MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OLD BRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY
September 8, 2004
Present:
Steven Goldman, President
Mary Chamberlain, Vice President
Mary Gannon, Treasurer
Joseph Nuzzo, Secretary
Linda Seiler, Trustee
Kathryn Arabia, Trustee
Margery Cyr, Director
Maria Nowak, Executive Assistant
Absent:
Barbara Cannon, Mayor’s Alternate
Dr. Patricia Johnson, Superintendent of School’s Alternate
The President called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and announced that the meeting had been advertised and would be conducted in accordance with the Sunshine Law. The Secretary called the roll.
Minutes
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Kathryn Arabia, to approve the minutes of July 14, 2004. Vote: 5 yes; Joseph Nuzzo abstained.
Finance
Mrs. Gannon questioned a bill for the purchased of a popcorn machine.
Mrs. Cyr reported the Library had purchased a popcorn machine and bags as a public relations/publicity tool. The popcorn will be made and given out at various library events in the Library. The popcorn bags have the Library’s logo and name on it with a statement “Pop On Into the Library.”
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Mary Chamberlain, to approve the payment of July bills in the amount of $151,989.35. Unanimously approved
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Kathryn Arabia, to approve the payment of August bills in the amount of $121,645.25. Unanimously approve
Movement of Monies
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Joseph Nuzzo, to approve the movement of $70,450.00 from the Library’s Emergency Account to the Library’s Emergency Appropriations Operating Account to balance the FY 04/05 budget. Unanimously approved.
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Linda Seiler, to approve the movement of $30,000 from the Library’s Emergency Account to the Library’s Operating Account for the expenditure of books and audiovisual materials for the FY 04/05 budget. Unanimously approved
Mr. Nuzzo expressed his concerns on how the Library is using the Library Emergency and Capital budget funds. The Board discussed the current state of the Library’s budget; and the fact that the Library has been told by Finance Director, Himanshu Shah, that it must use these funds to balance its budget during these lean years. The Board discussed the fact that this seemed short-sighted and did not provide funding for emergency occurrences in the future. This has been discussed with Mr. Shah.
Mr. Goldman suggested Mr. Nuzzo speak with the auditor in regard to his concerns.
PERSONNEL
Resignation
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Mary Gannon, to accept the resignation of LAI, Jennifer Nelson, effective September 1, 2004. Unanimously approved
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Linda Seiler, to accept the resignation of LAI, Danielle DeSaro, effective August 28, 2004. Unanimously approved
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Kathryn Arabia, to accept the resignation of temporary substitute Librarian, Linda Keller effective August 21, 2004. Unanimously approved
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Joseph Nuzzo, to accept the resignation of Library page, Eric Clementelli effective August 31, 2004. Unanimously approved
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Mary Gannon, to accept the resignation of Custodian, Darren O’Keefe effective July 28, 2004. Unanimously approved
Motion: made by Kathyrn Arabia, seconded by Linda Seiler, to accept the resignation of Custodian, Dale Maharaj effective August 29, 2004. Unanimously approved
Mrs. Cyr informed the Board she is currently in the process of reviewing applications for replacement of Darren O’Keefe and will advertise for replacement of Dale Maharaj.
There was discussion about the how the Library is coping with two vacant custodial positions. Mrs. Cyr said the Library has two male and one female community service workers helping out in the building. Mrs. Cyr said all jobs will be advertised in the newspaper within the week.
The Board discussed the hiring of a full-time custodian compared to hiring two part-time custodians. At issue was the salary that the Library can offer and whether or not this is viable in today’s market; and the benefits that would be necessary to support a full-time position. The Library is currently making use of all the benefits packets provided it by the Township. After a lengthy discussion, the Board decided to hire two part-time custodians and to explore the possibility of a full-time position in the future.
Union Negotiations
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Mary Gannon, to approve the Union contract from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2007.
Mrs. Chamberlain reported the Union negotiations went well; but to get the contract finalized, the Union requested an additional quarter of a percent raise more the first year. The Board was polled by phone and Mrs. Chamberlain received the five yes votes necessary to approve the additional quarter of a percent so that the Union contract could be finalized.
Mr. Goldman stated the Union negotiations went very well and he is pleased the contract has been finalized and signed. At the Mayor’s request, Mrs. Cyr has put together a summary of the details of the new contract for Mayor Phillips and also for Township Business Administrator, Michael Jacobs.
Statistics
The Board was again extremely pleased statistics and the attendance in the Library for the month of July.
Statistics were placed on file.
Director’s Report
The Board reviewed the Director’s Report and discussed various aspects of it.
Passport Service Photos
Mr. Goldman asked the Library to move forward on purchasing a camera for the purpose of taking Passport photos.
Mrs. Cyr reported that Mr. Oppenheim and Mrs. Nowak will visit the East Brunswick Library on September 8 to see their equipment and facility setup. After that visit, the camera and equipment will be ordered.
Visits to Libraries
Mrs. Seiler asked she be included in trips that are taken to other libraries in regard to marketing of libraries. Mrs. Seiler said she is available anytime; Mrs. Cyr said she would provide the visitation schedule for Mrs. Seiler.
OLD BUSINESS
Lighting Project
Mr. Goldman stated he is very pleased with the new lighting and the painters’ work.
Mr. Goldman said the positive thing about the project is the contractor is working clean and securing the areas of construction well. Mr. Nuzzo stated he has spoken with the electrical contractor and is pleased with the way things are going.
Roof Project
Mrs. Cyr informed the Board she will be meeting soon with Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Shah to write an RFP for a consultant to draft a design for the replacement of the roof. Mr. Shah has told Mrs. Cyr that the money for the replacement is supposed to be included in the Township’s capital budget next year.
Library Newspaper Collection
Mrs. Seiler has asked that daily newspapers be placed in the Periodicals Office and patrons who wish to read the paper will have to give their library card or some other sort of identification for a newspaper; and once the paper is returned they will get their identification back.
Mrs. Cyr said this issue has been discussed with staff and patrons; and the staff has looked at the procedures followed at other libraries. It is the Library’s belief that placing materials behind counters is going backwards in terms of public service. The Library has now marked all of the daily papers with red stickers that read “Please return these items to the Periodicals Desk.” The Periodicals staff members now take hourly rotations around the building picking up newspapers and magazines left on tables. Additional subscriptions to these daily newspapers will be purchased so that all the needs of the patrons are met.
Mrs. Gannon said this is can be very frustrating even in a small library and is a hard thing to control; and when you start asking for identification, people start to resent it. Mrs. Gannon feels the Library solution is good and asking for identification should be kept at a minimum.
Mrs. Seiler said she knows of several newspapers that have been missing, but the staff has been taking action.
Mr. Goldman asked Mrs. Cyr to keep an eye on it.
Staff Name Tags
Mrs. Seiler asked the status of the name tags. Mrs. Cyr said the Library is awaiting the artwork on the name tags which have been picked out.
NEW BUSINESS
Library Policies
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Steven Goldman, to approve the Library’s Exhibits and Display Policy as amended. Unanimously approved
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Mary Gannon, to approve the Library’s Family & Medical Leave Act Policy. Unanimously approved
Mrs. Chamberlain reported the Policy Committee had a long discussion on payment for Trustees’ expenses and decided to bring this issue to the entire Board for discussion.
The matter of reimbursement to Board members was discussed with the majority believing that it was not a good idea; Mrs. Seiler withdrew her request for payment of expenses.
No motion was necessary by the Board to approve or disapprove a policy on payment for trustees’ expenses.
Adjournment
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Linda Seiler, to adjourn the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Unanimously approved
|