HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - PPMLT - 04/09/2019 Paul Pratt Memorial Library Board of Trustees
April 9, 2019
Library Historical Room, 6:00 pm.
Present: Carolyn Coffey (Chair), Catherine Harvey, Elaine Breslow, Marylou Lawrence, Sarah Pease,
Megan Brinzey, Meaghan James (Director)
Meeting called to order, 6:03 pm
1. a. The minutes of the Trustees meeting held on March 13, 2019 were moved,voted and
approved unanimously.
2. Director's Report(James)
a. Some of the Trustees had trouble accessing the meeting reports using Google Drive. Going
forward, Bronwyn will resend the access link a few days prior to the meeting and the staff
will upload their documents to the Trustees Reports folder when they are completed.
b. The Museum Key reservation system was launched yesterday, and all existing reservations
were moved over from Tixkeeper. It is hoped that the intuitive features of the system will
make it easier for the patrons to use and will also increase museum pass usage.
c. Meaghan is working with Gayle to complete this year's South Shore Music Circus grant
request. It was decided to keep the request broad,which will allow for flexibility when
using the funds. They are asking for funds to implement innovative programming as well as
for upgrading and acquiring equipment.
d. Gayle has been aggressively weeding the Non-Fiction stacks with the goal of freeing up
some space in that area.
e. Meaghan and Gayle are also writing a grant request to Mass Humanities for funding for
guest speakers for the Great Decisions program. Marylou suggested contacting the UMass
OLLI program for possible speakers.
f. OCLN has implemented automatic renewals on materials for patrons and PPML has opted in
to the program. It will not be publicized but instead will be viewed as a courtesy to our
patrons. Any items that have holds or have reached the renewal limit will not be renewed.
g. Meaghan met with the Program Committee and it was decided to disband it for now, with
the understanding that, if the need arises,the group will reform and assist as needed.
h. The staff has been trained on how to use G Suite for their own work as well as items that are
shared with others. Meaghan has also begun weekly department head meetings as well as
quarterly staff meetings.
i. Summer programming and marketing will now be planned three months in advance and a
quarterly calendar will be created, rather than monthly.
j. Program attendance in the month of March was robust with many programs at or near
capacity, such as Eyes on Owls, Puppet Storytime and Tinker Tuesdays. In addition, Brigid
has started a Tech Drop-in at Willcutt Commons and has hopes that it will become a popular
resource for the local seniors.
k. The new art hanging system has been installed in the Meeting Room and is ready for the
next South Shore Art Center member show that is scheduled for March.
I. Carolyn asked about plans for the maintenance and cleaning funds that must be spent by
the end of the Fiscal Year. While some of the funds are set aside for the balance owed for
the Children's Room upholstery project,there should be enough for a deep cleaning of the
library in the areas that were identified previously.
3. Financial Report/Bills Payable (James/Nelson)
a. The outstanding April bills were moved, seconded and approved unanimously.
4. Chair's Report(Coffey)
a. The meeting with the building design firm, Stefura,that was planned for April 11 has been
cancelled and will be rescheduled for the week of April 29th. After that meeting,they will
bring in boards with proposals for improving the interior of the library,with a focus on the
Children's Room,the YA Room and the Reference area. The staff has been invited to drop in
and share ideas. After the proposals are presented, a survey may be created based on the
options to gauge patron's priorities.
5. CLT Report (Coffey, O'Callaghan)
a. The CLT did not meet in the last month.
b. At the May meeting,the new membership slate will be presented. The CLT needs members
that have development experience and Carolyn asked the Trustees to suggest anyone that
might have the relevant experience.
6. Friends Report (Harvey)
a. Book sales are up since last month, which may be due to the new bookshelves which can
hold a larger amount of items for sale.
b. The tote bags are in and will go on sale soon.
c. The Friends have agreed to try to set up a Venmo account to accept payments.
d. Meaghan would like to switch to an annual approval of the budget so that the Friends will
know in advance what funds will be needed for the year. Quarterly updates may be
necessary. The Trustees would also like to receive the list of planned programs in order to
provide feedback.
7. Other
a. Megan B. asked if the CLT had any plans to fundraise in conjunction with the Town's 250tn
anniversary celebration.
b. Marylou asked about ways to increase the number of patrons who have opted in to receive
programming emails. This is difficult because the patron must request to be put on the
email list and can't be added without their permission. Meaghan mentioned that the
number of patrons on the list increased from 450 to 485 in the last month.
Meeting adjourned at 7:08 pm
Documents:
Minutes of the March 13, 2019 Trustees Meeting
Director's Report—April 5, 2019
April 2019 Financial Report
April 9, 2019 Accounting Report— Bronwyn
FY19 April 9, 2019 Warrant
Library Trustees Authorization for Payment—04/9/19