REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NASHUA PUBLIC LIBRARY. A regular meeting of the Board of Library Trustees was held Tuesday, September

Transcription

1 REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NASHUA PUBLIC LIBRARY A regular meeting of the Board of Library Trustees was held Tuesday, September 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hunt room at the Main Library, 2 Court Street, Nashua, New Hampshire. Trustees present were: Arthur Barrett Christopher Hodgdon Kathleen Veracco Linda Laflamme Maurice Arel Also present was Joseph Dionne, Library Director, and Tom Corbett, Assistant Library Director, who took the minutes. Chairman Barrett called the meeting to order at 7:11 p.m. The Board examined the bills and, upon a motion duly made by Mr. Arel and seconded by Ms. Veracco, unanimously RESOLVED: that bills in the amount of $92, be approved for payment from the regular budget and $11, from the fines account. The minutes of the previous meetings of June 14, 2006 and July 12, 2006 were approved unanimously on a motion made by Ms. Veracco and seconded by Mr. Arel. The Board, upon a motion duly made by Mr. Arel and seconded by Ms. Laflamme, unanimously RESOLVED: that up to $ be approved from the Cramer Fund to purchase two MP3 players in support of the NH Downloadable Audio Book program. RESOLVED: that $75.00 be approved from the Cramer Fund to pay for the State charitable certification. RESOLVED: that $2, be approved from the Locke Fund to pay Barradale, O Connell, Newkirk & Dwyer, PA for work on the Chandler Cy Pres petition. RESOLVED: that $1, be approved from the Stearns Trust to fund a e book pilot project using the NH Downloadable Audio Book platform, with the

2 understanding that this content will necessarily be shared by patrons from other participating libraries in the program. RESOLVED: that up to $500 be approved from the Bloomfield Trust to purchase three Zuma Mobile chairs for the Teen Room. RESOLVED: that up to $500 be approved from the Hussey Fund to replace upholstery on Children s Room chairs. RESOLVED: that up $3, be approved from the Zylonis Fund to pay for the Lithuanian language classes, to be paid in installments. Mr. Dionne announced that $500 had been donated to the library by an anonymous donor in memory of a teenager who was killed in a traffic accident over the summer. The Board, upon a motion duly made by Mr. Arel and seconded by Mr. Hodgdon, unanimously RESOLVED: that the $500 be gratefully accepted and the funds should be used to purchase YA books and to purchase certificates for driving safety classes to be given as prizes during Teen Read Week, October Mr. Dionne discussed plans by the Friends of the Library to hold a book sale on October 14. The Friends have been very active organizing this event and soliciting donations from area groups. Mr. Dionne reviewed the new library hours, which started the first week after Labor Day. The library is opening 30 minutes later than previously (9:00 am Monday through Saturday) to accommodate staff shortages due to budget cuts. Chairman Barrett discussed the current status of the Chandler Cy Pres petition. He had received a letter from the Tripps stating that the Chandler heirs had hired a law firm from Manchester to represent them in this matter. The Chairman reviewed past efforts by the library to better utilize the Chandler building, including using it as a law library. All efforts have either failed or ultimately proved unworkable, which is why the Trustees have pursued the Cy Pres petition. Mr. Dionne followed up with a letter from

3 our attorney stating that the petition has been filed. Mr. Arel asked whether there have been many other complaints about the temporary closing of Chandler. Mr. Dionne responded that there have been no complaints other than from persons associated with the legal proceedings. Chairman Barrett ended the conversation by stating he was anxious for the court to set a date so that we can get this matter behind us. Mr. Dionne requested that the Trustees consider whether it is still necessary for the library to be closed on Saturdays during the summer. This policy has been in place for quite some time, and harkens back to the days before air conditioning when many Nashuans left the city during the summer to spend time in their country homes. Mr. Dionne noted that opening Saturdays would be revenue neutral, since Saturdays are in the union contract as part of the standard work week already. Ms. Veracco stated that she felt this proposal had merit and pointed out that many working families can t get to the library during the week and that they would appreciate weekend hours during the summer. Mr. Arel asked that a more formal proposal be submitted at future meeting. Mr. Dionne regretfully reported on a number of staff resignations: Joel Burdette in Reference; Kathy Shepard in Circulation; and Linda Pilla in Music / Art / Media. Mr. Dionne reported that Mary Greene in Administration has agreed to be cross trained and is now helping out at the Music / Art / Media circulation desk. Mr. Dionne reported that Bill Allison in Security is still recovering from his serious auto accident. It isn t likely that he will be coming back to work any time soon, and may be pursuing extended medical leave. Meanwhile, Roger Allen has asked that he not work as many nights as he has over the last few months covering for Bill. This could potentially leave an important gap in coverage during times that we most need security in the building, primarily after school lets out and into the evening.

4 The Board reviewed the Blogging policy as presented at the June meeting. The Board, upon a motion made by Mr. Arel and seconded by Ms. Laflamme, unanimously RESOLVED: that the Blogging policy dated September 5, 2006 be approved and reviewed after three months. Mr. Dionne reviewed recent complaints regarding the library account on MySpace and reviewed our current policy and initiatives in this regard. The situation will continue to be closely monitored and administration will revisit this issue with the Trustees at a future meeting. Mr. Corbett reported on his appearance before the Board of Alderman in support of the proposal to promote the city s Information Technology department to division level status, but with the important caveat that the library s administration does not support a centralized, one size fits all approach to IT across all city departments. Mr. Dionne and Mr. Corbett reported that they had met earlier that evening with the new IT Manager, John Barker and had a good discussion with him about the value of greater coordination among city departments, as well as the serious pitfalls associated with a strict centralized approach to IT as it relates to the library. Mr. Dionne reported on a request to hold a Trustee meeting in the Hunt Building this fall. The Trustees discussed this request and decided that it wouldn t be helpful to hold a meeting at that facility at this time. Mr. Dionne also forwarded a verbal request to the Trustees asking whether a table from the Chandler Library could be loaned to the Hunt Building for an indefinite period of time. The Trustees agreed that it would not be appropriate to move this furniture from the Chandler Library at this time. Mr. Dionne reported on a inquiry from a patron, Roger Berube, regarding the Grandfather clock that is outside the Hunt Room. He has asked whether the Trustees

5 would want to spend the money necessary to refurbish the clock. The Trustees agreed that this would be worth pursuing and requested a formal proposal be presented to them at a future meeting. Mr. Dionne requested that the Trustees consider whether pay raises would be appropriate for those merit employees who didn t receive a pay raises over the past few years. The Trustees felt this should be a high priority and would take this under consideration. Chairman Barrett reported that he had received mail from the NH Trustees Association announcing that they will be putting on more workshops for trustees. If any trustees were interested they should see him. Chairman Barrett noted that the Trustees should consider filling the seat vacated by former Trustee Mary Nelson. The chairman suggested inviting someone to the next meeting. There being no further business to come before the Board upon motion duly made by Ms. Veracco and seconded by Mr. Arel, the Trustees unanimously RESOLVED: That the meeting be adjourned at 8:13 P.M. Attest David K. Pinsonneault, Secretary