Library Board of Trustees

RECEIVED By Ellie at 9:58 am, 4/9/21 Amesbury Public Library Board of Trustees Online Meeting – Public Participation p Wednesday, Jan 13, 2021 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), Sarah Downs (SD) Members Not in Attendance: APL Director: Erin Matlin I. Call to order at 7:00 p.m. by Laurie A. Officer Elections – Bethany nominates Laurie for chair, Delia seconds. Unanimous, with Laurie abstaining. Laurie nominates Bethany, Delia seconds. Unanimous. Bethany nominates Anne, Brenda seconds. Unanimous. B. Committee Assignments – Currently have four on all committees except Finance. Bethany recommends having another person on Finance. Nicole volunteers to move from Director Review to Finance. Sarah will join Director Review in addition to Preservation. All other assignments will stay the same as last year. II. Secretary’s Minutes: A. (December 2020 meeting) – Bethany motioned to accept the minutes as presented. Nicole seconded. Unanimous with Sarah abstaining. III. Budget Report (January 2021): A. Budget is on track. Slightly under because there are two vacant positions, as well as museum passes that haven’t been renewed yet due to COVID. IV. Communications (December 2020): None V. Director’s Report: A. Assistant director Aimie Westphal is temporary working part time for the library and part time for the city’s IT department. Her salary will be split with city while her time is split. Some of her responsibilities are being put on hold or reassigned. City has approved using the extra hours there to get more hours for archivist Meghan Fahey. These changes will only last through the end of June. Still down two staff positions (head of circulation and part-time children’s assistant). Erin wants to make new head of circulation both head of circulation and reference because departments work together closely. Title will be head of public services.  Updated job description has been approved by city. Waiting on union approval. It will be at a higher step due to more responsibilities and to help attract good candidates. Curbside is going well. Basement project hasn’t happened yet, but it should be coming soon, pending DPW schedule. VI. Committee Reports: A. Preservation committee: December minutes included in packet. Will meet again Jan. 22. Front doors mostly done. Withholding final payment due to an issue with the hinges that he will need to come address in the spring. Glass cover on circulation desk is in place, but a corner got chipped. Checking with company to fix that and round out some sharp corners. DPW can fix if needed. Expect archive storage room to be done sometime in February. Having trouble getting bids on front stairs project. Meghan rewriting RFP and checking with local companies. Window project: Meghan wrote a note asking for Trustees support for getting exterior trim repaired and painted. Committee asked to see if any trusts can be used to help pay for it, but they agree with the importance of doing it. If trusts can’t be used, Gail suggests looking at state aid and gift accounts. Gail suggests having a future discussion as a committee about projects we might want to fund on our own. B. Finance committee: Will meet Wednesday Jan. 20 for first meeting of the budget season. Erin will send related documents to everyone on the committee. VII. Unfinished Business: A. Library Service Update: See updates above. Exploring what layout would look like for flow if patrons were allowed in the building for pickup. Not ready for that to happen yet, but would need to get approval from city. B. Vacant Positions Update: See updates above. VIII. New Business: A. Budget (FY22) - New documentation to fill out for the city. Mayor has asked departments to create two budgets: level service (no new services) and level funded (get the same money as last year). In either case could need to apply for another waiver. Staff cuts or hours cuts are a possibility. Budget is tight already, and it will be tough to find more places to cut. Erin is checking to see if there will be continued leniency on the waiver process. Erin asks for support from the Trustees, reaching out to Mayor about our concerns about the waiver and why it could be a problem. Bethany suggests doing a third budget with what our MAR would be and what we’d need the budget to be to reach our MAR and not have to apply for a waiver. MAR is based on average of three years, so this is a longtime issue. Haven’t heard on the waiver for current fiscal year, expect that in February. B. Long-Range Plan Update – Erin spoke with Patty who was going to consult on the long-range plan. Patty has reached out to state about extensions. She is willing to  work with us, but she is hesitant to survey community right now when people have so many other concerns. Can wait until next year so we can get a better picture of what the community wants, but wouldn’t be able to apply for any grants until a strategic plan is in place. Bethany suggests polling people and seeing what they’re looking forward to coming back to at the library. Could provide some guidance for the coming year and help lay groundwork for the long-range plan the following year. Laurie asks if Long-Range Plan committee wants to have a meeting, perhaps change focus to be more short-term to help reestablish what library services look like going forward and support Erin with surveys or communications as needed. Brenda will work with committee to schedule. Erin suggests looking at reopening plan too for guidance. Erin will invite Meghan and Assistant Director to join to give their perspectives. IX. Other: None. X. Adjourn: Gail makes a motion to adjourn at 7:59p.m. Nicole seconds. Unanimous.