Library Board of Trustees

WESTWOOD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES MEETING DATE​: Monday, November 23, 2020 CALLED TO ORDER​: at 7:03 p.m. by Suzanne Gorham via Zoom. PRESENT​: Martha Urbiel (MU), Linda Phayre (LP), Mike Violano (MV), Rob Bicocchi (RB), Vincent Fitzpatrick (VP), Frank Zimmerman (FZ),​ ​Noeline Grefrath (NG), Claudia Gonzales-Doell (CGD), Bev Karch (BK), and Suzanne Gorham (SG). SUNSHINE LAW​: Read by SG. PUBLIC FORUM​: Two members of the public were present, including Junior Council members Nived Santosh. MINUTES​: BK made a motion to accept the minutes of the October 26 meeting; VF seconded. The motion carried. TREASURER'S REPORT​: MV presented the treasurer's report and cash management fund. The total of the checking account, cash management fund, and capital account is $185,914.12. The checking account balance is inflated, as checks have not yet cleared. NG made a motion to accept the treasurer's report; CGD seconded. The motion carried. The current bills list numbered 6686-6705 was reviewed. VF made a motion to accept; NG seconded. The motion carried. MV clarified that the gas spending on the Profit & Loss Report shows significantly under budget, resulting from an updated HVAC system and clean energy improvements. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Strategic Plan​: MV reviewed the final version of the Library’s three-year plan. BK praised the committee and the hard work they contributed. CGD acknowledged the strength of the mission statement. FZ made a motion to accept the plan. VF seconded. The motion carried. DIRECTOR'S REPORT​: MV shared that the Library ran another full month of programming, including a Halloween storytime outdoors near the library and an outreach story program at Bell’s Little Learners by Ms. Denise. All other programs were held online. Google product program training was held and will continue to run. Westwood Library Board Minutes November 23, 2020 Page 1 The Junior Council has about 20 volunteers, who attend programs online where they learn to be leaders and how to become engaged in the community. Doorside circulation and indoor browsing continues to run successfully. MV will reduce the number of patrons permitted to browse in-person at a time, while continuing to run in-person browsing as long as is permitted. The Ancestry.com subscription was renewed and the Friends of the Library funded the JobHelp database to facilitate job searches for community members. A leak in the technology room and near the HVAC system has been cleared. An engineer sent by the Borough investigated the area and will submit a report. The Board of Health did not detect any mold. The area will continue to be monitored. The personnel manual will be updated after the Borough approves theirs. Staff completed BCCLS reports database training. The Friends held pop-up book sales. PRESIDENT'S REPORT​: None. OLD BUSINESS: ​MV considered eliminating in-person browsing as the governor limited indoor gatherings to 10. No changes will be made yet, as the number of patrons browsing at a time is low. NEW BUSINESS​: Holiday activities are limited this year. A wish tree will be displayed and patrons will be provided with cards to add their wishes for the new year. MEETING ADJOURNED​: VF made a motion to adjourn the meeting; seconded by NG. The meeting was adjourned by DF at 7:39 p.m. Westwood Library Board Minutes November 23, 2020 Page 2