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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Library Board of Trustees - 01/14/2021 Approved Minutes South Burlington Library Board of Trustees Thursday, January 14th, 2021 @ 5 p.m. Location: Zoom meeting Members Present: Lauren Ballard, Diane Bugbee, Margaret Ann Cross, Patrick Leduc, Ted Lenski, Stacey Pape, Jay Pasackow, Penne Tompkins, Margery Vagt, Alicia Lamonda Members Absent: Lee Freeman Staff Members Present: Jennifer Murray Friends of the Library Present: Sue Raatikainen 5:05 p.m. Chair Patrick Leduc called the meeting to order 5:02 p.m. Additions and deletions to the posted agenda None 5:05 p.m. Comments and questions from the public not related to items on the agenda None 5:05 p.m. Consent agenda. Approval of regular board minutes of December 10, 2020 Penne Tompkins pointed out a typo on page two which was corrected. Upon a motion made by Trustee Ted Lenski and seconded by Trustee Penne Tompkins, the Trustees voted unanimously to approve the consent agenda. 5:06 p.m. Chair’s report Patrick thanked Ted and Jennifer for their work on the budget. Jay Pasackow asked if the city council approved the budget and Patrick Leduc said yes. 5:07 p.m. Discussion on material quarantine Margery Vagt began a discussion about Jennifer’s decision to end all quarantining of recently returned materials. She said safety officials at Howe library, citing OCLC’s REALM Project, had recently updated COVID protocols and left in place Howe’s four day quarantine with ventilation of all recently accessed materials. She said, although the research is encouraging that COVID is not contracted by touching infected materials, she believes it is not conclusive and the move to end all quarantine is premature. Margery said she did not believe the cost / benefit made sense if the goal is to get books back out more quickly. Jennifer shared the science has shown COVID is contracted through viruses that are aerosolized. She said she was aware, of course, of the REALM Project and that the study focused on live viruses found on objects, and less on whether that carries a threat of infection. Following more discussion and no other board members having concerns about the existing policy the topic was table with no changes. Margery reminded Jennifer that the language on the website needed to be updated & Jennifer thanks Margery for catching that. 5:16 p.m. Friends of the Library report Sue Raatikainen is the VP of the Friends of the Library. She said the FOL is still meeting via Zoom. They recently raised $1200 from the Facebook fundraiser, but Facebook is going to send in a matching contribution so the total will be higher once they receive it. Sue said The Other Paper published a positive article on the library last week, and the FOL is working on creative ways to raise money for the library. They are focused on the new bookstore and have been talking with other libraries that have stores inside the library. They have enlisted Darrilyn (sp?) Peters to help create the space. Committee Reports 5:16 p.m. Governance and Nomination Committee Report No report 5:17 p.m. Finance Committee Report Ted Lenski thanked Jennifer for presenting the budget to the city council. He said the budget was approved and the council was very supportive of the budget. All staffing levels were approved, with minor changes. Computers and self checkout machines have been moved to the supplemental fund and will be paid outside of the approved library budget line items. Ted added the other city departments were supportive of prioritizing the library, even though they were facing cuts to their own departments. Patrick Leduc advised that as the budget vote gets closer, we need to be thoughtful about how we speak to residents about the library budget. He suggested the Advocacy Committee might want to look at the language we should use when speaking about the library and library budget. Discussion followed related to Covid impacts to the budget. Ted and Jennifer shared that this will play out as we move forward, as one example of managing funds Jennifer suggested that the hiring process may begin in May with a July 1st start date. Diane Bugbee offered that in Lee Freeman’s absence, who is chair of the Advocacy Committee, she would be happy to write a note of thanks to Tom for his support. Ted Lenski said the final numbers for the FY22 library budget show an almost 27% increase over the current FY. Ted Lenski also reported the Blanchette fund had been fully liquidated and the total in cash is $430,027.13. The original target was $428,00, and the cash is on its way to the city coffers. Ted Lenski also suggested the board discuss how best to use the gift fund to get money to Jennifer to use for the library. He suggested one potential model and following discussion among the trustees this will be taken back to the finance committee for discussion and a recommendation. 5:49 p.m. Advocacy Committee Report No report 5:51 p.m. Director’s Report Margaret Ann Cross asked if there are still programs happening online. Jennifer Murray said they had pulled back on kids’ stuff because there was not a lot of interest. She said they are still doing both Book clubs, Cookbook club, and Great Decisions. They are also going to try Language club twice a month. SBPL is not doing anything new unless the community comes to them. Kelly is back and she is putting out a video for babies and toddler and one for older kids. Patrick Leduc asked why the TMobile hotspots are only free for twelve months. Jennifer said it is a promotional campaign. Penne Tompkins asked what it entailed, and Jennifer said it is a box that goes home and provides wifi for someone who does not have cell service. Jennifer Murray gave an update on the building. Workers have been painting and working on the vestibule, and carpenters are beginning their work on the site. Jennifer suggested another tour for the board in early February. Penne Tompkins said the clock is really fantastic and is going to be a great show piece. 6:01 p.m. Other Business None 6:01 p.m. Patrick Leduc adjourned the meeting. Respectfully submitted, Margery Vagt, Secretary