Board of
Library Trustees Meeting
December 6, 2011
7:00 p.m.
Attendees:
Trustees:
Carol Brown, Vice-chair
MaryAnn Cabibbo
Ed Duggan
Chris Monahan
Wendy Rowe, Chair
Citizens:
Margaret Perkins, Acting Director
Motion to approve agenda: MAC1, CB2, passed unanimously
Motion to approve November minutes: MAC1, CB2, passed unanimously
Kathy Piche sent Wendy email commending Lorie's storyhour and asking if we could have a winter session. Wendy thanked her, said cost and staff availability are issues, suggested she talk with Margaret, and said we'd discuss it at our Trustee meeting.
Discussion encompassed the known value of storyhour, Lorie's availablity, cost (we pay for an extra 5-6 hours of Lorie's time for each 6 week session), and meeting community needs despite budget constraints. Possibly a winter session could replace a later session, since there's more to do when it's warm outside.
Storytime will be easier to schedule when the revised job descriptions (submitted by Felicia) are official; Sue Ellis told Margaret they aren't yet.
Motion to approve "in principle" a winter storytime: CM1, CB2, passed unanimously.
Margaret will talk with Lorie to see whether she is available, and will follow up with Kathy.
The union contract was approved with retroactive pay. We haven't yet received a transfer of the required salary money, but assume we will since that's what happened last time.
To meet the MAR we will need an extra $2000-$3000 in our budget. The Town Accountant told Margaret last year that it shouldn't be a problem.
MaryAnn would like more clarity regarding the cost of Library maintenance and whose budget should contain it. Our current budget doesn't cover regular preventative maintenance, or replacement due to wear & tear.
We will need some subs over the holidays and perhaps 1/week beyond that, due to vacations and staff illness.
Tammy is going to an eBook training class, since patrons ask how to use their devices.
Carol suggests we ask for donations of upgraded Kindles, Nooks, tablets after people get new ones over the holidays.
Margaret says a survey showed e-reader use is down from 12% to 9% but the survey may not have included tablets.
There is a Holliston book group with about 20 members, including a few Medway people.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving was our busiest ever according to Margaret, but the past two have been even busier.
About 100 books per month are self-checked-out; there haven't been many big problems.
The Selectmen plan to join us at our February meeting.
Ed talked with Southborough's Director about their "Teens and Tweens" program grant. It started in October, so nothing much has happened yet; a part-time person has been assigned to it, and there are two kids in it so far. The Director invited Ed to come back in a couple of months to see it then.
Consensus is that we should do a new survey, but a very short one; perhaps more than one short, focused one. Wendy asked people to send her suggestions for survey questions.
We don't need to re-write our action plan, since our long-range plan does not require update. But we can submit changes if we want to.
Sue Ellis told Margaret the Trustees need to authorize the day-after-Thanksgiving holiday pay for Library staff.
Motion to approve the contractually obligated day after Thanksgiving holiday: CB1, CM2, passed unanimously.
Patron request; Margaret says other libraries do it, and she recommends we do.
Motion to increase the loan period for TV Series (DVDs) to 2 weeks: CB1, MAC2, passed unanimously.
Ed commends the Friends of the LIbrary on their newly revamped newsletter and on its "Meet the Librarians" feature. Trustees agreed, and added that the lobby looks nice with the decorating changes the Friends made.
Motion to adjourn: 8:37 - MAC1, CM2, passed unanimously
| Account | Acct # | Start Balance | Expen. To Date | End Balance | % Spent | |
| Salaries - Full Time | 5110 | $78,624.00 | $30,386.60 | $48,237.40 | 38.65% | |
| Salaries - Part Time | 5111 | $66,692.00 | $25,792.78 | $40,899.22 | 38.67% | |
| Longevity | 5150 | $850.00 | $850.00 | $0.00 | 100.00% | |
| Electricity | 5211 | $21,500.00 | $7,128.61 | $14,371.39 | 33.16% | |
| Heating Fuel | 5212 | $7,900.00 | $421.18 | $7,478.82 | 5.33% | |
| Trash | 5232 | $1,683.00 | $835.66 | $847.34 | 49.65% | |
| Water & Sewer | 5231 | $863.00 | $147.87 | $715.13 | 17.13% | |
| R & M Miscellaneous | 5240 | $5,784.00 | $20,965.91 | ($15,181.91) | 362.48% | incl. Emerg. Trans. |
| Telephone | 5341 | $1,500.00 | $503.83 | $996.17 | 33.59% | |
| Supplies | 5400 | $1,600.00 | $729.28 | $870.72 | 45.58% | |
| Postage | 5343 | $264.00 | $308.00 | ($44.00) | 116.67% | |
| OPS - (Minuteman bill) | 5380 | $22,707.00 | $22,851.00 | ($144.00) | 100.63% | |
| Media | 5427 | $0.00 | ||||
| Books | 5521 | $0.00 | ||||
| Travel | 5710 | $16.50 | ($16.50) | |||
| TOTAL - GENERAL FUND | $209,967.00 | $110,937.22 | $99,029.78 | 52.84% | ||
| Retroactive salaries | $11,122.69 | |||||
| Start Balance* | Expen. To Date | Income to Date | Account Bal | |||
| Memorial Donations | 5400 | $9,836.82 | $14,196.80 | $20,982.75 | $16,622.77 | |
| Tuchinsky Fund Interest | $40,610.32 | $105.03 | $40,715.35 | |||
| Tuchinsky Fund Principal | $102,869.11 | $102,869.11 | ||||
| Library Restitution Fund | 024-610-706-4773 | $10,389.75 | $4,414.27 | $357.40 | $6,332.88 | |
| Copier & Printer Rev. Fund | 024-610-722-4840 | $2,958.53 | $412.40 | $3,370.93 | ||
| Meeting Room Rev. Fund | 024-610-723-4840 | $2,114.18 | $110.00 | $2,224.18 | ||
| Free Public Library | 2017 | $8,724.52 | $4,154.00 | $4,570.52 | ||
| TOTAL - OTHER FUNDS | $177,503.23 | $22,765.07 | $21,967.58 | $176,705.74 | ||
| Automated Checkout | $4,000.00 |
Medway Public Library
Director's Report
December 5, 2011
Certification
The Medway Public Library was officially certified at the December 1, 2011 meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The initial State Aid award is $4,314.36.
Emergency Transfer
The Board of Selectmen approved the Emergency Transfer for the HVAC equipment. Apparently it was not actually supposed to have ended up in the FY11 Library Repairs and Maintenance account. The Emergency Transfer will be on the agenda of the December 14th FinCom meeting (their November 9th meeting was cancelled).
Building Maintenance
SimplexGrinnell sent a technician to reprogram the annunciator, but he was unable to do so. I was assured by the supervisor that there would be no charge for this call. However, they invoiced the library for this service call. I am awaiting a return call from the supervisor.
The Town has contracted with a vendor to replace the thermostatic controls with a computerized setup in the Library and other Town buildings. The work should begin shortly.
We will receive a donation in January of a very nice park bench from a Medway resident.
Personnel
The new contract adds the day after Thanksgiving as an additional holiday. Staff received retroactive increases for FY11 and the FY12 year-to-date.
Programming
I led a second book discussion at the Senior Center. Once again, only two people besides myself attended. We decided to skip December, and perhaps relocate the book group to the library. People may not realize that they do not have to be Seniors in order to participate, and perhaps they will feel more comfortable meeting in the library.
The Holliston Public Library launched a successful daytime book group. Medway patrons are welcome, and we are reserving multiple copies of the books for pickup in Medway.
Friends of the Library
Meg Hernandez of Sublime Fitness Studio in Medway has asked to postpone the Zumbathon fundraiser until the spring.
The Barefoot Books fundraiser did not actually generate any money for the Friends, unfortunately.
Thanks to the Friends for purchasing a new projector, which Lorie has already used in her story hour.
The Friends are working on redecorating the lobby. Several people have said they love the ficus tree with little books hanging from the branches.
Almost 90 children have signed up for the upcoming Gingerbread Festival.
Meetings
I attended the MLS Annual meeting of members on November 14th. Cathy De Rosa of OCLC spoke about their Perceptions of Libraries surveys. Library use by those who have been economically impacted by the recession (over a third of families) have increased their library use by 37%. We also broke into small groups to discuss strategic planning.
At the Minuteman Library Network Membership meeting, the Directors voted to approve a change to the requirements for getting a library card. Some very expensive books were stolen from academic libraries after patrons used fraudulent leases to obtain library cards. The new policy is attached. The recommended formula for assigning Overdrive costs will result in the Medway Library’s share increasing significantly next fiscal year – at least $460 even if usage stays the same.
I also attended a focus group for new directors at the Minuteman Library network, where we discussed how to make Membership meetings more productive and useful, and how to ensure that all libraries have sufficient opportunity to participate in discussions and decision-making. I volunteered to be on the MLN committee that will investigate possible alternatives to the Millennium ILS.
Other
Town Hall asked all departments to complete a spreadsheet of fees (such as maximum overdue fine & printing costs) for Medway, Millis, Medfield, Holliston, and Hopkinton. We have similar fees.
Circulation at the library has increased by 8.4% for the period September-November of 2011, compared to the same months of the previous year.
-Margaret Perkins