ThayerMemorialLibraryTrusteesMeeting
November 9, 2016
Roll Call
Presentwere:
EmilyRose,Chair
FrankMacGrory,Vice-Chair
StephannéFiori, Secretary
StevePiazza
JohnSchumacher-Hardy
FrankStreeter
JoeMulé,Director,ExOfficio
Visitors:
None.
Move to Adopt Agenda
Member Streetermovedtoaccepttheagenda with Other Business to review September minutes;SecretaryFiori secondedthemotion,andthemotionpassedona6-0vote.
Minutes
September minutes: Member Schumacher-Hardy movedtoaccept the minutes.Secretary Fiori secondedthemotion,andtheminutes were approved passedona4-0vote. Vice-Chair MacGrory and Member Streeter abstained as they did not attend September Board meeting.
October minutes: Member Streeter movedtoaccept the minutes, with edits.Secretary Fiori secondedthemotion,andtheminutes were approved passedona5-0vote. Member Streeter abstained as he did not attend October Board meeting.
Next Meeting
ThenextTrusteesMeetingwilltakeplaceonDecember 14, 2016 at6:30PMin theTrustees’Roomatthe Library.
Chair’s Report
ChairRosereviewed FY17 BoardAdministrative Calendar for the month. In accordance with the monthly activities. The Board revised calendar to add “review of Director’s contract to NOVEMBER. The Staff Appreciation event will be slotted in JANUARY.
ACTION: Director Mulé will survey the staff for best date for the celebration of staff.
Discussion included holiday hours, Board and Director agreedhours on the Wednesday before and Friday after Thanksgiving could be adjusted to accommodate a 10am-2pm scheduled. Christmas and New Year holiday hours would be adjusted based on staff choosing to work the Saturdaybefore each holiday otherwisethe library will open for regular hours on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
Member Schumacher-Hardy moved to accept the open hours as proposed and Member Streeter seconded, themotionpassedona6-0vote.
Chair Rose updated the Board regarding the tree removal. Removal and basic cleanup was successful, with stump ground down. Further cleanup will be done in the spring as needed.
Chair Rose discussed article on time utilization that aligns to our strategic plan. Chair Rose asked the Board suggested self-check-out of materials to augmentthe “usual” process at the circulation deskas a possible means of providing targeted service for patrons who may be interested. Another concept to consider is allowing patrons to schedule an appointment with Staff for training about services such as (a) how to log onto the Internet or (b) how to use the research databases.
The Director and Board members discussed the concept and feasibility of these ideas. They are certainly possible – implementation would require prioritizing these services with other activities. The Board was left to consider how do we open up opportunities to add such service(s)?
COMMITTEE REPORTS
POLICY COMMITTEE:
Member Streeter will work to re-engage and align to most pressing policies to review and reconsider.
BUILDING COMMITTEE:
Note, this report was provided by Steve Piazza and is inserted here.
The building committee met on October 7th with two members of the Energy Commission, Don Atkinson and Jay Moody to review the draft HVAC RFP and to clarify the members roles moving forward. Don and Jay provided input that has been included in the final version of the RFP (see attachment). They want to make sure the vendors understand that we have two major areas that need to be managed; 1) Fix or replace the system in the museum and make recommendations for the improving the performance of the Special Collections Room and 2) Develop a recommended maintenance and replacement plan and schedule for all the equipment that services the rest of the building.
In addition to the already understood roles of Steve, Larry and Dave, we came to the understanding that:
- Town Administrator/Ryan McNutt will act as the Project Manager. He will manage the project, the RFP, advertising, vetting of vendors, etc.
- Director Mulé will act as the Facility Manager. All questions from vendors pertaining to scheduling access to the building will be done through him
- Energy Commission Members: Don Atkinson and Jay Moody will act as consultants/Subject Matter Experts. They will review the responses to the RFP and be present when the potential vendors perform their site visit and as needed during installation and repair activities.
ACTION:Member Piazza to follow up with Town Administrator/Ryan McNutt to initiate advertising of the RFP – week of 11/14/16
ACTION:Member Piazza and Director Mulé to develop a set of talking points to share with the potential vendors when they make the site visit.
Pine Tree: The pine tree has been removed and the stump ground. Dave Foster/Grounds Maintenance and I surveyed the area and decided to wait until spring to fill in any divots and sow grass seed.
Walkway repairs
Dave Foster/ Grounds Maintenance has been contacting people to get quotes on repairing the mortar in the rear of the Library and fixing the shifting granite and repairing mortar on the front walkway/steps. However, he has not been able to get a vendor interested in doing the work at this time. We will probably have to wait until the spring to try again to get quotes.
Member Piazza discussed the meeting with the Energy Commission and stated that the discussion was helpful and provided useful input to developing a comprehensive RFP for HVAC services and repairs. The Energy Commission members will support the review of RFP responses from a technical perspective to help validated specifications are met and in alignment with standards.
Board members thanked Member Piazza for the depth and quality of the research and collaboration to build the RFP framework which will add value to future efforts.
ACTION: Member Piazza will contact restoration specialist, Ward Hamilton to discuss the problem with the foundation mortar of the lamp-post, and front walkway.
Special Collections:
Board reviewed the draft “special acquisitions” guideline materials drafted by Member Schumacher-Hardy regarding how to respond to the availability for purchase of items of relevance toLibrary special collection(s) that may require an urgent response. Members Piazza and Chair Rose provided feedback and input to the draft document. The Board discussed this version of guidelines; Member Streeter asked if there should be a subcommittee that would be authorized to spend a pre-determined budget. It was determined that a subcommittee is not needed as the policy today allows the Director to act as agent of the Board with discretion for acquisition and collection development within budget.
Conversation continued around the concept of an acquisition review group and context of guidelines and core principals and such questions as: if a purchase was made by a Board member without the assistance of the Director how would the verification and reimbursement be accomplished? This brought Board back to the policy subcommittee and the need to complete the special collections policy as this would be critical to informing acquisition guidelines for these collections.
Action: Member Schumacher-Hardy will again work to revise the guidelines document to incorporate feedback already received from Member Piazza and Chair Rose along with discussion and commentary at the Board meeting.
All Board members will provide any input as they determine useful to Member Schumacher-Hardy to incorporate.
Action: Member Streeter will update the Board on the special collection policy at December meeting.
Director’s Report:
Budget report documents reviewed for July, August, September, and October. Spending allocations remain on track, with no expenditures outside of anticipated budget.
Director Mulé shared the news of the recent passing of Len Kelley, an active patron of theLibrary, who served as volunteer in several roles but most notably as editor of the Library newsletter the Clarion over 10 years ago. Donations were received by the Library in his honor from family and friends. Board members shared their memories of their work with Len and his wonderful contributions to the Library community.
The preservation survey is underway, more than 600 pages of documentation have been provided to the preservation consultant from Northeast Document Conservation Center. The last review was more than 10 years ago. Several staff members (Director Mulé; Special Collections Clerk, Marcia Jakubowicz; Assistant Director, Karen Silverthorn) spent most of a day with the preservation consultant touring the facility and special collections. Many things drew their attention, including the Alice Chandler exhibit on the second floor of the rotunda. We may anticipate a draft of the report by the new year.
Other points of note, from our submission of the Annual Report Information Survey (ARIS) to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) which is required annually. Thayer Memorial Library has doubled the size of our holdings. In FY 2017 the Library met is full MER of 19% which is the first time since the 2008 recession and budget cuts. The Materials Expenditure Requirement of the State Aid to Public Libraries program is defined in statute and regulation (MGL, c.78, s.19B; 605 CMR 4.01(5)). It is a percentage of the municipal appropriation to the library, based on the population of the municipality served by the library. Since 2008 the library has qualified under a provision which specifies a 16% MER for libraries of our size that offer more hours of service than required.
In the absence of sufficient municipal appropriation, the Library has funded any gap through a variety of non-appropriated funding sources, like the Friends of the Thayer Memorial Library and Thayer Memorial Library Foundation and other sources of non-appropriated revenue.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Chair Rose and Member Streeter met with Director Mulé to discuss his contract.
Member Streeter made a Motion to go into Executive Session, pursuant to MGL, C. 30A, §21(a) #2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for renewing contract negotiations with non-union personnel, specifically the Library Director and will reconvene in open session. Member Schumacher-Hardy seconded. Roll call vote:
- EmilyRose,Chair - Aye
- FrankMacGrory,Vice-Chair - Aye
- FrankStreeter - Aye
- StephannéFiori, Secretary - Aye
- StevePiazza - Aye
- JohnSchumacher-Hardy - Aye
Executive session ended at 8:10pm and the Board returned to open session. Board signed the contract with adjusted terms and language.
ACTION: Chair Rose will return contract to Director Mulé.
Chair Rose will Town Administrator for procedural guidance on the contract.
Adjournment:
TherebeingnofurtherbusinessfortheBoardtoconsider,
Member Piazza made motion to adjourn at8:15pmVice-Chair MacGrory seconded the motion, motion passed on a 6-0 vote.
Atruerecordattest,
Stephanné Fiori,Secretary
ACTION ITEMS NOVEMBER:
ACTION: Director Mulé will survey the staff for best date for the celebration of staff.
ACTION: Member Schumacher-Hardy will again work to revise the guidelines document to incorporate feedback already received from Member Piazza and Chair Rose along with discussion and commentary at the Board meeting.
All Board members will provide any input as they determine useful to Member Schumacher-Hardy to incorporate
ACTION: Chair Rose will return contract to Director Mulé and contact Town Administrator for procedural guidance on the contract.
Director Mulé with contact Board of Selectman and Town Administrator for procedural guidance on the contract.
ACTION:Member Streeter will update the Board on the special collection policy at December meeting.
ACTION: Secretary Fiori – draft and distribute Executive Session minutes as appropriate
Document List:
Agenda 9Nov 2016
Minutes 14 Sept 2016
Minutes 5 October 2016
FY17 Board Administrative Calendar, v2.4?
Director’s Report: November 2016
Monthly BudgetReport July
Monthly Budget Report August
Monthly Budget Report September
Monthly Budget Report October
ACTION ITEMS OCTOBER:
ACTION: Chair Rose will send note to impacted town green groups as appropriate, Church and Town Hall, Community Center regarding tree work, to avoid disruptions.
ACTION: ALL -for ease of compilation of the meeting documents, Director Mulé requested relevant email communications to be included have TITLE format and word, “REPORT”
ACTION: Member Piazza will review and align the communication and roles accordingly with the HVAC RFP participants.
ACTION: Member Schumacher-Hardy revise and draft guidelines and principles to manage when items come up for purchase and how Board may appropriately respond.
ACTION ITEMS SEPTEMBER:
ACTION: Member Schumacher-Hardy will provide a review of the library bylaws at the October session - DONE
ACTION: Chair Rose will contact vendor and arrange work for removal of pine tree and trim work. DONE
ACTION: Chair Rose will notify Ryan McNutt, Town Administrator of the Board’s decision to remove tree. DONE
ACTION: Member Fiori will tour some libraries to get a sense of how recently renovated libraries are using their space. Suggestions included Leominster, Shrewsbury, and Bolton. – IN-process, Bolton = done.
ACTION: All Board members should contemplate any ideas or terms that should be submitted for consideration in a contract for Library Director.
ACTION: Chair Rose and Member Streeter will meet with Director Mulé to discuss suggestions and options for consideration in a director contract. – Before November meeting