DUXBURY FREE LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 16, 2004
Members Present: Carl Meier (Vice-Chair), John Hill, Lynne Walsh, Margaret Lougee and Nancy Delano
Staff Present: Elaine Winquist (Director), Nancy Denman (Assistant Director) and Deborah Killory (Administrative Assistant)
Also Present: Sally Redmond (Co-President, Friends of the Duxbury Free Library) and Cheryl Bryan (Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Library System)
The meeting was called to order at 7:37 am in the Setter Room at the Duxbury Free Library.
Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the July 29, 2004 meeting were presented.
Moved by Ms. Walsh, seconded by Mr. Hill, to approve the minutes of the July 29, 2004 meeting as presented.
Vote: 5 – 0 in favor
Chair’s Report
Mr. Meier noted that Mr. Flynn was not here to report.
Director’s Report
Ms. Winquist presented her written report. She said that OCLN changed its service provider, which was a cost savings but caused a week of problems with the automated system which the director had to deal with herself as a result of the cut of the system librarian position from the FY05 budget. The summer reading program, funded by the Friends of the library was successful. This year the incentive for the program was giving to the Heifer International Read to Feed program, rather than prizes. Ms. Winquist also reported on the previous evening’s highly successful author program with Scituate’s Clare Cook.
The director reported that the youth initiative seems to be working for the most part. Student have been responding well. Traffic flow has been redirected and staff members and the library monitors have been greeting students as they arrive. Ms. Denman gave a great talk to parents at the Alden Open House and staff has met with school administrators.
Department Reports
Reports of the Children’s, Circulation and Technical Services Department were distributed. The Friends of the DFL funded a program providing a book The Night Before Kindergarten for all incoming kindergarten students. Ms. O’Meara and Ms. Tull designed the booklet Summer in the Library, which Ms. O’Meara brought to the DFL’s sister library in Angers.
Friends Report
Ms. Redmond reported that the Friends are in the last stages of their membership campaign. They are also planning an annual appeal in the spring that will target the millennium donors. The Friends Annual Meeting will be on November 10 and they hope to repeat the Hot Reads and Hidden Treasures program from last year with staff members Nancy Denman, Carol Jankowski and Ellen Snoeyenbos presenting. The second meeting of the Friends Book Club will take place on October 20 and will focus on the book The Kite Runner.
Proposed Policy for Use of the Library
Ms. Winquist proposed to replace the current Rules of Behavior for Use of Library Facilities with a Policy for Use of the Library; attached as backup, was a copy of Chapter 272, Section 41 of the Massachusetts General Laws on Disturbance of libraries. The trustees will vote on this policy at the next meeting.
Policy on Unsupervised Children
Ms. Denman presented the proposed changes in the Policy on Unsupervised Children: removal of the first sentence welcoming children to the library, because of the possible legal ramifications of the word “welcome” and changing the age requiring supervision at all times from kindergarten and under to grade 2 and under. The trustees will vote on this policy at the next meeting.
November meeting date
Ms. Winquist reported that she would be unable to attend the scheduled November 18 meeting due to attendance at a conference; the date was changed to Wednesday, November 10.
Proposed Policy on Collection Space
The Policy on Library Collection Space was presented at the July meeting; a recommended change was made following the meeting.
Moved by Ms. Lougee, seconded by Mr. Hill, to approve the Policy on Collection Space as revised.
Vote: 5 – 0 in favor
Budgets
Ms. Winquist will present the proposed FY06 library budget on Monday, October 4 at the Selectmen’s Meeting. The Finance Committee has not yet met to set its agenda and schedule.
Long Range Plan
Mr. Meier said that work is beginning on the new long range plan and that it would include better staff input and communication. He introduced Cheryl Bryan who was present to discuss the long range planning process with the Trustees. She described how the process has been revised since the last DFL Long Range Plan was produced. The process will start with a community forum at which residents will give input on what they see as the ideal community, as opposed to current conditions, and then will prioritize library service responses, choosing three or four. The Board of Trustees will outline the library’s goals, what the library should accomplish during the term of the plan. The staff will work on activities, how the library can achieve the goals.
Ms. Bryan will serve as facilitator at the community forum, which should last about two hours and should be attended by the Long Range Planning Committee members and the Library Director, but not by the staff. Ms. Bryan will meet with staff separately for their input on positive factors about the library and things they would like to see changed. The library trustees will all be ex officio members of the planning committee. It is hoped that the community forum can be scheduled before the holidays.
Moved by Mr. Hill, seconded by Ms. Lougee, to adjourn at 8:45 am
Vote: 5 – 0 in favor
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