Draft of Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of February 27, 2014
A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held this date at 4:08 PM at the Library with Trustees Buckley, Merry, Salerno, Schild present and Trustee Yale present and presiding. Trustee Little and Mayor Driscoll were absent. Ms. Tracy was present.
Approval of minutes of January 23, 2014
UNANIMOUS
Current Library Use and Financial reports were distributed. Included was a report on circulation of downloadables which make up about 4% of Salem’s total circulation. Ms. Tracy also distributed an article from Publishers Weekly on national library use and a graph distributed by NOBLE paralleling NOBLE’s circulation with that of the entire state’s circulation.
As requested at the January meeting Ms. Tracy gave a breakdown of insurance costs for artwork, equipment and the Library car. Concerned by the high cost of the car insurance the Trustees asked Ms. Tracy to contact the Library’s insurance company for an explanation or possible reduction.
Ms. Tracy distributed the narrative portion of the budget and reported she submitted the FY15 budget proposal in the amount of $1,212,700 to the Finance Director. This budget will meet the Municipal Appropriation Requirement (MAR) of the Mass Board of Library Commissioners. This enables the Library to be certified and eligible for State Aid as well as allowing Salem residents to borrow materials from other libraries. Ms. Tracy informed the Trustees she is scheduled to meet with the Mayor and Finance Director Sarah Stanton on March 10th to review the submitted budget.
The Trustees were given copies of the Benson appraisal done by Robin Starr of Skinner, Inc. It was agreed the Benson would not be put in Skinner’s May auction. Trustee Yale informed the Board Skinner’s next American Art Auction is scheduled for the fall. A discussion followed with a consensus to continue along the current path. Trustee Schild volunteered to ask Austen Brown Bailey, American Art Curator of the Peabody Essex Museum for a second opinion on the Benson and Skinner’s appraisal. Ms. Tracy will inform the Trustees once this is scheduled so any Trustee who wishes may also be present.
Ms. Tracy passed out a draft Library Tuition Reimbursement Policy for review. The new policy will replace the Library’s Educational Policy of July 29, 1982. Major differences between the policies were discussed including adding a waiting period, limiting reimbursement to MLIS graduate program courses, limiting reimbursement to 1 course per semester and allowing part time staff to be reimbursed (at a smaller percentage) if funds allow. A discussion followed with some concern over the rising costs of courses and the possibility of more staff taking advantage of the program than had previously. The Trustees agreed to carry over the draft policy to the April meeting allowing for more thought and discussion.
Ms. Tracy reported that Roger Tremblay Co. had recently worked on replacing the threshold but would be coming back to finish the job.
Ms. Tracy reported on her meeting with Landscape architect Patty Starfield and Trustee Little regarding the annual plantings. Also discussed at that meeting was a project to replace the landscape timber retaining wall on the right side of the walkway to the Children’s Room Entrance with a granite retaining wall. This project had been suggested by Ms. Starfield last year as part of the special landscaping project.
Trustee Little suggested Bob Farley meet with Ms. Starfield to be arranged by Ms. Tracy. At this follow up meeting a second proposal was presented which also included replacement of landscape timbers on the other side of the pathway. This increased the estimated cost but it was felt it would be more economical to do both sides of the pathway at the same time. Architect Farley gave some specifications and suggestions on granite for Ms. Starfield to follow up on.
Ms. Tracy informed the Board the Library’s Determination of Eligibility Application for CPA funding was passed. According to the newspaper the second application requesting the actual funding will be due back on April 3rd. However as of the Trustee meeting the Library hadn’t received the second application from the Community Preservation Committee.
Citing several recent incidents in which patrons misjudged boundaries between library business and personal agendas, Ms. Tracy informed the Board this had caused several librarians discomfit in their work. She asked that the following be added to the Patron Code of Conduct:
“Initiating conversation not appropriate in a work environment or giving gifts to an individual staff member in order to pursue a personal relationship is not allowed.”
Approval of addition to Patron Code of Conduct
UNANIMOUS
Meeting adjourned at 5:29 PM.
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