TOWN OF PROVINCETOWN

Public Library

Board of Library Trustees

Minutes of Public Meeting January 17, 2008

Meeting was held at the Provincetown Public Library, 356 Commercial St.

 

Members Present:  Mick Rudd, Chair; Lyn Kratz, Vice Chair; Jim Cole, Secretary; Paul Benatti

Others Present:  Debbie DeJonker-Berry, Library Director

Call to Order:  Mick Rudd called the meeting to order at 7:17pm

 

1.  Public Statements:  There were no public statements.

 

2.  Minutes:  Paul moved to accept the minutes as amended.  Lyn seconded the motion.  There was no discussion.  The vote passed 3-0-1.

 

3.  Agenda:  No changes.

 

4.  Chair’s Report

a.  Budget Discussion – There will be a meeting with the BOS Monday, January 23rd to discuss the budget.  Deb will keep the BOLT updated.  Deb presented a rough draft of the job description that she has been working on for the Development Director’s position.  The person in this new position will provide programs and fund raise for the building and paying the building’s mortgage.  Deb mentioned advertising nationally.  Mick reminded the BOLT that this position is contingent on the budget being approved because there is a salary difference between the old position being eliminated and the new position being created.

 

b.   Long-Range Plan – The library has reached the end of their current long-range plan and needs to implement a new plan.  Mick and Deb attended a long-range planning workshop.  The BOLT discussed the library’s need to form a committee of 12 members who will meet twice.  The public will be invited.  SEMLS will help.  The reason to plan was given as the new Development Director’s position that is being created.  The BOLT discussed a list of prospective candidates for the committee.

 

      MOTION:  Lyn moved that the library embark on a 5-year strategic planning process structured by the Public Library Association’s model.  Jim seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion.  The vote passed 4-0-0.

 

      Paul asked about the progress on getting a replacement for Board Member Cj Noyes.  The BOLT discussed possible candidates.  Mick stated that the term is two years.

 

c.   Annual Report – The Annual Report needs to be submitted to the Town Clerk by January 21st.

 

d.   VSB Grant Application-Heritage Day – A grant application for $7,200 was submitted.  Mick stated that he felt that Heritage Day events have brought people back to the library.  Plans for the June 14, 2009 involve oral history project interviewing and filming people who were initially involved with the AIDS pandemic.  The 2008 Heritage Day program will be the 10th anniversary of the Whaler’s Wharf fire.

 

e.   Façade:  Lantern & Gable Construction-Establish timeline.  Associated grant applications, Emergency grant acknowledgements, State earmark discussion.  Thanks to the generosity of major donors, lots of seeds were sown this year.  The library has sufficient funds to match major grants of $100,000: Community Preservation Funds and Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Project Fund Grants will be applied for in February.  Deb went before the BOS to contract with Coastal Engineering.  An anonymous donor has given the library $100,000 for landscaping.  Grant applications will be due in February.  An RFQ for plans for landscaping will be presented in March.  There will be a sign out front of the library, similar to the one already there, for the summer to encourage donations.

 

      MOTION:  Mick moved that the BOLT write letters individually to Secretary of the State William Galvin, Senator O’Leary, and the Honorable Sarah Peake to update and thank them for the $10,000 Emergency Stabilization Grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.  Jim seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion.  The vote passed 4-0-0.

 

5.  Resource Development Report

a.   Donor mailing/annual appeal – Approximately $9,575 was raised in December as a direct response to the Annual Appeal letter bringing the total so far to $11,785 (approx.105 individual donations).

 

b.  Gift and Cash Report – Lyn presented the Gift and Cash reports stating that of the $92,401 raised in December  $75,000 was a donation from Robert Duffy regarding naming opportunities reported at last month’s BOLT meeting, $9575 from the Annual Appeal, and the library now has a final total of interest accrued in the belfry fund ($2,511) thanks to the hard work of Linda O’Brien.  Deb recommended that a line get added to the report showing expenses as well as income.  Deb suggested adding the recap paragraph to the report.  Lyn and Deb will work on this for the upcoming month’s reports.

 

c.   Resource Development Planning – Deb and Lyn met with Felicia Penn who is a prospective grant writer for the library for projects like climate control and the finishing of the basement.  Deb suggested adding the oral history project to the list of possibilities.

 

      MOTION:  Lyn moved to ask the Library Director to present a plan to the Supporters to hire a consultant who would serve as a grant writer. Paul seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion.  The vote passed 4-0-0.  

 

d.   Year-end letters – They have been mailed.

 

e.   Major Gifts:  Landscaping – This has already been discussed.

 

6   Director’s Report –

a.   Building Issues and Operations – Updates:  Furnace and Emergency Exterior Repairs – The Furnace is working fine.  Deb felt that the negotiations are close to being resolved.  Deb was thanked by the BOLT for being the defacto Clerk of the Works for this project.  Water is still getting into the building.  The lantern area will be repaired perhaps helping this problem.

 

b.   Rose Dorothea MFH Grant, Distribution Policy Approval – There are questions around the copyright issue around using excerpts from the movie Captain Courageous.  Under the “fair use” policy, it’s ok for the library to show the film in the library, but not to put it on the Internet because we don’t have the copyright licenses.

 

MOTION:  Lyn moved to support the recommendation made by Karen MacDonald on the “fair use” of the copyrighted material in the Rose Dorothea video unless the policy is disapproved by Town Counsel.  Mick seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion.  The vote passed

4-0-0.   

 

c.    Born to Read Program – This program is now back at the library.

 

d.    Gates Grant – Deb stated that this might mean some more free computers for the library.

 

e.    Josephine Del Deo Heritage Archives Construction – The space now has electricity, has been painted, vented and the shelving is en route from Canada.

 

7.   New Business –

a.    The American Heart Association has asked the Pilgrim Monument to have red lights shine on the monument from February 1-15.  Deb would like the library to make the lantern light red for the occasion.

 

MOTION:  Mick moved to participate in the American Heart Association program.  Jim seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion.  The vote passed 4-0-0.           

 

Next Meeting:  The next meeting of the BOLT will take place Wednesday, February 20th at 7:15pm at the library.

 

Adjournment:  Paul moved and Mick seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:40pm.  The vote passed 4-0-0.

 

These minutes were approved by a vote of the Provincetown Library Board of Trustees present at their

meeting on ___________________________________.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted:______________________________                        _________________________

Library Board of Trustees signature                                                          Title

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Minutes prepared by Jean Jarrett)