SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIRARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MONTHLY MEETING
Monday, January 8, 2007
PRESENT: Charmaine Glew, Chairperson, Carol Bingham, Anne Erickson, Gail Ryan, Bert Kaplan, Babs Gardner, and Susan Bullock, Director
Charmaine Glew called the meeting to order at 7:20 P.M. Charmaine Glew moved the minutes of the December 18, 2006 meeting be accepted with one change: Under Committee Reports, “Gerry” should be spelled “Jerry”. Seconded by Gail Ryan. So moved. The minutes were accepted as corrected.
PUBLIC AUDIENCE: None
ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS: None
COMMUNICATIONS: Bert Kaplan has been in touch with Senator Joseph Lieberman’s office. If a request for a $500,000 grant is made, it must be done before the first of March.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: Friends of the Library: According to Eunice Kelly, current President of the Friends, a fund raising letter to all Friends members will be mailed mid-January while a town wide mailing is planned for mid-February. According to Jerry Hansen, Capital Campaign Co-Chairperson, there has been a positive response from industry in regards to fund raising initiatives. Personnel Committee: The Personnel Committee met and completed Sue Bullock’s evaluation, which they will share at a later date. Building Task Force: The Building Task Force did not meet. It was noted, however, that between eighteen to twenty people/groups have picked up bids and between fifteen and eighteen have walked through the library. On January 10, 2007, at 2:30, the bids for Library Expansion will be in and will be
opened. The need for an interior designer was discussed, preferably a designer who has done libraries before.
CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT: The next meeting of the Public Building Committee will be on Wednesday, January 17th, at 7:00PM, in the Board of Education Conference Room.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Ms. Bullock shared the combined December and January report from Jan Madrack, Head of Children’s Services. Additional happenings include:
a. On 12/23/06 a call from Mary Louise Jensen was received to inform the library director that the town had not filed the proper paper work with the State Library Board. However, Dale Cutler and Rich Sawitzke will be able to do a letter of intent to the lowest bidder. b. Ms. Bullock now has the final layout for the temporary location of the library during the expansion. There will be space for only about half of the current books that the library currently had planned to be moved to the temporary quarters. Private and public schools were asked to “shelve” some of these books.
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BUDGET – 2007-2008: In order or priority, items new to the budget this year include:
1. New adult books, $18,000
2. Cable for library users, $6,500
3. Downloadable books, $8,500
4. Business data bases, $7,945
5. New library cards, $5,000
If these new library items are included in the budget, and if they are approved along with an increase for children’s books, there would be an overall 7.5% increase in the amount of the proposed Library budget over last year equaling an increase of $92,309. The bottom line of the proposed budget would be $1,321,741.00.
In addition, it was agreed that the Chairperson of the Library Board would write a letter to First Selectman, Tom Vincent. This letter would be to support Jan Madrak’s (Head of Children’s Services) proposal to upgrade the position of Children’s Room Circulation Assistant from a T-3 position to a T-4 position. The duties of the Children’s Room Circulation Assistant are comparable to other T-4 town positions. This would be an 87cents per hour raise equaling a $1,584 annual increase.
At 9:12PM Carol Bingham moved for adjournment. Second: Bert Kaplan. So moved
Anne Erickson
Corresponding Secretary
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