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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-24 Stevens Memorial Library Trustees Minutes APPROVED (- DATE r� � I VOTE PAGES Board of Library Trustees (BoLT) Stevens Memorial Library Minutes of Meeting on September 24, 2024 1, Call to order at 5:01 pm Stan Limpert,Board Chair, called the Board of Library Trustees to order on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 5:01 PM. Trustees In attendance: Stan Limpert,Board Chair;Ann Cavanaugh, Mark Rodgers,Ron Rudis and Earl Svendsen.Absent: Eva Hamori; Lindsey Mayo Also attending: Kathleen Keenan, Library Director; Lucinda Mazza,Assistant Library Director Absent: Denise Casey, Deputy Town Manager 2. Public Comment Ann Cavanaugh reported some verbal complaints she has received from a few patrons: the public bathrooms need work,the Library is not open on weekends in the summer, and why are the Historic Entrance steps taking so long. Ann shared she explained there are plans for the bathrooms and the Historic Entrance stairs is a very involved project, the progress on the project can be seen on the Library's website. 3. Correspondence An unhappy patron sent a letter anonymously to Town Manager's Office, Library Trustees Chair, and the Library Director. Kathleen Keenan, Library Director,has written a response to that letter and shared it with the Library Trustees and Town Management. Sue Ellen Holmes,the Library Director who retired in 2007,has passed away. Kathleen shared the news and her obituary. The Trustees had a discussion about what to do in her memory.A donation to the organization given in her obituary was decided.Another idea is to make a plaque for all of the past and future Library Directors; Mark Rodgers and Stan Limpert will look into this. MOTION: Mark Rodgers made a motion, seconded by Ron Rudis,to donate $500 to the Nevins MSPCA in memory of Sue Ellen Holmes. Approved 5-0. 4. Reports a. Chair's report—Stan Lirnpert Stan thought Kathleen's patron response was well done and appropriate. The Board needs to start thinking about the Endowment spending for the coming fiscal year, FY26. b. Review/approve minutes for August 13, 2024 MOTION: Mark Rodgers made a motion, seconded by Ann Cavanaugh,to accept the August 13, 2024 minutes as written. Approved 5-0. 2024-09-24 BoLT September Meeting Minutes DRAFT c. Library Director's Report—Kathleen Keenan • The Library has resumed its weekend hours schedule. She had hoped to have filled empty positions before September, but are short staffed entering the Fall. • There are four part-time open positions. The good news: two offer of employment letters are going out today. References are being checked now for applicants for the other positions. • The HVAC system needs to be checked out. The system has been shutting down on very hot and humid days,probably due to too much load. • Library activities are increasing as the Fall starts. The Teen Librarian will be visiting the North Andover High School Independent Reading (curriculum-level) courses again this year. The School District is offering basic English language courses for parents again this year. They will be held in one of the schools this year as several of the classes are at the same time as Library events, so the meeting room is not available. Kathleen hopes to find a way to promote the Library to them. • The Senior Center invited the Library to do a"Technology Help"talk there. Two Stevens librarians will be doing the presentation. • The Library has booked a joint virtual program with the North Andover Garden Club in February. • She recently was visited by Mr. Les Ball, a retired member of MA Board of Library Commissioners. He will be in North Andover and hopes to participate eventually. • The Town is doing a digital equity study. Kathleen was interviewed along with other departments for the study. The study looks at what is already available and for possible ways to improve in the future. d. Library monthly activity report—Lucinda Mazza Lucinda has added statistics for number of programs and attendance. Building visitors numbers are about the same as a year ago. Physical materials checkouts are a little lower while digital checkouts continue to increase. Tumblebooks numbers are low, which could be due to school just starting. The librarians are making teachers aware the Tumblebooks subscription is now accessible through the North Andover School District portal CLEVER. It also has digital books in Spanish and French.All MA libraries get an annual report on Interlibrary Loan (ILL) activity as part of the State resource-sharing program. This report provides both lending and borrowing statistics. Stevens is a net borrower,but does loan a lot of materials,too. The recent change in MVLC's OverDrive lending period (from 3 weeks to 2 weeks) is having a positive impact. People are receiving OverDrive materials sooner. If a material does not have other reservations, it can be renewed. e. Treasurer's Report--Earl Svendsen The Endowment Funds reached $1,000,000 at one point today. Endowment spending for this year is slower than anticipated as some things are on hold. The asset allocation shifted by 1% to now be 81% Stocks and 19% Bonds & Cash. f, Committee Reports i. Investment Committee—Marls Rodgers No changes to report beyond balances, above. ii. Long Range Planning Status—Ron Rudis Ron reviewed the chart. 2024-09-24 BOLT September Meeting Minutes DRAFT iii. Building Committee--Kathleen Keenan as Eva Hamori not present The Building Space Study Request for Proposals (RFP) draft has gone to Laurie Burzlaff, Town Purchasing Director, for input. Laurie provided some suggestions, which Eva will incorporate. It'should then be able to go out. 5. Old Business a. Historic Entrance Stairs Update—Kathleen Keenan The Historic Entrance project's progress is more visible now as the granite treads and landing plates are being put into place. Each piece was numbered so it could be restored in the exact same location. Flashing, an additional waterproofing element, has been done. The new hand rails are due to be fabricated soon;they can't be made until exact measurements are taken when the stairs are back in place. The original lamp posts will be cleaned up and refinished and put back on the stairs.New granite pavers are due to be laid around the stairs. Masonry is scheduled to be done by the end of September. Full completion is mid-to late-October.A custom bronze plaque acknowledging this is a Community Preservation (CPC)project has arrived and was seen today at the meeting. A separate project to add a lamp post at each walkway's end street-side is being planned, though no funds have been found for this new project yet. h. Bookmobile Update—Kathleen Keenan The parking space for the bookmobile is being prepared. Electrical work is being done for charging the van's onboard power system. The bookmobile delivery is now the 3rd week of October. Enough ARPA funds remain for one full-time bookmobile librarian for about 1.5 years. $85,000 ARPA funds that was to pay for staffing the bookmobile for two years were drawn back in order for the Town to meet the FY24 debt(along with all others departments who had to return fiords), incurred by the Not Andover School Dept's unexpected overspending. The job posting is being reviewed now,then will be posted. c. Amazon funding status/new technology----Kathleen Keenan Kathleen needs to complete a formal request for quotes for new self-check machines. She will be ordering things for the bookmobile shortly. d. Library patron website renewal project—Kathleen Keenan Lucinda is completing the annual State Finance Report, required by MBLC as part of the Library's annual certification. The ARIS report has already been completed. Lucinda will now be able to take the lead on the website project.As Kathleen continues to learn about the CivicPlus application(the Town's new application), it may be a good choice for the Library for financial and technical reasons, any functions like archiving digital social media information. e. Library building space study—Kathleen Keenan As mentioned above, the Space Study RFP is being completed before posting. f. Strategic plan annual update—Kathleen Keenan The MBLC deadline for submitting an annual Action Plan Report is December 1. MBLC has a template on its website which Ron Rudis might find it helpful. He will work on a draft of the report as he's maintaining the Strategic Plan Status Tracking Chart. 2024-09-24 BoLT September Meeting Minutes DRAFT 6. New Business a. MA Library membership—Earl Svendsen The Library Trustees used to belong to this association. Earl reported he could not find which year(s) in the immediate records. The membership cost is $100. MOTION: Mark Rodgers made a motion, seconded by Ron Rudis to join the MA Library Association(MLTA) for$100. Approved 5-0. b. Library Endowment Funds requests—Kathleen Keenan An all-staff meeting was held on September 17". Kathleen hired a consultant who provides customer service training specifically to public libraries. This was part of the response to the anonymous letter received. The consultant cost was $1,000; she requested it be paid from the Endowment Funds earmarked for staff development. Individual checks will be written as this method increases ease of reporting in the future. MOTION: Mark Rodgers made a motion, seconded by Ron Rudis, to donate $1,000 to the Library for the staff development speaker. Approved 5-0. MOTION: Mark Rodgers made a motion, seconded by Ron Rudis,to donate$13 5 for the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach services (ABOS)virtual conference fee. Approved 5-0. MOTION: Mark Rodgers made a motion, seconded by Ron Rudis, to donate $5,000 for the Library Journal Bulk Credit Program (staff development online courses) contingent upon the Town Financial Director agreement the money can be prepaid. Approved 5-0. 7. Next meeting date: Tolling members to change the meeting from Tuesday, October 22 to Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 5 pm S Adjournment MOTION: Mark Rodgers made a motion, seconded by Ann Cavanaugh to adjourn at 6:48. Approved 5-0. Documents Distributed.- 1, 2024-09-24 BOLT Sept meeting agenda postingpdf 2. 2024-08-13 BOLT Meeting Minutes DRAFT.pdf 3. Mazza:Library Monthly Statistics CY2023 &CY2024, 9-17-24.pdf 4. Svendsen: *BoLT Treasurer Report 09202024.pdf, 8-9-24 5. Svendsen:BOLT Treasurer Summary Report 092092024.pdf 6. Svendsen:End FYRecategorizing of Donations.pdf, 8-10-24 7. Rudis:September FY25 Strategic Plan Status Trackingpdf 8, Hamori: 2024-09-24 SML Building Calendar 2024.pdf 9. Keenan:Keenan response to &Patron 9-4-24 letter:pdf 10. Keenan:SE Holmes obituary2024.pdf *Full report emailed prior to the meeting 2024-09-24 BOLT September Meeting Minutes DRAFT