Russell Library Board of Trustees

Russell Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 15, 2021 Virtual meeting via Zoom, 6:30 p.m. Present: Trustees Atherton, Becker, Duggan, Fulton, Hadley (recorder), Harris, Nelson, Skowera, Williams, and Wisneski; Library Director Burkey. Excused: Trustees Berlind, Russell 1. Call to Order: President Wisneski called the meeting to order at 6:35 and offered as a Mission Moment, the previous evening’s annual Company meeting. Director Burkey’s report distilled the challenges and successes of the previous year well. He commended and thanked Director Burkey and the staff. 2. Public Comment: There was a member of the public in attendance, but no comment. 3. Approval of Minutes It was moved (Trustee Harris) and seconded (Trustee Becker) to approve the minutes of the May 18, 2021 Board Meeting. The motion passed with Trustee Duggan abstaining. 4. Administration Report – Ramona Burkey, Library Director, thanked the Board for their support after the death of her mother. The full administration report is attached. 5. Committee Reports and Recommendations a. Executive Committee –President Wisneski reported that the committee did not meet this past month so there was nothing to report aside from ongoing business as detailed in the minutes from the last meeting. b. Finance Committee – Trustee Becker, Chair, reported that the committee has started to discuss the concept of socially responsible investing in regards to the endowment. Trustee Becker requested that Essex produce a stock intersection report -- i.e., a list of the individual stocks which are held in our mutual fund investments. For example, the Board’s primary holding is Amazon (about 2.9 %). The Finance Committee is going to continue to consider what socially responsible investing is and how this might impact the Board’s investments, without sacrificing returns. Trustee Becker will share the report with the Board. The stocks are run of the mill blue chip investments, and there is overlap among the funds. Trustee Duggan commented that anti-racist training may help us frame what socially responsible is, i.e., will help us with the mindset to understand what it means for the library to be socially responsible. The Library Company has drawn the full amount that was in the budget for this year. After the close of the year, a certain amount will be moved to the new reserve account. c, Governance Committee – Trustee Skowera reported on the regular meeting of June 2. The committee has moved forward a series of recommendations. which will be covered under new business. In addition, the committee is reviewing progressive and corrective discipline policies with Brandie Doyle and hopes to have the policies available to present to the Board in September. In regards to the Board’s request that the Governance Committee review current policies and develop an anti-racism policy, after lengthy discussion with the Russell Library staff, the  committee decided further clarification from the Board was necessary. Should the policy focus exclusively on anti-racism or should it address wider equity, diversity and inclusion issues. Also is the policy to be aimed at staff or to the public. Trustee Duggan commented that the Board begin its own training so that we can address the difference between anti-racism work (about a mindset, how we view the world we want to live in) (primarily internal) vs EDI (hiring more people for the appearance of diversity). This work is inherently intersectional. The Board decided to undertake training before giving guidance to staff. Trustee Wisneski will connect with Trustee Williams, who will be leading the trainings. She recommended that it might take more than one session and that we should come to agreement on the definitions and incorporate tonight’s discussion and questions. We will aim for in-person meetings this summer. The Governance Committee will wait for further direction from the Board on these matters. Trustee Wisneski asked if when reviewing the standards for progressive discipline how this will interact with the CBA. There is already a progressive discipline policy that works alongside the CBA. One complements the other. This is something the committee is aware of and will be working on. In regards to any new state rules governing meeting in person/virtually, Trustee Skowera will keep the Board informed. d. Strategic Planning Committee - Trustee Duggan had to leave the meeting, Trustee Wisneski reported that the committee had not met. e. Facilities Committee - Trustee Nelson commented that Director Burkey did a wonderful job at the Company meeting summarizing where the library is in terms of working with the architects on the facilities assessment. The library is waiting on the city’s approval to be able to forward the contract to the architect. The architect is committed to beginning as soon as he can and to move the project along quickly. Trustee Nelson will give the architects the studies and information we have gathered in the past. The schedule is not set yet. There will be another wrap up meeting of the Vision Committee, which hopefully the architect will attend. The architect and some of their staff attended the previous Vision Committee meeting to discuss project ideas. Director Burkey noted that the contract has gone to HMA. She will summarize the themes that have come up in the Vision Committee for HMA. 6. Old Business: There was no old business. 7. New Business a. MOTION: Authorize Library Director to terminate consortium membership agreement with Libraries Online, Inc. (LION) and enter into consortium membership agreement with Library Connection, Inc. (LCI) - Trustee Atherton moved and Trustee Skowera seconded the motion. Director Burkey explained that Russell has been exploring options for several years. As her report details, there are long term relations with LION but financially it makes sense to move to LCI -- annual fees are less, software for RFID is free, although we will lose desktop and network support from LION. Can the money recouped be used to boost Russell’s technology staff? Director Burkey will investigate all options. The motion passed unanimously. The timeline is by December 31, 2021. She will run the agreement by the attorney. b. MOTION: Meeting Guidelines -- Trustee Skowera moved that the provided meeting guidelines, unanimously recommended by the Governance Committee, be adopted. Trustee Hadley seconded. The guidelines incorporate a summary of Robert's Rules of Order (as referenced in our bylaws) and FOIA rules, as well as a community dialogue framework based on guidelines from Trustee Williams. Trustee Wisneski voiced an objection to the formality of Robert’s Rules in a small board and that strict adherence might hinder discussion. Trustee Becker asked what impact these guidelines would have on meetings and asked for clarification whether the dialogue guidelines would govern both Board discussions and public participation. Trustee Hadley noted that the summary of the rules was intended for the benefit of Board members so that they could better  understand how motions and discussion were made, and that the discussion guidelines were both for Board members and the public to be more sensitive to inclusive practices. Trustee Skowera pointed out that enumerating the rules helps in establishing fairness, but the Board is able to call out and vote on any exemptions to the use of Robert’s Rules. Trustee Becker questioned the culling of certain rules in the summary -- should we not follow Robert’s Rules in their entirety? Trustee Wisneski suggested we could have further training on Robert’s Rules. Trustee Atherton commented that he doesn’t think that further training is needed since many organizations use Robert’s Rules and condensed versions are available. Trustee Becker made a motion to amend the current motion by striking all portions of the meeting guidelines except that portion labeled the Community Dialogue Framework and it be adopted as a guideline for Board meetings. The motion was seconded by Trustee Nelson. Trustees Becker, Nelson, and Wisneski voted in favor of the amendment. Trustees Atherton, Hadley, Harris, and Skowera opposed. Trustee Fulton abstained. The motion to amend did not pass. Trustee Skowera called the original question. Eight trustees voted to close the question. Trustee Duggan rejoined the meeting and abstained. The motion to adopt the meeting guidelines passed 5-3 with 1 abstention. c. MOTION: Standardized Agenda - Trustee Skowera moved that the provided standardized agenda, unanimously recommended by the Governance Committee, be adopted for Board meeting and subcommittee meetings. Trustee Harris seconded the motion. Items are optional. The open forum general good and order is an item from Robert’s Rules, e.g., time for shout outs, announcements. Any program would generally be at the end but the agenda could be amended. Trustee Becker questioned whether we needed to review the Community Dialogue Framework at each meeting. Trustee Duggan suggested the Framework could be adjusted according to the public in the room. Trustee Wisneski relinquished the chair to Trustee Fulton to express opposition to the standardized agenda and the announcements/General Good and Order section and to reiterating meeting guidelines in each meeting. Trustee Harris moved the question. Trustee Skowera seconded the motion to move the question. The motion carried with six in favor and one abstention. The vote to adopt the standardized agenda was carried six in favor and three opposed, no abstentions. d. MOTION: Policy Regarding Performance Evaluation of the Library Director --Trustee Skowera read the motion: "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." Trustee Harris seconded. Trustee Skowera explained that the purpose of the motion is to formalize the process so that all members of the Board and the director know what the process will be. Trustee Duggan asked if the three month time frame is too long. Trustee Skowera explained that that is only if the process changed. Director Burkey commented that since many of the metrics are tied into the fiscal year, preparing for the evaluation prior to the end of the fiscal year might give an incomplete picture. She also asked that if the director’s evaluation must include staff input, should she also collect input from her senior staff’s direct reports in evaluating them. There has been intentionality in evaluating the director and the staff in similar ways. Trustee Atherton proposed a friendly amendment to the third sentence: “The annual evaluation should be completed no later than 60 days after the end of the fiscal year.” Trustee Becker seconded the motion. The Board voted six in favor of the motion to amend and one  opposed, no abstentions. Trustee Wisneski commented that the policy would be too restrictive. The main motion passed six in favor, one opposed, no abstentions. e. MOTION: Elect slate of officers for 2021-2022 - Trustee Skowera moved to accept the slate of officers as presented. Trustee Harris seconded. Trustees Skowera and Becker expressed thanks and support for the slate. Trustee Duggan also expressed appreciation for those on the slate but commented that we should recognize the tension in tonight’s meeting and how this might affect how we move forward. The motion passed, six in favor, one abstention. 8. Executive Session: It was moved (Trustee Skowera) and seconded (Trustee Atherton) to enter Executive Session at 9:07 pm. The motion passed unanimously. It was moved (Trustee Harris) and seconded (Trustee Atherton) to exit Executive Session at 9:58 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. 9. Adjournment: It was moved (Trustee Skowera) and seconded (Trustee Harris) to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. Next regular board meeting: Tuesday, September 21, 2021, 6:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Hadley