Draft of Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of February 21, 2013
A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held this date at 4:10 PM at the Library with Trustees Little, Merry and Salerno present and Trustee Yale present and presiding. Trustees Buckley, Schild and Mayor Driscoll were absent. Ms. Tracy was present.
Approval of minutes of January 24, 2013 UNANIMOUS
Current Library Use and Financial reports were distributed. Ms. Tracy reported that circulation for the month of January was down slightly from last year. This is an overall trend for circulation in NOBLE. Salem continues to have approximately the same percentage of the total NOBLE circulation each month and remains the library with the highest circulation.
Ms. Tracy distributed a letter from Eastern Bank Wealth Management that announced a fee increase of 0.15 percentage points. After a short discussion Trustee Salerno volunteered to discuss this matter with John Doherty of Eastern.
Ms. Tracy reported on the FY14 budget proposal. All city departments were instructed to submit a level funded and level staffed budget. Due to requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners for Library certification a budget was prepared with a slight increase in order to meet the Municipal Appropriation Requirement. This slight increase along with other requirements will enable the Library to be certified and eligible for State Aid ($50,042 in FY12). Certification will also allow Salem residents to borrow materials from other libraries.
Ms. Tracy pointed out an increase in the costs for NOBLE. The formula for the previous Integrated Library System (ILS) was based on simultaneous users and gave individual libraries more control over their costs. With the new open source ILS – Evergreen, libraries may have unlimited simultaneous users. Therefore the new formula is based on 75% equal distribution of costs, 12.5% based on active users and 12.5% based on circulation. Due to Salem’s high circulation and number of active users the library’s base cost will go up by approximately $6,000, with the increase implemented over three years. In addition the Library’s assessment for NOBLE’s downloadable collection, also based on usage, has an increase of $1250.
MOVED: Trustee Yale SECONDED: Trustee Little
VOTED: To approve the FY14 budget as presented. UNANIMOUS
Ms. Tracy reported that John Goff was working hard on the Mass Historical Commission Grant for the window frames and sills. However Mr. Goff and Ms. Tracy attended a Salem Historical Commission meeting with the hopes of receiving a letter of support, without which the grant application will not be accepted. The Commission had a couple of concerns regarding the existing aluminum sashes as well as prioritizing repair before replacement of frames and sills. Mr. Goff, Bob Farley and Ms. Tracy will work on this and attend the next meeting of the SHC on March 6th with the hopes of receiving a support letter.
Ms. Tracy informed the Trustees that architect Bob Farley brought in both a roofer and an HVAC person for estimates on the flat roof over the Reference Room. This roof houses the Library’s HVAC units. Ms. Tracy distributed Bob Farley’s evaluation and recommendation for replacement of the roof including the raising, temporary relocation and reinstalling of the present HVAC equipment. He also recommended replacement of two twenty-six year old condenser units that are at the end of their useful life. The total estimate was for approximately $135,000. plus architectural fees of $8,000.
In their discussion the Trustees requested that all older HVAC units be evaluated for replacement at the same time due to the possible necessity and expense of a crane. The Trustees gave authorization for Bob Farley to proceed with contract documents.
MOVED: Trustee Yale SECONDED: Trustee Salerno
VOTED: To give authorization for architect Robert Farley to proceed with contract documents, including working drawings and specifications, for replacement of flat roof with HVAC units over the Reference Room.
UNANIMOUS
Ms. Tracy thanked Trustee Little for the lovely red and white flower arrangements sent to the Library in honor of Captain John Bertram’s birthday. Ms. Tracy also showed the Trustees two articles from the Salem Gazette. One article on John Bertram was written by John Goff while the other article featured the Library’s new Young Adult section. The Young Adult article had a picture of YA Librarian Courtney Davis and the Girl Scout Troop who worked with her to create the space.
Meeting adjourned at 5:20 PM.
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