Trustee Meeting Minutes 5-9-2019

[Fairfax Librarian]

Minutes
Fairfax Community Library Board of Trustees
May 9, 2019


Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm.
Present were: Pat Gallant, Lisa Griswold, Emily DiGiulio, and Chris Fearon.


Approval of March 21, 2019 Minutes

There were no changes to the minutes and the minutes were approved.


Treasurer’s Report

Eric Foreman was unable to attend the meeting and will update the board at the next meeting.


Correspondence

Pat shared a note from Liz Griffin expressing her gratitude to everyone for the gathering at Pat’s house, which was held to acknowledge and thank Liz for her long service on the library board.


Updates

Facilities Committee: School Renovations and the School Library

Nothing new to report on the facilities, which likely have been slowed because of the death of FWSU superintendent Ned Kirsch. We will keep this on the agenda to monitor developments.

Library Highlights

The library participated in an Easter Egg Hunt with the PTSA and the Fairfax Recreation Department. There was hot cocoa, crafts, and the Easter Bunny in the gym with the egg hunt outside. Although the fact that the Easter Bunny would be in the gym rather than the library as in previous years was advertised in the marketing, some people still came to the library expecting to see the Easter Bunny. Elizabeth cheerfully redirected participants to the gym and all in all, it was a fun day.

Summer Student Assistant

There were three applicants for the summer student assistant position, however one of the students was not old enough, so the other two applicants were invited for an interview next Tuesday with Emily and Pat.

Security Buzzer System

It seems that the security buzzer system has been working well for library visitors.



Other

Emily attended the FLARE group (Franklin Libraries Are Really Excellent), a professional group of librarians that gather on the first Monday of the month.

Emily received a letter requesting support from the Franklin Grand Isle Bookmobile in exchange for services it could offer to the library. There was discussion of whether this would allow expansion of outreach to preschools, daycare providers, and seniors, an idea that has been raised several times in recent years. It was thought that it might make more sense to complete the Community Survey and develop the Strategic Plan before committing a large sum of money from the library’s budget to this partnership. 

Nicole, Joy, and a kindergarten teacher are working on a grant for STEAM materials.

Elizabeth and Emily will be attending a library conference later in May.


New Business

May 21 Conference

Pat asked if anyone was interested in attending the Library Trustees and Friends Conference on May 21 in Burlington; individuals will not have to pay since the Trustees Fund will cover the registration fees.

Draft Survey for Strategic Plan

Emily presented a draft of the community survey that is a preliminary step in developing the next strategic plan. People were pleased that Emily began work on this, and discussion ensued about the organization of the survey and how questions might be reworded, combined, or added to the survey to best elicit feedback from the community. Emily, Lisa, Pat, and Chris will meet on June 11, from 1-3 pm to work on the next iteration of the survey. This will be followed by further work from the entire board and Emily.

Draft Policy for Library Closure

Chris presented a draft policy on library closures in the event of inclement weather. Suggestions were made to include the word safety and to add that the library director will also inform employees about the closure status. Chris will incorporate these suggestions and send it out to everyone for a final review.

Summer Library Plans

Nicole will be working this summer and the theme of the summer reading program is “Universe of Stories.” One of the programs is a Star Base engineering program, which a library patron will be leading. Elizabeth and Nicole attended a sci-fi conference at the Fairgrounds to promote the summer reading program. Emily said Union Bank gave money for tee shirts, and BFA Fairfax trustees generously donated one bike for the summer reading program.

There is still some confusion about who controls two library funds—the McArdle Memorial Fund and the Goldsmith Memorial Fund. The question is: Are the funds controlled by the library director, the town, or the trustees? It is not known if Eric knows the answer to this from conversations with the former library director, or if he should get clarification on this.   



Schedule Interim Evaluation for Library Director

The board will schedule an informal check-in with Emily now that she has officially been in the position of library director for 6 months before completing her formal evaluation later this year.


Draft Emergency Procedures - Pat

Pat presented a draft for emergency procedures in the library when school is not in session, drawing on a template developed by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library Systems. (When school is in session, the library follows school policies in an emergency.) A few changes were suggested and Emily and board members should review and send any changes, suggestions, and questions to Pat by June 1 so she can make further edits.


Other

Chris shared her conversation with Brad Docheff regarding paying for blinds in the library space. Brad felt that the timeline for the pending school renovations may determine who should pay for the blinds. Since the school is leading the effort to renovate the school facilities, and if construction begins in the near future, perhaps the cost of the blinds could be included in the budget for the overall school renovation project. However, if the time frame for the proposed school facilities renovation, which includes the library space, are further in the future, the school and library may want to install blinds sooner to improve security. In that scenario, the school and library may want to share the costs of this upgrade, which could be included in the next library budget. If the blinds are to be installed during the current budget cycle, we would need to talk further with the school and town about how that would happen.


Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Chris Fearon, Secretary