Town of Springfield
Library Board of Trustees
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
1. The meeting was called
to order at 6:32PM.
Present: Josephine
Hingston, Sandra Richardson, Amy Howlett (director), Herb Jamison, Matthew Pincus, Sara Druen,
Barbara Ball. Absent: Richard Cofrancesco
2.
Additions/ subtractions to the Agenda
N/A
3.
Public comments
Rosanne
(Bunni) Putnam, member of the FOSTL Board and president of the Springfield
Historical Society expressed her concerns. She said that Springfield Town Library
is a library and not a social services branch of the town; that libraries
should be about reading and giving children and adults)access to books that
they may not have at home. Bunni urged the Board, “not to get so tied up in
being a social setting that we forget we're a library.”
Bunni
also expressed concern about the Children's room murals. She mentioned that
$13,000 was spent to restore the murals when they were obtained from
Springfield Hospital in 2010. She stressed it wouldn't be right for the murals
to be taken down or given away, etc.
There
was a question regarding whether the library's insurance would cover the
murals, for instance if they were leaked on, etc. Amy will research this.
One
board member mused that maybe the library isn't the best place for children's
lunch or for DCF visitations. Amy gave some background, saying that this was
the first year the library was a summer lunch spot. Generally about 6 kids
would come to the lunch. Some would take part in library activities. Some would
get their lunch and leave. Kids sign up at the Family Center and the library
was a pickup spot.
Amy
said that the library will be talking seriously during the coming strategic
planning process about what the library means to Springfield and how best the
library can help Springfield and its residents thrive and succeed in the coming
years.
4.
Review and approve minutes from the August meeting
The
minutes from our August meeting will be reviewed in October.
5.
FOSTL liaison report: Apple Festival Book Sale October 7th
Bunni
Putnam gave the FOSTL update today. The book sale will be open at the Apple
Festival from 9-12AM. All children’s books will be free and kids can take as
many as they want. All other books will be by donation.
Bunni
mentioned that membership in FOSTL has declined and invited all board members
to become Friends of the Library.
Bunni
also invited all to attend a FOSTL meeting. They are held the first Wednesday
of each month.
6.
Director’s report,
updates, strategic planning
Amy gave the update that work on the elevator starts October 2nd
and should take 3 weeks. The elevator will be unavailable during that time. Work
on the elevator may overlap on renovations of the children's room, including
replacing ceiling tiles and the carpet.
There was a suggestion to put a notice by the elevator during the time it
is inoperable stating the library’s willingness to retrieve items from
inaccessible floors.
Amy gave the strategic planning update. Two select board members have
already agreed to participate. The
strategic planning committee met last night and came up with a list of 20-25
invitees.
The two community conversations are by invitation and will be on
September 27th and October 25 from 4-8pm. Participants will attend
both dates. In between these two meetings, there will be a “family meeting” for
the Board, staff, and FOSTL. The Board agreed that 4-8PM is a good time for the
Family Meeting to occur. A date hasn’t been determined yet for this meeting.
New Policies
The Springfield town manager approved the Guidelines for Library Behavior
and the Policy on Children. The Board confirmed the Guidelines and the Policy
again.
Lost
Material Retrieval Methods:
Circulation
Supervisor Tammy Gould attended the meeting tonight to talk about the lost material
retrieval method. A board member had previously expressed concern that a
patron's credit could be affected because of losing a library book and it being
turned over to a collection agency.
Tammy explained
that the library has been referring overdue resources to collections for the
past 10 years. This has resulted in a decrease in the backlog of lost books.
Overdue accounts are sent to collections after books are 56 days overdue.
Before they're sent, the library sends a letter that the patron has 2 weeks to
bring the items back or they'll be referred to collections.
Tammy said she
feels the current system is working well. She only has to turn an average of 5
accounts over to collections monthly.
Amy mentioned that
all library staff have the power to waive overdue charges, grant “amnesty,” or make
a deal with patrons regarding overdue materials. A patron who has lost a
library book can buy a brand new book and give it to the library as a
replacement or pay for a new item. If a patron does this, the fine is waived. The
maximum fine is $10 per overdue resource.
Discussion that the
library is a tax-supported institution that provides value to our town and it’s
best not to waste money. The library needs to be responsible to the tax payers.
However, we also want to be compassionate to patrons with special circumstances
or fragile situations.
Amy stated that
losing 7% of the collection annually is not unusual in public libraries.
The Board decided
to keep the current practice in effect, however, to add a statement to the
final letter. For instance something like, “Come talk to us if you are in dire
straits…” or “Give us a call. We want to figure this out and work with
you…” or “We are open to discussion. If there
are special circumstances, we're happy to hear them.” Hopefully, this will
encourage patrons to come to the library and communicate regarding their
missing items, make a plan, and hopefully be able to continue to use the
library.
Amy will work so
that a compassionate statement is added to the end of the letter.
8. Executive
Session
N/A
9. Next meeting
date and adjournment: Tuesday, October 10th, 6:30PM
Motion to adjourn
passed (Matthew motioned, Sandra second.) 7:52pm.
