Virginia Snopek - Trustee Chair Person
Dianne Barry
Carol Battersby
Linda Casey
Leah Condon
Nancy Evren
Gwen Morrissey
Bridget Roy
Renee Still
Trustee Meetings
Held in the lower level of the library.
The next meeting is set for Tuesday, February 7th. The group will be meeting promptly at 6:00 p.m.
PROPOSED LIBRARY
- One story design with maximum accessibility
- Central Reading Hall with clear views to all areas
- Expanded book collection area, orderly, logical, clearly signed
- Expanded Circulation Desk Area with sufficient room for patrons and staff
- Expanded Children’s Library Area with Program Room
- Young Adult Room
- Reference Area with collection of both print and electronic reference sources with sufficient workspace
- Group Study/Local
- History/Genealogy Room
- Periodical Reading Area with sufficient display areas and room for browsing
- Sufficient seating, computers, and work stations throughout
- Multipurpose small Conference and quiet Study Room with seating for twelve
- Audiovisual Area that can adjust to new technologies
- Display Areas for new books
- Self Checkout Bays
- Small Area with comfortable seating for patrons to relax and access wireless internet with own devices
- Display Cases for Community and Library postings
- Multipurpose Meeting Room for 60 people, accessible after hours
- Ample parking for patrons-40
PRESENT LIBRARY
- No handicapped accessibility between floors
- Crowded, with no clear views to all areas
- 30,000 items crowded in space designed for 5000 items
- Circulation Desk immediately adjacent to entrance;significant patron traffic flow issues
- No separate Children’s Program Room
- Young Adult section in hallway
- Reference Area limited to a free standing bookcase, no usable table space; often unnoticed due to cramped quarters
- Microfiche reader, most local history/genealogy in storage
- One periodical rack with one chair adjacent to handicapped entrance door
- Patron access computers share space with staff workspace
- No Study/Conference Room;
- Two tables serve for patron use ,programs, and meeting space
- Cramped, separate Audiovisual Areas; no room for expansion
- Very limited Display Area
- No room for Self Checkout Bays
- No room for separate area with comfortable seating for patrons to access wireless internet with their own devices
- Display Area limited to 1 small bulletin board and on Circ Desk
- Children’s Room is closed whenever it is needed for Meeting Room
- Limited parking – 12
Meeting Minutes and Documents
March 2010 Trustee Meeting Minutes |
| Posted on Jul 12 2010 |
March 15, 2010
Present:
Absent: Amy Kimball, Carol Battersby, Renee Still, and Nancy Evren
The meeting was called to order at 6:40. The minutes from the previous meeting were readed by Jennifer. Gwen made a motion, seconded by Leah to accept the minutes with corrections. The motion passed unanimously.
After a review of the proposed FY 2011 budget with a 0 % increase, it was determined that staff hours will have to be cut. The Director’s hours will be cut by one half hour, and the Children’s Librarian’s hours will be cut by three hours per week. This matter has been discussed with Janice and Jennifer. Both are willing to make this concession. We cannot submit a budget with a 5% decrease. This amount would be less than the Municipal Appropriation Requirement. We would lose our certification and be ineligible to receive grants. Our patrons would not be able to use other
A letter was sent to the Personnel Board requesting that Director Jennifer Crosby be allowed a two-step increase in wages as she has earned her M.L.I.S. degree. This will place her on Step 5 in her current Grade Level 8. The original letter was lost by the Board, so we sent another.
A second meeting with the Historical Commission about siding the library was attended by Virginia Snopek, Nancy Brooks, John Brook and Alain Boudreau. Certain architectural details such as cornices and moldings cannot be covered. These must be scraped and painted. The siding style that matches the existing molding is expensive. An estimate from Mr. Boudreau to cover part of the building with siding that is approved by the Historical Commission comes to $13,360. The moldings and cornices still need attention. We have two choices; scrape and paint the entire building, or partially cover the building with siding and paint the other pieces. There is an allotment of $12,500 to do the job. New laws pertaining to handling lead paint take effect in April of 2010. Leah made a motion with a second by Bridget to paint and scrape all portions that are currently painted, using mandated lead abatement measures. The motion passed unanimously.
The School Building Committee voted to exclude the library from their building plans. We must start making plans for our future library needs. The Ad Hoc Capital Committee, including Virginia Snopek, Al Bail, John Libera, and Stan Kapinos has named the library as the municipal facility most in need of replacement.
March 11, 2010, a workshop was held to discuss the next round of M.B.L.C. (Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program) grants. We must now pursue construction of a new library. If we do not apply for this round of grants, in the 2010-2011 cycle, we will have to wait at least five years. In order to pursue these grants, we must have a site, an architect, an O.P.M. contract and building program by October 5, 2010. Chris Martin estimated the cost of the contract and architect at $200,000.00. We discussed having the library provide one half of this cost and put a request for matching town funds on the warrant at the next town meeting.
Bridget made a motion with a second by Gwen that the Town contributes $100,000.00 and the Trustees put up $100,000.00 towards the design phase of the new library construction project. This motion was defeated. Another motion was made by Bridget with a second by Gwen that the Town contributes $100,000.00 along with a contribution of $50,000.00 by the Trustees and $50,000.00 by the Friends towards the design phase of the new library construction project. This motion passed unanimously. The Trustees have already asked to be on the agenda for the upcoming Friends meeting so that we can ask for their help.
We then discussed future locations available for a library construction project. We see only two possible sites. The first is the land that is adjacent to our current building. In the past, two architects have said that it would be difficult to build an addition to this building. The addition would be three times the size of the current building, and keeping the architectural integrity would be very expensive. Referring to a study done in 2003, there is also an issue with ledge and its impact on placing a new septic system. The parcel of land currently used by the Council on Aging would be suitable and desirable.
The Trustees were reminded that everyone needs to complete the on-line ethics test and print out the receipt for the Town Clerk.
The Trustees were encouraged to contact our State Representatives and Senators about the W.M.R.L.S. elimination.
There is one Trustee position on the upcoming ballot for which no one has taken out papers to run for yet. We were all asked to suggest candidates.
Library Director’s Report:
A letter has been sent out to our neighbors about unauthorized parking in the library lot.
Tom Smith, from National Grid, has finally returned calls about the requested flood light to illuminate the back parking lot. Putting up a 250 watt light would add $24.00 per month to our bill. We decided to table this discussion.
Janice wants to start a face-book page for the teens. The Trustees want her to contact libraries that currently have one. We want her to work on a policy and guidelines for use. We will likely approve this after reviewing the policy and guidelines.
Jennifer wants to look into purchasing management software for the public computers. This software will manage time and log in and log out. Overuse by some patrons has become a problem. She will look into prices for this purchase and report back to us.
Gwen made a motion with a second by Leah to approve warrants in the amount of $1,397.05, $512.27, and $961.18. These were unanimously approved.
Our next meeting will be on April 12, 2010 at 6:30.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40.
Respectfully submitted,
Never Falter, Never Quit!
Attachments: Agenda
0% Budget Request
5% Budget Request
Letter to Personnel Board
FY 2011 Budget Sheet
Copy of letter to neighbors re: parking
Last changed: Jul 12 2010 at 8:55 PM
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