Southbury Public Library

SOUTHBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
October 1, 2008
Brown Room, Southbury Public Library

Present: Ellie Ackerman; Chuck Crowdis; Wayne McCormack; Bob Meisel; Shirley Michaels, Chairman; Ginny Middleton; Walter Morrissey; and Shirley Thorson, Head Librarian.

Absent: Ralph Camasso; Ken Kerin, Board of Selectmen Liaison; Sherman London ; and Jeff O'Sullivan, President, Friends of the Southbury Public Library.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Shirley Michaels.

Approval of Minutes

Upon a motion by Walter Morrissey, seconded by Bob Meisel, the minutes of the September 11, 2008 were unanimously approved.

Treasurer's Report

Assistant Treasurer Wayne McCormack presented the Treasurer's Report.  He noted that the income for September was $1,120 and expenses were $179, leaving a positive cash flow of $942.  In answer to a question from Bob Meisel, he explained that the $105 under "Bricks" was for 5 bricks plus shipping.  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson said that the $1,682 shown on an attached sheet as spent for recorded books in July was part of the AV budget and the $1,843 spent for programs was part of the Rutledge Gift.

Wayne McCormack said that he would report on the activities of the Investment Committee for the quarter ending 9/30 at the November meeting because there wasn't time to get the information together for this meeting on October 1.  Likewise in the future he will report at the end of every quarter plus one month. He did present a statement showing where the $569,774.27 stands right now.  It is now all in FDIC insured bank CDs.  Chairman Shirley Michaels said she would like to thank everyone who worked so hard on the investments to get the library into a safe position, especially in light of current events.

Board of Selectmen Liaison's Report

Chairman Shirley Michaels reported that Selectman Ken Kerin had told her he had nothing to report this month.

Consent Agenda

Chairman's Report:  Chairman Shirley Michaels reported that she received a memo from the Town Clerk asking for the Board's meeting schedule and she obtained the Board's consensus that the meetings should continue to be held on the first Wednesday of each month. Also she reported Freedom of Information classes will be given on October 7 in Room 205 of the Town Hall at 9 a.m. or 2 p.m. in case anyone wants to go.   Chairman Michaels then told the Board about an article in the November Connecticut Magazine on architect Peter Wells for which they were going to get a picture from Peirce Behrendt's web site.  It was suggested getting Peter Wells to autograph a copy of the magazine.

Friends of the Library Report:  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson reported from Jeff O'Sullivan, Friends President, that Frances Voss has retired from the Friends of the Library Board after many years of service and flowers were sent to her.  Also Georgia Qadir is going to help Debbie Eisenman with the Friends treasurer's duties.  The Friends have agreed to sponsor the next 6 months programming and add a couple of museum passes.

Head Librarian's Report:  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson supplemented her written report as follows:  she announced that there will be a bake sale for the Southbury Fuel Bank by town employees at the October 23 Farmer's Market;  she passed around binders containing information on the Leroy Anderson exhibit program and the Summer Reading Program for Adults; and she passed around printouts of Web pages for WOWbrary, a new service on the library Web site run by Amy Schupack that lists choice new library acquisitions updated on a weekly basis.  Amy Schupack also runs a Web site list of all things the library is buying which is updated on a monthly basis.

The Consent Agenda was approved unanimously.

Old Business

By-laws Approval:  Ginny Middleton pointed out about half a dozen typo corrections and small grammatical changes.  With the consensus agreement of the Board, Head Librarian Shirley Thorson will have said corrections and changes made.  The By-laws will then be presented again for approval at the November meeting.  Wayne McCormack will change the investment policies to include a direction to prepare an annual investment report through June 30th to be presented at the September Annual Meeting of the Board.

Discussion of Parking lot Wi-Fi use:  The Equipment Committee presented a written report and recommendation that the wireless service be limited for safety and security reasons to the hours the library is open.  This action is strongly recommended by State Trooper Ken Kramer, First Selectman Mark Cooper, and Bibliomation Assistant Director Tom Sweda and Technician Chris Oballe.  It is felt that the library would want to avoid even one bad incident.  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson said she had received an e-mail from Tom Sweda saying that he can recount several library horror stories. Three out of five neighboring libraries restrict Wi-Fi use to library hours.  During library hours (58.5 hours per week) there is a wireless policy in place.  After some discussion, upon motion by Walter Morrissey, seconded by Chuck Crowdis, it was unanimously agreed to restrict the wireless service to library open hours.

Chuck Crowdis reported that there were two ways of turning off the wireless service: with a timer (which could be overridden for programs if needed) or with an on/off switch at the front desk.  Since both devices together can be purchased for under $35 the consensus was that both should be purchased and tried out.

Main Entrance Cleaning:  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson presented a written memo.  After consultation with Ron Dubos, Head of Town Maintenance and the supervisor of Hat City Cleaning Company she proposed up to 2 hours per month on cleaning the front entrance and walkway (particularly cleaning up gum) and spot carpet cleaning using the water extraction process for three visits, up to 4 hours per visit.  The cost of both cleaning operations would be $70/hr. for the first 2 hrs. and $20/hr. thereafter.  Altogether it would cost $960 over the remainder of FY2008/09.  Town Treasurer Bill Sarosky said the Library would need to ask the Board of Selectmen for these funds.  In future years presumably this cleaning would be in the budget.  In discussion the Board was concerned that cleaning gum off the brick would be included.  It was also felt that, after the first time, it should not take 2 hours each month to clean the front entrance and walkway.  The consensus was that the library needed the cleaning.   Head Librarian Shirley Thorson will speak with Ron Dubos and Bill Sarosky about how to pay for it..

Pendulum Lights:  The changing of these lights comes under the Town Maintenance budget but the voltage of the lights is 277 watts so Ron Dubos wants an electrician to change them.  Joe Dilley of Dilley Electric will set up a schedule for replacing them.  He has already started. 

Reference Desk Lights:  New lights will be put in over the reference desk as they were over the circulation desks. 

New Business

Building Update – Electrical Problems:  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson presented a day-by-day written report of the library's electrical problems over the week beginning Friday, September 19th.  There was a system failure which caused excessive overheating and actual fire which damaged wiring and electrical components.  The immediate problems were fixed by Dilley Electric, but Town Fire Marshal Henry Stormer recommends that the library have an electrical inspection to ensure safety and proper operation of the system.  The consensus of the Board was that an electrical inspection was necessary.

Glass tops for two coffee tables:  Chairman Shirley Michaels noticed that there were multiple scratches on the cherry coffee table in the fireside room.  She proposed getting glass tops to protect that table and the one in the atrium.  The cost for the two glass tops would be $300.  The consensus of the Board was to get the glass tops.

Preliminary Budget FY09/10:  First Selectman Mark Cooper has said to hold the line and better yet find some savings.  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson reported that she would not know what Bibliomation's assessment would be until a meeting on October 28th.  In the past the assessments have gone up about 2% and she anticipates that will be the case this year.  She does know that Bibliomation tech help is going up from $40/hr. to $50/hr.  She anticipates that the service contract for the self-checkout machines will stay the same at $1,500 per machine.  However the software service has gone down to $2 per computer.  The Library will no longer have capitol money for books.  The current, FY08/09 book budget is $77,553.  She is thinking of asking the Board to again match the AV budget (many fines are earned on late AV returns). The electronic data bases are being evaluated.  The new Silver Source Baker & Taylor service is $600 but it saves staff time because a book when ordered goes immediately and automatically into the catalog.  The library board clerk will be new to the budget since the prior clerk was a volunteer.  There will be no new staff hours overall. Head Librarian Thorson would like to put the reference and circulation substitutes together in one pool.  

Since it appears that the library would have trouble holding the line, Wayne McCormack suggested helping out the town by buying some books from the gift funds as a one-time gesture.  Ginny Middleton pointed out that people borrowed books more in hard times.  Bob Meisel thought this offer should be mentioned when submitting the budget.  The general consensus was that this might be a good idea.

Bob Meisel asked if Bibliomation was changing to a new system and if that would entail training for the library staff.  Head Librarian Shirley Thorson said they were changing the system, but to what new system she did not know.  She will know better in three weeks.

Other Business
The book, Einstein's Mistakes, was passed around.  This book was bought for the library in honor of Doris Falk, the retiring board clerk.

Upon motion of Bob Meisel, seconded by Walter Morrissey, the meeting was adjourned at  8:18 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jocelyn Bagger

Clerk