Board of Public Library Trustees

Draft of Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of January 19, 2023 Salem, Massachusetts January 19, 2023 A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held via Zoom on this date at 4:04pm with Trustees April, Austin, Morin, Rourke and Trustee Buckley present and presiding. Acting Mayor McCarthy was absent. Miss Mansfield was present. Approval of draft minutes from November 17, 2022 UNANIMOUS. Miss Mansfield reported that this had been an exciting week because the Children’s Librarian had returned from parental leave and the library was fully staffed again. Winter programs began on January 17th and included the preschool storytimes, laundromat storytime, and new programs for teens and families. Trustee Austin suggested sharing the winter program schedule with the schools. Current Library Use and Financial reports were distributed. Salem was fifth highest in NOBLE for circulation of physical items in November and sixth highest in December. Salem was second highest in November and December for Overdrive/Libby circulation. Financial reports were distributed. Miss Mansfield noted that first State Aid grant payment was received in January. Miss Mansfield presented the library’s proposed FY24 budget for vote. Miss Mansfield noted that the SLSA union staff would be moving to new steps in FY24, which required requesting increases for the non-union administrative staff. Increases were requested for the non-union custodians and for the library pages in anticipation of a minimum wage increase in 2024. Miss Mansfield reported that she had added categories to the municipal operational budget that are currently funded by the Trustees. Miss Mansfield noted that Councilors Morsillo and Stott had approached her about ending overdue fines in early 2022, and that the Trustees had discussed this at the April meeting. The Trustees noted at that time that they would consider not charging fines if the City provided funding for those categories. The Trustees discussed the possibility again and noted that if the funding was approved in the FY24 municipal budget, they would consider ending fines on a trial basis. A motion to approve the proposed FY24 budget was made by Trustee Morin, seconded by Trustee April. UNANIMOUS. Miss Mansfield reported that no major capital requests were submitted for FY24, since there were several projects pending from previous years. She noted that a capital request was submitted for new furniture, including chairs and tables for the Reference floor. Miss Mansfield reported that library experienced an HVAC failure just before the New Year and that an emergency visit from ATCO was required. The building experienced several brief power outages the overnight and the building seemed especially cold in some areas as the day went on and the temperature dropped. Upon investigation, the air handler unit for the main floor was filled with ice and the air conditioning was stuck in the on position, even after power cycling. The same thing had happened to the air handler on the 3rd floor. The technician immediately noticed that the control system was set to prevent the boiler from turning on unless it was below 50 degrees outside. He increased the setting to 65 degrees, which allowed the boiler to engage and begin warming the building. There was no clear explanation as to why the air conditioning turned on, but the technician felt that the system was beginning to operate correctly and it was okay to allow the air handlers encased in ice to thaw naturally. Miss Mansfield reported that she had met with Architect Ray Guertin about the ground level book drop, and noted that he felt the best placement would be inside the fence. He planned to work on specifications. Mr. Guertin also took some final measurements for the rooftop emergency stairway repairs. Miss Mansfield reported that Mr. Guertin advised putting all three glass door entryways out to bid together and was working on a plan. Trustee Morin reported that he had met with two different contractors on site about the fountain foundation. Both contractors suggested removing all concrete from the foundation to see what the fountain is sitting on, and then make corrections to level it. Trustee Morin requested estimates from both contractors. Fountain funding was discussed. AmazonSmile announced that the program to benefit non- profits would end on February 20th. Trustee Buckley suggested increasing fundraising efforts. Trustee Rourke noted that funds would be needed for maintenance once the restoration was complete. Trustee Austin noted that she had attended a Tipple Tuesday and suggested that a similar event could help raise funds for the fountain. Additional fundraising ideas were discussed for the summer. Trustee Rourke made a motion to enter Executive Session. Seconded by Trustee April. UNANIMOUS. Candidates for the vacancy on the self-appointing Board of Library Trustees were discussed in executive session. Adjourned 5:26pm.