Morse Institute Library
Board of Trustees
Meeting Minutes
September 8, 2009
Trustees Present: Kathleen Donovan, Harriet Buckingham, Elliot Goodman,
Gerald Mazor and Joseph Keefe
Administration Present: Linda Stetson, Director
Jane Finlay, Assistant Director
Marie Nardi, Community Relations Coordinator
Staff Present: Dale Smith, Supervisor - Children’s Department
Demetri Kyriakis, Supervisor - Reference Department
Dell Redington
Call to Order: 4:00 pm
1. The minutes of the August meeting were unanimously approved with corrections.
2. Ms. Stetson reported that 61% of Natick residents have library cards. Currently, the Library is conducting an extensive campaign to increase that number. The Library has been getting excellent press in regard to this effort.
3. Ms. Stetson spoke to the State Aid Report. The Library will have to seek a waiver pursuant to MBLC regulations. This request will not cause any hardship for the institution. The Library did not have its budget cut disproportionately to other town departments.
4. The Library staff is preparing and conducting training programs in computer use for both the fire and police departments.
5. The Library’s strategic plan for the next fiscal year is due at MBLC on or about October 1, 2009.
6. Ms. Martha Jones, the Supervisor of the Technical Services Department, is on extended medical leave.
7. The staff is involved in a review of both our technology equipment and our periodicals. Simultaneously, the Director and Assistant Director are working with
the accountant on the recapitulation of the FY09 budget.
8. Following a presentation by Ms. Nardi, the Trustees voted unanimously to provide $8,000 from Trust Funds to institute a development campaign to raise a goal amount of $40,000.
9. Mr. Kyriakis, Supervisor of the Reference Department, reported on the Young Adult Library grant. Young Adult Services are considered a core service by the Reference Department at the library. While we have no YA Librarian at the moment, as a department we have been trying to offer as much as we can. Jen Harter, a staff member of the Reference Department, spearheaded and guided the Summer Reading Program for the Young Adults. Manni LaCount, who we “borrow” from Tech Services, ran TAG group meetings and Games Days for the kids, and as Abby was leaving her position last fall, she arranged for a standing order of YA books, of which we receive about 60 books a month. Harold Rosen, a retired principal who volunteers for us, reviews journals and selects YA books for us
also.
Because of how thinly we are stretched, as a department, we have put TAG on hiatus. (This is partly because Manni’s hours are reduced.) Going forward, as we hope to continue with many of the services that we offer for the Young Adults here at the library, we’ve heard from some of the parents of our YA library users. We have heard from a half a dozen parents.
At least two parents, when they asked about the YA librarian and were told that that position had been frozen last fall due to town wide budget cuts, would counter by stating they don’t understand why the town can find money for Sunday hours, but not for a part-time YA librarian. (Their exact words.) The staff does explain to people who ask that Abby left for another position, and that position was vacant at the time of the town wide hiring freeze, as it was not “targeted” for elimination. We explain that the Trustees decided in response to the residents of Natick who were concerned about Sunday closures, that the decision was made to use money from State Aid, and that the town did not make the decision.
Meeting Adjourned: 5:30 pm
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees will be on held on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Library.
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