BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2010
MASHPEE LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM
Present: David Burton, Nancy Soderberg, Jane Dolan, Patricia Gamache, and John Kowalski.
Absent: Carlo D’Este, and Dianna Smith.
Also Present: Helene DeFoe, Library Director
Audience: Sandra Lehart
David Burton, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 6:12 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
John Kowalski motioned to accept the minutes of the Meeting of August 10, 2010 as presented; Patricia Gamache seconded this motion.
Roll-call vote was taken and all Trustees present voted “yes”, except David Burton and Nancy Soderberg, who both abstained. The motion was approved.
Reports
Helene DeFoe distributed her monthly report and the CLAMS Circulation Statistics report for the month of August as well as PersonNameJanet Burke’s report for the same timeframe. Copies of these reports are attached to the printed set of these minutes. The reports were reviewed and discussed. Some items such as meeting room use policy and updating long-range plan were discussed at length and are categorized below in these minutes.
Friends of the Library
Jack Kowalski provided the updates:
· Financial update report provided.
· Friends received an anonymous gift of $2,000 for children’s program.
· Friends sponsoring an appreciation brunch on October 26th in the Library Events Room that will be catered by Eat your Heart Out…rsvp by October 1st.
· Membership forms for the Friends are going to change and some programs such as Walk-to-Read and the Artisans Fair will not be offered now.
· October 1st Friends doing the 50-50 raffle at the Library. Hopefully 2 people will do this. In addition to giving out information on the Friends they can have application for library card and FAQs from library website at their table as a reference tool for library patrons. Katherine Pinnard will take responsibility for the raffle table. David Burton commented that this is a Friends function and moneys will go into the Friends coffers.
· James Carroll who did the Friends website was here and he will make access direct without having to go through Town’s website. This is very promising. More people will be able to update the Friends website and that will be a good thing.
David Burton said he had some citizens approach him and said they ordered bricks, their checks cashed in 2007, but bricks not here yet. Helene said she thinks there were some people who got dropped when list was transferred to Ginny. Helene suggested David send the names to Ginny Sharfenberg since it is a Friends area.Communications
Helene informed the Trustees that she received a request from the Special Events Committee asking the Library be shut down October 9th during Oktoberfest since the street will be closed. David asked whether staff would suffer pay loss. Helene said staff would have options…they can make up the time; take as vacation time; or take non-paid if that’s what they choose.
Motion: John Kowalski motioned that we close the Library on October 9 due to the request from Special Events Committee that we do so; Patricia Gamache seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote: All voted “yes”. Motion passed by unanimous vote.
New Business
Long-Range Plan…Helene noted that a lot of the goals in the 2005-2008 Plan were already accomplished. She said the part on staffing is in the works now.
Under MBLC rules, you must have a Long-Range Plan on file if you want to apply for any grant. Helene said while we obtained a grant to build the new library, you never know what might become available in the future. Just brainstorming ideas…Maybe a small group could work on the “nuts and bolts” and then have draft reviewed by the Board of Library Trustees. Also, maybe having a Foundation created might be a goal.
Jane Dolan suggested that perhaps the Trustees could review the 2005-2008 Plan and then discuss at next Trustee meeting. Jack Kowalski suggested Trustees delay working on the updated Long-Range-Plan until after Library dedication and other things are done. The consensus of the Trustees was to review the 2005-2008 Plan for discussion at the October Trustee meeting and act on the Plan at the November Trustee meeting.
Old Business
Meeting Room Policy
Highlights of the comments/issues raised during the discussion of a Meeting Room Policy included the following:
· Pat Gamache asked would we be asking for clean-up fees. Helene said so far night users have left room as they found it…no problems.
· Helene said even though no fees are being charged yet, one homeowner’s association group using the Events Room made a “donation” on their own.
· Nancy Soderberg voiced concern of lock-up if no one is here. Helene said Library is automatically locked when they leave so nobody gets a key. Helene said we could stipulate that person booking should be responsible that doors are locked. Helene pointed out that when we met at the Senior Center we had responsibility to lock when we left.
· Library is a community building; and we are making it available to the public.
· David pointed out that the Events Room is not for commercial use. He suggested the Board of Library Trustees should reserve the right to fix fees, if any.
· We are not in “special events” business. If there is something over time that is out of the ordinary, then Trustees can make a judgment call.
· Money received would go into the Library donation fund.
· Nancy Soderberg suggested that when passed, the meeting room use policy should be reviewed annually.
· David Burton suggested that meeting be tracked and information provided to the Town.
Motion: John Kowalski motioned to accept the proposed drafted meeting room use policy as amended; Nancy Soderberg seconded this motion.
Roll Call Vote: All voted “yes”. Motion passed by unanimous vote.
Old Business (continued)
Library Donation Fund…The Trustees inquired as to the current balance in the Library Donation Fund. Helene will ask the Town Accountant for the balance in this account.
Art Acquisition Policy
Helene reported that Marvin Karp for this year decided to make a donation of his items to his granddaughter’s school. Helene said Mr. Karp asked about potentially doing a display in the showcase here and that was left open. Jane Dolan said she sent Mr. Karp an e-mail and said that we are looking to perhaps establish a foundation.
Jane asked: When someone makes a donation, who determines value. General feeling was that it is the donor’s responsibility to state value and to justify the value placed on an item. The suggestion was made that when someone donates items they should be donated without any dollar value attached.
Warrant Articles for Town Meeting
Helene advised that she had a phone call from George Schmidt who is on FinCom…very supportive of the Article. Also, Helene said she met with Mike Richardson and he said the Board of Selectmen approved and FinCom going to re-visit and taking a vote on it.
Library Dedication
Jane Dolan advised she is using Evite to send invitations that can go through e-mail. Helene said she will write an article for the newspaper. David asked: Is everyone comfortable that invites going out a week beforehand? There was some discussion and it was decided to reschedule the dedication from October 1 to October 29.
Motion: John Kowalski motioned that the Library dedication be rescheduled to Friday, October 29, 2010; Patricia Gamache seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote: All voted “yes”. Motion passed by unanimous vote.
Refreshments: Jack Kowalski and David Burton volunteered to handle refreshments for the Dedication.
Invitations: Trustees and Helene are to send e-mail addresses to Jane Dolan and Jane will send out the Evite invitations by October 1st.
Volunteer Coordination Position…Jane Dolan asked whether or not this position has been posted. Helene said Mike Richardson is going to do it; no one else came forward.
Next Meeting…6 p.m., Tuesday, October 12, 2010 in the Library Conference Room.
Adjournment
Jane Dolan motioned to adjourn the meeting; Nancy Soderberg seconded the motion; and it was unanimously passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jean Giliberti
Recording Secretary
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