Library Trustees, Board of

City of Beverly, Massachusetts Public Meeting Minutes Board: Library Trustees Subcommittee: Date: June 22, 2021, 4:00 P.M. Place: Remote Meeting on Google Meet Board members present: Margaret Altman, Mary Behrle, Marshall Handly, Ivy Mahan, Cathryn Keefe O’Hare, Kevin O’Reilly, Joanne Panunzio Board members absent: Colleen Michaels, Myron Schirer-Suter Others present: Allison Babin, Meghan Karasin Recorder: Meghan Karasin Kevin O’Reilly presided. Meghan Karasin stated that the meeting was being recorded. Cathryn Keefe O’Hare made the motion, seconded by Joanne Panunzio, to accept the minutes of the meeting of May 25, 2021. Roll call vote approved, with Altman, Behrle, Mahan, Keefe O’Hare, O’Reilly, and Panunzio voting yes. Motion passed. Public Presentation None. Committee Reports Personnel: Joanne Panunzio reported that she and Kevin O’Reilly met with Allison Babin to discuss her review. Kevin O’Reilly stated that the feedback from staff was overwhelmingly positive. Allison Babin agreed and stated she was happy to receive constructive feedback. Marshall Handly joined the meeting at 4:10 P.M. Administration: No report. Finance: No report. Long Range Planning: No report. Report of the Library Director 1. Fiscal Year 2021 Budget: Some funds have been encumbered for work on the building, including repairing doors on the second floor, repairs to the generator, and drain work. In addition, funds have been encumbered to replace book carts. 2. Fiscal Year 2022 Budget: Allison Babin thanked Mary Behrle for attending the presentation to City Council, which went well. There was positive feedback from the Council and the Mayor. The proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget was passed by the Finance and Property Committee and goes before the full Council on Wednesday, June 23rd. 3. Phased reopening: We no longer have any pandemic restrictions in place. Masks are no longer required, but strongly recommended for unvaccinated individuals. Staff and public are comfortable with this. The city has required proof of vaccination status and it is our understanding that all library staff are vaccinated. The Bookmobile returned to the road on June 21, 2021 and meeting rooms will reopen for reservations on July 1, 2021. 4. Building Issues: Allison Babin showed before and after pictures of the Arts and Crafts Room renovation. Joe Bonaiuto, Senior Custodian, is a former cabinet maker and will be making a large cabinet for the room. Allison Babin showed pictures of the new furniture in the Teen Room. Katie Nelson, Head of Teen Services worked with teens to help design the colors of the room. The annual sprinkler inspections revealed a number of issues in both buildings. The work is expensive but the repair line is adequate for this year and the money has been set aside to cover it. A new electrical panel and adapter were needed to repair the generator. That repair has been made. Challenges with the new phone system have impacted services to patrons. New prints have been purchased for the Children’s Room after a Library Page noted that there were no people of color in the prints. After reviewing the artwork and noting how outdated they are, new artwork, by the illustrator Christian Robinson, was purchased with trust funds. 5. Bookmobile Improvements: New grab polls were added to the Bookmobile to allow patrons to better pull themselves up onto the vehicle. 6. Community Engagement: The Friends held an outdoor booksale on Saturday June 12, 2021 and made over $900 in just 3 hours. They will be doing more outdoor pop-up sales over the summer. The NOBLE (North of Boston Library Exchange) Tech Expo is an annual event to talk about software and new technology. Allison Babin was invited to present on A Year Like No Other, with two other directors, Myron Schirer-Suter and Jenny Benedict, to look back at the year of the pandemic. Katie Nelson, Head of Teen Services, participated in the North Shore Youth Mental Health Day on Saturday June 19, 2021. She is also participating in the McPherson Kick-Off Event on June 26, 2021 to promote summer reading. The booktalks to elementary schools were done virtually this year. The children’s librarians produced great videos for each grade and sent them to the schools. The Summer Program Guide is available in print and digitally. It captures all the programs for the summer for all ages. Joanne Panunzio asked if these were done in-house. Allison Babin stated that they were done by Graham Goss, Assistant Communications Librarian. Joanne Panunzio asked that Allison let Graham know that they look great. 7. Personnel: The Substitute Children’s Librarian position has been offered to Jenny Usovicz, currently a library page. She is currently working on her Masters with a focus on Children’s Services. 8. Programs: Adult programs include yoga and two Summer Sounds concerts. Teen programs include henna, book clubs, and cooking programs. Teens and Children’s are hosting a visit by Wildlife Encounters, where patrons can view live animals on Beverly Common. Children’s programming includes outdoor story times and Playful Engineers. All programming is outside this summer. Kevin O’Reilly asked if there are any updates on the HVAC system. Allison Babin stated that there are no updates. Communications None. Unfinished Business None. New Business Acceptable Use Policy: Allison Babin does not have any suggestions for changes at this time. Marshall Handly, made the motion, seconded by Mary Behrle to maintain the Acceptable Use Policy as is. Roll call vote 7-0. Motion passed. Internet Use Policy: Allison Babin explained that the recommendation is to not change the content, but to move rule 4, regarding instruction by library staff to the preceding paragraph, as this is not really a rule. Marshall Handly, made the motion, seconded by Joanne Panunzio to accept as amended the Internet Use Policy as is. Roll call vote 7-0. Motion passed. Security Policy: Allison Babin proposed changing the staff response under Class 1, to “Staff response will vary according to the severity of the behavior, and may include eviction, calling the police, and/or banning.” This more closely mirrors the library’s practice. We don’t start with calling the police, but evict patrons for the day. Margaret Altman asked if it is often the same patrons who are looking at pornography, or if it is new patrons each time. Allison Babin explained that it is a bit of both, and there are escalating consequences for repeat offenders. Marshall Handly asked how it is detected. Allison Babin explained that it is most often detected by a staff member seeing as they walk by, or by a patron reporting it. The library does not filter internet access, but does have access to remote in to patron’s computers to view the screen. Joanne Panunzio asked if you can turn off access to that screen. Allison Babin replied that staff can access the screen remotely and close it. Margaret Altman asked about staff response to offensive bodily hygiene. Allison Babin replied that this has come up a couple of times and it is sensitive. Joanne Panunzio asked that the language in staff response class 2 be written in a similar fashion to class 1. Allison Babin said that could be revised. Marshall Handly, made the motion, seconded by Cathryn Keefe-O’Hare to accept as amended the Internet Use Policy as is. Roll call vote 7-0. Motion passed. Allison Babin explained the options for meetings in September. These include in-person, virtual, or hybrid. The library does not have sophisticated technology to fully support hybrid meetings. The next regular meeting of the board is tentatively scheduled on Tuesday September 28, 2021 at 6 PM, in person. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:45 PM.