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Library Trustees Minutes Nov 14 2023.docx City of Beverly, Massachusetts Public Meeting Minutes Board: Library Trustees Subcommittee: Date: November 14, 2023, 6:00 P.M. Place: Beverly Public Library, 32 Essex Street Beverly, MA Board members present: Margaret Altman, Mary Behrle (remote), Marshall Handly, Ivy Mahan, Colleen Michaels, Cathryn Keefe O'Hare, Kevin O'Reilly, Joanne Panunzio, Myron Schirer-Suter Board members absent: Others present: Allison Babin, Meghan Karasin Recorder: Meghan Karasin Kevin O'Reilly presided. Meghan Karasin stated that the meeting was being recorded. Marshall Handly made the motion, seconded by Colleen Michaels, to accept the minutes of the meeting of October 24, 2023. Roll call vote approved, 8 to 0, with Altman, Handly, Mahan, Michaels, O'Hare, O'Reilly, Panunzio, and Schirer-Suter voting in favor. One abstention. Motion passed. Marshall Handly made the motion, seconded by Cathryn Keefe O'Hare, to accept the minutes of the meeting of September 19, 2023. Roll call vote approved, 8 to 0, with Altman, Behrle, Handly, Mahan, Michaels, O'Hare, O'Reilly, and Panunzio voting in favor. One abstention. Motion passed. Public Presentation Mark McQueen, 26 East Street, stated that he designed a bookmark for the library that includes temperature conversion charts between Celsius and Fahrenheit. He provided a master copy to be printed double-sided. Committee Reports Personnel: No report. Administration: No report. Finance: No report. Long Range Planning: No Report Report of the Library Director 1. Fiscal Year 2024 Budget: The FY24 budget is on track. The repair line number is now accurate. Some lines have encumbrance or are spent more from at the beginning of the year rather than throughout the year. The Books & Subscriptions line has the largest encumbrances. 2. Building Issues: Regarding the HVAC project, the mayor will make the final decision on the design option soon. In either case, it will be geothermal, but the decision is between using rooftop units similar to the current system (option 1) or distributed water source heat pumps (option 2). The second option results in more electricity savings, but has more upfront costs. The actual costs are currently being finalized by Consigli and B2Q. Allison Babin will be attending a meeting this Thursday, where the decision will hopefully be finalized. The Mayor will then go to the City Council for funding. The initial presentation will likely be on January 2, with a public hearing on Tuesday January 16. Kevin O'Reilly asked if both options are zero emissions. Allison Babin stated that they were but that option 2 uses less electricity overall. The contract for repairs on the north elevator has been signed. We are hoping that it will be fixed by the end of the year. A planned fire drill is scheduled for Monday November 20 at LOAM. 3. Community Engagement: Katie Nelson, Head of Teen Services & Katie Carlson, staff librarian at the Farms and main library, applied for a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Seattle Public Library about nourishing minds in support of teen mental health. The main library and Farms will be collection sites for Pathways for Childrens for new, unwrapped toys. Allison Babin attended a virtual Northeast Summit on Climate Adaption for Library Facilities and has now subscribed to their Sustainable Libraries newsletter. There was a lot of practical information for libraries serving as cooling/warming centers. This also prompted a conversation with Erina Keefe about Dane Street flooding. There's a process to block off the water, which works for now, but a long term solution would be better. Allison Babin spoke at the Beverly Rotary Club about the impact of the gift of funds in 2010 for the bookmobile and shared a video of patrons talking about the impact of the bookmobile and its services. Allison Babin has shared the strategic plan with the Friends of the Beverly Public Library. They are our advocates so it's good for them to understand 4. Collections: The Engineering Department called Allison Babin to share that they are able to use some grant funds on purchases for the Library of Things Collection. Meghan Karasin put together a list of items (mostly new, but some replacements). Marshall Handly asked if we can track who has missing items. Allison Babin stated that we do know, due to check outs, but it is still difficult to get them returned. Allison Babin explained that someone did steal a PC from our public use computers and a police report was filed. We are looking into locking them to the desk. October 2023 was the highest month ever for NOBLE's OverDrive collection with 54,896 checkouts. Beverly was the top user in the network with 6,294 items checked out by Beverly patrons. There was a large growth in magazine checkouts. Libby now allows you to subscribe to magazines. Because usage of OverDrive continues to grow, the NOBLE Executive Board voted to increase the assessment for next year, so collectively libraries are putting more money into the OverDrive collection. Last year $250,000 was allocated to the OverDrive collection. This year it will be $275,000. 5. Updates from the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE): Kathy Lussier, the NOBLE Executive Director visited the library recently. She recently attended a hearing at the state house to advocate for more fair pricing for libraries on ebooks. For example, the ebook version of Fairy Tale by Stephen King cost $54.99 for 24 months. The same book for consumers is $14.99. Additionally, libraries get a big discount(sometimes 45% off) on print books and it can circulate 100 times. This isn't the case for ebooks. Ebooks and audio are accessibility options for those who need larger print or audio books, so it is important to maintain and increase access to them. NOBLE has been working on launching an e-card service. Initially, this was supposed to launch on November 1, but there was a technical snag and it has been delayed. When enacted, patrons will be able to get an e-card and instantly have access to electronic resources and the ability to place holds on physical items. The e-cards will be converted to physical cards when they come into the library. This initiative will make getting library cards for the schools much easier. 6. Programs: Adults have wreath decorating, a baking demonstration, and a Living Room Conversations program about home energy with Green Beverly. Teens have button making, card making, and mug decorating. Childrens has storytimes and the Nutcracker Tea at the Farms branch. Communications None at this time. Unfinished Business The Mayor has all the information for the Assistant Library Director's contract. But he does not want to consider it separately from other Assistant Department Heads. Allison Babin said she believes that the Assistant Director needs a market adjustment, not just the yearly adjustment. Ivy Mahan asked if the contracts are for one year or more. Allison Babin stated that they can be for one year, but they are generally for three years. New Business FY25 Action Plan: Allison Babin stated that the Action Plan is a simplified, task-oriented document that corresponds with the focus areas of the new Strategic Plan. This plan includes more formalized committee work. The plan intends to capitalize on the planned HVAC closure of the main library to do some in depth planning. Allison Babin highlighted some key action items in each focus area. Marshall Handly made the motion, seconded by Joanne Panunzio to approve the FY2025 Action Plan. Roll call vote approve 9 to 0. Motion passed. List of Documents/Exhibits • October 24, 2023 meeting minutes • FY24 Budget Report as of 11/13/23 • FY2025 Action Plan The next regular meeting of the board is January 23, 2024 at 6PM in person at the main library. January There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:12PM.