DUXBURY FREE LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
JUNE 19, 2002
Members Present:
Theodore Flynn (Chair), John Hill, Lynne Walsh, Carl Meier, Margaret Lougee and Nancy Delano
Staff Present:
Elaine Winquist (Director), David Murphy (Assistant Director), James Jaquette (Assistant Director), Rose Hickey (Acquisition Librarian), Carol Jankowski (Circulation Supervisor), Deborah Killory (Administrative Assistant), Karen Hahn (Library Associate), Ellen Snoeyenbos (Young Adult Librarian)
The meeting was convened at 7:33 am in the Setter Room at the Duxbury Free Library and went into executive session at 7:34 am. The meeting was roll called out of executive session at 7:49 am and the regular session was called to order at 7:50 am.
Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the May 15, 2002 meeting were presented. A typographical error was corrected.
Moved: To accept the minutes of the May 15, 2002 meeting as amended.
Vote: 6 – 0 in favor
Chair’s report
Mr. Flynn said that he had spoken to the Superintendent of Schools and that they had agreed that the new playground should not be located near the tennis courts. It was also noted that the last tuition reimbursement payment has been made.
Director’s report
Ms. Winquist reported that the routing of the traffic following the completion of the school construction project will be primarily one way, with traffic entering on Alden Street and exiting on St. George Street. School pick up will be at the new front (formerly the back) of the Alden School. The DPW is scheduled to paint yellow fire lanes around the circle in the library parking lot, so that cars will be able to enter and exit from the parking spaces in the area. She noted that the campus side driveway of the library has been dug up without any communication to the library. A letter will be sent to Gordon Cushing, Recreation Director, about providing porta potties for the playing fields.
Ms. Winquist stated that Noresco has been on site frequently and has been working hard to make the HVAC system function correctly.
Because of a typographical error in the Special Town Meeting article as it appeared in the newspaper, town meeting could not act on the article requesting a transfer of funds from the library’s personnel budget to the operating budget. The Director has spoken to the Town Manager about requesting a small reserve fund transfer to the operating budget and he expressed a willingness to support such a transfer. Ms. Winquist noted that the town will be complying with a new financial supporting law that requires listing infrastructure and fixed assets worth over $5,000.
The employee appraisal process is nearing completion; Ms. Winquist told the trustees that the single greatest staff request was for continuing opportunities for professional development. She feels that budgetary support for this is important.
Departmental Reports
Reports from the Children’s, Circulation, Reference and Technical Services Departments were distributed. Ms. Flynn asked whether things were any better with the SIRSI system; Ms. Jankowski replied that it was too early to say and that there were still quirks in the system.
Friends of the Library Report
Ms. Winquist reported that the Friends had held a marketing meeting and had set three goals for the upcoming year; the Chair will be meeting with the Library Director to discuss these goals.
Staff presentation
Mr. Flynn noted that the staff had requested time to make a brief presentation. Ms. Jankowski read a letter addressed to Mr. Flynn from the library staff involved in union negotiations. The letter acknowledged the past support of the trustees for the staff in areas such as the new building and tuition reimbursement and requested additional support in the bargaining process to allow the library staff to attain parity of benefits with other town contracts. Mr. Flynn thanked the staff for the letter and noted that the trustees had heard the message and understand the position of staff. He noted that because of the ongoing negotiations, he could say no more at the present time. The trustees decided to hold a further executive session later in the meeting to discuss the
staff letter.
Library art
Mr. Flynn reported that he had received a letter from Jane Bradley, President of the Duxbury Free Library, Inc., Board concerning the issue of ownership of art donated to the library. Ms. Bradley suggested consulting town counsel to help in the process of clarifying the ownership of each piece of art. Ms. Winquist said that there is an inventory with provenance of the art, but there is some question about whether ownership of certain pieces of art was turned over to the town when the library went from a public to a private institution. Mr. Flynn will talk to Town Counsel to try to get an idea how to proceed.
Director’s evaluation
Ms. Lougee included all of the comments from the individual evaluations in compiling them into one document. She noted that the evaluation was very positive.
Moved by Mr. Meier, seconded by Ms. Walsh, to forward the evaluation to the Town Manager with a strong cover letter requesting that the trustees’ appraisal be included in his final evaluation.
Vote: 6 – 0 in favor
The trustees reviewed the draft goals and objectives of the library director for the upcoming fiscal year. Mr. Meier commented that this was an excellent way to proceed, anticipating the year using the job description. Ms. Winquist noted that the job description was excellent and easy to work with.
Moved by Mr. Hill, seconded by Mr. Meier, to accept the library director’s goals for FY03.
Vote: 6 – 0 in favor
Mr. Meier noted that in reviewing the Collection Development Policy, he noticed that there was some confusing language in the section on requests for reconsideration of materials. The fourth part of the procedure for reconsideration includes the language “the findings of the committee will be presented.” He requested that this language be stricken from the policy as it is not clear who the committee is and the phrase is unnecessary to the procedure. A vote will be taken at the next meeting on this proposed change.
Mr. Meier requested that the trustees be provided with a clean set of all of the by-laws and policies approved by the board.
Ms. Snoeyenbos reported that the schools had changed their policy on summer reading this year and will not distribute lists that the schools have not generated. When she did her book talks at the high school, she was not able to hand out her supplemental reading list or talk about any book not included on the school’s required summer reading list. Mr. Meier said that he had spoken with the high school principal who said that the school would like to work with the library to compile a jointly generated list. The English department, rather than the school librarian, has been involved in this process in the past.
Moved by Mr. Hill, seconded by Mr. Meier, to return to executive session at 8:40 am.
Vote: Ms. Delano, Ms. Walsh, Mr. Meier, Mr. Flynn, Mr. Hill, Ms. Lougee, in favor; none opposed
The meeting was roll called out of executive session at 8:51 am and the regular session was called to order at 8:52 am.
Guest: Tom O’Brien
Tom O’Brien, who will be the new state representative for precincts 1 and 6 in Duxbury, introduced himself to the trustees and staff. Ms. Winquist noted that Mr. O’Brien had been presented with an award by the Massachusetts Library Association for his advocacy for libraries and thanked him for his work on the budget in support of libraries. Mr. O’Brien said that his priorities were libraries, public schools and health care. He answered questions on various matters before the legislature and noted that the budget was now in conference committee, with the Senate having voted less funding for libraries than the House. He indicated that the state budget crisis was real and he expected it to continue for at least the next year. Mr. O’Brien
thanked the trustees for their work for libraries and Mr. Flynn thanked Mr. O’Brien for his support of libraries and for coming to the meeting.
Ms. Denman returned from a Playground Committee meeting and indicated that the committee was tending toward locating the playground beyond the tennis courts primarily because of safety concerns about balls being hit into the playground from the playing fields if the original location was used. Ms. Denman had expressed the library’s safety and parking concerns about the new location. The committee would like to meet with the Library Trustees as soon as possible to discuss their concerns, before the Town Manager brings the location issue to the Selectmen for a vote. A date for this meeting will be determined and communicated to the trustees. The summer meeting has already been scheduled for July 31.
Moved by Mr. Hill, seconded by Mr. Meier, to adjourn at 9:48 am.
Vote: 6 – 0 in favor
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