SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Minutes of Special Meeting - November 26, 2001
These minutes are for informational purposes only. For official minutes please contact the Town Clerks office.
PRESENT: Bert Kaplan, Charmaine Glew, Carol Bingham, Babs Gardner, and Gail Ryan. STAFF: Susan Bullock, Director; Eileen Sickinger, Recording Secretary.
The meeting was called to order at 7:20 P.M. by Gail Ryan, Chairperson. Bert Kaplan moved that the minutes of the October 15, 2001 meeting be approved with one change: page 2, under Library Exhibits & Displays, 4th sentence, delete "The Board will reply and," sentence should start, "She will reply.....". Second: C. Bingham. So moved.
COMMUNICATIONS: Mrs. Bullock had an announcement from the Connecticut Library Association that they are accepting nominations for Excellence in Public Library Services, to be awarded at their annual meeting. She also had an article from the November 15, 2001 issue of the Farmington Valley Herald, on the Farmington Library's expansion and fund raising. Also, minutes of the Public Building Committee meeting were made available to the Board.
ENERGY SAVING/HVAC IMPROVEMENTS: Mrs. Bullock reported that since the Town upgraded the energy control system there has been a decline in energy costs. A chart showing this was distributed. Further improvements can be made and CL&P has a program in place, effective until December 31, 2001, where they would pay $10,450 for additional changes. The total cost would be $24,500. The Town has asked the Board if they would approve funding in the amount of approximately $8,050. The rest of the money would come from the building maintenance fund. An example of the improvements would be the ability to individually control different areas of the building, i.e., changing the temperature of the Program Room when it is not in use. These upgrades would not have to be changed when the building is expanded. The
Board requested that Mrs. Bullock find out if money for improvements could come from the operating budget, possibly the electric/gas account, If not, what other options would be available for funding this upgrade. Discussion will continue in December.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: Personnel: Gail Ryan and Charmaine Glew, and if available Bert Kaplan, will meet Tuesday, November 27 to review the Director's Evaluation. Members will receive E-mails after the meeting.
There was no report from Friends.
DIRECTOR'S REPORT: The Board reviewed Mrs. Bullock's report and discussed the following highlights: The Head of Adult Services and Head of Children's Services have finally been reclassified from A4 to A5, more accurately reflecting their responsibilities.
Catherine Sherman, a devoted volunteer passed away in November and plans are underway for a suitable memorial for her. Mrs. Bullock and Mrs. Glew will meet with her stepson to discuss this.
Celia Roberts is supervising two community service volunteers in the task of shifting the reference and non-fiction shelves. This will enable the Pages and volunteers to put away more materials.
Jewel Gutman has donated $50,000 to the building fund in memory of her late husband, John. Friends have established a building fund that will be officially launched once the cost of the expansion project is firm. Carol Bingham has asked Joel Mandell about the Board's place in fund raising and he will get back to her. Bert Kaplan suggested inviting the new First Selectman to a Library Board meeting. Mrs. Bullock has met with Tom Vincent and went over the expansion plans with him.
Attached to the Director's Report was a copy of the Public Library Annual Report Fiscal Year 2000/2001 and Application for State Grant Fiscal Year 2001/2002.
Simsbury Library has joined the Connecticut Library Network (CLN) for inter-library loan purposes. This is a statewide on-line system for materials not owned in CONNECT.
Four staff members have been trained in the use of fire extinguishers and Mrs. Bullock has requested the Fire Department do a formal building evacuation drill. One has not been held in a while.
The Director has suggested that Board members visit the newly refurbished East Granby Library to view its furnishings and other items that could be considered in our expanded building.
It appears that it will be necessary to ask for an extension for the state grant since the High School will probably come up for referendum in May 2002, with completion in 2005. Without an extension both projects would overlap.
The budget and statistical reports were reviewed.
Also attached to the Director's Report were reports from Jan Madrak, Jackie Hemond, and Jennifer Keohane. An article by Wayne Westbrook, a Simsbury resident, in Barron's, was also included. His research for the article was greatly aided by the use of a new database available through our Business Outreach Department.
LIBRARY EXHIBITS AND DISPLAYS: The Board discussed the difficulties many artists have in preparing photographs of all the work they plan to exhibit, as requested in the guidelines and policies for exhibits at the Library. Discussion was held on whether the wording of the agreement signed by the artists should be changed, or if more limitations should be placed on who can exhibit (only Simsbury residents?) in the building. It was decided to leave things as they currently are and deal with the exhibits on a case by case basis. The staff will resume checking the exhibits.
Evaluation of the Director, Annual Report and Fund Raising were all covered in the Director's Report.
ACLB SEMINAR: Bert Kaplan reported on the Association of Connecticut Library Boards' Leadership Conference and gave each member a copy of "Building the Best Board for Your Library". There was also a presentation by the Wallingford Library on how they have dealt with controversial programs in their building. He had a copy of their Meeting Room Policy and asked everyone to review it so it can be discussed at a future meeting. Charmaine Glew and Susan Bullock also attended the Seminar.
Gail Ryan attend the Town's seminar on Ethics, which dealt with the Town's Code of Ethics for members of its various commissions and boards.
At 9:25 P.M. Carol Bingham moved for adjournment. Second: B. Kaplan. So moved.
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