LINCOLN PUBLIC LIBRARY TRUSTEES' MEETING—July 18, 2007
7:30pm, LPL Historical Room
Present: Jacquelin Apsler, Chair, Al Kraft, Peter Sugar, Susan Taylor, Marshall Clemens, Diana Abrashkin, Trustees; Barbara Myles, Library Director
I. The Minutes of the June 26, 2007 meeting were approved as corrected.
II. A mid-month Financial Report was distributed. It shows a tendency to spend more money on reference databases than on actual reference books. It was noted that trust fund reports are done quarterly not monthly.
III. The Librarian's Report was not ready, but Myles reported that the kickoff for the children's summer reading program was a great success. The Church will allow us to use their parking lot for overflow , since the kids' programs are over before noon. This is a welcome collaboration.
IV. Master Planning Committee Report: The RFP for a consultant is going out. The Long-Range Planning function has been taken up by the Steering Committee. There will be a public quarterly gathering, at which reports will be presented and citizen input received.
V. Building Committee. Several projects were reported on:
A. Windows: Town Counsel has told the Library Director not to worry about the Cape Cod Builders protest that we awarded the job unfairly to another contractor. Kraft is concerned about potential trustee liability in a suit against us, such as might be brought by Cape Cod Builders. Although we should be covered by the Town's insurance, nonetheless we could be named individually.
There will have to be a Change Order because the Building Inspector wants more tempered glass area. The $1000-$2000 increase will be covered by our contingency budget. It will take 6-7 weeks to manufacture the windows and, counting installation, etc., 2-3 months for the job to be complete.
B. Fire Protection: On July 25, our consultant will make his final report prior to completing the building documents. Rand Refrigeri points out that the fire alarms must be shut off for some period, therefore we will need a "fire watch" for 2-3 days. We need Refrigeri's cost estimates by a specific date.
C. Carpet: We are waiting on a letter from Karle Packard regarding the proprietary carpet selection.
D. Terrace: There will be a construction meeting next week on July 24, and the contractor will start soon after.
E. Sump pumps: Syska Hennessey's fee is $1000. They said to be sure to clean the check valve and not to be concerned about the apparent corrosion, which is normal on submersible pumps.
F. Parapet: Repair will go ahead with sealant on the parapet and in cracks.
VI. Staff Concerns: none.
VII. Capital Plan: Myles distributed a handout on Capital Expenditures. Sugar said that the $420K stated for the vault is too much, and that Karle Packard, the architect, will formulate alternates in case the bids come in too high. Myles noted that we never priced the storage costs for the period during construction when the documents must be stored. Myles will get a quote.
Another capital expense farther down the line is the $200K to replace two A/C condensers. The other two have already been replaced.
VIII. Discussion of the CPA request was tabled for lack of information. The vote will be on September 13, 2007, a Thursday, when we'll also approve our Capital Plan proposal.
IX. Budget Sub-Committee: Kathy Rushby made a draft of a new budgeting format, which was well-received, because it includes a "Notes" column, and color-keys where funds come from (i.e., municipal sources, Friends', trust funds, etc.)
On August 1, there will be a meeting of Apsler, Sugar and Taylor with Stu Haber who is our liaison to the FinCom. How much does Haber think we can/should ask for? Topics will include increasing our budget by $8-10K, so that it can include staff training and a website used for outreach and programs -- both of which we feel should be paid for by the Town.
There are both pro's and con's to pursuing outside revenue sources, like grants. We will state that we know that "fills" are not vital, but that our base budget must be paid by the Town.
X. Fundraising Committee: There are three different types of things we could raise money for: little things like the Eagle landscape project ($500), the Vault, and our endowment. Abrashkin hoped that we would not risk donor fatigue by fundraising for small-ticket projects, while Kraft remarked that John Koening of the CPC likes to see that groups have tried to raise money on their own.
The donor appreciation dinner party has been tentatively set for September 27, although Jeanne Bracken can't make it.
The fundraising subcommittee met with Myles and Susan Brooks and was shown Brooks' Power Point presentation about the need for preserving the Town's treasures. Both Apsler and Jeanne Bracken also worked on the video.
A piece of the vault project that could possibly be designated for fundraising would be the movable shelving. An enticement might be having the donors' names on the door.
XI. Sub-Committees: A handout was distributed with the sub-committees and descriptions of their charges.
XII. The Strategic Plan handout will be discussed/approved at the July 31 meeting.
XIII. A proposal for a Technology Subcommittee was distributed by Taylor. Abrashkin asked to have some artistic input into the graphics of a future website.
XIV. Policy Review: Taylor is looking for input from former trustees. Output might be a policy manual and an annotated calendar.
XV. FY 08 calendar: Myles and Apsler will present a calendar at the July 31 meeting.
XVI. Updates were tabled.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Diana Abrashkin
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
July 18, 2007
TO: Trustees, Lincoln Public Library
FROM: Barbara Myles, Librarian
Adult Department
The summer season has begun! Peter Peavoy is exhibiting his paintings in the gallery during July. The Photo Share group met at the library on July 11 for their monthly meeting and went on a field trip to Great Meadows in Concord on July 14 to take wildlife photos. The Write Stuff also met on July 11 to continue discussing their works in progress. The Monday Mystery Group is having “A Sherlock Summer” and discussed A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles on July 9.
Ellen has weeded some materials in older formats, books on tape and VHS videos. Now she is weeding the non-fiction collection. She and Lisa are working together to move all art books that are not exhibition catalogs from 709 call numbers to 759 call numbers. This will make it easier for patrons to browse for art books. Library staff was cataloging the art books correctly under the 709 call number then the Dewey Decimal people invented the 759 call number. Lisa will work on this retrospective conversion project as time permits over the summer.
Children's Department
The kick off party for the summer reading program on June 28 was a big success. Approximately 125 people came to the party with 75 children signing up for the reading program. The First Parish gave the library the use of their parking lot for overflow parking which worked out very well. During the summer reading program children can read or be read to in support of Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. This organization works to put musical instruments into the hands of schoolchildren in underserved school and community music programs. For each book read, children will have the chance to cast a vote for a trumpet, clarinet or flute, which will then be donated to the organization. The musical duo, “Rootes” came to the library on July 11 and gave a rockin’ and rollin’ concert to children ages 3 and
up. Ed Morgan gave a summer sing along at the terrace facing Trapelo Road on July 12 to a group of happy toddlers.
Reference Department
Reference staff answered at least 232 documented questions during June, which is a big drop from last year’s 330. Jeanne selected some new databases for the new fiscal year. Ancestry Library and Heritage Quest are genealogical databases. Fiction Connection and Non-Fiction Connection help people find new books to read based on books they have already enjoyed reading. Jeanne is working on promotional materials for these databases.
Technical Services Department
The Minuteman Library Network began offering email courtesy notices on July 17. The subject line of these courtesy notices is “Library Reminder” so patrons will know that the message is reminding them that a book is due in two days. We expect that some patrons may delete these messages without reading them. Others will rush their books back to avoid fines.
Happy New Year! The new fiscal 2008 year began on July 1, 2007. Lisa closed out FY 2007 and began FY 2008 on the Innovative Interfaces computer system. A new vendor, Ingram, was selected for Massachusetts libraries to purchase most of their library materials. Ingram had the highest discounts on library materials: trade books: 46.7%, DVDs 29%, books on CD 36%, and 41% on paperback books. Baker & Taylor is the vendor with the winning discount for music CDs at 26%.
Web Site Upgrade
Stacy, Nadine and I met with Stu Haber (the Finance Committee’s liaison to the library and CEO of InfoSciTex, David Montella (Head of Corporate Development for InfoSciTex, and Zach (an intern at InfoSciTex) on July 10 to discuss upgrading the library’s web site. Everyone agreed that the library’s web site needs an upgrade. Stu told us, “It looks like your web site was done in DOS.” He knows that we did not receive the $5,000 request in our FY 2008 budget to upgrade our website. Now he’s part of the solution by offering staff time and expertise from his company to upgrade the library’s web site.
Strategic Plan
The Strategic Planning Committee met on June 28 to discuss the latest version of the long range plan. Comments from the members of the Strategic Planning Committee were incorporated into the plan then distributed to the Trustees at their July 18 meeting.
Town Archives Committee
On July 11 Susan Brooks (Town Clerk) showed her Power Point slides of the Town Archives project to the Fundraising Committee. Her presentation was very good and she was able to share her broader vision with the committee. Instead of limiting the project to raising funds for the vault, Susan wants people to understand the ongoing mission of cataloging the materials and providing access to them. Furthermore, the archives are at the library, Town Offices, and in people’s homes. We need to raise awareness. One of Susan’s important points is, “Archives without access is equal to boxes in the basement.”
The Town Archives Working Group (Jacquelin Apsler, Susan Brooks, Jeanne and I) met on July 12 to discuss the Power Point presentation and share what we have learned about other libraries’ archival web sites.
Budget Committee
Kathy Rushby and I have met with members of the Budget Committee and prepared a few budget spreadsheets to make it clear how municipal funds and non-municipal funds are spent. In the “Personal Services” and “Expenses” categories, 85% of spending is from municipal funds and 16% is from non-municipal funds (The Friends, gift funds, and lost book funds). In the “Building Expenses” section of the budget 73% of spending is from municipal funds and 27% is from non-municipal funds (state aid and gift funds).
Building Repairs
1. Window Replacement Project
Sajid Lateef of K & S Builders and Rob Goodman of Littleton Lumber measured all of the window openings in the Gund building because the architectural drawings were not accurate. Earl Midgley, Lincoln’s Building Inspector, requested that the replacement windows meet current building codes concerning tempered glass. Currently, only the triangle window above the handicapped parking area is tempered glass. Additional tempered glass will be used in the Children’s Room turret and the window in the non-fiction area overlooking the Trapelo Road side terrace, which has a window seat.
The contract was signed by all parties. Town Counsel received a letter from Cape Cod Builders’ lawyer stating that he disagrees with her interpretation of the law. It is unclear if he plans to get an injunction to stop the work on the project. For now Town Counsel told me to keep the project going.
2. Carpets
Town Counsel reviewed the contract documents and found we had selected a specific carpet. The documents did have the “or equal” clause so our specification is not proprietary. Karle Packard wrote a letter for Town Counsel explaining the carpet selection process.
3. Sump Pumps
Peter spoke with Tony Petrillo of Syska Hennessy on July 9 and learned, “The casing of the pumps will sometimes rust but this will not interfere with the life or functioning of the pumps, which are designed to be submerged and operate in wet environments. He also calculated the required diameters for the pipes out of the sump and they are correct. We need not enlarge these pipes. Scaling in the pipes happens but it is not a problem. He indicated that the only cleaning we need to consider is taking apart the check valves and cleaning these at times.”
4. Energy Conservation
Tim Higgins met with the Town’s Green Energy Committee on June 27. He sent an email to the Town’s Department Heads stating that we will meet with this committee in September to find ways to reduce energy consumption and save money by managing heat, air conditioning, and lighting more aggressively.
5. Fire Suppression
The Building Committee met with Rand Refrigeri on July 11 to discuss final design details for Phase One of the Fire Suppression Project. We discussed possible locations for the antenna for the wireless master box and the need for a fire watch while the current fire alarm control panel is replaced with a new fire alarm control panel. During the change over to the new fire alarm control panel, the library will be without fire detection and alarm capability. The length of this time could be a matter of a few hours to a few days depending on the contractor and the testing phase. Fire Chief Cotoni told me and Rand at a meeting on July 18 that a fire watch is required during the change over period.
6. Water Test of Parapet above Handicapped Parking Area
The Waterproofing Company, Inc. had the low price ($7,199) for the parapet repair project. A letter of intent to award the contract to The Waterproofing Company was mailed on July 13. Submittals for sealant products that will be used for this project were received at the library on July 18.
7. Terrace Repair Project
There were seven bids for the terrace repair project. Kenney Masonry had the low bid with $13,200 for repairs, $15/sq. ft. for replacement bluestone, and $5,000 if a new slab is necessary. A letter of intent to award the contract to Kenney Masonry was mailed on July 12.
8. Pest Control
There is evidence and reported sightings of ants and mice are in the library. Bob Bottino found evidence of carpenter ants in the beams in the Preston building’s attic but did not see any carpenter ants. We will need to hire a pest control company handle this problem.
Fundraising Committee
The Fundraising Committee has decided to raise money for the vault during FY 2008. Kathy Rushby has prepared a list of people who donated money years ago for the vault project that was for organizing and cataloging the materials in the vault. These people may be interested in supporting the vault renovation project.
Kudos
Congratulations to Kathy Rushby for managing the final spending of FY 2007 municipal funds so that all funds were spent!
| 
