Lincoln Library Trustees’ Meeting
May 18, 2004
Present: Jack Pugh, Jenifer Burckett-Picker. Al Kraft, Marshall Clemens, Diana Abrashkin, Peter Sugar, Trustees; Barbara Myles, Library Director; Staff: Susan Sugar
April 13th, 2004 Minutes approved.
Announcements:
Department of Conservation grant kickoff meeting – “A Short Walk Through 10,000 Years of Lincoln History”, Monday May 24th, 7:30 pm Tarbel Room.
Pre-bidder conference – 10 potential bidders showed up to review the job.
Financial Report:
A discussion of the financial report clarified that, if necessary, expenses can be moved across line-items, however salaries cannot be used for other purposes.
Librarian’s Report:
A mason has re-leveled the entryway patio. The next level of repair is to redo whole thing.
Library lane – the ‘No SUV’ parking signs have produced some negative comments – especially when there are no other parking spaces. Parking comments are still coming in and we may want to encourage as many comments as possible. Most of the comments concern the lack of parking. There may be a problem with out-of-town bicyclers using library lane as a place to park and ride from. We may want to put up a “Library Patrons Only” sign, and perhaps list other places to park.
The 9’ spaces may be excessively wide and we might gain 3 to 5 additional spaces by re-striping. Peter is going to contact Ken Basset re. getting going on a design for additional spaces downhill from the library entry patio.
We discussed how to get a flat-screen monitor set up at the check-out desk to scroll announcements. After discussing a number of equipment options, we decided to wait until new computers are purchased in July and use some of the old equipment for the announcement system.
Staff Concerns:
Parking! The staff continues to hear complaints about parking – especially from SUV drivers.
Other Business:
Kudos to Barbara and Peter for getting the paper work and ads in for the construction management bids.
The parking lights are wired in with 50W metal halide lamps for people to assess.
The Friends threw a nice appreciation lunch that was well-attended.
The Building committee will meet on June 2nd, 7:30 pm to review the bid proposals, and on June 10th, 7:00 pm to interview the candidates.
Respectfully submitted
Marshall Clemens
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LIBRARIAN’S REPORT
May 18, 2004
TO: Trustees, Lincoln Public Library
FROM: Barbara Myles, Librarian
Library Lane
Comments written in the Library Lane Comment Book between April 8 and May 12 are 14% positive and 86% negative. For the entire period since the parking arrangement was changed from parallel to diagonal, the comments are 46% positive and 54% negative. There were comments about lack of parking spaces but most of the comments were about the signs directing patrons to park their SUVs at the lower end of Library Lane. One SUV owner commented, “Parking is indeed a problem. Often there are no spots. Now SUV’s are restricted from ½ spots. It makes it very difficult to use the library.” A non-SUV owner commented, “3 of 6 vehicles parked in ‘no SUV zone’ are huge SUVs – the jumbo size. Can these people read?”
There are patrons who believe we should go back to parallel parking. “Suggest starting over – back to the drawing board. Go back to parallel parking. Widen Library Lane. Yes, take out the trees to accommodate a wider road. Add a sidewalk paralleling the lane so people especially those with young ones don’t have to walk in the road. Accommodating more cars and providing a safe place to walk should be the priorities.”
One street light is working properly and the other four street lights were partially installed on May 7. The top parts of the lights were not installed so they are not functioning.
Friends of the Library
On May 11 the Friends of the Library had an appreciation luncheon for the library staff and volunteers. The food was great and we had fun socializing with the Friends.
NEH Grant
Jeanne, Bill Carroll and I applied for a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a Preservation Assistance Grant. If our application is successful, we will hire a preservation consultant to assess the library’s historical archive and write a report that will serve as a planning document for preserving the materials in the vault. The report will also include an assessment of the environmental conditions in the vault.
Adult Department
Ellen’s book discussion group read “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” by K.A. Porter and “Master Builder” by Henrik Ibsen. I attended the discussion of “Master Builder” and as usual the discussion was very lively. The discussion group members are well prepared for their meetings. They not only read the book but they also read about the author or the subject matter and share their knowledge with the group. I am very impressed with Ellen’s group!
Children’s Department
The Children’s staff had special events for April vacation. These events had a historical theme to celebrate the town’s 250th anniversary. Children of all ages were sent on a scavenger hunt and were led to secret places in the library. They also learned some library history. On April 21 children’s book illustrator Giles LaRoche worked with children to create their own cut-paper collages of some of Lincoln’s famous buildings. This collage is on display in the Children’s Room. On April 22, children had an afternoon of old-fashioned games, crafts and food. The Children’s staff also put up a display of old fashioned kitchen utensils and tools and asked patrons to guess what the items were used for. Dana had a spinning-top
craft program to go along with the old fashioned games afternoon.
Amy, Jane, and Stacy led the weekly storytimes for two-year-olds, pre-school, and kindergarten age children. Amy also went to the Hanscom Preschool for a story time. Stacy’s book group discussed Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos.
Technical Services Department
Lisa Rothenberg has begun cataloging the music scores donated by Dr. England. Jim Meadors, a Lincoln resident with a good knowledge of music, has volunteered to help assign call numbers.
As of May 11, we have spent $80,350.82 on library materials, which is 12.5% of the library budget. We need to spend an additional $16,363.78 by June 30 to reach 15% of the FY04 budget of $644,764 to meet the state’s library certification requirement.
Reference Department
Reference desk staff answered 378 documented reference questions, which is 32 questions less than last year. Many of the questions answered this month were tax related.
During the past month, Jeanne attended a digital library project focus group and a digital photography class at the Metrowest Massachusetts Regional Library System, the Massachusetts Library Association Conference, and a disaster planning training session. These meetings will benefit our efforts to preserve materials in the vault. Jeanne is also chair of the Lincoln Archives Committee and led a meeting on May 11.
Building Repairs
The Building Committee wrote an RFQ for the building repairs that were approved at the Annual Town meeting. Advertisements for this RFQ appeared in the May 12 edition of the “Central Register” and the May 17 edition of the “Waltham Tribune.” Bids for this project are due on June 1.
The light relay panel in the electrical room was repaired on April 26. Unfortunately, all of the settings were lost when the new parts were installed. Ellen and the electrician worked together to reprogram the light relay panel on April 27
The uneven blue stones in the library terrace were reset on May 10. Some of the uneven stones are next to stones that were set in mortar. The mason was concerned that if he lifted these stones they would break. Therefore, he did not reset all of the uneven stones.
Kudos
The Friends of the Lincoln Library made the staff and volunteers feel appreciated by giving us a catered luncheon on May 11. They are very supportive of the library as an institution and their luncheon showed us that they are supportive of us as people.
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