The Town of Lincoln, MA - Library Trustees

2. Jack announced that he will be stepping down at the end of his term – after town meeting and we should begin to think of whom we might invite to run in his place and also whom to elect as the next chair.

3. Financial report: we are currently essentially on target, having spent 40% of our budget against a budgeted 41%. We were also informed that we received $12,778 in State grants, which we are allowed to spend in any way we see fit.

4. Librarian’s report: nothing major: programs are winding down; also we now have a public telephone – one of our five lines can be used and we are charged a proportionate fee depending how much the town’s Centrex system has been used that month.

6. FY’08 Budget: we are essentially at the 3% mark (3.03%) with our base budget, having been informed that we should fund the energy costs at a level budget as compared to last year. Our preferred budget is at 3.9%.

f. Windows: after considering all the pros and cons, we voted to go with the replacement of the windows as against the epoxy repair: the windows will be bid with two options: wood windows and aluminum windows to see if we can get a price preference on either one. We also agreed to correct the impression our consultant is laboring under that the original windows did not receive a proper paint coating (though it is true that the end grains were not treated properly).

8. There was no old business. New business covered the topic of the Library being excluded from the Master Planning Committee even though we have been receiving some support (from the FinCom and others). We will continue to push for a review of this situation.

The Finance Committee’s Budget Workshop was held on December 6 at the Multi-Purpose Room of the Hartwell Building. In attendance were Selectmen, Boards, and Department Heads. We had been given the guideline of a 3% budget increase over FY2007 for the base budget but only the library met this target. Town Administrator, Tim Higgins, and Finance Director, Colleen Wilkins, explained that medical insurance and pension premiums are rising much faster than inflation. Mickey Brandmeyer and Julie Dobrow gave an overview of special education (SPED) costs and reimbursement programs. SPED is very expensive and costs depend on the needs of the students. In short, both the Town and the schools have costs that they cannot control. To provide level services, these departments requested approximately 6% base budgets.

The Library’s preferred budget is a 3.9% increase over FY2007 and requests $5,000 for website development, $607 for additional book binding, and $1,051.24 to keep the book budget at 15% of the total budget for state certification.

On November 29 the Budget Committee met with the Capital Planning Committee to present the Library’s capital plan for FY2008. The Library has submitted its capital plan to both the Capital Planning Committee and the Community Preservation Committee. Our capital plan consists of upgrading the elevator shaft and venting systems to current building code ($20,000) and the first phase of an automated fire suppression system ($119,850). At the December 6 Budget Workshop Pat Phillips, Chair of the Capital Planning Committee, announced that his committee voted to fund the upgrade to the elevator shaft and venting systems. The Community Preservation Committee has not announced its funding decision for FY2008.

At the Friends November meeting the voted to give approximately $2,100 in staff grant awards to: Jeanne Bracken, Jane Flanders, Amy Gavalis, Lisa Rothenberg, and Kathy Rushby. Jeanne attended the Fall New England Library Association Conference in Vermont. Jane, Amy, and Lisa will attend the American Library Association Conference in Washington, DC. Kathy will take an advanced Excel class. These grant awards allow more staff to attend professional conferences and receive work related training than would be otherwise possible. We are very fortunate and grateful that the Friends are providing this funding to invest in the library staff.

Ellen Morgan displayed selected images from her “365 days in Lincoln” photography collection in the gallery during December. In December the Friday Morning Book Group discussed Jeffrey Eugenides’ “Middlesex.” They also read a children’s book by Bette Bao Lord, “In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson,” which gave them a child’s perspective of the immigrant experience. Bea Page led the December gathering of the Classic Jazz group with a program called, “Tracking the Ts”. The Write Stuff discussed their writing projects on November 29. On November 27 the Mystery Monday group discussed “Murder at the Palace” by Elliot Roosevelt.

The fall season of Children’s programming ended by mid-December. A drop-in winter crafts activity was set up by Dana Weigent for the week of December 18-23. Penguins, harvest moons, and festive party favors were featured in this craft program.

Reference staff answered at least 384 documented reference questions during November 2006, which is the highest November recorded since 1993, the “Jeanne Bracken era.” While Jeanne was on vacation in early December, Ellen, Lisa, and I covered the reference desk during Jeanne’s shifts. Some patrons may have held their questions until Jeanne returns, but we answered plenty ourselves!

A collection of papers from the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church were compiled and donated to the library by Ann Janes. Jeanne is describing this new collection for the vault. Ruth Wales has finished adding street numbers to the addresses in the vault finding aid called “Lincoln Buildings,” which will make it much more useful. On November 30 Jeanne and I met with representatives from the Lincoln Historical Society. They are very knowledgeable about Lincoln history and are interested in preserving and providing wider access to Lincoln’s historic documents. We asked for their help with the library’s disaster plan and they agreed to serve as an advisory board.

The heads of the public services departments: Ellen Sisco, Amy Gavalis, Jane Flanders, and Jeanne Bracken met with Lincoln School principals: Sharon Hobbs (grades 5-8) and Stephen McKenna (grades K-4), Kathy Clark (Lincoln PTA), Nancy Rote (Hanscom School Librarian), and Alice Sajdera (Lincoln School Librarian) on December 6 to discuss programs for the upcoming national TV Free Week, April 23-28, 2007. Local author, Katherine Hall Page, has already signed on for a library event on Monday April 23. Ideally, events would take place at the Lincoln School and Hanscom School. There was a lot of excitement at this meeting for a TV Free Week in Lincoln and future meetings are planned for 2007.

The shaft broke in AC2’s air handler unit, which services the second floor of the Preston Building. Kathy Rushby noticed a metallic squeaking noise and knew something was wrong. The service company replaced the broken shaft and damaged blower wheel. The temperature in the Tarbell Room is much closer to the thermostat setting since this repair was made.

The Building Committee selected Chapman Waterproofing Company to perform the water test to find the source of the leak above the triangle window in the Children’s Room. Unfortunately, it is too cold now for a water test so it is postponed until spring 2007.

The Building Committee presented Red Hawk Studio Architect’s design documents to the full Board of Library Trustees on October 24. The Trustees agreed to have Red Hawk Studio Architects continue on to the construction documents phase of the project. The target construction price for this project is $350,000. The next meeting with Karle Packard is scheduled for November 28.

Max Ferro of the Preservation Partnership presented his report of his survey of the Gund windows. Max’s report recommends repairing the windows with epoxy over replacing the windows. If the Trustees want to replace the windows, he favors aluminum over wood. Unfortunately, there was no quorum of the Building Committee at the November 20 meeting and the Building Committee has not discussed this report with Max as a group.

Price quotes to replace the carpets in the Reference Room and Farrar Room was requested from four companies: Allegheny Contract, Atkinson Carpet, Interface, and RD Weiss. An announcement of this project and the project manual were posted on the library’s web site. The price quotes are due on January 7, 2007.

The painting and plaster repairs identified in Simpson, Gumpertz and Heger’s condition site survey in January 2004 and funded with FY05 capital planning funds is now moving forward. The project had been delayed until the roof replacement project was completed and roof leaks were repaired. Kathy Rushby has shown several contractors the necessary work and has received price quotes from three responsible and eligible companies. The lowest price quote came from Dandis Contracting, Inc. for the amount of $7,500. Town Counsel has approved the contract and we mailed it to Dandis Contracting for their signature.

The new closers to automate the entry doors for handicapped accessibility were installed on November 21. Lincoln’s electrician will perform the electrical work to make the doors operational later this month.

Jack Pugh noticed that the Library’s flag is torn. The custodians tried to get the flag down but the lanyards would not move. I asked Fire Chief Cotoni for help replacing the flag and he agreed to provide assistance.

Thanks to Ellen, Amy, and Jane for generously allowing staff to take their pick of time off for the holidays. This means that they have a lot more time at the circulation and reference desks than usual in addition to their other work. I think their attitude and the way they treat their staffs is a big reason why people work together so well. The Lincoln Library is a much better environment than the first job I had out of college where the manager told us that we could never ever have any of the prime vacation times because she would always want them. Sure, that was her prerogative but I think it is one reason why the work environment is so much better here!