1994-10-17 City of Beverly, Massachusetts
Public Meeting Minutes
Board: Library Trustees
Subcommittee:
Date: 10/17/1994
Place: Beverly Public Library
Board members present: Nancy A. Bender, Edward E. Brindle, Diane J. Costa, Katherine L.
Fanning, Margaret C. Goodwin, George Heller, and Neil B. Olson
Board members absent: Margaret L. DeSantis, and Helga Senko
Others present:
Recorder: Anna Langstaff
Regular Meeting
Board of Trustees - Beverly Public Library
October 17, 1994 7:00 PM
Present: Nancy Bender, Edward Brindle, Diane Costa, Kay Fanning, Margaret Goodwin, George
Heller, Neil Olson.
Also Present: Thomas Scully, Anna Longstaff.
Nancy Bender presided.
Edward Brindle made the motion, seconded by Kay Fanning, to accept the minutes of September
19, 1994 as read. Motion passed.
Committee Reports
Personnel: No report.
Administration: No report.
Finance: Quarterly financial report will be provided at the next Board meeting. There has been no
word from the Mayor's office on whether FY94/95 budget should be submitted by January 1.
Long Range Planning: No report.
Report of the Library Director
1) Farms: Water heater broke and flooded boiler pit. Water heater and burner have been replaced.
Goldberg will submit a proposal to Mayor Seardon. 2) Furniture: New furniture has arrived; still
waiting for more furniture to arrive. 3) Beverly Common Committee: Councilor Bruce Nardella
asked Tom Seully to represent the library on the Beverly Common Committee. Tom Seully
accepted. 4) City's Bill Paying System: City now pays bills once a week instead of once a month.
Warrants are no longer being printed. According to Trustees' by-laws two trustees from Finance
Committee and the Director must sign the waxTant. Neil Olson made the motion, seconded by
Diane Costa, to:
Suspend that process for a month until the Board has further information provided by
Tom Scully on how this is handled in other communities. Any oversight during that period
will be taken care of by the Finance Committee Chairman.
After some discussion, the motion was withdrawn. Ed Brindle made the motion, seconded by
Diane Costa, to:
Study the bylaws during the next month with regards to specific authorization that the
Director needs for purchasing, and make recommendations at the next monthly meeting as
to what should be changed. Motion carded.
5) Furniture Price List: Copies of furniture price list were distributed.
Communications
1 ) Letter received from Mrs. Evelyn Bartlett's representative. Mrs. Bartlett donated $2500 for the
building fund.
Unfinished Business
1) Fund raising: There was a discussion of how to raise more funds to reach the library's goal of
$250,000 for new furniture. 2) Arbitration: Arbitration case still not closed. 3) Non-Resident Offset:
The library is not eliBible because it is not certified. 4) Bequest Brochure: Tom Alexander agreed to
pay for the printing. 5) Spaghetti Supper: Event was canceled. 6) Appraisal Day: Date: September
30, 1995. Cost: $150 per appraiser. This fee may be waived. 7) New Trustee: There was a discussion
of possible trustee appointment. 8 ) Board of Library Commissioners: Letter was received from B.L.C.
informing the Trustees that a member of the B.L.C. staff could come to one of B.P.L. Trustees'
meeting to exchange information and ideas. B.P.L. Board will decide on its response at the next
meeting. 9) Governor Weld: The Governor and Rep. Torkildson will be at the library on October 20,
1994.
New Business
1) Challenged Books: There was a discussion of the situation at the Wellesley Public Library. 2)
Donated Art Work: There was a discussion on whether to accept Paul Van Ness's painting. It was
suggested that the art committee meet as soon as possible to develop guidelines and a policy for
accepting art work.
The next meeting of the Board will be Monday, November 21, 1994 at 7:00 P.M. at the Main
Library.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M.
Anna Langstaff, Recorder
To: The Trustees of the Beverly Public Library
From: Paul Van Ness
Information about Emily Reading
This painting was completed over ten days in August, 1994, specifically for display in the renovated
Beverly Public Library.
The painting was completed using Gamblin Artist-Grade Oil Paints oil gessoed linen stretched over
heavy-duty wooden stretcher bars. Its dimensions are 72" x 96". The painting is currently unframed;
I will be happy to work with the Library to find suitable framing.
The model is Emily Thomas of Essex, Massachusetts. She is shown reading a book (which happened
to be Little Women) while sitting on a stone wall on the grounds of Long I-fill Farm in Beverly.
ff the trustees are interested in hanging this painting, I will be pleased to donate it to the Beverly
Library at no charge. If at some point in the future, the Library no longer wished to display the
painting, I would ask that it would be returned to me (rather than being stored in the basement or
sold).
I believe it would look good hanging oil the landing of the old staircase facing the Essex Street
entrance, so that people at the base of the stairs could look up at it. However, ifthe Library Trustees
or staff would prefer to see it hanging elsewhere, I witl, of course, be amenable.
Thank you for your consideration.
Paul Van Ness 30 Atlantic Avenue Beverly MA 01915 508 922-8672