##VIDEO ID:OsWUZvPepiU## you're okay um it's 6:05 and we'll call the meeting of July 2 August 21st to order um the first thing we should do is to introduce everybody and before we do that I'd like to first introduce our new board member Jean and uh she's this is her first night joining and she's already been sworn in so she's official great so welcome Jean we're excited to have you on board we are very excited to have you on board thank you with that said um I'm Cindy mcot the new chair so bear with me and to my right is I'm Katie mcgonagal Library director Jean Cento truste UST trustee yes Amy Paul Vice chair Larry bound trustee David Boucher trustee Nancy oconor trustee just to make the record correct Larry Larry is now the clerk oh secretary in the oh I asked it's clerk yeah your correct title is clerk secretary I asked the town manager and he said we could go with clerk okay okay so everybody followed up could be either one I suppose um what time did you call to order I'm sorry 605 605 605 thank you I don't think there's any public come coming since there's no public here so we'll go on to the meeting minutes which Larry did a great job from what I can see it um so has everybody read the minutes if they've had a chance yes and have they seen any things that needs to be edited so the only correction is that for Amy Johnson um her term expired on June 30th so she shouldn't be in here no well it should just be instead of this second paragraph she retired from the board as of July 17th it should be just her term expired June 30th oh okay the other I just had a question the titles are sorry are as a cuz we were reorganized yes so so the new um titles don't come till next month correct or this meeting correct so do we have to accept the the with the edit with the edit um do I have a motion to accept the minutes with the the new edit so moved a second a second so the minutes have been amended ended okay we have to vote and thank you for doing such a good job with the minutes Larry say it again L we have to vote oh let's vote does everybody uh pass the motion I I I thank you let's see we have let's see next is our director's Report with updates on programming collection development and building needs and professional development quite a bit in report um so most of what's included in this is for the month of July I might have a little bit that's occurred in August just so you guys are a little bit updated but I'll go into more detail with those updates in the next meeting but um so for our all ages I just wanted to share some of the stats from our summer reading program as of July 31st we had at that time 1,32 people registered for the summer reading program and that was broken down into 841 kids 121 teens and 366 adults as of that date the minutes read were 1,500,000 plus our goal was 2 million and we got really close which was amazing cuz last year we had about a million cuz this is only reflecting through July but you went we had a couple more weeks into August so yeah so it was a really great program and there were more than 11 ,000 books read did I see a thermometer out there so in the lobby almost to the top it's almost to the top we didn't quite hit it but we were so close next year we'll hit it um for our it was great for our children highlights there were 37 programs um 1 1577 participants in programs there were some passive programs around the children's department and there were 2,925 participants in that and then there were 310 reference transactions in the children depart uh the supervisors all received uh the results oh I'm sorry okay the supervisors all received the full results from the survey from the Strategic plan Community survey and some of the feedback and requests from the community are being used to help get guide decisions for fall programming one request for the children's Department was to offer homeschool programming which is now going to be offered this fall um and the children's department is communication with Pathways for parents so the CFC regarding this request so there there's going to be some movement in fall programming so there'll be more details in that as we go through the next few months but um and we're going to go over part of that survey you've already received part of that survey is that homeschooling for a select group of people that can't come there's a there's homeschool communities in our area and so there was some request for programming for them so like that kind of age range and time frame to offer some programs um for those kiddos was in that age range so um they're going to do that which is exciting um and in regard to the summer programming the children's dist department has received numerous emails from patrons thinking the library for their summer programs and I've listed several here which is you know we love all the programs you're offering this summer the library offers the best programs of all the libraries around the area um we were at the magic show and had a wonderful time you guys do such wonderful things to the children um we love coming weekly if not daily thank you we love nature story walk at the Apple place the kids had so much fun listening to stories doing the hunt and eating ice cream thank you um the prizes this year have been so great my kids have been reading all summer hoping to win so we had and there's more listed here um but there was a lot of really positive feedback and we're really excited to share that for the teen highlights uh there were six teen programs which we're excited about 77 teen attendees and there was um one passive program that was offered and 45 participants with that um the teen Department received feedback from Teen patrons thanking the library for the summer reading program and here are the few of the comments we received the library finally knows what teens want and wow this library has great prizes fantastic uh teen summer programming is in full swing with support from volunteers and local businesses and some of the kind of um popular programs this summer were waffle paloa switch games and Cupcake Wars so if you look down I've included um some pictures that so we have a new uh teen and reference Services Supervisor Erica and she has really hit the ground running with our team programming and so she offered these programs this summer we've had a really um positive uh response from the community both from um adults and teens about what we're offering and we're looking forward to making the cupcakes not throwing no correct correct correct yeah that would be kind of cool and it was really fun I got to sample some of the cupcakes and they were delicious so that was really fun those are great programs yeah I I enjoyed it great that such a good attendance yeah yeah there was a big need and we're really glad that we kind of we got to this point so that's exciting that's really impressive um for adult highlights during July there were eight programs 119 program attendees upstairs there were 191 reference transactions the study rooms were used for 231.50 hours and there were six requests unfulfilled um summer programming has been very successful there was a puzzle challenge in July and it had there were eight teams that participated and they needed to complete a 500 piece puzzle and each team had the exact same puzzle so it was you know who could finish first so was it like a race MH and two teams finished in an hour amazing it was really fun and um Mora is looking forward to doing another program she'll get new puzzles but she's going to do it again it was really fun so that was great so so the puzzle program was for children or for for adult adults MH I was geared towards adults yep and you had quite a few people do it nice it's amazing how people I have a friend that they have a table in their house and they always have a puzzle and they they just will sit down sometimes you know or go by you put in pie and keeps the mind good so we have two puzzle tables that are just out and open upstairs on the second floor and um the staff upstairs will rotate those puzzles out and people will come and either put a couple pieces in or they'll sit for hours and help us build those puzzles which is great our puzzle collection upstairs is one of our most circulated items so the puzzles circulate a lot and the children's Department added puzzles this past year as well so there was a lot of puzzles going on during the and you couldn't get them it was hard to find them so we're we're in a good spot you in a good spot yeah um oh and um so I don't know if you've noticed but a lot of our patrons have noticed that the plexiglass came down at all of the public service we've gotten a lot of positive comments about that which is really nice so we're glad that people noticed and appreciate um another thing that's happened uh is the mobile print station upstairs it it switched over to like print services um and so this kind of expands the printing options for the users so now they can when they upload their documents they can adjust settings um and this new steps allows folks to choose black and white or color if they want to do multiple copies of the same document or they want to print within a range they want to print pages just two to four out of the document they can do that now so there's a lot of new features that were added on and it's very easy to just to use this new mobile print option so that's so was that a new printer or so we implemented Mobile Print probably a year and a half ago maybe oh over a year ago and so um it's through CW Mars but they switched and now they're using kind of a different so service they update them the V instruments that they use yeah it's like the settings like the settings expanded and so it's a lot easier so you always are have an updated I mean that's the goal that's that's what we came to do that in the long run it's cheaper and you're prob and it's better well so when we did the mobile print we offered Mobile Print because we wanted people to be able to print from their own devices a lot of people come in with their own laptop or tablet or phone or what have you they want to just be able to print and go so that's why we got the Mobile Print like I said maybe a year and a half ago somewhere around there um but with this new change to princh it's it even expanded those options which is really nice great so um yeah um our circulation updates so there were 11,489 items circulated this is a decrease of oh I'm sorry I think I have a typo a decrease of 3,652 from June but an increase from jul this is from July oh yeah know I'm right it was a decrease of 3,652 from June because this is July stats but it's an increase of 569 from the July of last year that's usually what happens though yeah it's it's always different month to well plus we had the the kickoff in June right so that brings in kind of that launch to the summer reading program really kind of spikes us but it's still 11,000 almost 500 items and that's great absolutely uh there were 90 new Patron registrations there were 214 reference trans actions at the circulation desk our door count was 11,673 um just to update you all there's been some staffing changes at the circulation department um John King and Sam globy are no longer employed at eong metal Public Library but we have brought on Xander Ag and Sahara Garcia so we're fully staffed in the circulation department which is great um there are new library of things item circulating including a new bicycle toolkit a USB microphone so people can work on pod casting um tubal which are an auditory feedback reading device um and we just continue to add more items as they come in we post them either on our socials and in our e newsletter that we send out we just did a display in the lobby um so we're coming along we have a lot of items for people to borrow yeah for I see a sewing machine there is a sewing machine I was so impressed with that yeah um wow so Erica and the teens just did a book bag program on Monday which I'll talk to you about next month but yeah and we had a volunteer from um who came in and helped with the program and was teaching and helping with the sewing and how to put the bags together and kind of all the little accessories and so can the public come in and use it the public can come in and borrow it absolutely so they would did they take it out Y and it circulates you can check it out does it come with instructions um there might be a few probably go online if any if any of our like things come with directions or instructions we provide that to circulate we laminate it and include it in the kit but it's not like the staff are going to usually go online and find yeah yeah which is nice so um I could not give you directions on how to use the sewing machine but I can check it out too I can't help you with that that that's great that's really great yeah cuz I'm cleaning out my b and I remember the times I used it all the time you know yeah sing well if yours ever breaks down and you need to borrow one of ours for a little bit I I will take ADV I was I'm looking at the bicycle tool set I know exactly and you know Christina will be more than happy to walk through any of the steps involved or to help you with any repairs bad um okay there's the sewing machine there it is so what so what love that um for tech services there were 172 items added and 139 items deleted from the collection during the month of July now please keep in mind that's the beginning of our fiscal year so we are in the process still of closing out fy2 24 opening fy2 we have to get all of our budgeting in order our po submitted approved and then actually start the purchasing so it's a multi-week process that's very involved but um next month's report will be significantly higher because there's a lot of items that ready to be or and are being cataloged they've been very busy um and also please give in mind we've had some staffing turnover so the tech services department was really spread out they did not spend much time in tech services during the past few months they were really out covering public service to us so Krist and Beth were fantastic and really just stepped in and helped cover everywhere that we needed which was great and she still gets the fots out yes there's C e cart rolling out right now so they're really pumping things out which is great good um this is just a recap of some of the things that we were just talking about like the sewing machine um I'm going to move on to professional development if that's okay y um so during the month of July some of the professional development that staff had the opportunity to attend included the cwrs Aspen Discovery interest group so every month um Sierra who was at CW Mars sends out kind of blog posts and emails and then hosts kind of this interest group for the administrators which is what I am and I've asked Christina who is the cir supervisor to also try to attend some of these meetings the Aspen if you'll remember is the new interface on the catalog so it's what the patrons see when they're searching for items and there are a lot of features that the libraries have the capability of implementing um and so it's just a lot of tips and tricks on how to do that like how to customize your font how to customize your colors your logo add in other Pages um customize links for your particular patrons to get back to your website your calendar um if you have any programs you want to highlight things like that so there's a lot of features that you can really customize with this new interface which is really great and so every month they have this group that you can come and do um you know ask question questions get demonstrations so it's really helpful so um is Aspen fully operational now correct and how long have you had it so they rolled that out back in March everybody everybody's up to date right now I'm pretty sure all of the libraries and CW Mars have been rolled over into Aspen there was kind of um a multi-step process because they have there's a few academic libraries so they didn't want to do that in the middle of a semester so they wanted to wait until that semester ended and there are some school libraries that are part of cwms and for the same reason they needed that kind of school year to end before they switch their catalog over and the staff and the staff is really up speed on it so they're comfortable now with it it takes a while it takes a little bit Y and and patrons I think are becoming much more comfortable with it um I think it's much more user friendly and the way that they kind of group um formats together it makes it a little bit easier to search you don't have to necessarily go through Page after page after page um so it's it's a little more streamlined other um uh professional development is we had the ma mlc which is the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has a space planning um group like a space planning kind of branch that libraries can take advantage of so we had Andrea Bono bunker and Heather Bachman come out on July 1st to meet with us to kind of do a a walkthrough of the building in that meeting um Tom Christensen the town manager was there I was there and probably five or six staff members were there and we just kind of walked around the building and said this is what this space is used for here are questions we have about this area here are some of our suggestions for things we would like to have changed and so they kind of did a walk through with us and then gave us some notes and feedback about what we can do next so um we're looking at um how do we kind of re-envision that second floor so that it's a usable space for everyone when they're there you're all aware that the lobby area is completely open and sound travels everywhere and there's it gets very loud no matter where you are in the building so that's you know so we're asking about Acoustics we're asking about lighting um the windows along the front and the ceiling are beautiful but it can pre you can get a glare and it can be very difficult to see at times and it also can make the building very hot so we ask questions about that um our circulation desk what's that layout look like we're looking to get self check stations so patrons can check themselves out where is the best place to put that what would that look like so we've kind of brought them in for that initial discussion and then that will then lead to like Architects and then um interior designers and things like that so that way we're going to so there could almost be a a renovation yeah yeah actually this was a renovation because we still have that same wall to the town hall okay so this was technically a renovation oh interesting y so this is basically going to be another renovation and how long has there's no time frame right now how long has this been here now 20 years 20 years it just hit 20 years 20 years time for renovation they didn't take into consideration that stuff when they I wasn't here no which is really interesting because I was going to ask ask you are there trees that were taken down afterwards that no I don't think so no no we had to we had to do that because the the town wanted this this for to expand the town hall into but they didn't have a plan for where the library was going and we also had a grant from the state got approved no but I'm just talking about so we had the lighting yeah the heat the the question is do we get some sort of Awning or does the acoustic paneling help with that what would that look like so I'm not in any way an expert in that so it's now figuring out who could we bring in that can help us make some of just these these CH changes it's not going to be a major construction project but what changes can we make to improve the spaces that we have for the patrons that are in here and for the staff when they're working I I made a mistake when I put the Skylight my skylights in you know I didn't put the um automatic Shades I said what do I need automatic shades for you know I can just use oh am I sorry I didn't put in the automatic I understand we all understand I didn't want to spend the money is there any way is there any way that um you can get State grant money well we have to figure out yeah so we it may be possible yes yeah yeah so that's those are the pieces that we're just in the initial correct we're just in the initial kind of phase right now we hadc come in and take a look and start to give us some suggestions M okay that's good um and it's time after 20 years well it's just like anything else you have wear and tear this is an incredibly well-used building there is a lot of traffic their more than people thought collections are shifting and changing in the way that people are using spaces you have homeschool families you have work from home people you have people that are coming to do meetings or Zoom calls or you know there's just we're trying to provide a space for everybody for everybody so we want to technology has advanced astronomical so it's our job to provide a library that's a community space for everyone we should be following up on that so we're we're in the process so it's it's very exciting I will keep you all informed okay um which leads us into the building updates so we're still working um DPW has been super supportive um with our HVAC because we're still working on kind of regulating the temperature in the building so that is still uh in the works uh the sprinkler system maintenance has had occurred there was a patch in the parking lot during July there was building alarm testing so all the things that should be doing be uh should be happening and the building have been happening so we appreciate allers are taking care of okay yep we're we're cruising along DPW has been great um they're very responsive yeah so it's it's we're coming along yeah but the agac is that's a that's a top priority for for us to make sure that that we're staying on top of that um I have the meeting room policy for us to review tonight okay that we're going to get to that in a minute yeah I still got one more um so the ARs report which is the annual report information survey for the State uh on fy2 24 data was submitted on August 9th the due date was August 16th so that is all set and was reviewed and approved by the town manager and the chair Cindy MCN came in and reviewed it with me signed it and I submitted it so that is all set and it's very long it it is very long um it's very informative and it's an interesting process um and that is a year of compiled data and statistics that we have for that document that goes to the state and the financial form just opened and I will be working on that and that is due on October 4th and that will go to uh the director of Municipal finance and the town direct uh Town manager excuse me they will review it and approve it and then Cindy I will go over with Cindy and then that will get submitted to the state as well okay um the Strategic plan and executive summary are all done so we're going to review that in a few minutes and then um once that gets approved then I can submit that to the state I will submit to the town I will get that uploaded and that will get shared out with everybody good and then our next meeting is in September good okay well that's a lot going on here yeah is mad director we have a big meeting tonight we do um can we move on then to um the old business of the meeting room policy yep okay so sorry I think it's the last kind of chunk of your packet maybe uh it is indeed okay yes it is here we go I think this is it you to read it I would love that go ahead and read it I will do I will thank you I will contribute um there's just um kind of two changes since the last time we discussed this and this is all new to Jean um the two changes since the last time we discussed this are one I removed the kitchenette as an option for the community room use the kitchenet is really become a storage space for staff and I just don't think it's appropriate to have that open to a public meeting when we're not necessarily in the room to monitor that and the friends also have their items in there for storage as well so I've removed um the kitchenette I hopefully caught it and the email that I sent you with the attachment I didn't but in the printed version that you have now I did catch it there was one other line that had the kitchen at reference but please it might be in here again kitchen's all out I hope the kitchen's all out now and then the other piece was that release of all claims where we changed it to more of an individual oh okay all right so now am uh East Long meow Public Library public use of meeting room policy application and release of claims introduction the East Long Meadow public libraries meeting rooms are used primarily for library and Library sponsored programs Friends of the East Long Meadow public library and East Long Meadow Town Department Library Li and Library sponsored programs and town of the East Long Meadow meetings are exempt from this policy subject to availability the meeting rooms are available for public use by application for free and open one charitable two Civic three cultural four educational or five intellectual activities meeting room facilities shall be made available on an equitable basis the use of the meeting room space must always be subord to the Paramount need to provide a safe peaceful and respectful environment in which to read and study meeting rooms available one community room 50 person capacity tables and chairs drop down projector screen Podium two conference room 10 person capacity conference table and chairs not removable the library shall follow guidelines set forth by government officials the town manager and the Library director as to the number of people who will be permitted to attend an event in either the community room or the conference room including during a public health emergency meeting room scheduling one library library sponsored friends of East Long Meadow public library and town of East Long Meadow programs and meetings have priority over all outside groups the library director reserves the right to reschedule confirmed reservations to accommodate librar and town programs and events two meeting rooms may be booked for a maximum of two hours which include setup and takeown time three meetings must occur during regular operating Library hours four all meetings must end 15 minutes before the library closes five meeting rooms may be reserved up to two months in advance of the meeting date six no more than four reservations per calendar year may be made by any one group seven recurring meetings daily weekly monthly will not be permitted guidelines one all meetings shall be free of charge and open to the public no fundraising promotions or sales of services or products merchandise materials or other items are allowed unless such promotions or sales are approved in writing in advance by the library director two meeting rooms shall not be used for private parties or social Gatherings entrepreneurial or commercial purposes solicitation of business worship services or ceremonies political campaigning or prostatism three meeting room reservations must be made by written application completed in full and submitted to the library director or design at least two weeks in advance of the requested meeting date applicants will be provided the patron behavi avior and Safe child policies groups are responsible to abide by all Library policies which are listed on the library's website at East Longet library.org four the release of all claims form must be completed in full on the day of the scheduled meeting room use five applications must be submitted by a person 18 years or older who is an East Long Meadow resident will be in attendance at the meeting and is designated by the requesting group as the person held responsible for the conduct of the meeting adherence to all regulations including Town bylaws and state and federal laws and any resultant damages to library property six the application form includes permission to release the applicant's contact information in the event of public inquiries seven the library reserves the right to require any individual group or organization to obtain and pay for an East Long Meadow police detail if the library director or town manager deems it to be in the interest of Public Safety failure to comply with this requirement will result in immediate cancellation of the scheduled event eight when appropriate Advanced application may not be possible as in the case of emergency or call meetings the use of the meeting rooms may be approved at the discretion of the library director or designate nine meeting rooms are not available for use when the library is closed due due to inclement weather or other emergency conditions in the event of an unscheduled Library closing a group May reschedule another meeting time unscheduled closings will be posted on the library's website whenever possible Library staff will notify the contact person of the unscheduled closure 10 should the library deny an individual or group's application the decision may be appealed in writing to the East Long meow Town manager 60 C Square East long meow Mass 01028 the town manager will render a written decision within 14 days of the appeal individual group or organization responsibilities one notify the library at library director at East Long Meadow ma.org of any cancellations or requested changes of the group's schedule at least one business day prior to the scheduled meeting time two setup of chairs tables and Equipment as needed three report to a library staff member any apparent room or equipment damage prior to using the room in order to avoid being held responsible for the damage four return chairs tables and equipment to their original Arrangement or placement leaving the room as it was found five clean up all trash from the room and place an appropriate waste and recycling containers six exit the room at the end of the designated pre-approved meeting time a library staff member will check the room before and after use conditions of use one Library staff must have access to the meeting room at all times two activities for minors age 17 and under must be supervised at a ratio of one responsible adult per 15 minors three the library is not responsible for damage to or loss of equipment supplies displays or display materials or other items Left Behind or unattended either before during or after an event four the applicant takes responsibility for any damage to the library or its equipment caused by or resulting from the applicant's use of the room five items may not be affixed to the walls trim windows or doors six permission for a group to meet at the library does not constitute or imply an endorsement of policies beliefs practices or programs by the East Long Meadow public library library staff or the town of East Long Meadow seven all publicity such as advertisements announcements press releases Flyers electronic postings Etc must State the following a the meeting event is not sponsored by the East Long Meadow Public Library b the meeting event held in the library does not constitute an endorsement by the library Board of Library trustees Andor town of East Long Meadow of the group's policies beliefs practices or programs eight the library director reserves the right to revoke the privilege of an organization during the program and or for any future use of the library meeting rooms when it has been determined that there has been a misrepresentation by the applicant's stated purpose for a given meeting or for non-compliance with the meeting room policy the meeting room policy is subject to review and amendment by the board of Library trustees thank you Amy you're welcome there's another page oh what keeps going the application oh the application it's fine it's yeah the application application for East Long Meadow Public Library meeting room several Pages sorry date of application meeting date meeting time name of applicant person responsible contact information name phone number email address address East Long Meadow Mass 01028 anticipated attendance room requested purpose of meeting charitable must be able to provide 501c3 documentation Civic cultural educational intellectual meeting description special requests the person reserving the meeting room must attend the meeting and will held responsible for any damages incurred and as described in the meeting room policy guidelines and application I have read the attached meeting room policy Behavior policy Safe child policy and release of all claims and agree to abide by the terms I also agree to allow Library staff to provide my contact information in the event of public inquiries signature check here if you would like a photoc copy of this signed confirmed application meeting rooms are not officially booked until you receive a written confirmation from the library for Library use date application received date application confirmed SL denied confirmation made via email mail Library staff name comments release claims oh still go ahead I name individual executing this release being allowed to participate in the use of the East Long meta Public Library meeting rooms and Facilities do hereby forever release acquit discharge and Covenant to hold harmless the said East Long Meadow Board of Library trustees and the town of East Long Meadow and their employees of and from any and all debts demands actions causes of actions suits claims and damages on account of or in any way growing out of directly or indirectly all known and unknown personal injuries or property damage which the organization and its members and invitees may now or Hereafter have resulting from the use by said organization its members and invitees of the East Long Meadow public library and parking area and any activities and programs offered therein in addition the organization shall indemnify and defend the East Long Meadow Board of Library trustees and the town of East Long Meadow and their employees from the claims made by any of its members Andor its invitees related to the use of the East Long Meadow public library and parking area uh or its activities and or programs is that or or for or it is or should it be four I don't know I'm I'm just a which which one the very last one No it should be or Andor it's it's kind of covering what what M like go ahead claims made by any of its members related to the use of the East Long Meadow public library for think and parking area for its activities and our programs oh I see what you're saying yes it probably should be before thank you executor now what are you making the or the or after parking area the last the last sentence should be four and for its activities not or its activities okay oh oh oh for okay I get it yeah okay I didn't get it at first executed as an agreement this blank day of blank in the year blank on behalf of the sorry who are they signing on behalf of themselves basically okay by the undersigned it's duly authorized because this sounds like it's signing for an organization yeah that's that makes sense but they're not they're as an individual so I think it's just executed as an agreement on this blank day of blank in the year of blank period yes yes you don't need the other part that's what I think what do you think I'm sorry I was reading I was trying to read something above it oh yeah I think you're right because if he's going to sign taking out the on language because it's an individual because you know if theant going to sign you don't but if that's the case then I would think look at the second to last line right well I guess the only difference would be is that the applicant is an entity and there's an individual Who's acting in behal of that entity signing for that entity can you say it again Larry I'm not sure that's a good point where are you if if you're making this as something applicable for an individual than the second to last line where it says it's indemnifying the or well first of all says the organization shall indemnify so it's I I mean I I guess maybe do I'm just asking do you think you need two of these no you probably just need so here's the thing because we're saying it needs to be one person yes that it needs to be somebody aged 18 or older East Long Meadow resident that is requesting to use the room like some somebody needs to take responsibility for this so so they're taking responsibility for the organization or whatever it is right on behalf of the organization so you would then insert whatever the organization is but they might just be them themselves which is why we had talked about splitting or but we could just do the one well that's why I'm just asking so maybe remove that line do we need two versions of release all claims so the attorney said no really to pull up yeah I I I don't I suppose if it's indivi if it's an individual who's making their Crest all they have to do is is put individual and yeah but no no individual is going to indemnify I mean if they're reading this you know like I don't know the utaban society or something wants to meet yeah but that's kind of clear the way this is you're you're putting in the entity yeah yes no and then you're then the person is signing it right is an authorized representative of the entity yes no no that it's not that that doesn't make sense yeah but what if it's just an individual yeah yeah then then this isn't applicable or it doesn't make sense if it's just me yeah well then I guess you just put uh executed as this agreement on this day and year on behalf of myself the unders sign well then you'd say in addition the you wouldn't say in addition the organization shall indemnify then what you're asking is that I myself indemnify yeah I suppose you could you could have that and just saying or you know explain if or individual's name if an individual well then I think what you would need to do if you want just one piece of paper is to have like two parenthetic Les right Circle one and yes and then you have to like ex out one or Circle one you know so one will just be for an individual and one would be and one will be as representative for an organization what did the why would using the meeting room I'm sorry why would an individual be using the meeting room they might want to bring in a group of their own why not I don't know I mean oh just with their own yeah you know they might say they've got all the equipment we want to get a group together and we can use the library equipment and we can all meet at one place and we don't have to clean our houses but it can't be it can't be a private party right there's certain reasons that they somebody can request to apply to the educational or intellectual activities what if they have a book club right right MH but so so it's you're not a 501 see3 right I'm just like you're just a guy a guy with you know four arbitrary random friends that wanted me to talk about a book that we have a study room well no no but I guess but you might want to use the whatever yeah I want to make the power no we took that out oh yeah that's right no no and that's the point because I thought that what the whole purpose was that you weren't going to allow people to use it like just because they wanted to use it I mean that it you wanted it wasn't going to be allowed that anybody could walk in here and say I want to use your computer so it has one of the things we were concerned about what Larry just said one of the there is these kind of subject to availability the meeting rooms are available for public use by application for that are free and open to the public for charitable Civic cultural educational or intellectual activities okay it cannot be and as you go further down it cannot be used for a private party or social Gathering entrepreneurial commercial purposes solicitation of business so in those guidelines there're saying you cannot it cannot be used for these X reasons but then I guess the argument will be it isn't it's for an intellectual sure but that's acity sure but that is part of what they're putting in this application so they're giving me maybe the name or the title of what they're looking to do and their description down here I need to know what their purp individually is going to be representative of this intellectual group is the person who's going to sign and they are going to be responsible correct somebody has to maybe as Larry says that you can either have two or put or individual yeah well like I say you know they you know this is done in form forms all the time right you have like these brackets and there's like two sets of them one will yeah that sounds work will apply to just you know me a guy looking to use the facility and the other one will be U me as yeah you can put or if individual the individual's name that's all okay I I see we need to just change this that's why right would you like me to do like a yep okay yep well my question is or do we just leave it if we're saying it's one person is applying yeah yeah right there's one applicant that person is responsible yes they need to be there yeah so do we even need this second piece down here well right now it's reading in addition the so we just take that part out okay you you and I you and I know that right but it's not kind of clear on the face of the P what are you suggesting taking up I am almost suggesting do we remove this bottom piece oh this right here Larry can I continue to use you as the example with your book group go ahead okay you're you're coming in you have a group of 10 people your your book group you want to meet here in this space sure so you're the responsible person you're signing this I don't we don't necessarily need in addition this is my question do we need let me rephrase that in addition the organization shall indemnify but what if you do have an organization yeah then that's between that Patron and their organization okay right isn't that between them to then figure that piece out we're saying Larry's the point person he's responsible for us to us right they need to figure out that themselves that's my question could it be handled like that oh but it's two different things right in in the beginning of this paragraph yeah I am holding harmless with regard to you know like if somebody Falls or something you know and and tries to sue but in the second half of the paragraph that's I'm also indemnifying I'm saying but I mean I mean it's pretty strong I mean it's say I'm not only uh you know saying that I'm that I'm holy harmless but I'm going to indemnify and defend all of you in the event that when something happens somebody is going to sue you I mean I wouldn't sign it yeah that's kind of a big deal uh but then that's their option yeah yes right they don't have to sign it and then they can't use the GU so let's let's let's go around forever I like that forever so we're not in that room right when it happens there's no staff there you're looking to use this space this is an open space for you to use you're in here we're not responsible so you're the responsible person for whoever your group is right but but again like I said that then the second half is I'm not only am I responsible but I it is incumbent upon me to assume all the the fin IAL liabilities when if somebody Falls they're going to sue you but but if you're if you're going in and signing on behalf of this group okay yeah um you're going to sign I mean somebody's going to be responsible something happens here somebody can sign that they can sue that one person and if they sue that one person that one person is going to say I'm not responsible first of all I don't know that this has that they they can even wave respon the the cor you know the library itself can wave responsibility because there may be things that happen here that are their responsibility and they wouldn't know unless people were here like I mean there could be something defective that nobody knows about well you're the lawyer now no no no but what I'm saying is the law the law the Law Department did say this was acceptable okay so what I'm thinking is suppose I I'm goingon to learn Larry's hiring he's he wants to borrow the room okay so Larry why wouldn't you be able to just say that um I Lawrence I forget your last name B okay um by the um you're GNA be individual okay um where you read yeah I know I guess I don't know I would just cross it out if had the I just that's why I'm wondering do we just cross out this entire last no K the problem is that organization is sprinkled throughout the yeah yeah that's the problem with that is that so we could take it out in all of these places or you could just say to the individual who is an individual listen what you do is you just put your name there okay that on behalf of myself because then you'd have to have everybody in the that's going going to go into that room sign sign the organ and then then applicant signature and then that's his problem I know but it you know it's like if I were uh an audabon member setting up you know the meeting for the autobound society there's no way that I would want to individually assume all this potential yeah but you would be signing this as a representative have the authority uh don't have theth speak for the well then as then you let's say you work at the udon you bring this back to them and say how do you want me to proceed exactly so that's why I'm saying it's between that person and their organization or employer deter whether or not let me get my red pen but what if you're just like you know like a member you don't you don't work there you're not an employee I'm not an employee so it's just members of the ottobon society want to meet yeah well then you're not meeting on behalf of the aaban society that's an individual meeting that's true yeah so so yeah but again like like Amy said the words organization are sprinkled through well I think we need to lawyer yeah okay but if if we're going to have an individual sign this right because the individual should be responsible if there're if they're if they are if they are um because this is the thing so this is can I I don't mean to interrupt but let's can you go back because there was a couple that I was like maybe group shouldn't be here so if you go back which page up this page two I want to go back and look um to what oh page three individual group or organization responsibilities no more okay go back to page two please number six no more than four reservations per calendar year maybe made by any one group it should be by any one applicant because one individual person page two at the top number six I'm so sorry number six page two yeah okay made by any one group I think it should be by anyone applicant yeah it should be applicant so I think if we change I think there's a couple other instances where no more than four res may be made by well no because then anyone applicant they could have one group that has 10 applicants on behalf of them okay that's fine no I mean no but I mean if if that that doesn't solve the problem I think the problem we're trying to solve is taking making it individual though right yeah and and maybe all we need to do is put Like Larry said too although I don't know why you even have to bother case you can just put you know well the only reason I suggest that is just for clarity if you're not a lawyer you're be a whole a whole lot more comfortable if you see two options you know like in the paragraph in two or three places so what's wrong that what would that second paragraph read it would no no no it's not a separate paragraph I mean or that second sele ction option well I guess you would say uh one would be for individual and one would be as representative of a group or an organization or or organization yeah so so why couldn't that per just be here so in so like it says in behalf of myself by the in addition uh if it's an individual it will read you know I shall indemnify and if it's an organization it's you know the organization shall indemnify which is like Amy said I'd let I would let I would let the Law Department I would I would ask question about that it covers the parking lot yeah right it's it's pretty punitive you know just I have a I don't know I'll go back and ask yeah so to follow up on that if you go back to page two that at the top number six yeah should it be no more than four reservations per calendar year may be made by anyone applicant slash group yes I just don't know how you track that like and also but we do because we ask who the contact information is it gets it gets I think it's important to have it in the policy I I don't know and I think it's it's also covered like what we're trying to get at is also covered by recurring meetings not being allowed yes but we are doing a lot of programming and our scheduling is very tight right and we are not a a sizewise for the footprint of our building it is not a large building and there's only really two programming spaces and this one is small and the next one isn't much bigger is huge it's not like it's very difficult to yeah it's cozy it's you've been to some of the programs in there it's tight so we have a lot of programmers here our programs are full so there's if somebody wants to come in and do a reoccurring progr a reoccurring Pro uh meeting use it becomes very complicated for the staff to work around that because that limits us on when we can do our abely so I'm just trying to and it's not in our current policy and this is an issue which is why it's in this policy and there's no time frame set in our current policy there is no age set like anyone could come in there's nothing about them being an adult to use this space and in our current policy there is they also have to sign a release of claims if this is not an adult they shouldn't be signing this document and and do you know what I mean so there's some things that do really need to be addressed you do want I mean I I I personally think I I mean I wouldn't do I would let the Law Department do it but I could see where you could still use the same form and just say here and be um executed this on behalf of myself by the unders sign of jie or just by the unders sign so as as Larry said maybe have two that just says the individual you know where you don't even you would just put like a and then um executed as agreement This Day in the year of period and then period and you put the person's you know then you put name or an address maybe because you want to know where their what their address is or you have it whatever or telephone number and then you just have applicant signature and let them sign it I don't know why that would be a big deal but I would talk to the I would get a legal I wouldn't do I wouldn't change this without having my legal department and explain to them that what the concern here is is there will be individuals who will be renting this I mean not renting this rule but looking to reserve the rule to reserve the rule will this be is this sufficient can that person just sign on behalf of myself by the unders sign and then whatever okay or do I need as as Larry suggested an alternative so that that doesn't Happ to be just this one thing but I wouldn't do it myself can I ask a question about the actual meeting room policy does anybody have a problem with the actual meeting room policy other than the the legal part of theend well now I want to go back and ask right for some of these should it be individual as opposed to individual group or organization responsibilities now where are you I wouldn't go through the whole policy and remove any reference at all to organizations or groups I don't think that makes sense I I think that the question is who is signing and right I the point that that Larry made earlier I think we have to make it an individual also because who is this person and what Authority do they have to sign on behalf of well that's between exactly and I'm not going to follow up on that the whole thing becomes actually I'm not an attorney believe it or not but but but you act like one not um but I I would be concerned about someone just signing it and then it becomes completely unfor we have no knowledge that of we haven't Pro they have to sign as an individual I think have no followup to say you do actually work for the aabon right and they are approving this I'm not going that far I'm not finding that information out so I feel like it should just be the individual and that's between them and their employer or their organization to figure that next piece out that's my thought this is a very good conversation I thought right is interesting I like thought but this is why this is the benefit of this board right so I will go back thank you all I don't mean to cut this short but no no but then I will go back and ask the attorney does this part get removed and it just becomes the idual that's signing off on it or again I will ask does it need to be two separate things for but again I think it's probably just the individual because I'm not I'll ask the attorney Like Larry said you would think they would have to sign there you know if there was five people you would think they would have to sign it somehow too underneath that's how I would think I don't know right from all of his book group people would then have to come in and sign off on it yeah I don't know well that would discourage people from musing well and if somebody is booking I think the whole thing discourages people from we're not we're not trying to prevent some massive barrier I don't know I don't know I just that's my point and again if somebody is using the room right they might not know everybody that's coming in or how many people are coming in and privacy we're a library yes it's their meeting but we want to be mindful of people's privacy they might not want to sign in or sign this document and this takes them three hours to get that sign you know I think yeah to get everybody in deference to the fact that we don't we do want people to be able to use the media that's the whole point I think it's too much I did too yeah I thought it was over think we need to go back to the legal department and say can we remove the last as you said the last section the indemnification it's really intimidating language and I think it would put people off if they actually read it and we want people to use the pie okay yeah I I agree that was my thought to begin with that that who would sign right like we don't want we want people to be able to use the space right we also need to protect the interests of our patrons in the town and but help help us out our attorney and make it a little less so to be continued yes so we can't approve the first part great we're getting there you guys we're getting there be surprised now now now about taking this out and this I think Larry would agree with me we are trustees they could sue us as individuals it says well whoever what for whatever there could be a defect here that we don't know and maybe we should have known maybe the electrical system well there's Insurance the town has Insurance the building has insurance but that might protect you this chair is pretty un yeah one and they're going to go you know the library bought these chairs they should have known that they were defective to begin with no but that's that you never know I have a recurring back problem now that will plague me the rest of my life maybe I should get policy you know no but question the truth of the matter is when somebody's going to sue somebody because they've been injured in some way they're going to look for every particular person or entity that can be sued look what's happening in ammer now with the school the school department and there's a whole it's a whole big thing going on so so I'm gonna go back to the attorney there can that this this this um release of all claims it does protect the trustees as well as the town because and if you're an individual and you're inviting uh seven people to come in with you I mean who's going to be responsible for those seven people right the library no I wouldn't think so but I don't know you know because who knows you're not so this has to go back to the Law Department yeah and I and I think um we can't go farther with it until that happens till till so so we're not here all night let's September or October yeah or November I'll let you know we'll get that se find out October or November whether or not we need an individual if it's an individual to release it okay thank you all very much okay all right thank you Katie um and good input so let's move on so do I have to make a motion to to table this or anything no okay so we're all set okay okay uh the new business would be the Strategic plan yep so the Strategic plan um you have two documents here one I would love your input on which is the executive summary which is like that top piece yeah and then the next packet is the um the Strategic plan this was done in consultation with umle I use hly we use hly Consulting Deb hle is a strategic plan consultant we used her she helped us through this process I can't even read this s it's tiny I was trying to save paper it's very long and there's like six copies I had to print out so wow okay um but you can blow it up on your screen because I sent you the attachment you did I did where it was full-sized Sy all right thank you um so this executive summary is kind of like a summary of the content in here um so what happened is this was almost a year process us we had um Massachusetts library system come in they did a staff sore like so a staff input session which is compiled in here we did a um Community Focus Group which is also compiled in here that was run by Deb holey um Amy you attended that session on behalf of the board we had a community survey with more than 400 responses we sent it out to the entire town um we sent it out to the schools we sent it out to the COA Park and wreck we had it here in print in electronic format we had it on socials we had it on our website uh it went in the reminder we kind of blasted it as far and wide as we could and we took in more than 400 responses which was great and it was compiled um there was uh the supervisors and I met we discussed past needs the past strategic plan what goals we had accomplished what we still were working on um where we hope to be in the future and so all of this information came together in this document okay okay um so we have a new mission statement we have a vision statement and we have um so this when you're looking at the like the executive summary and then you go into the actual plan um we have our mission vision and values so those are all updated or new and then we have um kind of that next kind of four chunk there sorry to be flipping on know I read this good thing um it's kind of like what our goals are and broken down by kind of different categories and what we're hoping to accomplish over the next five years it's not an immediate it's what's our long range plan okay one of the questions I want just from you all is when you're looking at this executive summary instead of it's just a wording I want your input on so the mission statement we changed it to our purpose our vision statement we said our aspirations and then our value statement is our beliefs which is much clearer but I I we can we like the original had it like in parentheses oh okay so I don't know if I should add that back in I'm just kind of looking for Community input on that piece but um I don't see why so our purpose is our mission so the this is a new mission statement for us so the East Long Meadow Public Library supports lifelong learning literacy and cultural enrichment by providing access to information knowledge and ideas through its collections services and programs yeah our vision or our aspirations is the East Long medal Public Library aims to be Central to the town's growth and development responsive to the needs of the community and committed to Quality Service through positive interactions and a welcoming environment for all and then our values or our beliefs the eastl meal Public Library values those held by the American Library Association at access Equity intellectual freedom and privacy public good and sustainability and why did you say our beliefs was was changed from our values to our beliefs what was the reason for that so just to make it a little more concise so when you go into the full so this is just the summary but on page six of the full it's mission statement vision statement value statement and so it's kind of so this has been changed to our beliefs of our values so instead of saying value statement yeah what the library believes in we said our beliefs so this is kind of the I get it okay like the cliff notes version if you will and this is the full version does that make sense um please the the very first line of values beliefs it says the East Long met Public Library values those held shouldn't it read uh police Long Meadow Public Library values are those held by the American Library otherwise it doesn't quite make sense you got it there was something in there that wasn't Oh you mean the public library cover I wouldn't I still wouldn't put R in there but that's why this is why the group's here but I mean it it doesn't make sense otherwise then what is I can I can see say that say that again it the East Long Meadow Public Library values are those held oh yeah by the American Library Association yeah that's right yeah I think that's better you're right just where did you put our values are our right after those yeah those because we don't value those yeah right otherwise I I understand why they did this though okay I mean I yeah and and the only other thing that I would say is I guess I don't have any problem one way or the other but I I guess just the terms of art are recognized you know people know Mission Vision Values you know if you want to like reconfigure it and call it purpose aspirations and beliefs that's fine but you know I I guess people I I may be wrong but I guess so so what do you saying a great many people a great many people go back to already know what a mission statement is and a vision and a value if you're at all in business or all you know I don't like beliefs because that gets a sort of a religious connotation yeah to make it clear I guess just a cliff notes version if you will I mean it's not fewer words shorter yeah it's just different words it's not I mean cliff notes are usually a more succinct way the so I'm not married to one or the other this is why I'm asking that's why I know why it was changed is this a trend because if you're talking to just people who who aren't in business or something yeah um it's easier to understand okay what instead of a mission statement what do you mean about your mission stat it's it's your purpose okay okay and and your aspirations is what do you want to accomplish I actually really like the aspirations part do I was always like difference between a mission and Vision I don't know but this is helpful so know if there was another so the other way that it could have that so we were given several different options right from the consultant about how do you want this to look okay so one of the versions was mission statement and then in parenthesis the library's purpose and why it exists I just thought that was too much explanatory language so I didn't know if making it so there was multiple versions that we could kind of work with and then lot to put in you know no I think our Pur so when we're trying to be concise so this is kind of a more condensed version of this full but again what I'm assuming I is people are going to look more at this right than necessarily read the whole document right right but so if you're only looking at this what makes the most I'm asking for your input I I like our purpose purp is fine yeah it's fine fine um aspirations this is just really another word of saying our hopes MH but I don't like beliefs it sounds religious I think values has well it's values we value maybe you know well because it was kind of like the hour hour hour well you can still keep instead of hour hour like they're all kind of the same you could do our values our values yeah our values I like that if you Aspire right I can't it's not Bel more of like a Dogma rather than you know things that you hold because what and again it was we have lots of options which is nice yeah but if you look at page six of like the full um and there is a document that the consultant um I'm sorry so in page six of the of this um the value statement what the library believes in on metal public libraries values and then they're listed and we followed along with what and I had shared this with you all before in a previous meeting about the aa's values and that's that's what we're following y That's fine so we could change the kind of you Cliff Notes versions to our values instead of our beliefs it says here value statement what the library believes in so that's where we got belie I know I mean yeah I don't but if you think that values reads better than beliefs I can see where you were coming from yeah because I don't know I just can't I mean beliefs I don't I don't know why that bothers me what this it doesn't bother me kind of hard because it's beliefs are to me more personal than too I think they're the whole the whole thing is actually a little bit personal say that again it's very personal it's yeah I I I I think that that's probably a good way of saying it values is a more neutral kind of thing that people believe in maybe but they're not beliefs enough just say our values I mean yeah okay that's a good suggestion thank you okay okay any other suggestions not hearing any other suggestions no I don't have have none so what happens next is that um we will obviously release this to all of the places and send out thank you letters and um with this to like the community like a community thank you letter for your input because it was very helpful it was a very interesting process and now it's leading us to these new things that we're going to be looking at this is part of the I need different working spaces because it gets too loud and I can't do my remote calls or um I can't see because of the glare correct um I can't work because of so noisy right so or um I need ACC you know I need to be able to access this type of thing so we're going to change some of our collection or um you know to add on to our collection so that we have more offerings you know change up some of our databases maybe or make sure that we're promoting uh our State Library we're changing some of our program offerings like um so we're putting some things right exactly so we're putting some things into effect already you know we're reaching out and trying to do more Outreach events other Town departments I think uh having Saturday hours in the summer came out of that well that was if you look through some of the responses what people were asking for were Saturday Summer hours and exactly we have those already so there are some things that people were asking for that we already provide but obviously we're not promoting it enough or we're not reaching and let you know that right that's valuable information no I don't I I think it semantics really so maybe we had advertised this two years ago when this had happened but now we have some new folks in town that maybe weren't aware right so it's like yes we may be repeating some of this information but maybe that's a good thing maybe it's a good thing so um yeah so it's an exciting process and it gives us our next steps and what we're going to try to accomplish yeah within our community Y and I think this is good because nobody's going to go and read the rest unless they're going to sue somebody and looking for somebody I think people are going to read it line by line I think it's kind of interesting to see yes yeah so um there was you know some really positive feedback some constructive criticisms there were some suggestions and that's helpful and that's if if we don't know what you need you know this is a way for us to and people they're the one that's us and they see it from a completely different point and you want you want another forx CU you get so ingrained that everything looks normal fine well one of the really helpful things was you know what kind of tables do you want on the second floor so we're looking to replace the the furniture upstairs but I don't want us to spend thousands of dollars replacing furniture and that's not that useful if it's not what they need so if they want more two tops they want more um kind of comfortable seating well then we can look into that and that's why we have the architect in the interior designer that's going to help us provide that flexible spacing that they