trustees brainstormed ideas to improve the situation. Jackie and Sharon have
identified a few factors driving the downturn and are open to all ideas to improve the
situation.
5. CLT Report (Brown)
a. The CLT did not meet in the last month.
6. Friends Report (Patterson)
a. Jessica was not present. Jackie delivered the update.
b. The Friends had to cancel their previously scheduled meeting due to the snow and plan to
meet tomorrow.
c. Elaine noted that the "Donate" button to contribute to the Friends is on the Library's
homepage but not also on the Friends' page.
7. Other
a. There was no other business to discuss.
Meeting adjourned at 6:48 pm.
Documents:
Minutes of the December 13, 2017 Trustees Meeting
Director's Report January 10, 2018
January FY18 Financial Report
January 10, 2018 Accounting Report—Bronwyn
FY18 January 10, 2018 Warrant
Library Trustees Authorization for Payment—1/10/18
FY18 Deposits to Gift Account—January 10, 2018
FY18 Deposits to Treasurer—Fines& Fees, etc.,January 10, 2018
Room Use by Time of Day—December 2017
Circulation Department Report: December 2017
Circulation Statistics, FY2018
January, 2018 Report from the Reference Desk
January 10, 2018 Report from the Children's Room
Young Adult and Reference Services Report, December 2018