##VIDEO ID:CUzKe_KD44Y## [Music] this is the November 12th 2024 meeting of the Acushnet Public Library Board of Trustees we are being audio taped and videotaped and we do have a quorum our first item on the agenda today is the secretary's report from October 2nd anyone have any clarifications or questions on those [Music] minutes not here nothing all right we can get a motion motion to accept the minutes um all in favor are I I thank you next on the agenda is the budgets so [Music] um under salaries um I know I say this every meeting we are close uh to what we should be spending for our salaries because there's not much wiggle room there except for the children's room assistant with so that means that they will not be a staff meeting this year um because of the holidays coming up so some paid up some staff will be getting paid for those holidays normally they don't work that day but for the contract they do get paid and then also for um staff emergencies um I'm not going to test the waters and and have a staff meeting uh this year after the holidays pass and um a little bit into early spring we'll take a we'll revisit to see where we are spent and then maybe have a staff meeting um right before summer meeting um but that's a maybe so if you don't mind my asking how does a staff meeting and I'm only because I had no knowledge of it uh how does a staff meeting affect the budget is it that you have to pay people to be there or yes so we usually have it cuz Fridays we don't open till 1 we usually have a 2hour window so like 10 to 12 where we're able to have a staff meeting but because our lines are so tight scared to push that in Cas there is an emergency um with staff um you know wor the last thing I want to do is close because we don't have enough staff because I can't have someone come fill in but that's why I want to leave it like that and um the holidays coming up the salary lines just go up uh the that goes up slightly up okay than but after that we'll see you're welcome um all right so uh that's regarding salaries uh energy so I got October's bill um this week so I submitted it for payment um so we are at 177% which is really good um and then I did some I pulled some numbers so from July to October of fy2 we have spent 2,8 $63 and then from July to October of fy4 we spent $2,921 on the energy so we're actually a little bit down yes so when it comes budget season oh it is budget season not when it comes it's here and we expected that to go up significantly yes so that's good news you know I I I I don't know so that is going so I don't know if the town worked with someone or or or what but the the bills are almost identical to last year so so far this time anyway so now we'll have to see what happens during the winter yes yes but that's great yes so um hope it stays that course I I do and I I really do and you know we are down you know less than 100 but you know we'll see what what happens um come the winter month so I think this week has been the most that we we've had the heat on I still haven't turned the heat on um so there's two separate HVAC units there's the ones that are in the ceiling and in the wall and then there's three that are in the entryways of the building that needs to be turned on um with a fuse box switch I haven't turned them on yet okay because you know October it was 70° there was no need to have the heat in the hallway um so I'm kind of really pushing it um to see how this week goes and then I'll look ahead into the forecast to see if there's any you know 70° weather coming up because we would be boiling um but right now they're shut off and um that could be a reason that the energy is a little bit less um because those we can't control North and South separate or are they the same they're so they they're recessed into the wall they're they're they're all the same so there's one in the in the the the STA um the staff entryway the deck entryway in the front and those just run continuously they the only way I can control them is shutting the fuse turning it on and off so in April I go ahead and shut it off and it's still off I would think this one you've got sunshine in I know this one must stay warm yep I mean they just throw hot air and it might affect the other HVAC unit that uses the computer program that we use to you know determine the temperature um um it's you know it's separate I don't know why you know like why it wasn't removed when these were put in um but that's a whole other right issue um the other thing I want to bring up is the telephone so I um received a telephone bill um and I noticed that the bill um had the our telephone bills are never um consistent so I noticed that the the the Verizon bill was actually there's four lines in town there's one here which is this is used for the fax machine there's one here there's one at the police station and there's two at the school department so what happened is that when another department doesn't use the fax machine the place who does use it fits the bill oh the entire belt so so I um and so you are in so you know we're a public building people use our fax machines um so what it is is the so to for through Verizon a line is let's say $12 so we pay $12 school department pays 24 cuz they have two and the police department pays 12 that wasn't happening so we use there was only a month where we didn't use a fax machine because we didn't have a fax Mach it was broken so somebody else got that bill apparently I I you know so starting this bill that this October bill that I just received they are now dividing it equally so everyone will pay their fair share of their $12 and then this it's like 17 cents for the call so we're paying a little bit above the $12 um I don't know how long this has been going um but I know starting today it will be fair um and I look you know when it comes FY 26 budgeting I can hopefully budget the telephone line a little bit better cuz right now I am very close I'm I'm halfway and you know we're not halfway through fy2 uh yet so um I have to be very um careful with with the telephone I which I have been with so hopefully going forward that um will no longer be an issue and it will be fair to everyone who has a fax line even if you don't use it that was a good catch thank you that was definitely good detective work all right so after that our materials so um um so our material line took a giant uh spent up um because I put money into hoopla we had I know I say this every month but our hoopla um borrowing was the highest ever so we had uh 431 borrows um last month that means our bill for hoopla was a little bit over $11,000 um this does come a state aid so when we do the I have to make sure I have to spend 16% of materials hoopla does count um so that and then out of the 431 borrows 70% were audiobooks so audio books are the thing um so I added uh more money to that because I didn't borrow all 400 of them I promise so it's just it's I probably had 30 but not all 400 my mind so the I'm very conf normally we would have put 2,000 in there but because it's just it's just gone up up up up I'm just going to put more than you know so I don't have to do this every month um and that's where we are right now so in for the entire regarding entire budget for fy2 we're at uh let's say 37% SP any questions about the budget before I jump on to statistics just a quick comment that you know going into the hoop that's good spending it is I mean it's good spending for us because it's it's absolutely Direct Services it is and you know it's gone up over the years and you know we don't know if they're physically coming into the library but we know they're accessing the services there you know and that counts for state aid and it and it counts as as Patron use you know yeah and I think too now that you know now that Co the the dust from Co settling and more people are going back to there's more of a commute so the people are they're back in the car they're back to not being you know not having as much time to physically read so at least if it kind of sort of helps with the traffic if you abely so I think it's it's taken you know how podcasts were the thing audiobooks have taken over definitely quick question on the sales bu line item it says it's 100% extended yes and that's our membership fee to sales oh so that's D yes that's a one time fee yes that's a one time fee that's that's all done and then the same thing with tech support that is tech support through sales so that's paid for to the to the news and that won't come up again until it won't come up until I I do have the figures so I'm doing FY 26 so I'm already putting those in um and there really good with I mean this was their estimate and it's exact excellent thank you and I will say that it's slightly down so good for sales I don't like it's like having a sale sale at sale will you like that yes we do yes we do so uh just quickly over statistics so from September to October um our computer sessions went up for October even though the people counter went slightly down um and then our study room use also went up in October I think that has to do with um school being back in sessioned um and then for computer sessions we've been noticing that there's a lot more I'm going to say they're high school students who are coming to use the computers which is always a fantastic site to see so I just wanted to mention that regarding the statistics and then that's it any questions about statistics so anyone else have any anybody have anything no all right uh we all set with the budget can we just get a motion motion to accept the budget second all in favor I thank you old business my favorite topic the last time the final the final thanks to John and Company the final update regarding the Portico or as some people call the awning on over the front door well we never thought this would come to an end but it looks like it has and it look beautiful it was worth I was going to say was worth the weight so worth the weight um it was a lot more work than I think everybody anticipated especially when it had to be put back in place as close to possible where it was so the the RO brothers did a really really nice job Seth and Noah former students nice to see that U no was out there describing it to the brick to try to get to fit just right and they did a really nice job of making sure that it's it's weathertight it's got a nice rubber membrane up there they even put a hard hat on top so that way any water that would blow towards the building won't hit it and just highway so we're good for another 100 years I guess good for another 100 Years be someone else's don't know I'm not going to be is yeah so they they did a really nice job on that uh I think it took them a few more days than they expected but at the end of the day they threw some stuff in they had at the shop the uh PVC molding so that those don't rot oh that's great so you good to go that wonderful great yeah it does um so I I have received the invoice from J Ro brothers so uh it ended up being [Music] $3,200 and then um so the trustees voted back in July 20122 they uh approved $4,000 from the stock kit fund so I do have the invoice here um that just needs to be signed and then we can submit this so that way they can get fantastic awesome so um I'm so grateful it's up there it looks fantastic uh we're just waiting now so we can install the light underneath and did uh did we reach out do we have an electrician so we are I reached out to um bris um brist Old Colony Old Colony sorry yeah Old Colony Old Colony and I'm waiting on a response to see if they would like to have some students come and and do um just install the light okay um so I I will reach out to the nutrician who did the walkway it wasn't I I wasn't here but I was told to you down on hlin the walkway okay and um like to keep it in house so uh we're just waiting on that um and it's not too bad cuz the light on in the hallway kind of shines out it's pretty bright that it shines out onto that side yeah so it's it's it's not that someone's coming into the dark but I mean it would be good to get that completed there are wise that are C but you know yeah just get it at least we don't have a hole in the wall true statement oh that is great John thank you again thank you thank you thank you it was really I know it was a lot of work and we appreciate you know the D Ro Brothers you know helping us out with that cuz it was a big it was a big project they were the right people to call it's just a matter of they're so busy it it's a it was a schedule yes I appreciate everyone took a lot longer than expected it's done but at the end of the day it's it's great and I don't know what we're going to do but we will not see the Portico on the agenda for the next meeting so we'll have to find something else to uh which I'm sure we will find something to fill it up um okay the next item is the flower bed so at our last meeting um I spoke that we were waiting on um if the stepping stones from new Beed would be able to use um or receive transportation from the cons and aging the answer is no so with that now on the back burn or you know completely out of the picture um we now have the Boy Scouts coming in I'm just waiting on confirmation um hopefully this Saturday at 9:00 and then the friends will be sponsoring their supplies so whatever they need great yeah so this was all done through the friends some of theirs in contact with the leader of the Boy Scouts and um I'm just wait this was set a few weeks ago but I just want to make sure that it's happening Saturday so I'm just waiting so I will be here um on Saturday in the morning um just to guide them I I don't know what I you know just explain why he going to tell them what to do right is that troop 11 troop 11 yeah they have great leadership over cuz um the they did the middle school or something in the Middle School recently um so I mean I just you show them what needs to be done you know where the piles of weeds are so I'm I'm looking forward to that and um hopefully by next meeting we'll have a cleaned up front yes are we going to try to get them like on a schedule I will speak to I will speak to the leader about it hopefully we can so like clean up now and then yeah we won't need them again yeah before the spring and then maybe one time during the summer or like every well they grow more frequently they wanted to plant bulbs and I was like no because we plant plant plant and then no one takes care so exactly we have there's bulbs in there believe me cuz I dug them up I didn't right well if if they're going if if this ends up being more of a longterm situation and they're going to take care of them then maybe we could look into having them plant something I mean I mean if they're going to if we can you know if we can come I mean I ideally I'd probably like to see maybe twice a month maybe or at least once a month in the busy the busy times I mean me like in the summer yeah like in this like I'd say from like maybe May June to like like May June July August September maybe once a month there there I mean I have to I I I don't know I mean what do you think what does everyone think I mean I don't think if they willing to I mean I'm thinking once because other than that they're just going to they're going to grow and then I mean we can't we don't want to wait for someone to complain about it to then have to try to get a hold of them to so if we just hit one a month and I think by the time they start to get to be unruly they'll be coming a I mean I don't know if they meet in the Su like I I you know I don't know yeah I don't know either but I maybe we could just speak I you know you know ask I will speak to to to Joe um and just see if we can have a plan you know going forward I mean to this in the winter obviously you know but once it's clean it'll be easier to me main absolutely um I mean just only because I knew when I looked it up to make sure that it's still there but uh to achieve ranking Scouts like to become first class to move from second class to First Class you've got to participate in six hour service projects so if you sort of approach The Voice Scouts and say hey this is a solid venue for your kids to meet their service requirement hours and um uh that might be something that would abely that's a great idea and it's a I mean it's a ongoing project so yeah yeah when I meet on Saturday um yeah see how it goes and then see if they're willing to you know do that and then we have the friends supplying the supplies but um Ian we don't even what is that like garbage bags or I mean like the brown bags bags so that's bags and then not bad I don't know if they have access to the the I say not the junkyard the way people throw their oh yes yes the barn y you know I don't know where what do they do with the weeds like you know I'll have to ask so they're they're coming at 9:00 on Saturday as of right now yes I'm just I'm just waiting on confirmation just to make sure cuz this was set about 3 weeks ago I just want to make sure you know but I as of right now I do they are planning to be here at 9: unless I hear elwives and let me ask I've got a relationship or had a long-term relationship with troop 11 okay um would you like me to come over and um I can frame that idea on the service hours to might as helpful as possible if you don't mind no I do definitely do not no no thank you that's great thank you one less thing for me to no I think that would be fantastic okay well I wanted to ask for great idea okay that is okay if you did you saved the day Alan well it's just that I know enough about it so I can say Hey you think of it this way you know your kids would have an opportunity absolutely to Mark those service hours pretty quickly Y and I don't have to look for a project you know yeah so that's it for the flower anything nothing else on the flower guys anybody no okay moving on to new business the FY 26 action plan so um our action plan um is due December 1st um because we are working with an outdated strategic plan um there's not much that can change for the action plan except for um me changing the date um last year I changed the um Patron Services advisor to supervisor um but other than that it's basically the same um any questions about the the action plan I yes um the first page yes attendance at the twain team programs will increase 15% um Is that real listic when I look back on the numbers for the past that's been a place we've had trouble getting kids yes so when we 15% is pretty high number it it is um um when we work on the new strategic plan I mean these goals might change it depends on what you know gets said at the meetings um but it's definitely not 15% yeah I would say because if you look at the numbers you put 3% for the other things um I would say 15% I mean this was the the what you see here objectives is what was developed during the Strategic plan so that 2017 to 20 so this was done was already in there yes all this was in there this is this is just the objectives and goals from the Strategic plan from so this was most likely the goals were most like most likely uh I don't know exactly when they started it but it was probably 2016 or maybe early 2017 so this these goals 1 2 3 4 5 are exactly what the Strategic plan um has and then the objectives are exactly what was decided upon um during the meetings there so I can't change any of this because we're working with an outdated but do I agree the number is high yes I always happy when I see a t in here um but this will be Revisited once we start working on on fy2 not FY the new strategic plan which you anticipate will be so that's my next oh next on the uh next the okay all right um so which leads me so updated action plan leads me to uh planning for the new strategic plan so our plan ended in FY 23 um so strategic planning right now is in the very very early stages um so what I am hoping to do here is just bring it to your knowledge of that I will be looking for trustees who would be interested in part of the strategic planning process with me um I'm going to do very similar to how Dena did it where we would have three meetings over over maybe less than over less than a year because I do plan on submitting the new strategic plan October 1st of next year so we um ideally I would like to have at least two trustees here um and you know I'm not from a chrush it but um we do need and you know you guys all are you guys have connections to the community so you might know people that would be um interested in being part of uh a stakeholder in to uh the planning or the new uh strategic plan um so the facilitator who uh is the person who conducts the UNS cannot be a trustee or the director so if you think of someone in mind that might be interested in doing that um for example the previous strategic plan um the facilitator was uh one of the select name um and then Community stakeholders um it's it could be anyone's uh for example last um strategic planning process uh there were two trustees two people from the friends of the library two Community reps so it's just people who are a part of the community or use the library um one was the business manager at the school at the time and um there was also I believe two businesses also involved so I'm not asking for names um I am not asking if you're ready to to do this unless you you know for sure you really want to be part of this um but if you want to be part of this you know if you want to think about it you can always contact me afterwards I'd actually like to volunte okay excellent excellent excellent all right oh of course it is and then um you uh and then from there I will have a little bit more of a timeline U what exactly what uh the meetings will entail um but right now um I just need to or put it on the radar of like if you have ideas of people who you think might be interested um I mean I know patrons and um and I can reach out to businesses also but um but you know there's only so much I know here and you know you guys are are live in the community and um um might have a better understanding of of of that so any questions about strategic planning or I assume that you want to try to get the people in place by um I would end of this year end of this I that's what I was going to say so that you can try to okay yep so all [Music] right all right and I will bring this up I'm meeting with the friends next week next week and I will bring this up there also and see if anyone um would be interested in in um participating in this so yes that's a good idea yes and the reason we do strategic planning is so that um I mean you can have an outdated some lities don't even have strategic planning is that you can apply for better GRS right which is good yes and then we have goals so work toward and things to do yes yes and it's outdated you know which is good little ambitious if you have the if you have the new strategic plan submitted by October 1st then this will follow up and then it will be updated and so this would be the not if I we this would be the last year then I'm submitting a outdated action plan excellent yeah and then this gets submitted to uh the state um so that they have it on file perfect okay well I will definitely think about that okay y like I said you know think about it and if you know you can just contact me um we can take it from so we'll probably be talking about strategic planning a lot this that's okay it can replace the portica one thing at a time abely um do you need us you need a motion for us to accept the um the action plan the action plan can I get a motion motion second all in favor I thank you okay the director's report so the director's report um just some um highlights um so before I left on vacation the cultural local cultural grants were due so I submitted those um I applied to ACC cushion Dartmouth G Haven Freetown mapet new Beth and Rochester wow little ambitious this year um the wor thing they could say is no but you know I highlight we highlighted the summer concert series um and I really really pushed into that you know these communities are our our top five borrowers so we'll see um I think they're voting on things and maybe January we'll we'll get a response um so under town uh action items for the town um this Monday I will be attending a master plan meeting um with a town planner so that is is new um I am excited to meet her um and see what the meeting is about and this would be held at the police station or conference room at the police station um also in under Town items I met with a Town Administrator on uh the 10th to discuss FY 26 budget um and I have started that um I have um the contractual items the ones that I have like for sales I have that all set um I have this like my salary and Sandra's salary that's straightforward unfortunately um the tech tech um staff so tech teex one Tech 2 Tech 3es their Union contract is expiring so I am going in blindly with this but I am I do have previous contracts so usually it's the chart it's 3 three and two so I'm working with that so it's going to be a really really rough estimate um but other than that you know like the telephone I'll have a the energy might be a little bit different but I am still working on that and I will reach out very shortly to the the the finance committee on the trustees um then uh did you get any indication there are any [Music] problems problems I I think it will be similar to last year um I know that the Town Administrator wants to have the budget in as soon as possible and that's what I was told um I don't know I guess it depends on what other departments pull in um to uh John and I had a discussion about Crea creating a list of building maintenance um and then I found a capital plan the other day on the computer so I will be sending you that yes because it is outdated some things have already been done but we're going to sit down one of these days do a walk through go through the build yes yep oh good like as far as like cosmetic things or as far as like like changing filters and whatever so I would start off with a list of priorities yep um there are certain things that need to be done back here the post is loose okay um the door needs adjusting the deck there's a spot that that's starting to get little bouncy so that needs to be fixed the uh sign out front um was never cemented it was just put in the dirt so the sign has a big crack in it could be fixed but the poles need to be they should be cemented in the ground um just little stuff like that the Sills out front on the Windows uh need attention before they rot and then you have bigger problems so those bit I sat down actually we sat down with Seth when he came to show walked him around the building and um see if those guys can take care of those things I mean it's nice to have Old Colony but you really can't count on them to be here right um so these things nip them in the bud before they become liability problems did did Seth seem like he was interested was able to help out okay a couple things that we uh showed Seth and he's going to get back to us with a an idea of the price that'd be great um especially that sign out frun yes I'm afraid that once we I mean even this this week has been kind of windy as far as and then that wind just comes yeah yeah and it just yeah there's some good size cracks in that sign and then hopefully they can we can save it before it actually like yeah yeah nothing that can't be fixed it's not that bad yeah which which is good that's definitely good but it need some than El so maybe by the next meeting we'll should so I'm going to come in one day Elizabeth and I have a bigger discussion about yeah these little things and say look like the window sills I never yeah like but it it is splitting and it does need to be okay yeah so I'm going to come in one day and we'll I'll take a legal bad and we'll walk around the building and we'll start dressing things um you know regular maintenance stuff you should probably have a monthly schedule like you know o September you know make sure the boilers are tuned up if you got them just other thing get ready for winter and then in the spring make sure the AC's are all fine and uh just the mechanical stuff other than that you know check the roof twice a year for leaks of penetration problems yeah which I the capitalist does have that the roof was put in 2016 so and I think the warranty for 30 years so hopefully I won't be you should get 20 to 30 years you never know I just drink myself but yes I will I will send you that the list yeah so we'll work on that part so that way you don't have to worry about the buildings or excellent get sudden surprises when something falls apart and now you're paying three times as much instead of addressing it when it perfect that sounds like a great plan all right so um and then just to wrap up slightly uh to wrap up um um just to highlight some events so we do have Lori is a children's room assistant we'll be hosting a sewing one 101 workshop on Saturday November 23rd at 12 and so far we have seven people whove signed up wow yes so people really want to learn to sell which I think everyone should know how to do um and then we have a water I can put a button on y um we have a art class with Lana Quan um who was here I believe last year um this is on December 12 at 6 and they will be doing watercolor on a note card and um wooden ornaments so you can sign up for that um we do it's a limited number of spaces and then is she the 12th of the second the second sorry December 2 the sign up has to be faster yes and then the friends of the library will be having their wreath sale SL jewelry sale SL blind date with a book sale on Saturday um November 30th from 10: to 12 um and that's it for the director's report I don't remember the date I was in and then we will also welcome back Cameron shave in December um I don't have a calendar for me uh I think it's the 18th Wednesday the 18th at 6 so come in we'll have some holiday refreshments Wednesday is the 18th perfect I think that was the night they were fabulous last year great and they were here in the summer they were good yes they're very Lively and you know it's we don't have the 19th the nth Pete's Orchestra in here there's about eight or seven of them in this room and you can hear it throughout the entire Library yes yes to get in the holiday spirit absolutely all right any questions about the director's report I don't have anything anybody else no okay now let's see if we can set up the date for the next meeting um so it was was originally supposed to be Wednesday December 11th and I can't make that day so we can keep it that day and someone else can sit here or we can do a different day um I I could do the 12th that week you know I like Thursdays I mean Thursdays are okay with me you want to do Thursdays sure 12:30 if uh yes if that works or I can also do the fifth whatever works for 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 24 12 12 24 at we can even do noon really want to keep it that way is 12:30 good would would would you rather do noon well 12:12 we can do 122 noon is better but see whatever else Matter's fine have a preference noon's fine it's fine with sounds good okay so the next meeting is going to be 122 at 12 okay all right well that that was good um so we have no other business nobody has anything else we just need a motion motion to adourn Second all in favor all I thank you this November what's the day no it's not the 12th 14th the November 14th 2024 meeting of the Christian Public Library Board of Trustees is officially adjourned it is 1 12 thank you [Music]