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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-07-BOLT-min CARY MEMORIAL LIBRARY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES June 7, 2017 Attendees: Suzie Barry, Howard Jaffe and Joe Pato, Jessie Steigerwald Trustees; Koren Stembridge, Library Director, Alissa Lauzon, Head of Youth Services and Jen Forgit, Teen Services Manager. Call to Order: Joe called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. Secretary’s Minutes, April 6, 2017 Howard made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 3, 2017, noting a correction in the minutes by Suzie. Jessie seconded the amended minutes, the motion passed unanimously. Financial Update Koren reviewed the Municipal report noting that we are where we expect to be at his point in the year. We have two staff vacancies which account for some surplus personnel funds. We are 80% expended to date but expect to spend it by year end. On the Trustees side, our online fines through ecommerce arrived. We are adjusting our spending since we are unlikely to make our budget projection. We will send an update over the summer. We are waiting on recent Endowment balances. Koren provided a wrap up of the Transformative Spaces Project detailing funding sources and expenses in each category. She reviewed expenses and funds managed by the Department of Public Facilities during the project. When all of the various funds are taken into account, the projects comes to $1,300,000. not $750,000 as estimated. Howard asked what percentage of our materials are RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tagged. Koren explained that all items except for Library of Things materials. We expect to close out the capital article for RFID in FY 18. Administrative Update Staffing Update Koren reported that we are busy with interviews for two full time librarians and one library technician position in Youth Services Department. Alissa shared that we have 60 candidates and will be interviewing 11. We have some strong contenders. Koren added that soon we will start negotiating a new staff library contract. Our salaries are not as competitive as the used to be and we hope to address it in this round of contract negotiations. Meeting Room Groups Koren explained that we continue to struggle with requests from non-Lexington groups. The Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society has requested approval for monthly meetings. They provide resources and assist in researching family histories. Since we don’t have many African American programs, would the board considers approving them for one year meeting one Saturday per month? They offered to help us with future programming. Jessie mentioned that a new group has formed in town, ABCL, Association of Black Citizens of Lexington. Howard added that anything we can do to acknowledge the community is a positive thing. The consensus is to approve the group for monthly meetings. The trustees continued to discuss meeting room issues. Strategic planning Koren asked if any trustees would like to be involved in mapping out the public engagement component. She plans to meet with the stakeholders over the summer. Jessie and Howard are available if needed. Building Update Koren updated trustees regarding the Department of Public Facilities approach to the planned work on the roof at the rear of the building. The hope is to mitigate the collection of icicles that cluster above sidewalk areas. They are considering heated tape, the simplest option. Koren is working with Melissa Tintocalis from Economic Development about the possibility of having a few Adirondack chairs on our front lawn for 45 days in the summer. Department of Public Works is concerned about dragging the chairs and moving them during lawn maintenance. Suzie inquired about the Historic District Commission. Since it is a temporary structure, we can do so for a limited amount of time. As a courtesy Koren will make the HDC aware. New Business Koren introduced the idea of taking the Children Study Room offline using it for staff office space. The Children’s Office space is cramped given the number of staff as well as offsite lines. We hope to located two staff persons in the space. Jessie made a motion to make the change. Howard seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Summer Reading Fine Forgiveness Alissa detailed her proposal to forgive summer reading fines. The nationwide challenge is for youth to read beyond their comfort zone. The incentive of fine forgiveness for late materials only, not lost books or materials. Howard thinks it is a creative way to get kids reading. He made a motion to approve the fine forgiveness for the summer. Seconded by Jessie. Passed unanimously. Student Programming Request Jen Forgit shared her preliminary conversation with a student who is proposing a club exclusively for girls. Jen passed around the project proposal summarizing the request. The student feels that there is a lack of female representation in many academic clubs. There have been several proposals from students who would like to run clubs in the library. The key is to balance the requests with our mission which is to have free and open services to all. This woman was passionate and engaged. It would be great to support her however her proposal is exclusive to girls. Jen is proposing that we come up with a more formal process for anyone requesting the formation of a club. Ideally there would be some flexibility so it can be presented orally or in writing and that staff can evaluate together. The conundrum is how to balance the mission of the library and have services available to all. Howard expressed that he hears the concern but that his sense is that there are certain times we need to get beyond the thought of being egalitarian. There are times when it is appropriate to have gender specific programs. Fear of political correctness should not stop us from doing what is correct. He has no trouble supporting this effort. Joe expressed concern about precedent setting. Koren asked if Jessie would be willing to work with us on evaluating. It is up to us to us to make them successful. After a discussion, the consensus is to give it a try. Old Business Koren will be drafting some changes to the Trustee bylaws for review in the fall. Jessie volunteered to assist as needed, Adjournment Suzie made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Howard seconded the motion which was unanimously passed.