HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Trustees Minutes 4/4/2009MANSFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING - APRIL 4, 2009 - > -.
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Attendance: Leonard Epstein, Joe Flynn, John Walgreen, and Direpr ,y Janet CappbelhJ 1
Joe convened the meeting at 8:15 a.m.
Secretary's report. Minutes of the April meeting were reviewed and approved.
Librarian's reports. The librarian's reports were reviewed and details discussed.
OLD BUSINESS
Newspapers. Effective March 9 the Providence Journal discontinued deliveries to this area.
Joe suggested contacting the paper to see if employment ads can be emailed to the library so that
they can be printed here and made available to job seeking patrons.
201" anniversary (May, 2009). Given the town's focus on the spresent budget dilemma, the
COA and library will defer planning a celebration of the building's 20' anniversary.
FY10 budget. Janet reported on budget meetings with department heads, the Town
Manager, and the Town Accountant, The Town Manager continues to press for union concessions
totaling $700K to prevent personnel cutbacks. The library will likely lose funds for Sunday
openings.
Media drop. One of the outside boxes has been padded to accept audiovisual materials.
Janet will now announce the availability of the service.
NEW BUSINESS
Town Meeting May 19, 7:00 p.m. Department heads budget meeting for selectmen's' budget May
6, 6:30 p.m. Janet will ask out of town staff to work May 19 so that resident staff members can be
there.
Nortmr Library decertification. The library has had several issues with Norton residents,
including nasty incidents at the desk. A diplomatic sign has been posted setting forth MPL's
inability to al l Norton residents to borrow materials. The Norton Library will be appealing the BLC
decertification for the second time. Jay Barrows is sponsoring legislation to help out Norton. Janet
will call to ask about his bill and let him know we oppose the concept.
The BLC is considering a change in the certification formula. The budget requirement for
materials would go from 16% to 13 %; for cities over 25,000 population the service hours would
drop from 63 to 59.
PC reservation update. Reservations are held for ten minutes. The staff will remind
patrons of the time limit reservations are made by phone. The software needs updating and the
board approved Janet's recommendation to hire Ed Oberchon (Fran's husband).
Job reviews. Janet commented on Debbie's perfect 10 job review from Fran.
Newsletter. Janet received a recommendation to "spice up" newsletter (visually).
Fine limit. The board discussed the library's fine schedule and agreed to limit videos to $5
and books at $2.
BLC meeting. John reported on his attendance last month at the BLC annual meeting. He
noted an interesting presentation on scanning historical and genealogical materials. The process
would be too labor intensive for MPL.
Next meeting. May 2, 2009. The meeting was adjourned -ats.50 a.m.