Library Trustee Minutes (Draft), August 14, 2018
Tyringham Library Board - Draft Minutes Tuesday, August 14, 2018
The Library Board met at 2:00pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at the Tyringham Library, Tyringham, MA. Trustees present: Mary Garner (Chair), Kate Van Orman, Catherine Mardula. Members of public: Carol Hardy-Fanta.
Mary called the meeting to order.
Appointments:
Catherine made a motion to nominate Mary Garner as librarian for the year, which Kate seconded. All three trustees voted in favor.
There was some discussion about which of the trustees should serve as chair for the year. Mary pointed out that while she has been serving as both library director and board chair in recent years, the two positions do not have to be held by the same person. The trustees consulted the Massachusetts Public Library Trustees handbook for clarification of the library board chair’s responsibilities, which mainly include organizing board meetings and serving as a spokesperson for the trustees when necessary. Catherine made a motion to nominate Mary Garner as chair for the year, which Kate seconded. All three trustees voted in favor.
Policies:
Mary passed around a copy of the library’s collection development policy, which was last updated in September 2013. Some of the financial statistics provided in the document’s introductory section had become outdated, but the trustees reaffirmed the general body of the policy. To summarize, when the library is trying to decide which books to buy, its highest priorities will be “adult fiction, best sellers, popular authors and books by authors with a proven demand in the community,” “adult non-fiction including biographies and topics of current interest,” and “videos of recent movie releases and classics for which there is a demand.” When more space is required, materials that are judged to be “dated, inaccurate, seldom used, in poor condition or otherwise no longer appropriate,” will be removed from the collection. Since the trustees have recently sorted through the fiction collection in the last few years, Catherine suggested prioritizing collection maintenance in the back room of the library, currently home to the nonfiction and children’s books, for the upcoming year.
Cataloging:
As the library currently does not have a full inventory of the books in its collection, Mary and Catherine have been researching ways to create a catalog for the library. After looking into several options, the board agreed to try out TinyCat, an online catalog program for small libraries. Catherine is going to catalog the Tyringham Library’s movie collection for a test run of the program, then gradually work through the library’s other materials. Mary suggested that this job would go more quickly with help, and Carol volunteered.
New Business:
Some members of the public have come forward and expressed interest in the library becoming state certified. Catherine made a motion to form an ad hoc committee to research the process, community interest and potential sources of funding. There was some concern that becoming state certified would be a difficult task, but there were no concerns about forming an exploratory committee on the issue. Mary seconded the motion and all three trustees voted in favor. Catherine will chair the the Library Development Committee and look into getting started with committee business in the coming months.
Carol and some community members are trying to put together a knitting/sewing club and they have requested permission to host meetings in the library. The trustees expressed no objections to community groups meeting in the library during closing hours, as long as one of the trustees would be around to let them in. Carol will look into a time that works best for her group and then work out the details with Mary.
Catherine made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Kate seconded the motion and all three trustees voted in favor.