Board of Trustees Meeting – Apr. 9, 2024

Meeting Minutes

Documentation

• Meeting Minutes for Approval – February 15, 2024 & March 12, 2024
• Professional Staff Reports
• Director’s Report
• Financial Report March 2024, FY24 YTD Book & AV Breakdowns

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. by K. Penders.

Public Comment

None.

Vote to Accept a Donation of $250.00 from Foxboro Cable Access to Boyden Library to
Sponsor the John F. Kennedy Annual Museum Pass:

C. Earnst made a motion to accept the $250.00 donation from Foxboro Cable Access to Boyden
Library to sponsor the John F. Kennedy annual museum pass, and J. Ooi seconded.
Hearing no discussion, the Board voted and the motion was passed 3-0-1, with K. Penders abstaining being that he is on the Foxboro Cable Access board.

Vote to Accept a Donation of $10.83 from Carol Ross to Boyden Library to Purchase the Book Ducks on Parade:

Community member Carol Ross has been donating copies of Ducks on Parade to her local libraries in memory of friends who’ve passed. Ross sent a monetary donation to cover the cost of purchase. J. Ooi made a motion to accept the $10.83 donation from Carol Ross to Boyden Library to purchase the book Ducks on Parade, with C. Earnst seconding. Hearing no discussion, the Board voted and the motion was passed 4-0-0.

Approval of Meeting Minutes

February 15, 2024: One typo was found in the February 15, 2024 meeting minutes. J. Ooi made a motion to approve the minutes as amended, which was seconded by J. Parlapiano.
The Board voted and the motion passed 3-0-1, with C. Earnst abstaining as he wasn’t present at the February 15, 2024 meeting.

March 12, 2024: C. Earnst made a motion to take administrative note of the March 12, 2024 minutes as only two Trustees were present at the March 12th meeting.
J. Parlapiano seconded the motion and it passed 4-0-0.

Correspondence:

None

Friends’ Report

J. Rosado gave an update from the Friends. They have been spreading the word on the write-in candidate for the Boyden Library Board of Trustees. The Friends are sponsoring laptops for the makerspace grant L. O’Neill has been working on. Membership has been going well. The Friends have changed from Discover Books to Bay State Books for discards after Discover closed without any notice. There will be a book drive this weekend to support the May book sale. Many libraries have been increasing book sale rates and the Friends may have some books such as best sellers priced a bit higher this year than they have prior. There will be two more Friends meetings before the summer. A Boyden Library Trustee will be determined, after the Town election, to attend the Friends June meeting.

Professional Staff Reports

L. O’Neill provided an update on professional staff reports. Library staff did a great job promoting and spreading the word about the Community Reads programs, as well as assisting with set up and breakdown for the author talk. E. Brelsford’s Super Coder Club has been a huge success.

There have been some issues with the teens. They’ve been a burden on full-time staff and the substitutes working the reference desk. Teen Librarian J. Huston put together guidelines and an agreement for the teens to read and sign in acknowledgement. They will be signing now and again at the start of each new school year.

J. Parlapiano asked about the makerspace grant and how the space will work, if items will be left out, etc. L. O’Neill explained that the makerspace will only be open when it’s supervised, with consideration being given to teen volunteers. L. O’Neill asked if anyone foresaw any issues with closing off the café to create the makerspace. The Friends asked about the portion of their book sale that is usually in the café. This could easily be moved to the Story & Craft Room. Overall,
the Board showed support for trusting L. O’Neill’s judgement on the space. The grant is due on April 10, 2024. The vote on who will receive funds will be in July, with funds dispersed in October.

Financial Reports

L. O’Neill advised that the figures for the 15% of the budget that must be spent on materials are in progress, but there will be roughly $50,000 left to spend. K. Penders mentioned that only 64% of the salaries line item has been spent so far. L. O’Neill advised this is likely from losing P. Riccio and the months for which her position was vacant.

Director’s Report

L. O’Neill provided a Director’s report.

Library Operations: The Town received a grant to do an ADA study of all Town spaces. The Library was reviewed on April 8, 2024. L. O’Neill will update the Board once we receive a report on the findings.

Programs & Services: L. O’Neill attended the Public Library Association 2024 Convention and brought back exciting ideas for new programs and services. These include a true crime podcast discussion group, programs for intellectually and developmentally disable patrons, and a mothers’ support group. She also attended a webinar on food justice and has programming ideas for a 24/7 food bank, little with outreach to community restaurants for contributions. There could also be potlucks themed around different cultures and programs on making healthy meals on a budget. K. Penders suggested checking when local churches do their community suppers to ensure they don’t coincide with the Library’s.

Personnel Updates: Three candidates were interviewed for the full-time Library Assistant position in the Children’s Department. Erin Dunford, a part-time employee, was the best fit and will be moving into the role effective April 16, 2024. Her part-time position will be posted in the coming days.

New Business

2024 Founders Day:

L. O’Neill outlined some of the ideas for the 2024 Founders Day including handing out water, bubbles, and having an activity by the old entrance. Consideration is being given to renting a book character costume such as Pete the Cat or Bluey. The Library will not be pursing a horse and carriage this year. Rather, staff will walk with signs and hand out candy, followed by a pickup truck for non-walkers. E. Brelsford and J. Huston will be at the Friends’ booth and will be bringing the canopy and lawn games from the Library of Things.

Old Business

FY2025 Budget Update – Discussion:

K. Penders gave an update on the latest in the FY2025 budget updates. C. Earnst joined L. O’Neill in sitting in on the last AdCom meeting. The Library was approved in a 6-1 vote to move the $24,000 in budget cuts from operations and management to salaries. The final budget still needs to be voted on at the Town meeting in May, but this is a good start. K. Penders is planning to the attend the Town meeting and will be prepared to speak on behalf of the Library if needed.

2024 2024 Community Reads Recap:

K. Penders applauded L. O’Neill and Library staff for their work on the 2024 Community Reads. Brendan Slocumb was a great speaker with a dynamic personality.
L. O’Neill plans to stick with the month of March for the 2025 Community Reads. Next year will be a nonfiction book by a female author. She’d like to plan ahead more for next year to get more community involvement and collaborations.

Quotes for Intercom System – Discussion and Possible Vote:

The Town IT department recommended the Library use Ockers for an intercom system. They quoted $12,000 for eight speakers. Though the system doesn’t have a direct annual cost, it will need service and updates down the line. L. O’Neill suggested pushing this investment to a future fiscal year given all of the fiscal changes coming for FY25. The Board supported this recommendation and K. Penders suggested the removal of this item from the agenda until L. O’Neill is ready to revisit it.

Director’s Review – Discussion:

J. Ooi is missing two reviews. The Board will postpone their discussion until all reviews have been received, then provide a composite outside of the meeting for review. From there, one Board member will meet with L. O’Neill to go over the review together.

Adjournment

Respectfully submitted,
Renee Spinner