Library Board of Trustees

RECEIVED By Ellie at 8:32 am, 12/10/20 Amesbury Public Library Board of Trustees Online Meeting – Public Participation p Wednesday, November 18, 2020 7:00 PM Members present: Anne Campbell (AC), Bethany Sullivan (BS), Delia Rinaldi (DR), Gail Browne (GB), Laurie Cameron (LC), Michelle Lamott (ML), Nicole Harry (NH), Sarah Downs (SD) Members Not in Attendance: Brenda Rich (BR) APL Director: Erin Matlin I. Call to order at 7:01 p.m. by Laurie II. Secretary’s Minutes: A. (October 14, 2020 meeting) – Michelle motioned to accept the minutes as presented. Nicole seconded. Unanimous with Gail abstaining. III. Budget Report: 1. Starting to order so spend in books line will go up. Have also ordered some needed office supplies. Have money for musem and parks passes. Have been lending parks pass. Others will get back on track once new head of circ is hired because there is a lot to figure out about what’s open and still accepting passes. Repairs done during closing split between state aide and Cares Act through the city, but there is a very specific list of what the Cares Act can cover. IV. Communications: None V. Director’s Report: A. Got approval for head of circ. Posted internally 7 days. Now posted externally. One internal candidate. Will interview after looking at other candidates. Glass top and sneeze guard have come into vendor, but had to reschedule installation because one of the vendor’s employees is being tested for COVID. Install will take 6 to 8 hours. Would like to close for the day to make that easier. Erin and Aimee will be there to facilitate. Gail makes a motion to approve closing the library for the date to be determined for the install of the PPE equipment for the circulation desk. Delia seconds. Unanimous. Still doing curbside pickup. Activity kits are doing well. Director at MVLC resigned. Acting director in place, and they will start a search for a new director. Waiting for the fountain to get covered for the season. Erin will reach out to the man who usually does it. VI. Committee Reports: A. Preservation committee: Update in packet. Met again last night. Doors are ongoing. Need one more coat of paint and hinges. DPW came to library today to look into making storage area near the vault for city documents that need to be secured. They say they can start work in December. Will need to submit a $2,000 purchase order for the work and decide if the money will come from state aide. Need to work with Friends to clear out the bookshop so project can be done. That will also facilitate when work starts on windows. Might paint the space down there while they have the chance. Books can be boxed and donated to Better World Books. Library was awarded funding for two capital improvement projects: front stairs – still getting quotes, but have not gotten any bids yet. Meghan revising to make it clear how big the project is. The other project is window restoration. Quote received from Window Woman. Work will last from January to May, done one side of the building at a time. Plexiglass will be put in while windows are being restored. Adding updating sills and trim to the project, which will cost $20,000. Looking to get help from the city to pay for that. Doesn’t make sense to do window restoration without those repairs. Committee meeting monthly to keep discussions going. City is asking for capital improvement projects for the following year and want a five-year plan. Meghan put together a draft list informed by building inspector’s report and committee’s walk through. Discussing those priorities. Minutes will be in the next packet. Gail asks that Meghan’s capital project list be included in packet as well. Gail’s company has a professional relationship with Window Woman so she will have to recuse herself if we have to vote on anything related to that. City has ordered air filtration for all the buildings, so that will be coming soon which will help reduce heating costs. Gail points out we should try to use building maintenance line items for projects when possible to reflect costs of building upkeep. VII. Unfinished Business: A. Library Service Update: Extended Saturday hours. Going well so far. Erin meets once a week with Meghan and Aimie about updating procedures. Looking into if we could allow patrons into building for pickup to save staff from going outside so much during colder weather or cutting down hours for curbside pickup during winter months. Exploring ideas and options. Some libraries that were open are going back to curbside hours with the number of cases going up. B. Vacant Positions Update: Update above. Resumes going to city hall and will be sent to Erin once they’re all in. Exploring changing pay rate for library assistant position since the responsibilities are a bit more than usual for an assistant. C. Waiver Update: Paperwork submitted. Erin asked State Rep James Kelcourse to send a letter as well. Waivers will be presented to board in January. Will hear  after that. VIII. New Business: A. 2021 Holiday Closings. Memorial Day and Labor Day are new closed holidays in union contract for 2021. In packet for reference. Need to figure out what to do about the Saturdays after Christmas and New Year’s Day since both fall on a Friday. In October, had discussed closing Christmas Saturday and being open New Year's Saturday. Michelle suggests opening regular hours the Saturday after New Year’s Day. Need to vote on the close for Dec. 26 because that is an additional closing. Bethany makes a motion to close the library on Saturday Dec. 26. Michelle seconds. Unanimous. B. Trustee Meeting Dates: List in packet for review. Don’t see any overlap with holidays. IX. Other: None X. Adjourn: Bethany makes a motion to adjourn at 7:55 p.m. Nicole seconds. Unanimous.