Russell Library Board of Trustees

RUSSELL LIBRARY A great place to be. Board Meeting Russell Library Hubbard Room Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Present: Trustees Becker, Berlind, Duggan, Hadley, Nelson, Norwood, Russell, Wisneski, Zakarian, and Zawisky; Library Director and CEO Burkey; Staff Member Ann Smith; President of the Friends Howard Rulnick Excused: Trustee Murdock 1. Call to order: President Thazhanpallath called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.in. 2. Public session/Comment: Ann smith remarked that staff are thrilled to have CEO Burkey leading the library. Friends' President Howard Rulnick announced a Ou,000 anonymous gift to the Friends to be used for children's programs. The Friends' book sales have been generating an average of $20,000 a year to be used for programs. 3. Special presentation: Dawn I.avalle of the cormecticut state Library office and Gail Richmond, president of the Association of Connecticut Library Boards gave a presentation titled "Board Basics," an overview of the duties of library board members and the relationship between a library director, its Board of Trustees, and its Friends group. Topics included were types of libraries and boards in Connecticut, the importance of fundraising and advocacy, and ethical consideration of service on a library board. Board members were urged to attend the November 2 leadership conference sponsored by the ACLB at the University of Hartford. 4. Approval of Minutes: It was moved (Trustee zawisky) and seconded (Trustee Hadley) to approve the regular trustee meeting minutes of September 11, 2018. The motion passed with the note that typos found by Trustee Hadley would be corrected. Trustee Norwood, who missed the meeting, abstained. 5. Administration Report -Ramona Burkey, Library Director and CEO Programs and Services • The loth annual Middletown International Film Festival is underway. • Immigrant Artists Series goes through December 16 with various events, performances and exhibits. • Congratulations to our Veterans' Writing Group, run by Christy Billings: They have secured a publisher for their book! Personnel • Our new Assistant Director for public services, Mary Dattilo, begins work on Tuesday, November 13. We are thrilled to be welcoming Mary to our team. • Paula soares, Director of Borrowing and Discovery, will be retiring at the end of this calendar year. We are grateful to Paula for her excellent work and kind and caring approach during her nearly fifteen years on the job at Russell. Congratulations, Paula! Facilities • Public Works repaired several large potholes in our side driveway in late September. We are very appreciative of their efforts and prompt response to our request for assistance. • We are still working on securing a 40% match for our Managed Wireless project, 60% of which will be paid from a Federal USAC E-Rate grant. • I submitted a 5-year Capital Non-Recurring budget request to the City this week. Items include computer and peripheral equipment replacement; a utility machine that can be used year-round for outdoor work such as landscaping and snow removal; network and wiring upgrades; a new Voice Over Internet Protocol telephone system; RFID selfroheckout equipment; furniture; AV upgrades for meeting/program spaces; HVAC improvements; and a server upgrade. Policies and Planning • Strategic plarming o I have completed three of the eight weeks of the online Harwood Public Innovators Virtual Lab. So far, it has been inspiring and challenging. I look forward to discussing it with the Strategic Planning Committee. • The annual ACLB conference will be held on Friday, November 2 at the University of Hartford. Please let me or Lynn Harlow know no later than Tuesday, October 16 if you would like to register to attend. Communitv Engagement/Meetings • I attended the following meetings and events (does not include internal meetings): o City Directors meetings o Constitution Day event (sponsored by the Friends of the Wesleyan Library) o Several oneronrone "get to know you" meetings with Library Board members o Payroll meeting at city Hall o Tour of wesleyan Library o "Be The Match" organ/tissue donation information session o Chamber of commerce breakfast meeting (speaker: Henry Maier, CEO of FedEx Ground) o One on one meeting with Michael Conner, Superintendent of Middletown Public Schools o Kidcity children's Museum's 20th anniversary celebration o Chamber of commerce women's Business Alliance meeting o Volunteered at Friends of wesleyan Library's annual book sale o Coinmon Council (formally introduced to Council by G. Thazanpallath) o Chamber of commerce central Business Bureau meeting o Ribbon¢utting at new Liberty Bank headquarters -we were presented with a donation towards our Job and Career program. Friends of the Librarv • As of this writing, the Friends are in the midst of what will no doubt prove to be another very successful book sale. We are grateful to our Friends for the hard work that they contribute towards making Russell the best library around. There was a brief discussion of the Capital Non-Recurring budget request. Library Director and CEO Burkey explained that it includes $20,000 per year for computers, and a snow removal-landscape machine to replace a rental, and money for RFID technology to allow self-checkout of materials. The need for an upgraded telephone system was also discussed. 6. Old Business: It was moved (Trustee Norwood) and seconded (Trustee Berlind) to appoint Trustees Duggan, Hadley, and Zawisky to a strategic planning committee to work with CEO Burkey on initial strategic planning, including expanding the committee to include community stakeholders. After discussion, the motion was amended to add Trustee Wisneski to the committee. The amended motion passed unanimously. 7. New Business: a. Board President Thazhampallath announced that he will find a date for a Board retreat some time in November. b. After discussion, it was moved (Trustee Nelson) and seconded (Trustee Berlind) to combine the November and December Board meetings into one meeting to be held on Tuesday December 4. The motion passed unanimously. Other Business: CEO Burkey proposed that the library be closed on Monday December 24 and close early on Monday December 3 1 . It was moved (Trustee Nelson) and seconded (Trustee duggan) to authorize these convenience closings. The motion passed unanimously. Committee Reports and Recommendations: a. Finance & Audit Committee ReDort: Trustee Becker reported with 25°/o of the year gone by, both income and expenses in the Company budget are a bit behind; in the city budget expenses are a bit ahead due to many purchase orders that come early in the fiscal year. The endowment is down $1,500 and stands at a total of $ 1,257,000. The finance committee has arranged with Essex Financial Services that two signatures are required to authorize any withdrawal from the endowment. Trustee Becker spoke with the city insurance department to see if the insured value of the library buildings and collections could be raised to more accurately reflect current values: an insurance consultant is coming to the library to review and adjust the values of the building and its contents. b. Policv Committee Resort: Trustee Wisneski, Chair, reported that there will soon be work to do. c. Facilitv Committee Report: There was no report. d. Human Resources Coiimittee Resort: Trustee Zawisky, Chair, reported that there are no current issues. e. Nominating Committee Report: Trustee Zakarian is working on fmding replacements for the Vice-President and for the Treasurer. She announced that due to academic commitments she will be stepping down from the board in December, leaving another vacancy to fill. 10. Adjournment: It was moved (Trustee Nelson) and seconded (Trustee Norwood) to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.in. The motion passed unanimously. Next regular board meeting : Tuesday, December 4, 2018 6:30 p.in. Dinner will be available at 6:00. Respectfully submitted, urwth givhi Wendy Berlind, Secretary