Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meeting of September 19, 2013
A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held this date at 4:07 PM at the Library with Trustees Buckley, Merry, Salerno, Schild and Trustee Yale present and presiding. Trustee Little and Mayor Driscoll were absent. Ms. Tracy was present.
Approval of minutes of April 19, 2013 – UNANIMOUS
Current Library Use and Financial reports were distributed. Though overall circulation for FY13 was down approximately 4% from FY12 Salem’s percentage of NOBLE’s overall circulation was the same. Ms. Tracy informed the Board that July’s percentage of NOBLE’s circulation was disappointing but August’s numbers were back on par. Ms. Tracy thought several changes in staff over the summer may have contributed to July’s dip in circulation.
Collection of fines followed the same pattern as circulation for the two months. The Trustees asked that John Doherty of Eastern Bank Wealth Management be invited to attend the November 21, 2013 Trustee meeting. Mr. Doherty was originally scheduled to attend the April Trustee meeting which was canceled.
Ms. Tracy was pleased to report the proposed FY14 Library budget was passed. The budget of $1,207,830 includes a 2% raise for all Library employees, which is in line with union raises.
Completion of the landscaping project was applauded. Everyone agreed that the grounds of the Library look absolutely lovely. The Trustees were impressed by the scope of this project especially combined with the annual plantings. They expressed their gratitude to Trustee Little for her continuing generosity.
A letter from Trustee Little was presented to the Board regarding changes to the terms of the John Bertram Fund, an endowment established by her in memory of her great-great-grandfather Captain John Bertram. The change will allow principal and interest, rather than only interest, be used for the “acquisition, preservation, and conservation for the Library’s “Salem Collection”. Also, Trustee Little will receive a yearly accounting of the fund and meet annually with the Library Director and Reference Librarian to review proposed projects.
VOTED - To accept the terms for the John Bertram Fund as outlined in Trustee Little’s letter dated 24 April, 2013 - UNANIMOUS
Ms. Tracy reported the Library did not receive a Mass Historical Commission MPPF grant for repair of the window frames. The letter from MHC stated it was a very competitive selection process with the allotted pool of money insufficient to fill the number of applications.
Ms. Tracy suggested switching focus to the leaky back roof and HVAC units which present a more immediate problem than the window frames. Ms. Tracy felt the Library should apply for CPA funds to help with this project. Currently the CPA Committee is working on the application process. Jane Guy of the Planning Dept. will keep Ms. Tracy informed as to when the Committee will be accepting proposals.
The wooden fence was replaced at the beginning of September. Changing the color of the fence to a dark green was discussed and voted by the Trustees. Ms. Tracy will apply for the change through the Salem Historic Commission.
Ms. Tracy reported there were several staff changes over the summer. Long time Reference Librarian Jane Walsh retired June 30th. In July Children’s Librarian Tricia Allen moved back to her home state of Vermont and Assistant Director Alison Barry took a job as a school librarian at her husband’s charter school. Circulation Librarian Tara Mansfield, became the new Assistant Director and Courtney Davis became the new Children’s Librarian. There was other movement within current staff as well as new staff hired.
Ms. Tracy reported she was pleased with the new staff hired for the vacancies. However she felt the Library was lucky with the two new department heads due to the small pool applying for the positions with their low salaries. She reported on two recent job postings, mailed to every e-mail account in NOBLE, with starting salaries almost 20% higher than our new Heads of Reference and Circulation. The Board requested Ms. Tracy contact the Mayor to discuss the situation.
In other business Ms. Tracy reported Children’s summer programming went extremely well with many varied, well attended programs for all ages. This year the Library also had its first “Get Ready for Kindergarten” program. The Library worked with the Superintendent of Schools’ office which mailed our flyer to the home of every soon to be kindergartener and provided a school bus for the program. Courtney Davis modeled the program on one in Boston with stories, a craft, a gift of a pencil for school and a visit to the school bus. We were very pleased with the program and the attendance of kindergarteners, parents and siblings.
Meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM.
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