Board of Public Library Trustees

Draft of Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of September 21, 2017 Salem, Massachusetts September 21, 2017 A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on this date at 4:04pm at the Library with Trustees Buckley, Salerno, Schild, Yale, and Mayor Driscoll present and presiding. Trustee Merry was absent. Miss Mansfield was present. Approval of minutes for meeting on June 22, 2017 – UNANIMOUS Mr. John Doherty from Eastern Bank gave a report on the current state of finances. Current Financial and Library Use reports were distributed. Salem’s circulation numbers were fourth highest in circulation in June and third highest during July and August. Overdrive circulation placed Salem second highest in June, third highest in July, and fourth highest in August. Miss Mansfield reported that the Library had received $80,000 in CIP funds for the HVAC project. She noted that the Library had applied to be part of the Massachusetts Environmental Monitoring Program administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Four dataloggers were installed in the Library to measure temperature, relative humidity, and light in four locations of the Library. Miss Mansfield distributed a report with the readings from August 2, 2017. Miss Mansfield reported that a meeting was scheduled for Friday, September 22nd at 10:30 am with RDK to prioritize components of the project within the $80,000 budget. Miss Mansfield reported that the Library had also received $100,000 in CIP funds for the structural issue. She noted that the project will cause disruption to the Circulation and Reference Desks and may require moving of the desks. Mayor Driscoll inquired about ground penetrating radar and other alternatives. Miss Mansfield will follow up with Bob Farley to make sure all options will be considered. Mayor Driscoll brought for discussion upgrades to the interior of the Library. Areas of concern included the Children’s Room, patio, and the program room. Miss Mansfield will contact CBT architects who were in charge of the Reading Public Library’s renovation. Trustee Schild will contact a local interior designer who has completed impressive redesign projects in Salem. Miss Mansfield reported that Susan Strauss had submitted a letter of interest to become a Library Trustee. A copy of the letter was distributed. Options for enlarging the candidate pool were discussed. Placing an advertisement on the Library’s website was agreed upon. Applications will be reviewed at the November meeting. Miss Mansfield reported that Children’s Librarian Laura Brosnan had welcomed a baby boy named Oliver on September 9th. She was expected to return from her maternity leave in January. Miss Mansfield reported that in addition to this planned staffing change, three additional full time employees had given their notice. Miss Mansfield noted that interviews were in progress for the Library Assistant I position and the Library Technology Specialist position. The Head of Reference position posting had not yet been approved by Human Resources. Miss Mansfield reported that the Head of Reference is the only full time position in the department, so adult technology programming had to be canceled for the fall. Discussion of the possible reasons why there were so many departures was brought forth. Miss Mansfield noted that the Library salaries are lower than other municipalities. Miss Mansfield reported that the Library’s internet policy had not been updated to include copyright infringement, and that Comcast was tracking the illegal downloading of movies at the Library and had threatened to cut off service. A draft of an updated policy using American Library Association guidelines was distributed. Discussion followed and changes were made. Trustee Yale moved: To accept the new draft of the Salem Public Library’s internet policy. Trustee Buckley seconded. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Meeting adjourned at 5:32pm