Lincoln Public Library
Trustees’ Meeting
October 30, 2008
Attendees: Jacquelin Apsler Chair, Diana Abrashkin, Marshall Clemens, Al Kraft, Susan Taylor, Peter Sugar, Trustees; Barbara Myles, Director, Jennifer Donaldson, Staff, Susan Brooks, Town Clerk (during the discussion of the Archives)
We discussed the following:
1. Archives: Work is proceeding well: Marie Wasnock is our new and enthusiastic young archivist, working well with Jeanne Bracken. They work on Wednesdays, from 1 to 6 PM at Town Hall. Their current tasks:
o How to integrate contemporary public records requiring retention into the archives
o Develop both short term and long term plans/goals
o Establish archiving criteria
o Prepare an inventory of materials already at hand
o Determine what belongs in the Library vault and what will stay at Town Hall
They have also met with the Town’s Archival Council to develop and update a collections policy. This involves:
o Having the donor prepare a documentation in submitting new material - to establish the provenance of the material
o To determine what should be archived (accessioned) and what should be rejected (de-accessioned)
o Finalizing the "Lay of the Land" (LOTL) Survey to ‘capture’ material in existence but presently in private possession
2. We reviewed the Archive budget for FY’10 – see attached. There are only small increases – which in fact are above the guideline of 2.5% as laid down by the FinCom. However, the Archive budget is part of the overall Library budget, which does follow the guideline.
3. We reviewed the Library FY’10 budget (prepared after an earlier meting of the Library budget committee – see attached):
o Base budget: 2.5% increase over FY’09: cuts 10 Sundays (leaving 16 Sundays), cuts the summer interns, adds 1 hour for Lisa Rothenberg (for work on the website), moves Jeanne Bracken and Jane Flanders to full-time
o Level Service: restores Sundays and the interns
o Preferred: adds another hour for Lisa R. also adds $300 for book supplies for the Town Archives
We agreed that it would be helpful, in case the Level Service is not approved, to explore the costs and benefits of getting summer interns either as volunteers or at the minimum wage – to be discussed at our next budget committee meeting.
4. Snow Blower: it is well worn – in order not to have to purchase a new one at this time, we will review with the custodians the exact condition of the existing machine, look into any required special maintenance, investigate its cost, and carry it as part of the Library’s Maintenance Warrant Article (the maintenance budget will be distributed to all board members)
5. The budget was approved in principle. (PS will check the maths; JA will send a copy of the budget to our FinCom Liaison, Stu Haber, )
6. The 9/23/08 Minutes were approved as amended
7. There were no staff concerns
8. Kudos were expressed for the 10/25 Open House – which was a great success.
9. Book Drop at the Mall: There is some ambivalence about the idea: on the one hand it would advertise the Library, on the other it may create additional expense as someone (staff or volunteers) would have to collect the contents and bring it back to the library. It was also thought that we ought to conduct a poll at the library by having patrons express their opinion about this idea in writing in a book at the front desk. The best way to explore the idea may be to test it in actuality for a trial period and/or poll the patrons. ~This needs further discussion at our next meeting.
10. Door I.D.: after discussions with the Police Chief: we agreed that the I.D should be numbers rather than names and should appear (as metal plaques) both inside and outside on the doors
11. Library Code of Conduct: will be posted at the Library - and also on the Library website.
12. Privacy Policy: to be titled ‘Privacy of Patrons’ Records’ will be reviewed and voted on at our next meeting
13. Capital Planning Committee: see Jaki’s e-mail of 10/29 – attached
14. FOLL - see Jaki’s e-mail of 10/29
15. Finance Report – we are currently on track with our budget
16. Librarian’s report - see attached. We also discussed how we may do a better job at advertising our events: perhaps by sandwich boards and also via e-mail: a town e-mail list is in process of preparation. Another posting location may be the book drop at the mall – if we decide to pursue the latter. The FOLL may be interested in funding and/or managing a list serve for announcing events.
17. Library computers: to be discussed at the next Library Tech Committee meeting
18. Building Committee: see Librarian’s report. One issue we discussed was the claim by the GC for additional demo work of a concrete slab thicker than anticipated (could not be seen from existing documentation). We are working on keeping the extra to a minimum (with the understanding that we had a good GC bid and will look at the overall picture at the end of the contract). We also need to follow up with Karle Packard for any additional fees to him for the work he did on getting us the replacement carpet with the manufacturer and contractor
19. Electric outlets in the Tarbell Room: we will obtain a break-out of the cost of these from the GC – as the FOLL may be willing to contribute this cost – PS to follow up with our architect
20. Master Plan: PS made a brief report. We are having the SoTT on 8 November – with a follow-up on 18 November at Town Hall for break out groups and further discussion. The Implementation Plan will be prepared by January 2009 and the final MP report will be submitted to Town Meeting next March
21. We will approach Susan Brooks to see if we could have a group swearing in for the Trustees
22. A special thanks was expressed to Jane Flanders who was very helpful with information for Al K's daughter for the latter’s special paper
23. Our next meeting will be on 2 December, and the Holiday Dinner meeting will be at Marshall’s house on 16 December
Respectfully submitted
Peter C. Sugar
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
October 30, 2008
TO: Trustees, Lincoln Public Library
FROM: Barbara Myles, Librarian
Friends of the Lincoln Public Library
The Friends met on October 7. Barbara Low reported that the September book sale rose over $900 and the October 5 House Tour rose over $10,000 for the Friends. On October 26 the Library had an Open House, a free event, which showcased the library’s programs. Sara Brown told us that the Lincoln Family Association is having a Halloween party for children aged 0-5 years old. She advised against preparing activities for children because they will all be at the Halloween party. The Lincoln Acoustic Musicians (LAM) will play at the Open House. The LAM is a new musical group and should attract a crowd. The Photoshare group will have an opening party for their exhibit during the afternoon in the gallery. Upstairs in the DeNormandie Room, Ellen and Jeanne will be ready to answer
questions about their reading groups (The Friday Morning Book Group and the Mystery Mondays Book Group) and to talk about their books. Classic Jazz and the Write Stuff split the afternoon in the Tarbell Room. The next Friends newsletter will be sent to all Lincoln residents in November.
Adult Department
The Write Stuff met on September 24 and October 8 and 22. Some of the Write Stuff meetings are held at Bemis Hall now that the Lincoln Historical Room is being renovated as part of the vault renovation project. On October 27 the Mystery Monday book group discussed New Orleans Mourning. Jeanne co-hosted a presentation to the business community, “Beyond Google: Business Information at the Library,” on October 21 with librarians from Concord, Bedford and Lexington. This presentation was well attended with 35 people in the audience. The theme of this month’s lobby book display (just in time for Halloween) is scary books. Classic Jazz met on October 8 with Dave Whitney presenting, “Big Band Forgotten Heroes (part 3).” The Friday morning book group met for
the first time this season on October 3. This year’s theme is “quests and longings” and the first book they discussed was Walden by Henry Thoreau. The Photoshare Group is displaying their photographs and Sunanda Sahay’s drawings are on display in the Stay-Put-Gallery. On October 15 the adult program, “Around the Home in 60 Minutes,” was given by Laura Kischitz of Peaceful Solutions. The audience learned some easy “green” ways to have a healthier home, reduce energy usage, and save money.
Children's Department
The full slate of children’s programs is running now. We have new faces in the Wonderful Ones program and many of the children who were in Wonderful Ones last year, have moved up to Terrific Twos. Three year olds have joined the Preschool Program on Tuesday mornings. It’s fun to watch the children grow up! The book discussion groups for 3rd, 4th & 5th graders take place on Thursdays after school. On October 8th the children’s librarians dressed up as fairies and presented a “Fairy Magic” program for children ages 5-9. Miss Elaine and her tricky black cat came to the library on October 29 to perform for children ages 2 and up at the Scared Silly Halloween event. The stories were only a little scary.
Reference Department
Reference staff answered least 377 questions in September, compared to last year’s 201 questions! Jeanne worked with reference librarians from Concord, Lexington and Bedford on a Business Reference presentation that was given at Lexington’s Cary Memorial Library on October 21. The reference librarians gave demonstrations of business reference databases at this presentation. There were 35 business people at this presentation, which is a great turnout for an 8 AM presentation. Jeanne attended the Minuteman Reference Interest Group meeting on October 14. She also worked with Sue Wolff (a patron) and a group of middle school students on an enrichment project involving bee colony collapse.
Archives Working Group
The archives working group met on October 3 to prepare for the November 20 Town Archives Advisory Committee (TAAC). The minutes from the June TAAC meeting, collection development policy, “Lay of the Land” survey, and a draft deaccessioning policy were emailed to the TAAC members for their review before the next meeting.
Capital Plan and Maintenance Budgets
Peter Sugar and I met with the Capital Planning Committee on October 15 to discuss the next phase of the fire suppression project. We told the committee that it is important to fund this project. The committee also wanted to discuss the library’s FY10 maintenance budget. We gave them the budget along with supporting documents showing the maintenance service calls made since FY02 and a summary listing of the service calls by type of service call. This information supports our request for FY10 maintenance funding.
Operating Budget
The Budget Committee (Jacquelin Apsler, Peter Sugar, and Susan Taylor) met on October 17 to discuss the library’s operating budget. The town’s Finance Committee had given us a budget guideline of a 2.5% increase for FY10. We can also submit a preferred budget to the Finance Committee for their consideration. At the Budget Committee meeting, we made three budgets: the 2.5% budget guideline, a level service budget and a preferred budget. Unfortunately, the library will have to close some Sundays to meet the 2.5% budget guideline. The level service budget is 1.1% higher than the base budget and allows the library to stay open for all of the Sundays. The preferred budget is 0.9% higher than the level service budget and adds an hour per week to Lisa Rothenberg’s time for
work on the library’s web site. It also has increases for the Town Archives project so staff can go to conferences and workshops that cost money. There is also a request for funding for a new snow blower.
Innovative Interface’s Millennium Software
The new Millennium 2007 software is running well. In addition to fixing some bugs and adding new features to back office software, there is a feature that patrons will like. There is a feature for patrons, who have forgotten their PIN, to receive a new PIN without staff having to get involved.
MAPPO Conference
On October 22 I attended the Massachusetts Public Procurement Officers Conference in Woburn. During the morning session we had a question and answer session with Attorney Kelly Whelan (Assistant General Counsel, Legal and Public Policy Division, Office of the Inspector General) and Attorney Brian O’Donnell (Assistant Attorney General, Fair Labor Division). Ms Whelan answered questions about purchasing goods and services. Mr. O’Donnell answered questions about construction projects. In August, during the 2008 Legislative Session, several changes to the state’s design and construction laws were enacted. For example, the prevailing wage law was changed. Prior to the new law, wage rates were fixed for the length of the project. With the new law, the wage rates must be reset
each year. During the afternoon session we got an update about how the state is updating its online procurement system, CommPass. We also listened to Governor Michael Dukakis speak about integrity.
Building Repairs
1. Carpets – Children’s Room and Staff Work Room
The carpet installation was completed on March 25. There is a flaw in the carpet color. Specifically, there is a yellow stripe on the edge of many of the carpet tiles. The library would like to replace the carpet. Milliken is willing to supply the replacement carpet and install it at no additional charge. Now we are waiting for an installation date.
Another problem is that scratches were made in the lobby floor when the carpet was delivered. We are waiting for a cost to be assigned to this damage. Karle Packard is working on this.
2. Fire Suppression Project
Ebacher Plumbing and Heating is working through the punch list for phase one of the project. Peter and Barbara met with the Capital Planning Committee to discuss phase two on October 15. We also submitted a grant proposal for this project to the Community Preservation Committee for their consideration.
3. Elevator Smoke Vent Upgrade Project
Healthy Air Solutions (HAS) has completed this project but the new dampers did not pass at the yearly elevator inspection. The dampers are supposed to open when the fire alarm horns and lights turn on. According to HAS, Norel Service Inc. bypassed the horns and lights during testing because the library was open. They did not want to cause a disturbance. We need to have another elevator inspection that tests the dampers when the fire alarm horns and lights are on, preferably when the library is closed.
4. Vault Renovation Project
Construction on the vault renovation project began on October 15. Demolition of the current vault and digging a trench for a new electric conduit to the Preston Building are underway.
5. Roof Repair
Jim McKenna replaced missing and cracked slates from the turret above the children’s story room. He also water proofed that area and the area above the second floor bathrooms where the roof has leaked for several years. Next week he will install another piece of copper to the back of the parapet near the children’s story room. The work above the children’s story room will add further protection from ice and snow dams.
Kudos
Kudos this month go to Ellen Sisco, Jane Flanders and Jeanne Bracken for being terrific hosts at the Open House!
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