MINUTES OF MEETING OF
TRUSTEES OF LINCOLN PUBLIC LIBRARY
APRIL 4, 2006
Present:~ Jack Pugh, Chair, Al Kraft, Marshall Clemens, Jacquelin Apsler, Peter Sugar, Diana Abrashkin, Trustees; Barbara Myles, Director, Stacy Harris, Library Staff
I.~ ~~~~Minutes of February 14, 2006, meeting were approved as amended.
II.~ ~~~Announcements
~~~~~~~~Mrs. Paola Rossoni, a Lincoln resident, has made a wonderful $5K unrestricted donation to the Library.~ We shall attempt to find a use which will both please her and benefit the Library, such as funding handicap-accessible front doors.
III.~~~~Financial Report
~~~~~~~~Pugh distributed a sheet (which shall be appended to these Minutes) showing the status of all repairs cited in SGH's original report.
IV.~~~~~Librarian's Report
~~~~~~~~Highlights of the report (which shall be appended to these Minutes) include the fact that a Verizon worker showed up to remove our payphone, because it doesn't seem to generate enough income to satisfy Verizon (we seem to take in only about $25/month).~ Myles succeeded in forestalling the removal temporarily.~ To keep the phone we would have to pay $45/month to Verizon.~ Kraft suggested writing a strong letter to Verizon, asserting that the phone represents a public safety issue and asking for documentation on the income.~ Abrashkin suggested inquiring of other phone companies.
~~~~~~~~Also, the Library Director reported that a woman had called to asked about the Library's "tutoring policy."~ Where would a tutor meet with a student in our library?~ Currently we have no set policy and tutors/tutees meet here and there.~ Myles suggested having tables in the Tarbell Room and calling it a "Homework Room."~ Pugh and Myles will draft a policy.
V.~ ~~~~Staff Concerns
~~~~~~~~Stacy Harris said the staff also prefers the use of the Tarbell Room for tutoring, since it would maintain other areas as quieter zones.
VI.~~~~~Building Committee Report
~~~~~~~~Town Meeting approved our window replacement project.~
~~~~~~~~Work will begin on the new slate roof tomorrow, weather permitting.~
~~~~~~~~Sprinklers were also discussed at Town Meeting, but with some opposition.~ Our attic only has heat detectors, but we should also have hard-wired smoke detectors with an automatic dialer to the Fire Department.
~~~~~~~~Carpeting: There has been one meeting with the Interior Designer, who will attend the Building Committee meeting tomorrow or Thursday and then come back two weeks later with a group of samples to choose from.~ As to the deteriorated state of our carpet, she thought that perhaps a residential grade had been specified, rather than the appropriate commercial grade.
~~~~~~~~We interviewed three firms to work on the Vault project and checked their references.~ Their fees were done as sealed bids so their qualifications were graded independently of price.~ Red Hawk Design of Concord, of which Karle Packard is principal, was chosen.~ Sugar is content that an architect-prime firm was chosen for this particular project, rather than an engineer-prime firm.~ The scope of work will include: setting the program, assessing the necessary size for document storage (one thought might be to put uncritical documents in non-climate-controlled space), designing the storage space and designing the climate control including humidification and dehumidification.
VII. ~~~Strategic Planning Committee Report
~~~~~~~~Marshall Clemens presented a report which is appended to these minutes.~ The Strategic Planning Committee will attend our next meeting, on April 25.
VIII.~ ~Friends of the Library
~~~~~~~~Apsler spoke of the theme of the July 4th float which the Friends think should express our solidarity with the New Orleans Library.~ Abrashkin mentioned that Lincoln's traditional float themes are more local and usually poke fun at the board involved.
~~~~~~~~The Friends' President and Treasurer will attend our meeting on May 23.
Respectfully submitted,
Diana Abrashkin
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LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
April 4, 2006
TO: Trustees, Lincoln Public Library
FROM: Barbara Myles, Librarian
Town Meeting
All of the Library's budget requests for FY 2007were approved at Town Meeting on March 25. There is terrific support for the library in Lincoln! Both the library staff and the Trustees deserve credit and congratulations for this accomplishment. The staff provides excellent services to library patrons, and has developed broad support for the library as a result. The Trustees successfully advocated for and defended the budget at many committee meetings and informal conversations with their neighbors.
1. Operating Budget: $737,158.18 (FY 2006 = $691,254)
The operating budget includes additional staff hours for reference desk coverage on Wednesday afternoons and increased administrative support for the building projects. There is also a large increase to the oil line item to keep up with the increases in oil prices.
2. Capital Plan Budget: $23,000 (FY 2006 = $0)
New carpets for the Children's Room and staff work room are funded with the capital plan money.
3. Community Preservation Budget: $434,000 (FY 2006 = $462,000)
The Marvin window replacement project for the Gund addition and the fires suppression study were approved at Town Meeting.
4. Library Maintenance Budget: $25,000 (FY 2006 = $27,000)
The maintenance Budget includes regularly scheduled maintenance as well as smaller building repairs.
Adult Department
Ellen's Friday Morning book group has met four times since our last Trustees meeting! They discussed The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald on February 17, Martin Dressleur by Steven Millhauser on March 3, Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin on March_1-7, and Enemies: A Love Story by LB. Singer on March 31. Jeanne's Mystery Mondays book group discussed Murder on the Leviathan by B. Akunin on February 27 and The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell on March 27.
Members of Lincoln's Recreation Department's Art Group displayed their artwork in the gallery during March. For April artwork by students at the Carroll School is on display. Classic Jazz met for the 274th time on March 8. At this meeting Lauribeth Giza presented "Gene's Drum Method." Jeanne taught the following four computer training classes since the last Trustees meeting: "full-text newspapers online" on March 6, "business resources online" on March 13, "Google" on March 20, and "travel planning online" on April 3.
The Write Stuff writing group that began last fall as a pilot, with patrons receiving a lot of help developing their writing skills, has now turned into an on-going critique group. Writers are sharing their work with each other and Jeanne has told me that she is impressed by the work that this group has produced.
Friends of the Lincoln Library
The March 9th reception at the Library for Lois Lowry was sponsored and hosted by the Friends of the Lincoln Library. This was a great opportunity for her fans to meet her and ask her any question they wanted and gain some insight as to how Ms. Lowry gets her ideas for books and develops her stories. I was surprised when she told us that she will be writing a new book this summer but she does not yet know what it will be about. A character will come into her mind and she will write the story around the character. She was very engaging with the children and they were happy to meet her. Immediately after the reception, Nancy Rote, a Lincoln resident who is also the Librarian at Hanscom Air Force Base, and Beth Brooks, the Librarian at the Lincoln School, whisked Ms. Lowry off to the Lincoln School for an evening
talk.
Children's Department
Science was the theme of the Children's Room programs during the February school vacation week. On February 21, the Museum of Science presented "Science Magic." The "magician" performed tricks like getting a balloon to work like a pin cushion and lying on a bed of nails, then taught the children the science behind the tricks they were shown. "Slippery Science" was on February 22. The Mad Science of Greater Boston workshop taught children about polymers with hand-on fun with goop, gak and slime. A drop-in craft program called "Faux Fossils" took place on February 23. Dana Weigent and Hannah Gavalis developed this program that allowed children to make their own fossils with clay and creative stamping devices.
Technical Services
A new feature was added to the Innovative Interfaces, Inc. software which we use at the library to support library operations. This new feature was designed to improve the module that is used to request books for patrons in the Minuteman Library Network’s database. Before the new feature was added, a paging list was created each night by the software. On the following day, staff retrieved books on the paging list that were requested by patrons at other libraries. There were problems with this module that caused some requests to get stuck, however. The upgraded version creates two paging lists each day. One list is for specific items, meaning you need to find the book with the exact barcode listed on the paging list. The second list, which is also known as the title paging list, is new and allows any copy of the
book to fulfill the request. So far we are having mixed results with this upgraded version. Sometimes the book retrieved from the stacks does not fulfill the request because it is a different edition or publisher than what the title paging list was expecting. The trouble is that the new title paging list does not include this information. In other words, there is a trial and error component to the upgraded version, which makes it more labor intensive than the older version.
Reference Department
Reference staff answered at least 310 documented reference questions during February 2006, which is a slight increase over last year. (Please note that Jeanne was away on vacation for seven working days during February so our patrons. Perhaps the number of “only Jeannes” is decreasing.) Jeanne presented a program on the library’s computer resources to members of the Council on Aging at Bemis Hall. Her presentation was well-received and she was asked to make more presentations for the COA.
Building Repairs
1. HVAC
A representative from Weil-McLain, the company that manufactures the oil boiler, informed me that the model CRD 201 Carlin oil burner is compatible with the Library’s model 976 Weil-McLain oil boiler. This information tells us that the cause of the blow backs in the oil boiler was not due to an incompatible oil burner.
2. Elevator.
The Fire Department approved the plans for a new vent for the elevator shaft, which will open when there is a fire or when the elevator shaft becomes too hot. Making the modifications described in the plans is a project funded by FY 2007 maintenance budget.
3. Roof Replacement Project
Dave Gardner Contractor (DGS) has a new project manager assigned to our roof replacement project because Dick Tomkinson is out on disability until his foot heals from surgery. The new project manager is Greg Johnson. DGS resumed work on the roof project on April 3. Weather permitting construction will begin on April 5.
4. Vault Renovation Project
This project was advertised in the Central Register on February 15 and negotiations with the Library and the firm were completed on March 31. The Building Committee ranked an architectural firm named Red Hawk Studio Architects (RHSA) as the number one firm and was able to successfully negotiate an agreement with RHSA. I sent a letter of intent to RHSA and am now writing a draft between the Library and RHSA for Town Counsel’s review.
5. Preston Foundation Masonry Project
The lowest price quote I received for this masonry project was from Dave Gardner Contractor & Supply, Inc. DGC’s foreman for this project is John Keohane. I will send DGC a letter of intent so work can begin on this project ASAP.
Public Pay Phone
On March 28 a Verizon serviceman tried to uninstall the pay phone but Ellen Sisco and Kathy Rushby convinced him to leave it in place until Verizon notifies the Library about our options. According to the serviceman, the reason why Verizon wants to remove the pay phone is because it does not generate $25 of income for Verizon each month. The options now are to either pay $45 per month to keep the pay phone or else Verizon removes the phone.
In Memory
Since our last Trustees meeting, two of our most loyal dog patrons died: Daisy and Brando. Daisy and her owner, Barbara Peskin, would visit the library before or after walks a few times each week. Kitty Stein brought her dog with her to mystery book discussion groups. When these dogs came to the library, it was an event. They were happy and well-behaved, a tribute to the good training and great treatment they received from their owners.
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