Board of Public Library Trustees

Draft of Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of February 16, 2017 Salem, Massachusetts February 16, 2017 A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on this date at 4:20pm at the Library with Trustees Buckley, Merry, Salerno, Schild and Glenn Yale present and presiding. Trustees Little and Mayor Driscoll were absent. Miss Mansfield was present. Approval of minutes for meeting on January 19, 2017 – UNANIMOUS Current Financial and Library Use reports were distributed. Salem’s circulation numbers were third highest in NOBLE during January, and second highest for Overdrive downloadable e-books and audiobooks. Miss Mansfield noted that the Library closed early on Saturday, January 7th due to a snowstorm and accompanying parking ban. Miss Mansfield reported that the Library had received a quarterly payment for fines paid online through NOBLE. The FY18 Budget was distributed. VOTED: To approve the FY18 Budget as presented. MOVED: Trustee Salerno SECONDED: Trustee Schild UNANIMOUS Miss Mansfield reported that the elevator had been repaired and was out of service for nine days. She noted that the custodians and staff did a remarkable job keeping things running smoothly by transporting books and materials and making accommodations for patrons who could not access the building without using the elevator. Miss Mansfield reported that the Library had received an initial invoice from RDK engineering for the HVAC consult indicating that the work was 50% complete. Miss Mansfield reported that the Windows project specifications and drawings had been completed by architect Bob Farley and the project will be ready to go out to bid in early March. Miss Mansfield reported that she was in the process of applying for a $25,000 CPA grant for the structural exploration of the cracking around the third floor window, and noted that there were questions about other funding sources on the application. The Trustees discussed funding the architect fees for the project if the grant is awarded. Miss Mansfield reported that Trustee Little had offered her resignation from the Board of Trustees effective July 1, 2017. A copy of the letter was distributed. Miss Little is a great-great- granddaughter of Captain John Bertram, and has been a Trustee since 1988. The Trustees expressed sadness at the news and gratitude for Miss Little’s dedicated service and philanthropy. Miss Mansfield reported that preservationist John Goff had offered his services for hire to write a Mass Historic grant for the repair or replacement of the fountain, but noted the due date was March and matching funds had to be secured by that time. Discussion followed and it was decided that the timeline was too tight to pursue this option this year. Trustee Schild volunteered to contact Historic Salem, the Chestnut Street Association, and Dr. Donna Seger from Salem State University to inquire about alternate funding possibilities for the historic fountain. Miss Mansfield noted that John Goff had been in contact with neighboring residents interested in the fountain and that the idea of using online fundraising websites was proposed. The Trustees discussed the possibility and decided not to pursue this option. Miss Mansfield reported that a full time employee, Molly Pevna, had resigned and that the Library was seeking candidates for the Library Assistant I position. Molly was participant in the tuition reimbursement program. Meeting adjourned at 5:20pm.