Russell Library Board of Trustees

Governance Committee of the Russell Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting, June 2, 2021, 5:00 PM (Online meeting via Webex) Minutes Present: Brandie Doyle (Assistant Director for Administrative Services), Jennifer Hadley (recorder), Gregory Harris, Bryan Skowera (chair), Alison Williams (5:20) Absent: Thomas Russell IV 1. Call to Order: Chair Bryan Skowera called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm. 2. Approval of Minutes from May 5, 2021 Governance Committee Meeting Jennifer moved and Bryan seconded the motion to approve the minutes. The motion was approved unanimously. 3. Public Comment No public present. 4. Old Business a. Exit Interviews Brandie has not yet finished reviewing the policy. We will return to this topic at the next meeting. b. Scope of Inclusivity/Anti-Racism Policy - Last month we heard about the difficulties of determining the scope of this policy, and the committee decided to think about it for a month before making recommendations. The question is whether the policy should focus solely on racism or address broader issues of equity and inclusion and whether it should be internal or externally facing. It would be good to get guidance from the Board since the staff is working on this at the request of the Board. Bryan will raise these concerns at the next Board meeting and ask for clarity and guidance that will pass directly to the staff. Bryan will ask the Board President to add it to the agenda in the way he sees fit. c. Meeting Guidelines A set of meeting guidelines has been added to the google drive that combines Robert's Rules of Order, CT FOI Act, and information provided by Alison Williams. Motion by Greg to approve these meeting guidelines and advance it to the full Board for consideration. Jennifer seconded. One word changed by friendly amendment. The motion passed unanimously. d. Standardized Agendas Motion by Greg to approve the meeting guidelines and advance them to the Board of Trustees. Seconded by Jennifer. Some clarification that Good of the Order, General Good and Welfare and Open Forum are all the same part of the agenda -- non-actionable comments. The motion passed unanimously. 5. New Business a. Progressive and Corrective Discipline Brandie is updating the policy. She noticed that the language of the policy does not conform to the union contract. See Article 22. The main difference is whether to use the term informal discussion or oral reprimand. In this case the union contract would prevail although Brandie would prefer the first term. Another piece for clarification: in past practice at Russell Library, escalation of the corrective discipline process did not require the same infraction at each step, but the policy doesn’t specify that. Brandie would like to add such language (i.e., second infraction does not need to be related to the first infraction). Bryan suggested adopting the city’s policy, listing infractions in a general code of conduct rather than in the disciplinary policy, and tightening language. Bryan offered to work with Brandie on this before the September meeting. b. Policy regarding Annual review of the Russell Library Director Jennifer moved that the Executive Committee will complete an annual evaluation of the Library Director based on a self-evaluation by the director and with input from the full Board and from staff. This evaluation will be discussed with the Board prior to the committee’s meeting with the Director, and the results will be reported afterwards. Greg seconded the motion. Bryan offered a friendly secondary amendment that the procedure to gather the self-evaluation, input, and forms be documented and provided three months in advance. Greg seconded. The amendment passed unanimously. Bryan offered a further amendment that the evaluation should be completed by the end of the fiscal year, providing that the Director will have served for at least 6 months. Greg seconded. The amendment passed unanimously. The full motion is to advance the following policy: "The Executive Committee will complete an annual evaluation of the Director based on a self-evaluation by the Director with input from the full Board and from the staff. The evaluation will be discussed with the Board prior to the Executive Committee's meeting with the Director, and the results will be reported afterwards. The annual evaluation should be completed by the end of the fiscal year, provided that the Director has served in that capacity for at least 6 months. The procedure to gather the self-evaluation by the Director and input from the full Board and from the staff, as well as all relevant forms, will be documented and provided 3 months in advance of the evaluation." The motion passed unanimously. 6. Discussion of Items to be Placed on Next Agenda 7. Announcements -- Next meeting September 1, 2021. It will likely be in person. 8. Open Forum/Good of the Group -- Library got a shout out at the Pride ceremony. Congratulations to Jen Billingsley for her hard work. 9. Additional Public Comment - no public in attendance. 10. Meeting Adjournment -- Greg moved and Alison seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:48. Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Hadley