DUXBURY FREE LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 8, 2003
Members Present: Theodore Flynn (Chair), Lynne Walsh, Carl Meier, Margaret Lougee and
Nancy Delano
Staff Present: Elaine Winquist (Director), David Murphy (Assistant Director), Nancy Denman (Assistant Director), James Jaquette (Assistant Director), Rose Hickey (Acquisition Librarian), Carol Jankowski (Circulation Supervisor), Deborah Killory
The meeting was convened at 7:44 am in the Setter Room at the Duxbury Free Library and was voted into executive session at 7:45 am. The meeting was roll called out of executive session at 8:07 am and the regular session was called to order at 8:10 am.
Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the December 18, 2002 meeting were presented.
Moved by Mr. Meier, seconded by Ms. Walsh, to approve the minutes of the December 18, 2002 meeting as presented.
Vote: 5 – 0 in favor
Chair’s Report
Mr. Flynn served as moderator at an open forum at the schools on the Zero Tolerance Policy.
Director’s Report
The director distributed some articles on that she thought would be of interest to the trustees, and a copy of the Chair’s letter to the Playground Committee. Mr. Flynn asked about the change in vendor mentioned in one of the reports. Ms. Winquist explained that divine/Faxon is closing down its journal subscription service for libraries. This comes at a difficult time as the network will be instituting the SIRSI serials module in March. The library has made contact with the EBSCO subscription service which has software that interfaces with the SIRSI system. Mr. Flynn asked about progess in dealing with leaks in the library. Ms. Winquist reported that Neil Johnson, a civil engineer, and Jim Barrett, a roofer, had both
inspected the building. Both seemed to feel that the problem was flashing that was failing and Mr. Barrett expressed confidence that he could repair the problem. She asked him for a price so that she can explore options, including community preservation funds, for financing the work. Ms. Winquist noted two sizeable donations to the library, including a display cabinet from an anonymous donor that was given “in honor of an inspirational librarian, Nancy Denman”.
Departmental Reports
Reports of the Children’s, Circulation, Reference and Technical Service departments were distributed.
Friends Report
Ms. Lougee reported that there had as yet been no meeting of the Friends in the new year.
Policies
A Program Policy and a Patron Records Policy were presented at the last meeting.
Moved by Mr. Meier, seconded by Ms. Walsh, to accept the Program Policy and the Patron Records Policy as presented.
Vote: 5 – 0 in favor
Library Budget
Ms. Winquist reported that the library is on target with spending on the FY03 budget. She then noted that the Town Manager had called a meeting of department heads on January 3, at which he had announced that there was a $6 million shortfall in the FY04 budget and asked that all departments cut 5% from their proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. He also announce elimination of all capital requests in FY04 and substantial cuts in annual town meeting articles that require funding.
Ms. Winquist had met with the library department heads on January 6 to inform them of her proposed cuts and ask for their feedback. She also had spoken with the Town Manager about her proposals following that meeting. Her first priority was to protect payroll and materials. She proposed to eliminate all page positions, for a savings of $17,000, and to cut the overtime/substitute line by approximately $12,000. The cut in overtime would necessitate the elimination of Sunday library hours. The remainder of the cuts would be in materials (books, non-print and periodicals, which would be supplemented from state aid and Inc. funds. Some of the Inc. money that has been used for programming in the past would now be transferred to cover the
materials shortfall. Ms. Winquist noted that the cut in substitute and overtime funds would affect the scheduling of vacations and programs. She also told the trustees that she has been speaking to all staff members personally to inform them of the proposed cuts. She noted that staff morale is low because of contract negotiations have not produced results; the trustees expressed concern. She hopes that expanding the volunteer program will lessen the impact of the elimination of the page positions on the staff and that the Friends will help to cover the shortfall. Ms. Winquist noted that her salary adjustment has been presented to the Personnel Board but has not yet been acted upon.
Ms. Winquist informed the trustees that she has received approval to use some of the money from the customer service grant to hire a consultant on the library website.
Moved by Ms. Walsh, seconded by Ms. Lougee, to approve the revised budget as presented by Ms. Winquist.
Vote: 5 – 0 in favor
Moved by Mr. Meier, seconded by Ms. Walsh, to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 am.
Vote: 5 – 0 in favor
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