Pollard Memorial Library Board of Trustees

Pollard Memorial Board of Trustees – Meeting Minutes Date: o The meeting took place on September 13, 2023. Location: o It was held at Pollard Memorial Library (PML), 401 Merrimack St. Lowell, MA, as a hybrid meeting, both in person and via Zoom. Opening Business Meeting call to order o The meeting was called to order by Donna Richards at 5:32 pm. Attendance Present: Excused: Steve Robichaud, Library Director Katy Aronoff, Vice Chair Donna Richards, Chair Judith Davidson, Secretary Ellen Anstey Suzanne Frechette Helen Littlefield Christine O’Connor Muriel Parseghian Amy Watson Guest(s): Belinda Juran Acceptance of / Amendment to Agenda o Donna Richards asked that a report on the Regional Trustee--Meet, Greet, and Talk in Littleton, MA be moved to New Business on the agenda and be taken up after the Public Comment section. o The amended agenda was unanimously approved on a motion by Donna Richards, seconded by Amy Watson. Prior Meeting Minutes Approval o The meeting minutes from June 7, 2023 were unanimously accepted with no revisions on a motion by Donna Richards and seconded by Judith Davidson. Public Comment Period o Public comment time was made available. However, there were no members of the public present to make a comment at this meeting. New Business There was only one item on the New Business portion of the agenda. Ellen Anstey and Judy Davidson reported on their recent participation in the Regional Trustee’s Meet, Greet, and Talk event that was held at the Littleton Library. Participants at the regional meeting suggested to Davidson and Anstey that PML might want to learn more about the Worcester Library System. Worcester is a town of a similar size but has structured their library services in a different fashion (putting branches in schools and partnering these schools with local colleges, which also agree to provide a portion of the funding for the school library). PML Trustees may schedule a visit to Worcester to see the library system at a future time. An idea that was bandied about at the regional meeting was: What are the practices of today’s model/adept/savvy library users? How do they mix the old hard copy/book library practices with newer digital practices? How can we learn about and document this information to share with others who are struggling to know how to become today’s efficient library users? The two reported they offered for PML to host a similar meeting in the future. Anstey commented that many of the participants seemed eager to see PML because it is an older/historic building. There was discussion about when would be appropriate and the conclusion was that about six months from the present might be appropriate. Current Business PML Policies status update This report was made by Judy Davidson, Chair of the Governance Committee. o Davidson prepared a memo that identifies completed policies and what would be next on the calendar that was distributed to the Governance Committee. (Memo included at end of the minutes.) o Director Robichaud reported that he and his coordinators will be reviewing the drafted policies for “Child Safety” and “Photography and Recording Policy.” o Associate Director B. Cooley will soon have the “Public Comment Policy,” which was approved by the Trustees at the June 2023 meeting, uploaded to the policy section of the PML website. o B. Cooley and G. Jungghanss have drafted a “Bookmobile Policy” based on the work they are doing to create the Bookmobile Manual. A copy of this policy will be reviewed by the Chair of the Governance Committee, then passed on to the Library Director to discuss at an upcoming Library Coordinators meeting, before returning to the Governance Committee for formal review. o A draft of the Meeting Room/Study Room policy is ready to be shared with the Library Chair and his coordinators—the information in this policy is meant to dovetail with the Meeting Room/Study Room procedures already available to the public on the PML website. o The Privacy Policy will be the next to be drafted. Some research and resources have been collected, and any Governance Committee members are invited to participate in this work if they are available. 2  o In tandem with the policy work, the Governance Committee will also undertake a review of the By-Laws this Fall. Comments on the By-Laws were requested as a priority. A meeting of the Governance Committee will be held in the fall to discuss potential changes. Update on the Senior Center Branch Director Robichaud reported on this issue. o The formal book lending collection was returned to PML as the Senior Center staff have created their own collection. o PML will retain the computer/library training room, and Khalid Noori, the new PML Information Technology staff person, will start new activities there when he is more on board. o There continue to be connectivity issues at the Sr. Center. This occurred during the City’s Cyber-attack problem and has continued since then. Doug Cooper, Coordinator of Automation and Technical Services, and Khalid met with a team at the Senior Center to remediate this problem. The group included technology staff from UMass Lowell who suggested the use of grant funding that could be targeted to this goal. o Some previously displayed Audubon prints are stored at the Senior Center. The Center plans to continue holding art shows on the second floor, therefore the prints will be returned to the main library. o Judy Davidson, who has attended some of the Sr. Center Art Initiative meetings, reported that the art group would like to use the computer space for conducting art classes. The computers at the Sr. Center were purchased by the library and are a vital asset to the community. o Further information is required regarding the Sr. Center space and the relationship with the library. Director Robichaud will follow up on this and report back. Update on Strategic Plan o Culture Committee (Judy Davidson/Amy Watson) ▪ The meeting was cancelled and not rescheduled. o Advocacy Committee (Katy Aronoff/Donna Richards) ▪ No meeting o Outreach Committee (Suzanne Frechette/Muriel Parseghian) ▪ No meeting reported. o Welcome (Ellen Anstey/Christine O’Connor) ▪ No meeting reported. o Engagement (Helen Littlefield/Judy Davidson) ▪ This committee appears to be inactive. Reports Chairperson’s Report There were several informational items presented: 1) Library Card Month; 2) the upcoming MLTA Annual Conference; 3) and access to resources from the Massachusetts virtual trustees conference. There were also several significant discussions that focused upon: 1) memorial plaques for recently deceased friends and policy for memorials going forward; 2) follow up to the Annual Planning process 3 that took place in June and aligning it with the Strategic Planning Process; and 3) Library participation in upcoming Lowell Votes activities. o September is Library Card sign-up month. Richards urged all trustees to make sure to share all the great things that you do with your library card to the community. o Memorial plaques for Carol Duncan and Beth Brazeel: A memorial plaque for Carol Duncan will be presented by the Trustees and Foundation and will be placed outside the Picture Book Room on the Ground Floor. Carol Duncan was a Trustee and a founding member of the Foundation. A memorial plaque for Beth Brassel, YA Librarian, who passed away recently will be placed in the Young Adult area. The dedication for Brassel’s plaque will be October 25th at 5:30PM. Richards suggested that the plaques should match/meet the quality and style of other plaques in the library. Parseghian suggested for future memorials there should be a policy—for the selection of individuals for these honors. o The Massachusetts Library Trustees Association (MLTA) Annual Conference. Richards shared information about the upcoming MLTA annual conference. The theme for this year’s program is FINDING JOY IN TUMULTUOUS TIMES. When: October 21, 2023 Time: 9:30AM —1:00 PM (lunch will be served) Where: Shrewsbury Public Library, Shrewsbury, MA Register: https://mblc.libcal.com/event/10690959 o Richards also shared information about the materials available to Trustees from the 2023 United for Libraries Virtual meeting held on August 1-3, 2023, featuring current topics for Trustees, Friends, Foundations, and staff. The sessions are available to watch at https://elearning.ala.org/course/view.php?id=1101&pageid=4367. Click on the day and then the session to access. You need your own login. Contact: Beth Nawalinski Executive Director, United for Libraries American Library Association bnawalinski@ala.org 312-280-5868 Donna and Christine have both listened to some of the recordings. o FOLLOW UP to Annual Planning Process: Richards reminded the group that Katy Aronoff led this discussion in June. Trustees contributed ideas as part of a planning process for FY24 (July 2023 to June 2024), including developing an outline of those ideas that should allow Trustees to hit the ground running on new projects. Richards shared her view that this planning process will be most successful if closely aligned with the PML Strategic Plan that is already underway. The Strategic Plan process has brought trustees and library staff together. A thoughtful discussion of how to renew energy for the PML Strategic Plan activities followed. Watson suggested creation of a table of action items to include assignment to trustees or staff - responsibility - resources needed – short/long term goal. Richards reiterated how important it is that the strategic plan committees drive the changes the trustees are hoping to bring about. Robichaud volunteered to bring this discussion forward at the next coordinator’s meeting. Davidson and Watson suggested that coordinators and trustees meet 4  in the new year to discuss the state of the strategic plan. Watson pictured something like a half day workshop to review the strategic plan, and ask if goals have been met and what still needs to be done? There was further discussion about using an outside facilitator for a meeting like this. Richards reminded the group that there is an oversite committee for the strategic plan, which can be called upon to plan and support this meeting. o Finally, in this section of the meeting there was discussion about the upcoming city election and how trustees should be prepared to speak with the candidates about the library’s needs. B. Cooley is working with Lowell Votes to organize a debate among city councilors from select districts to be presented in the PML reference room. The exact date will depend on the LTC schedule. Trustees agreed this would be a great opportunity to introduce the PML building and resources to viewers who might have never been in the library. Committee Reports Governance/Policy Committee (J. Davidson*/S. Frechette/M. Parseghian/C. O’Connor) ▪ Reported earlier in the minutes Art Committee (Amy Watson*/Ellen Anstey/Donna Richards) ▪ Rosemary Noon has reached out to Greg Bishop (twice) from Oliver Bros. regarding the repair of the Stickney painting frame that was damaged. No word to date. Security/Building/Grounds (Suzanne Frechette*/Helen Littlefield/Amy Watson) ▪ No report Outreach (Donna Richards*/Katy Aronoff/Judy Davidson/Helen Littlefield/Mimi Parseghian) ▪ No report Nominating/Personnel (Katy Aronoff*/Donna Richards/Ellen Anstey) ▪ No report Director’s Report Steve Robichaud prepared the September Director’s Report and distributed it to trustees via email prior to the meeting. Because the trustees had not met for two months, there were considerable updates and exciting news to be presented. Robichaud reviewed all categories of his report in detail. Special discussion arose around numerous issues including: o With the passing of the current Young Adult Librarian, there is a plan to bring in a temp YA librarian. B. Cooley has contacted Biblio Temps for a library professional who could work 20 hours a week. Robichaud will get a copy of the Biblio Temps contact and review before the next steps are taken. o There was significant discussion of the building issues. The elevator continues to have problems, finally there is a Kick-off meeting for repair on 9/20 with OTIS, DPW, Purchasing, etc. o Trustees discussed “Inside Lowell” as another place where we could get publicity for the library. 5 Grants ▪ There were no grants to be discussed. PML Foundation (Donna Richards) o Donna Richards provided the following PML Foundation Report. ▪ This is the 30th anniversary of the PMLF. Stationary reflects that and changes to the PML ‘Merrimack blue’ brand color. ▪ The last meeting was held on June 14, 2023. This is the Foundation’s Annual meeting and was held at the Lowell Plan offices. New members welcomed were Kerry Jenness, Linda Kilbride, Theodora Doulamis, Jacquelin Coles, and Georgia McColough. ▪ The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Friends of the PML (Helen Littlefield) o Helen Littlefield provided the following Friends Liaison Report. ▪ The Friends’ June book sale netted just over $2,200 and our book cart sales saw a bump from book sale attendees who also visited the carts during the sale. ▪ Robin Orford, Susan Duong and I had a table set up with free books, candy and bookmarks for those attending the Curious Critters presentation that kicked off the children’s Summer Reading program June 22 in the PML community room. ▪ Board member Robin Orford is the Friends’ new membership coordinator. Judy Dunlap is assisting her and with their efforts, membership renewals have increased. ▪ The Friends’ by-laws have been updated after several discussions with the board. Judy Dunlap did the work of rewriting and revising the by-laws, which were approved at our June meeting. ▪ Lala books is again selling “book pumpkins” made by Lynn Ahlgren and Robin Orford to benefit the Friends. ▪ There will be more pumpkins for sale at our book sale on October 14 from 10-3 in the community room. We are not soliciting book donations for this sale. ▪ The Friends’ next meeting is October 12 at 6pm. Old Business o There was no old business to address. New Business (Announcements and Questions o Ellen Anstey announced the new Exhibit opening at the Lowell National Historical Park on September 23rd. o Judy Davidson raised a question about the new migrants who might be housed at what was the UML Inn and Conference Center. She urged the library to be involved in the support of the migrants. There was discussion about who would be coming, how the city has reacted, and what resources the library would have to offer. Adjournment o The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 PM on a motion by Donna Richards and seconded by Judy Davidson. All in attendance were in favor. 6  o Our next meeting is Wednesday, OCTOBER 11, 2023. Approved by the Trustees: 10/11/2023 Library Director 9-2023 Policy Action Report to Trustees 09_2023.pdf Update.docx 7