Gay-Kimball Library

Board of Trustees Meeting

March 6, 2008

Present: Beth Richardson, Jan Jones, Catherine Callegari, Kim Rounds, Monica DaSilva

Public Comments: The meeting opened with a complaint from a patron. Kim Rounds is upset that her 8 yr. old son borrowed an R rated movie from the library. Catherine asked if before the discussion started she could read the Collection Development Policy which clearly states that the Library will not limit what items a patron may borrow. Kim then stated her complaint, and read from a letter she drafted.  She stated that when library cards are issued to children in first grade, parents are not given a copy of the rules and regulations. She states that she wasn't aware that the library even had R rated movies, and wants to know why this allowed. Catherine explained that the purpose of the library is to serve the the public including the adult population population. It is the policy of the library to allow access to all materials to all patrons. If a parent is interested in limiting what their children may borrow, then a note can be placed on their account. This has been done on numerous occasions, and Catherine said that she would be more than happy to do it for Kim. Catherine went to on to explain that she polled other libraries in the state, and 14 don't regulate what patrons can access, several used to but do not anymore, and a few allow only adults to check out any movies.  Kim went on to restate much of what she had already said regarding her feelings about this, and to explain that other parents were upset and more parents would be upset if they knew. Catherine said that she would be more than happy to talk to those parents and to have them come into the library. Catherine said again that she would put a restriction on the child's account, and Kim went on to say that it was OK for her 13 year old child to watch some rated R movies, but she basically just had a problem with the particular movie that he had borrowed. She feels it is too offensive to be in the library. Catherine stated that while she isn't interested in seeing the movie, it has been very popular amongst other patrons and that is why she has it. The goal of the library is to community not just a part of it. Monica mentioned that due to the 5 movie per account limit, she often checks out movies on her children's accounts and would be very upset if the library imposed a "no R movies for children" policy. She doesn't feel that this is a big issue and doesn't feel that the library needs to be doing a parents job. Catherine went to on explain that she (with the backing of the Trustees) would be more than happy to post a notice at the library regarding the policy, post the information on the website, and put a notice in the Troy Town News, but not alter current library policy. Kim said that this would be fine, and asked for a letter stating the outcome of the situation. Kim and Monica left, and the meeting continued as follows.

Finances: There is currently $10,000 in the library account. All outstanding bills have been paid.

Librarians Report: 1,109 patrons visited the library in February, which included 10 new patrons. This was up from 942 in 2007. 2,408 items circulated out of the library, up from 1,864 items in 2007 and the computers were used 167 times. We discussed what might be driving up the circulation number and speculated that it might be due to the weeding out of old materials, making things easier to find and navigate.

Old Business:

1.     Jan is moving. Jan has found a new house but unfortunately it is not in Troy. She will stay on as a trustee through April and we will look to find someone to replace her. Jan has been a fantastic treasurer and she will be greatly missed.

2.     New Shelves: The shelves are up and full of books and they look fabulous. Catherine removed 502 older, non-circulating books and there is plenty of room for new books to be added in the future. The old shelves are all spoken for and will be gone in the next few weeks.

3.     Hot Soup Social: The hot soup social is scheduled for March 8^th from 4-6pm or until the soup runs out. Jan, Beth and Kathy will supply crock pots. A patron who wishes to be anonymous has donated a large amount of chocolates for the social. Catherine will be picking up the bread and soups on Saturday afternoon.

4.     Roof leak and Insurance: The insurance company has issued the checks for the repairs needed due to the roof leaking. The remaining items will be addressed by Harold in the spring.

5.     Craig Brandon Program: Kathy talked to the Historical Society and they are willing to pay ½ the cost of Craig Brandon coming to the library for an evening. Catherine has been in contact with Craig and he is only going to charge us $150. The event will be held on Wednesday April 16^th.

New Business:

1.     Sick leave for part-time employees:  A lengthy discussion was had regarding length of sick leave for employees. The library policy states that any action detrimental to the library or its patrons is cause for separation. Due to an employee being out for an extended period of time already, we've decided to cross train Angela so that she can be a back up when the library is short of staff.

2.     Video/DVD Policy:   See above regarding the actions to be taken regarding notification of the DVD/Video policy.

3.     New at the library: Catherine has ordered a people counter that will be installed at the door to automatically count the number of patrons that come through the door. This will give a more accurate count of patrons visiting the library, and take the pressure off of the staff to keep an accurate count.  Due to several teens causing damage to items in the children's room, Catherine has ordered and will install 2 cameras in the children's room. Harold is going to fix the gate that goes across the door so that it will latch properly.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday April 4^th at 7:00