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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018.06.06 EB Min CARY MEMORIAL LIBRARY EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES June 6, 2018 Attendees: Joe Pato, Suzie Barry, Claire Feingold-Thoryn, Eileen Jay and Howard Jaffe Trustees; Koren Stembridge, Library Director, Emily Smith, Assistant Library Director. Call to Order: Joe called the meeting to order at 3:05 PM. Public Comment: None Secretary’s Minutes of May 2, 2018 Howard made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 19, 2018, as presented. Claire seconded the motion which passed unanimously. New Business Library after Dark Koren asked trustees if there are any concerns about the Foundation coordinating this program which may have some similarity to library programs. Claire expressed that the program should be in line with the library’s mission. Suzie asked if a staff person will be present. Koren confirmed that at least one staff person will work each program. Koren added that she reduced the grant from $85,000 - $80,000 for FY19 to give them a cushion to sponsor such programs. Koren asked if here are any concerns with a scotch tasting event that Lex FUN wants to sponsor in the fall. We have done beer/wine for Foundation events in the past. Suzie and Claire asked about using a registered bartender. Suzie suggested will check in with counsel and liability insurance. Koren confirmed that we have. Endowment Distribution Koren asked trustees to request the annual 2% distribution from the restricted endowment to purchase materials. Howard made a motion to distribute 2% of the interest on the Restricted Endowment. Suzie seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Work and Criteria for reporting to the Human Rights Committee Koren reported an incident that occurred at outside group’s program where a patron made a series of escalating comments about LGBTQ individuals. Staff asked the patron to leave and because of several other incidents with this patron, they ended up being trespassed. The Human Rights Committee requested to have the library report any instances of discrimination. Koren wants to codify our reporting mechanism for investigating potential incidents of bias to present to the Executive Board in the fall. Koren summarized an incident at the library involving a kindergarten school visit and a comment a student made to a library staff member. Koren shared that this wasn’t an incident of racism but an opportunity to respond to a micro aggression. This becomes a teachable moment for all departments. The trustees and the town manager will be working with the HRC regarding guidelines on how and when to report these incidents. There is also a question on whose role it is to investigate. There was a discussion about sharing information about incidents at the library. Suzie noted that they trust the director’s judgment on whether an issue can wait, or if it needs to be shared with trustees right away. Flying Flags on the Library’s Exterior Koren reported that Lex Pride asked the library to consider flying rainbow flags during Pride activities in Town. Koren shared information about the Boston Public Library (they fly Pride flags) verses Cambridge (they do not fly anything other than state and local flags). Koren asked for permission to install brackets permanently to be able to fly flags on the front entrance of the building. She mentioned the banner system and the Chinese lanterns we put out for Chinese New Year program. Suzie asked if the BPL has a policy. Koren said they do not have one. They fly pride flags because of their location and Pride parade that is the only flag they fly. We purchased a rainbow bunting to use on our banner system for the weekend. She added that the library is doing a Pride Storytime this weekend so the bunting is in line with that program, which fits within the library’s mission. Koren asked if we can explore permanent brackets with the HDC. Claire asked what other flags we might want to fly. Koren mentioned the American Flag on Patriots’ day and Fairy Tale Ball. Claire supports the brackets if we say they must stay within our mission. Joe is cautious about opening the door to fly all flags but if it fits with the library’s mission, he supports it. Trustees discussed if this would be precedent setting and are interested in any complaints or comments. Claire made the motion that based on the mission of the library and the goal of inclusivity, the Executive Committee will allow the bunting to go up on the library for a limited time, with the director deciding when it goes up and comes down. Seconded by Suzie, the motion passed unanimously. Narcan Training Koren asked if the library staff should be able to use and AED, administer First Aid, Narcan, etc. There was a discussion about who should make this decision. Can we offer the opportunity to all staff to opt in for the training? Howard made a motion to allow the director to make Narcan, AED, and Frist Aid training optional for all staff. Suzie seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Large Meeting Room Kitchen Koren asked the trustees if we can continue to investigate the costs and work involved with updating the large meeting room. This would involve meeting with Facilities, talking to audiovisual companies about the technology in the space and meeting with a kitchen designer. The goal would be moving the project forward the summer of 2019 or after. The Trustees did not have any concerns about the library continuing to investigate this potential project. Administrative Updates Security Policy Update Suzie made a motion to approve the security camera policy update, which was seconded by Claire. The motion passed unanimously. 150th Gala The Foundation is looking for opportunities to raise funds during the library’s 150th celebrations. Koren highlighted a few potential fundraising projects. There was a discussion about which project the Foundation should highlight when fundraising. The Large Meeting Room renovations and refreshing the preschool play area in the Children’s Room were both discussed. A full renovation to make the Children’s room accessible and safe was discussed as well. Koren mentioned that the Children’s room project might need to involve capital funding because it may cost $1.5 million. The trustees did not have any concerns about the Foundation fundraising for the Large Meeting Room or Preschool Play Area. Meeting Room Update There were no meeting room updates to report. Technology Update There were no technology updates to report. Building Updates Koren shared that the Facilities department is working on plans to replace the library’s AC unit (the chiller) in November. Strategic Plan Update Koren asked trustees if they have any concerns about making our updated Strategic Plan a guidepost document that is not date specific, but is more of a permanent document with the structure being similar to what we have now. We would also use the current “Major Projects List” to create an annual action plan that gives projects, dates and goals on a rolling two year horizon. No concerns were expressed. Staffing Update Koren announced that the new Teen Services Manager, Michelle Techler, begins on Monday. Long time staffer, Agnés Pallaver, retired this week, leaving a full-time Library Associate position vacant. That position posting closed on Friday and we have nearly 40 applicants, including one internal. Financial Update Koren reviewed the library’s finances and mentioned that we do not have any endowment numbers yet. We are in robust shape for next year. We have some fines and fees money on the Trustees side to carry over to FY19. We also have approximately $100k in Foundation grants, $100k in State Aid, and $15k in Friends grant money to carry over to the next fiscal year. On the municipal side, we will turn back about $25k to the Town for personnel salaries since we had some vacancies over the past year that took time to fill. Adjournment Claire made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 4pm which was seconded by Howard. The motion passed unanimously.