Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Morse Institute Library
April 13, 2010
Trustees Present: Kathleen Donovan, Gerald Mazor, and Elliot Goodman
Excused: Joseph Keefe and Harriet Buckingham
Administration Present: Linda Stetson, Director
Jane Finlay, Assistant Director
Marie Nardi, Community Relations Coordinator
Staff Present: Dale Smith, Demetri, Kyriakis, and Dell Redington
Call to order: 4:05 p.m.
1. The minutes of the March 9, 2010 trustees meeting were approved.
2. Director’s report:
- Ms. Stetson and Ms. Donovan made a PowerPoint presentation to the Finance Committee during the library’s budget hearing on March 18. The Finance Committee added the Young Adult Librarian position to its “wish list.” The committee voted 10-0 in support of the library’s budget request.
- Ms. Stetson, Ms. Donovan, Ms. Nardi, and Dr. Keefe will tape a program about the library and its services on April 20 at 3 p.m.
- The 2010 Author Series continues with Michael Tougias on May 9 at 2 p.m. “Two Old Friends” will appear on Sunday, April 25 at 3 pm.
- April 11-17 is National Library Week. Library Worker Appreciation Day is today, April 13; National Bookmobile Day is tomorrow, April 14.
- Ms. Stetson and Ms. Donovan continue to work on the library long range plan, Current work includes developing a timeline, finalizing a planning committee list and issuing invitations, and developing questions for the community survey.
- The library’s new website is up and running. So far, feedback from the public has been positive.
- The Veterans Oral History website is being updated and will include a content management system which will allow staff to maintain their contributions. Clair Makrinikolas from the MA Department of Veterans Services visited the MIL and was quite impressed with the library’s veterans display and the work the MIL has done on the Oral History Project.
3. The Middlesex CDs will mature in May and August. Ms. Stetson will elect three month rollovers for both.
4. Ms. Donovan expanded on Ms. Stetson’s report about the process to develop the next Long Range Plan. Letters will go out to potential committee members by the end of April. Once responses are in, we will determine whether it would be preferable to include a second trustee on the committee. Mr. Mazor agreed to serve, if an additional member is deemed beneficial.
5. Ms. Nardi will guide the conversation taped at Pegasus on April 20. Participants should be at the studio at 2 p.m. to allow time to review the session. Randy will come to the library soon to shoot footage to incorporate into the program, along with several PowerPoint slides provided by library staff to document the scope of library use and services.
6. The board amended the MIL “Meeting Room Policy and Procedure,” with the addition of the following note to annotate fees listed on page two:
“*together with any other expenses incurred in setting up or cleaning up the meeting room.”
7. Ms. Nardi reported that some of our Annual Funds have been used to support programs on resume writing and practice interview sessions. Ms. Nardi noted that the library is filling a community need. Many of the attendees are over 50 years old, and are very pleased to have assistance learning the online skills necessary to apply for many positions. The feedback about these programs has been very good.
On May 15 at 4 p.m. there will be a brief ceremony, complete with color guard, at the MIL to honor women in the military.
The staff plan to use the library website’s polling tool to collect stories about how people are using the library. It will give the library a way to capture “testimonials” that staff frequently hear more informally.
8. The June trustees meeting was rescheduled to Tuesday, June 15.
9. Given the recent unprecedented rainfall, Mr. Goodman reminded others about the additional work that was done when the library was built to protect it from flooding . He requested that library administrators ask the town to check several areas of the building that are of particular concern to determine if any actions are needed to protect against potential water damage during future rains.
10. Ms. Finlay commended Rose Huling for all her hard work in preparation for the library’s activities on National Bookmobile Day. The board will send Ms. Huling a letter of commendation.
Meeting Adjourned: 5:00 p.m.
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees will be on Tuesday, May 11, at 4:00 p.m. in the community Room.
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