Board of Public Library Trustees

Draft of Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of November 18, 2021 Salem, Massachusetts November 18, 2021 A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held via Zoom on this date at 4:01pm with Trustees April, Austin, Morin, and Trustee Buckley present and presiding. Mayor Driscoll, Trustee Marte, and Trustee Rourke were absent. Miss Mansfield was present. Approval of draft minutes from September 23, 2021 UNANIMOUS. Current Library Use and Financial reports were distributed. Miss Mansfield reported that Salem was fifth highest in NOBLE for circulation of physical items in September and October, and was second highest in September and third highest in October for Overdrive/Libby circulation. Miss Mansfield noted that the schools were able to access the library’s Overdrive/Libby collection again. Financial reports were distributed. Miss Mansfield noted that overdue fines and fees were reinstated on November 1st. The Trustees discussed offering the traditional holiday gift to staff. Miss Mansfield noted that the funds would need to be transferred from the investments. Trustee April made a motion to give the traditional gift to the staff. The motion was seconded by Trustee Morin. UNANIMOUS. Miss Mansfield noted upcoming expenses for the Trustees to consider, including tuition reimbursement and the 4th grade author visit. Trustee Austin offered to liaison with the schools to help organize the 4th grade author visit when the time comes. A proposal of fees from Architect Ray Guertin was distributed. The Trustees will review the document for the January meeting. Trustee Morin reported that a fountain meeting had taken place earlier in the day with Ray Guertin to review the documents required for the public bid. The length of the project was discussed, and a 365 day requirement for work completion was recommended due to the scheduling complexity of the different phases of the project. Trustee Morin will reach out the vendors that will be hired using private funds to keep them updated. The bid is expected to go out before the end of the year. Miss Mansfield reported that the City had released an updated workplace policy effective on 11/15 that made mask wearing optional inside the library. The Trustees discussed the purpose of the building, the purposes of visits, the lengths of time of visits, the vulnerable populations who use the library, and the close proximity required for assisting patrons. Trustee April made a motion to continue the mask requirement inside the library until further notice to protect the staff, patrons, and the community. Trustee Austin seconded. UNANIMOUS. Miss Mansfield shared an email she had received from Mr. Bulger about autorenewals of library materials. The Trustees discussed the process and limitations of autorenewals. Concerns included: patrons without email would not be notified if an item was not renewed, high demand items do not autorenew, reduction of equitable access to materials, and the increased possibility that items could be forgotten or lost with automatic extended loan times. The Trustees decided that the current system of having a set due date and manually renewing items does not pose a hardship, encourages responsibility for library materials, and is a fair policy. Miss Mansfield noted that the SLSA Union Contract requires an annual training for all staff and that it had been scheduled for December 3rd. The Trustees approved a late opening at 11:00am on that day for the staff training. Miss Mansfield noted that the Open Meeting Law would allow meetings to continue to be remote for all participants through April, or that the Trustees could adopt a hybrid model beginning in January. The benefits of both were discussed. The Trustees decided to continue meeting remotely through April of 2022. Meeting adjourned at 4:55pm.