The Town of Lincoln, MA - Library Trustees

Present: Jack Pugh, Al Kraft, Diana Abrashkin, Jacqui Apsler, Marshall Clemens, Peter Sugar, Trustees; Barbara Myles, Library Director; Staff: Amy Gavalis, Kathy Rushby; Debby Dorsey, Vice Chair Disabilities Commission

2. Handicapped access: Debbie raised the question of how we could make it easier for disabled persons to enter the library as there is no power assisted opener with a button. We briefly reviewed the parameters governing such an installation, the potential costs involved and whether the current doors are sufficiently spaced to enable the modification to be made without a great deal of other alteration work. The board took the matter under advisement.

4. Financials: we are generally within our budget: it should be noted that, while the software support is beyond its budgeted amount and stands at 100%, this is a one time expense, and thus it should not increase any more for the rest of the year (if prorated for the year on a monthly basis, it would bring down the expense budget to appx. 30% for the current year). Concerns were also expressed about the utility costs: Kathy Rushby presented her analysis of costs for the previous years and how they averaged out on a per annum basis. There are currently no oil costs available as we have not had an invoice as yet (we expect the actual costs to exceed the budgeted amount); electric costs are running high on the other hand and we need to be aware what is causing this upsurge and also look at the ‘demand’.

5. Librarian’s report: Barbara highlighted the fact that we received $11,000 from Dr. England, which will allow the Library to finish processing his music score collection and also allow for the purchase of some additional shelving. Barbara has also been attending a seminar on the Public Procurement Law

6. Staff concerns: the staff have revived their staff association. One of the decisions they made was to ensure that all the staff rotate through at least once in attending the Trustees’ meetings. This will be done on a non-compensatory basis, with the understanding that, should any member of the staff be requested specifically to attend to speak to a particular issue, then such an attendance would be compensated.

7. Capital Planning Committee: Jacqui reported on the latest concerns: specifically on our request for the replacement of the Gund windows and the costs involved. There are some very specific questions which Bob Jevon has asked – Barbara and PS will attend the next meeting on 29 November and continue to push for the replacement rather than repair of the windows

8. Building Committee: PS reported on the status of the roofing project: the contract is now official and work is proceeding: with the masonry repairs coming first; the slates have been ordered and are expected within the next two weeks. There was also the question of finishing the previous window repair project – the re-installation of the brick mould: the contractor has now agreed to install this and carry out the work under the contract, as has been pointed out to him by our architects.

9. Al Kraft spoke about the visit to the Library by John Snell, who is willing to assist us in carrying out an energy audit (they found that the fire place damper has been open all this time, even though we are not using the fireplace!)

The Library’s capital planning and operating budgets were submitted to Town Offices in October and November respectively. Now we enter the presentation phase of budget season. Our presentation to the Capital Planning Committee is November 29 and our presentation to the Selectmen and Finance Committee will be scheduled for mid December.

It is most likely that our requests to the Capital Planning Committee for replacing the defective Gund Building windows and masonry and flashing repairs to the front entrance will be transferred to the Community Preservation Committee because they qualify for historic preservation funding under the Community Preservation Act (CPA). For the Town this means a 50% savings because our projects qualify for a 1:1 match of Town funds with CPA funds. For FY 2007 the Town has a $550,000 budget for capital plan projects. Even after the Library’s capital plan requests are transferred to the Community Preservation Committee, the Capital Planning Committee will have to deny funding requests in order to meet its budget target.

When we make our presentation to the Community Preservation Committee, we will find ourselves in another highly competitive situation. The Community Preservation Committee’s budget is approximately $900,000 but they have received requests for more than $900,000. According to the Community Preservation Act, at least 10% of CPA funds must be spent on affordable housing, historic preservation, recreation, and open space. In FY 2005 the Library received $75,000 for the Preston Building window restoration project. For the current fiscal year, the Library received $434,000 for a replacement roof for the Gund Building and $24,000 for an architect or engineer to design the historical vault expansion. Tim Higgins already told me that the Library would not receive funding for its Gund Building window replacement project.

This year’s State of the Town meeting was focused on affordable housing and open space planning. The message I received from this meeting is that the Town’s leadership feels a sense of urgency about acquiring key parcels of undeveloped land to either create more open space or develop the parcels into affordable housing or commercial developments. Land in Lincoln is not cheap so I can envision the situation where the Community Preservation Committee reduces funding for historic preservation to 10% of its budget. However, the Community Preservation Committee funded the Library’s Gund Building roof replacement project by borrowing money and if the Community Preservation Committee borrows money again, it may be possible for the Library to receive funding for the Gund Building window replacement project in FY 2007.

The Finance Committee gave every department the assignment of creating two budgets for FY 2007. The base budget is capped at a 2% increase over FY 2006. To meet this target the Library will have to close all Sundays and close two additional days. This is nearly as severe as our FY 2006 base budget proposal was for a 0% increase over FY 2005. There are three major causes of this severity. First, the Town has decided to give 3% in cost of living increases to its employees and approximately 73% of the library’s budget is spent on salaries.

Second, fuel prices have risen significantly due to the affects of Hurricane Katrina. Our FY 2006 budget included a 15% increase in the price of oil but depending on the price of oil we will probably go over the oil line item by thousands of dollars. Our FY 2007 budget includes a 40% increase in the oil line item over our FY 2006 budget.

Third, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners requires small libraries, like the Lincoln Public Library, to spend at least 15.2% of its operating budget on library materials to qualify for certification. The Town has made a commitment to meeting this standard so we build 15% into our budget for library materials.

Unfortunately, the only place to significantly reduce spending is by cutting staff hours. If we are to continue providing all services, targeting one or more employees for lay off is not an option. The remaining alternative is reducing all staff hours by reducing the number of hours that the Library is open. Neither option is good for Lincoln residents.

This fall I am taking classes at the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) about public procurement and will get certified as a Massachusetts Certified Public Procurement Official (MCPPO). According to the OIG, the objectives of the MCPPO program are to “promote: (1) cost-effective, ethical, and modern purchasing practices, (2) dialogue and exchange of ideas and best practices among procurement officials, (3) stewardship of resources in the public’s interest, and (4) compliance with Massachusetts contracting laws.”

The OIG has an Investigation Division headed by Mike Callahan, Esq., who brings 30 years of investigation experience with the FBI to his role at the OIG. He spent 2.5 hours informing us that (1) there is serious corruption in public contracting, (2) there are federal and state laws that apply to corruption in public contracting, and (3) there are serious criminal penalties for breaking these laws. At the beginning of his presentation he told us, “Ignorance is no excuse.” His division investigates claims of corruption in public contracting and does not make exceptions for people who did not know or understand the laws that they broke.

In July 2004 legislation was passed in Massachusetts, which according to the OIG, “contained the most sweeping reforms to public building construction contracting in the past 25 years.” I will take the “Designing and Constructing Public Facilities” class next month and learn about these new reforms.

On November 21 the Minuteman Library Network’s (MLN) online catalog was reset to allow patrons to place requests on music CDs and movies. The very next day, there was a 100% increase in the number of requests on the Library’s paging list. The largest increase was for music CDs, not movies. Requests for movies would be higher but MLN libraries have agreed not to allow requests on new movies until one year after they were added to the libraries’ collections.

The Friday Morning Book Group discussed The Golden Spur by Dawn Powell and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Tonight the Mystery Mondays book group will discuss Fat Ollie’s Book by Ed McBain. On November 9 the Classic Jazz group listened to BUNNY “a true jazz genius.”

The final two sessions of the Write Stuff writer’s group took place in November. At the last session, some of the people asked Jeanne to read pieces they had written and asked for comments from the group. There are good writers in this group!

All of the weekly fall programs are underway: Wonderful Ones, Terrific Twos, biweekly book groups for grades 3-4 and grades 5-6, Preschool Stories, and off-site stories at LEAP and Magic Garden. There were also two special Halloween story times at Lincoln Country Day. On October 26 storyteller Jackson Gillman visited the library and told Halloween stories to 45 children. For Halloween week, Dana Weigent crafted the Halloween crafts for children to make on a drop in basis.

Jane Flanders made a presentation at the Metrowest Massachusetts Regional Library System headquarters to fellow librarians called, “Lapsit Programs.” Jane’s Wonderful Ones story times are very popular. I received a letter from MMRLS, which stated that the fourteen attendees rated the program highly. There were also several requests for a follow-up program to address specific issues. If you would like to listen to Jane’s presentation and see her hand-outs, go to www.mmrls.org/materials/lapsit.htm!

New AV shelving is planned for the Children’s Department. Now that the Library is shifting from music cassettes to music CDs and from movie videos to movie DVDs, there is a need for additional shelving to store CDs and DVDs.

Now that it is possible for patrons to request all AV materials, more items are going into the delivery system. The MLN has new committees for delivery, resource sharing, and best practices. The members of these committees have a variety of backgrounds. The standing committees are for specific types of librarians: children, circulation, technical services, and directors, for example.

The standing committees have competing interests about delivery issues. For example, the Circulation Committee is working to find ways to reduce the number of steps to put an item into the delivery system. One way is to eliminate the requirement that music CDs be put into protective packaging before they are put into the delivery bins. The Bibliographic Committee, however, wants the requirement for protective packaging to continue.

Lisa Rothenberg, our Head of Technical Services and a member of the Bibliographic Committee, told me that the Bibliographic Committee did a study and found that it takes about eight hours to process 25 music CDs. If the CDs are put into bins without protective packaging, more will break while they are in the delivery system. The new Best Practices Committee will take both points of view into consideration when developing procedures for the delivery system.

Jeanne Bracken’s efforts to bring teenagers to the library to attend her “I’ve got Google! Why do I need the library?” program have not succeeded. Now she is working to bring her program to the Lincoln School and the Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School. The children’s librarians have given off-site programs for years. Now Jeanne is getting ready to put her show on the road.

The Friends of the Library held a contest at the Lincoln School for a new design for the children’s book bag. Henry Cousins won the contest with his rendering of “top ten ways to be a bookworm.” These cute new book bags are on sale at the library for $10.

On November 21 the Friends hosted a reception to honor Jeanne Bracken, a winner of the New York Times Librarian of the Year award. Over 100 people attended this event. Friends President, Patty Levy, congratulated Jeanne and told us that over 1,200 librarians were nominated for this award but only 23 won this year. Patty introduced Katherine Hall Page, who submitted the application nominating Jeanne for the award.

Katherine Hall Page is a well-known mystery author and frequent patron of the library. She told us what a difference Jeanne has made to her family and read from her application. Here’s an excerpt from Katherine’s application, “I think of librarians as our first and best defense against ignorance and other threats to civil liberties, brandishing books. Jeanne represents this group, perhaps our greatest national treasure. Each day in her own quiet and determined way she works to make life better not only for those of us who live in town, but for the entire country. I applaud the Times for recognizing the importance of our librarians and giving me the opportunity to write about this extraordinary one.”

I wrapped up the presentation by congratulating Jeanne, opening the floor to other testimonials for Jeanne, and thanking the Friends of the Library for hosting the reception.

Jeanne has a very loyal following. One of the people who came to the reception has known Jeanne for 37 years! It was great to see many library staff members at the reception expressing their congratulations to Jeanne.

Dr. Albert England donated $11,000 this month, which will allow the library to finish processing his collection of music scores and purchase additional shelving. There is no money in the Library’s budget to pay for processing Dr. England’s music scores. Kathie Brobeck and Jim Meadors have done some work on a volunteer basis but progress is slower than Dr. England would like. To his credit, Dr. England donated additional money to pay Kathie Brobeck, Lisa Rothenberg, and Kathy Rushby for working additional hours to expedite the project.

Through October 31 we have spent 33% of the operating budget. We have spent 30% of the salary portion, 41% of the library expenses portion and 41% of the building portion of the budget. Please note, however, that we had not received any oil bills through October and with the sudden increase in the price of oil, we will over spend the building portion of the budget months before the fiscal year ends.

Through November 28 we have spent $34,407 of the $104,100 FY 2005 capital plan money for library repairs. Several repairs will be done in conjunction with the Gund Building roof replacement project so spending in this category will increase more sharply in the months ahead.

The contract between the Library and Dave Gardner Contractor and Supply, Inc. (DGC) for the Gund Building roof replacement project was signed at the end of October. DGC provided the required payment and performance bonds on November 21 and work began on November 23, the day before Thanksgiving.

a. Completed. The Larry Leonhardt Company is writing a report of the air balancing work done at the Library and recommendations for future work. The temperature in the library varies up to ten degrees between rooms so additional repair work is necessary. A key reason for this is that the largest air conditioning unit is only running at 70% of design for air flow. In other words, even if the air conditioner and boiler are working perfectly, the cool or hot air is not traveling throughout the entire library.

b. Repair to the stair railing at the entrance to the Preston Building began this month. Ted Tucker, a local black smith, will repair the metal railing so it is no longer a safety hazard.

Lisa Heffley led the staff in a yoga class to help us avoid repetitive strain and stress related injuries. It was very interesting how she was able to calm us all down during the middle of a hectic work day!

Congratulations to Jane Flanders for developing and presenting a workshop to her colleagues at the Metrowest Massachusetts Regional Library System headquarters. Jane is a leader in providing library services to very young children. Because of Jane and her “Wonderful Ones” story time program at the library, children are introduced to the library in a fun way while they are learning new things and interacting with other children.