Library Board of Trustees

RECEIVED By Ellie at 9:43 am, 4/9/21 Amesbury Public Library Board of Trustees Online Meeting – Public Participation p Wednesday, December 9, 2020 7:00 PM Members present: Anne Campbell (AC), Bethany Sullivan (BS), Brenda Rich (BR), Delia Rinaldi (DR), Gail Browne (GB), Laurie Cameron (LC), Michelle Lamott (ML), Nicole Harry (NH) Members Not in Attendance: Sarah Downs (SD) APL Director: Erin Matlin I. Call to order at 7:02 p.m. by Laurie II. Secretary’s Minutes: A. (November 18, 2020 meeting) – Bethany motioned to accept the minutes as presented. Delia seconded. Unanimous with Brenda abstaining. III. Budget Report (December 2020): A. Budget on pace as expected for this point in the year. IV. Communications (December 2020): A. Bethany got an email in the Trustees account from a gentleman asking if donations should be made to the Friends or the charitable trust. Erin says she generally directs people to donate to the Friends because there is more flexibility in how those funds are spent. Online donations can be made on the new Friends website. Bethany will follow up with the patron. B. Bethany sent email asking if Mayor’s office would like to see director review. They replied quickly saying they would like to see it, so she sent it over. V. Director’s Report: A. Head of circ position posted, resumes are being reviewed. Glass top for circ desk was installed Dec. 8. Sneeze guards put up then as well. Erin has meeting on Dec. 21 to set up stanchions and put out markers for where to stand for social distancing. Board of Health will need to review and approve before the Library can open. Curbside is still going well. Doing a lot of take-home kits for kids, teens and adults, and the feedback has been positive. Library had to close early Nov. 30 due to lack of staff. Working with DPW on getting storage room installed on lower level. Meghan completed the five-year capital request plan, and that was submitted. The city purchased air purifiers for every city building. Smaller ones will be delivered  tomorrow for offices. Larger ones for larger spaces will be arriving later in the month. Work on storage room hasn’t started yet, but the space is being prepared. Brenda asks what this means for the bookshop. Erin explains that because patrons aren’t in the building, the Friends are coming up with creative ways to sell books such as through bundles on their website and with a table Brewery Silvaticus holiday fair. Delia explains that Caitlain (president of the Friends) has a dry, secure storage space available that she’s offered to let the Friends use while they figure things out. VI. Committee Reports: A. Preservation committee: Nov. 17 minutes in packet. On Dec. 3 committee did biannual walkthrough reviewing Library exterior and interior. Gail points out that they have a building assessment checklist that they use on the walkthroughs, and it was nice to see some of the projects on the checklist completed. Everything else is ongoing. They looked to see what’s stable and what is getting worse. Will pick up discussion at their next meeting on Dec. 15. VII. Unfinished Business: A. Library Service Update: See notes above. B. Vacant Positions Update: Erin met with Aimie today and reviewed resumes, and there are several candidates they want to interview. Erin reached out to Paul from Mayor’s office to see if he wants to sit in, and he has agreed to join. Hoping to get those interviews set up next week or the week after Christmas. VIII. New Business: None IX. Other: Laurie mentioned the email from city that all Trustees should have received about training on Roberts Rules of Order. It’s not required. Laurie will attend, and anyone else who wants to attend as well can sign up. Replay will be available to watch if you can’t make the training. Questions about this can be sent to Laurie. X. Adjourn: Bethany makes a motion to adjourn at 7:32 p.m. Michelle seconds. Unanimous.