MINUTES
CHILMARK LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
March 28, 2018
Present: Trustees Jane Kaplan (Chair), Candy Shweder and Janet Weidner; Library Director Ebba Hierta and Assistant Library Director Rizwan Malik
Meeting called to order at 10:01 AM at the Chilmark Library. Minutes for the January 17, 2018 meeting were approved as amended. Minutes for the March 2, 2018 meeting were approved as amended.
Communications: The Chilmark Library received an unrestricted $2000 grant from the Couch Family Foundation.
Director’s Report: Ebba is pursuing new slipcovers for the Library chairs and is talking to local interior decorators.
Upcoming library programs include a four week sign language class, a presentation on kelp, and a poetry workshop.
Friends Report: Candy reported that the Friends of the Chilmark Library met in March. Their financials are sound.
Old Business: The Trustees discussed the upcoming Annual Town Meeting. Should there be discussion regarding the fourth benefitted position at the meeting, we agreed that our Chair, Jane, as well as our Library Director, Ebba, should be prepared to discuss this topic on town meeting floor. Jane took an action to speak with the Town Moderator in advance of the meeting to obtain permission for Ebba to be allowed to speak (since she is not a Chilmark town resident).
In the same context, we discussed the need for the Trustees’ meeting minutes and agendas to be publicly posted on the Chilmark town website. Candy Shweder made a motion, seconded by Janet Weidner, and voted unanimously by the Trustees, to post our minutes and agendas on the Town website.
New Business: The Chilmark Library has received an anonymous $10,000 donation in memory of Florence Flanders. The Library will use this money to fund new furniture and other upgrades in the youth area.
Ebba reported that there were parking problems at the recent Film Festival. Although the Film Festival had promised to post a parking attendant at the entrance to the Chilmark Library parking lot, there was no attendant there on the Saturday morning. It was a busy morning for both the Film Festival and the Library. As a result, some of the Library parking spots were occupied by Film Festival patrons for an extended period of time, making it difficult for Library patrons to access the building. The Trustees agreed that we will prepare and send a memo to the Chilmark Selectmen at our next meeting.
The Library Director had brought up, at a previous Trustees meeting, the timing of implementing the fourth benefitted position, if approved at the April Annual Town Meeting. The fiscal year does not begin until July 1st but the busier summer hours will begin June 1st. The Trustees had agreed that it would make sense to hire for that position to begin on June 1st. We had tentatively approved the approach of using state grant money to cover the additional hours and benefits for that month. However, Ebba is pursuing hiring someone to work on a non-benefitted basis on Mondays during the month of June. The fourth benefitted position could be advertised as beginning on 1 July, in concert with the starting of the new fiscal year.
Meeting adjourned at 10:54 AM. Next meeting will be April 16 at 10:00 AM.
Documents:
Agenda for Trustees’ Meeting, March 28, 2018
Chilmark Library Director’s Report, dated March 28, 2018
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