SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Minutes of Meeting September 19, 2001- These minutes are for informational purposes only. For official minutes please contact the Town Clerk s office.
PRESENT: Gail Ryan, Bert Kaplan, Babs Gardner, Anne Erickson, Carol Bingham. Staff: Susan Bullock, Director; Eileen Sickinger, Recording Secretary. Martha Mitterling, Friends Liaison; Susan Clemow, Clemow Consulting Group.
Following a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the World Trade Center attack, the meeting was called to order at 7:25 p.m. by Gail Ryan, Chairperson. Bert Kaplan moved that the minutes of the July 16, 2001 meeting be approved with one change: Under Committee Reports: the sentence should read, Mrs. Bullock will give the forms for her evaluation to Charmaine Glew. Second: Carol Bingham, so moved.
There were no additional agenda items and no public audience.
Under Communications, a flyer for the ACLB Leadership Conference, to be held in Southbury, was discussed. Mrs. Bullock asked if anyone is interested in attending to let her know.
Carol Bingham introduced Susan Clemow of Clemow Consulting Group, who discussed fundraising for the building expansion. Mrs. Bullock recapped the project and where it stands at this time. She explained that the goal is to enlarge the building to double its size by the time it is twenty years old. Major roadblocks currently are the economy, and local issues such as the high school expansion, sewer project and other townwide development projects. It was three years ago that the Library Board started to explain the need to enlarge the building. The State Bonding Commission has approved a $500,000 grant for the project. Carol Bingham shared a recent article in Rob Heagney's newsletter explaining the grant. Currently there is no hard number for the cost of the project and there won't be until December. A
ballpark figure of $5,000,000-7,000,000 was given.
Gail Ryan and Mrs. Bullock have brainstormed with Anita Mielert on how much money can be raised in the community. A rough figure in the area of $250,000 was projected. At this time there is no figure of what the Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen will provide.
Mrs. Clemow stated that her company recently did a feasibility study for the Farmington Library on how much money they needed to raise for their expansion. If her group was to do a feasibility study for Simsbury, they would need to know the cost of the project, then they would develop a list of 60 people/corporations who could be approached for contributions, and then 40 of those on the list would be interviewed about their thoughts on the feasibility of the project.
Mrs. Ryan explained that the Library Board is an elected body unable to do fundraising. The Friends of the Library have been the major fundraisers for the library. Mrs. Clemow explained that feasibility studies tell a lot about the climate of available funds for a campaign. She said that when given the names, three people do the interviewing. Since the Library is a tax supported institution it will be necessary to have a form explaining the goals of the campaign and how the funds contributed will augment the funds provided by the town. It would be explained in the study that people would have a choice of where and what their money would go to. The interviews would take forty-five minutes to one hour. Comments would be collected and given to the Board. A feasibility study is usually done four to six months prior to the actual capitol campaign. She explained that there would be a division of gifts e.g., Lead Gift - $10,000-25,000; Major Gift - $5,000-9,999 and then the
rest. It would not take long to prepare a feasibility study. The approximate cost for the study would be $15,000-20,000. This is figured at $350 an hour times 40 interviews. Mrs. Clemow suggested the Board pursue organizations such as The Hartford Foundation to help fund the project. She explained that different groups and organizations might say, This is not the time. And all obstacles must be considered.
It was explained that when the current Library building was built, Friends raised funds for enhancements. Now they may consider necessities.
Mrs. Clemow suggested the Board try to get a figure from the Board of Selectmen soon. She said she would agree to submit a proposal without dates, prior a feasibility study so the Board could see the process.
There were no Committee Reports.
Mrs. Bullock went over the highlights of her DIRECTOR S REPORT. It was a record-breaking summer. The Septemberfest Booth was very busy and successful. September is Library Card Sign-Up month and other libraries in the area are participating in this event by signing up Simsbury residents while Simsbury is signing up residents from other valley towns. Local sign-up locations are Stop & Shop, Andy's, Fitzgerald's, and Kane's, as well as all the schools. Friends has purchased a new fax machine, a public address system for the meeting room, and a media projector to use with PCs to make presentations.
Over the summer studies were done on the LAN and WAN to see how SIRSI can work here as well as it does at other sites. There is a great deal of frustration over SIRSI's slow response time. Recommendations were made and will be shared with Rick Bazzano, Town Data Processing Manager. The work that is being recommended will cost in the $2,000 range with an annual $1,140 operating cost. Ten PCs also need replacement and this will also be discussed with Mr. Bazzano.
Dale Cutler is working on getting final plans ready for December. He is also preparing, with Rich Sawitzke, informal presentations to various Town committees for October and November. Since we are so close to the 1820 House, Mr. Cutler is about ready to submit his plans to the CT Historical Commission. He is also preparing the stream crossing and parking lot expansion as a separate project.
New controls are in for the HVAC and it is now possible to adjust the temperature in separate areas at one time, instead of adjusting the temperature for the whole building.
The 2001 budget was authorized for $1,011,546 and $986,860 was expended. The smaller amount is the result of staff changes, givebacks and frozen budget lines.
The Children's Department had an extremely busy and successful summer. The business community was very cooperative in their support of all the reading projects. Jan Madrak submitted a detailed report on the summer activities of the Children's Room. Of special interest were the Tariffville Branch, Summer Theater, Harry Potter Trivia Game and the Young Writer's Club.
Also attached to the Director's Report was a list of achievements for the 2000-2001 year. Carol Bingham mentioned how successful the cooperation is between the schools and the library. Other Board members also commented on the cooperation of the business community in library activities. The increase in promoting reading among teenagers was also cited as another achievement.
Among the concerns of the staff was the slowness of SIRSI, and the slowness of the sit-down computers in the reference department. The staff also felt the public needs more time to understand the new catalog, and they would like to see improvements in the signage.
A list of gifts given over the past year was also attached to the report, as well as circulation statistics, final budget figures and the increase/decrease in fines and fees.
Letters from the community expressing their gratitude for the staff's fine service were also included.
BUILDING PROGRAM: In further discussion on the building project, it appeared that a feasibility study by the Clemow Group would cost approximately $16,000. Resources for funding the study were discussed and Mrs. Bullock offered to look into The Hartford Foundation. A list of corporations and individuals that might contribute to the project could be drawn up and Mrs. Clemow expressed her willingness to review it. Members of the Board will come to the October meeting with five names of who might be willing to contribute to the project. The list should include corporations, philanthropists, community people, and even naysayers. Mrs. Bullock was to approach Friends at their Thursday meeting to see if they could help fund the study. The difficulty in getting volunteers to work on such a project was also
reviewed.
BUDGET: Covered in the Director's Report.
EXHIBITS AND DISPLAYS: Mrs. Bullock distributed a copy of the application and guidelines used by those requesting to exhibit their artwork at the library. The current exhibit has caused some concern even though the artist did fill out the application and the guidelines were reviewed with him. Most of the art in the current exhibit features the human form and could be considered offensive by many people. Mrs. Bullock discussed with the staff and Mrs. Ryan whether to keep the exhibit or have it taken down. It was decided to keep it up. She did say she does not feel, nor does the staff, that they are equipped to handle the acceptance of these exhibits and asked if an "Art Exhibit Committee, could be formed. The Board agreed with her and authorized her to set up such a committee and to consider
having a staff member, a member of Friends, a Board member, the owner of Arts Exclusive, and a member of the Junior Women s Club participate. Mrs. Bullock has spoken with area libraries and many have such a committee. In their guidelines they stipulate that exhibits should be suitable for family viewing . The Board felt this statement should be added to the current guidelines and that any exhibitor must sign a statement that agreeing to the guidelines. It was also felt that the artist should submit photos of what is to be exhibited. Mrs. Bullock will report back at the next meeting.
At 9:35 p.m. Carol Bingham moved for adjournment. Second: Bert Kaplan, so moved.
Anne Erickson, Secretary
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