Board of Library Trustees - Regular Meeting

Hi, everyone.

I'm calling to order the meeting of the Ruben Moore Library Trustees on Thursday, June 11th, 2026. Sam, any correspondence? No.

Okay.

No, she is not joining us. Yes. Sam, building updates?

So the one from Metal Gate, So the part that Eric fixed is hanging on. It's the other parts that are starting to come off now. They're starting to come off the track. So it looks like something happened where it got stuck on something, and so it pulled them off the track. So we're just waiting for the access to the lift so that Eric can go up there and just put them back on there. But it's fine. It's not going to cost anything. It's just he has to...

It's functioning for now?

Yeah, it's working. No, the metal A. Yeah, and then Tim is going to do a museum combined look at the hill at some point next week, and we're going to discuss that. He's been waiting for it to grow in. He doesn't think it's grown in enough yet, but he said he'll take a look now and see how it's doing.

So that, just so we're clear, is Tim Pearson from Conservation Agent and He's coming to look at just to make sure that the coverage in the hill is adequate to close the watershed. And Tim, you can email us an update after you meet with Tim. Sure. If it's not any steps we need to do to continue to work towards that goal.

That's it.

That's it. Okay. So meeting in prior minutes, does everyone have a chance to review the minutes from the May 14th meeting? Can I get an elimination to approve? I move to approve the entire list. Everyone in favor? Aye.

Thank you.

I lost my report. State aid is $33,196.92. MMDT has $15,782.37. Gift fund has $5,790.54. The building gift has $30,743.71. And VLC has $686,044. The LEED has $116,895. And the BARS month ending statement value is $1,987,883.14. Thank you. Any questions? And that's stable.

Okay.

David, friends report. Friends, on May 20th, they reported final book sale numbers in all sort of aspects of what got collected. 47, 20. Yeah. Okay. They reported the coffee cart is still costing more than intake, but not in a dramatic or worrying way. Yeah, but it's up and running. They bought more snacks and were near the end of their total. He didn't spend that many months. So because they're going to be off the next few months, they approved putting $1,800 more into the fund that covers . The SAM requested $7,500 to contribute to block party and fall and winter programs. that are anticipated. The plot for it is Wednesday, August 19th, and it's going to then come to fruition. So they approved those plots. They are beginning to plan for a stuffed animal sleeper event, children struggling with God for second learning. Do you know what that is?

I do. OK. That was our original startup advocacy from Wood Building when we had to come for story time and activities. It was like a family night. Everybody could go to different rooms and do different things. And then our stuffies spent the night, and our wonderful children's library staff had them have adventures and took pictures of them. And then they all got tucked in, and then they got picked up in the morning with some pictures of their animals' escapades. It was fun. It was a fun event.

Yeah, they were very excited about doing it.

That's a good idea. I get so mad when we do a bit of law.

It turns out to be kind of labor intensive. It is. We stop the animals around.

I think NIH has a library committee. Not NIH, sorry. That's my job. NHS. NHS. That's a library committee. We know all the acronyms. And my daughter's going to be heading that group. So Sarah, she takes my support.

They did yet another round of excruciating analysis of a mini-golf event. So it might be... and perhaps tweaked aspects of the Friday night experience. They were all over the place, big and small tweaks, and how to address the pieces of the event and the enthusiasm to proceed with the road.

Refreshing?

Either, yeah, make it less burdensome to do something that's eroding, revitalizing. So it's more like that, but at least they're working on a date with the PC. And I think that's the end of my report. I think friends, they won't be needing to honestly.

Did they need a winter license? That's it.

That's all the friends. Thank you, David. Mike, Eric,

Okay, just because I wasn't here, I was missing from the minutes again.

Sorry, his name is missing from the minutes. He's at the meeting. So should we take him up to amend first? Yes. So Steph will amend the minutes to add Mike. Sorry, Mike. So can I get a second every second?

I'll give you college energy.

Yes, I get a motion to amend the meeting that you just approved for last week to add my state. I'll second that. All in favor? Aye.

Sorry. I'm not sure that it pays time to finish. This is a busy meeting.

No, it's okay. It was your first time. It's okay.

Okay, so on May 13th, I got an email from the one at the Millbury Public Library. Well, actually they sent it to the info at Littleton and they forwarded it to me asking about our sort of experience with Rokus here in Littleton. She had a bunch of questions like, you know, costs, how they fare, damage, privacy issues, stuff like that. So I sent her a good response email sort of explaining my experience with them here and in previous libraries I've worked at. In May, I did 26 notaries, which might be a record for me. Let's see. With MVLC Tech Services, I asked them to merge four typical records in the catalog. I had softcover ISBNs to two records. Jen gave me four outdoor exploration kits that was donated by the Discovery Museum. So I had to catalog all those and mark everything up and sort of get them ready for circulation. So that was fun. We got a book donated called the Home Happiness Botanical Workbook, which I could not find a record for anywhere. So I had to put it in manually in the system. Then I got a message from BLC because they found a botanical handbook title rather than workbook. So we sort of went back and forth on how to um handle the situation and basically just agreed that we'd put both titles in the records and assume that they were the same i don't know why there's a difference but otherwise it was weird uh asco came up with a new uh way to mark the hot books so instead of the paper on the outside which ran into breaking and falling off she added um you know like caution tape she added that sort of underneath the cover that she puts on. So it's nice and protected and won't fall off. And it's also easily removable. So it's nice. I talked to Tracy about it just to make sure that it's a little less visible than the paper, but they all seem to figure we give it a try and they sort of seem happy about it. So we'll see how that goes. I think we're going to keep, she's going to use up a stock that she had of the stock bands and then We'll switch over whenever those are done. And then Jeff gave me a bunch of really old books to put into a little history. A lot of them from like the 1890s and early 1900s, which was kind of cool, but they had four records in the catalog. So I worked with MBLC to update them. In all, nine were updated, one duplicate was merged, and a five-volume set was merged into one record. for programming. On May 23rd, we had Philip Yield, I'm going to say. Probably not pronouncing that right. He presented his News Media and the Misinformation Age. Three patrons attended. Yay. On the 27th, we're going to be doing a program called Music and Memory. I'm going to be working with the Council on Aging and the Center over there with them on that. And then on August 11th, Rachel Benson, who did a program in April called Painting with Wool, it's going to be back. It was very successful and full and had a big, long wait list. So hopefully that'll happen again. We're limiting the registrations to Linfield patients only. And people who already attended the April 28th program will also be automatically waitlisted until August 4th. And right now I think we have like five people signed up and eight or nine on the waitlist already. So that's good. Yeah, they seem to be popular. And she does a she does one for like each season. This is her summer one. So if this is popular too, I might just keep rotating her. And then last is just sort of the number of stuff that was cataloged for the past four weeks, which will be kind of interesting because this is at the end of the year. So the numbers are low and they will probably get increased as we go. So that'll be fun to watch.

Is that it? Yes. Dan, do I have your report?

Sure. SO DANIELLE AND AMY SPUN OUT AS CERTIFIED LAST WEEK. THEY ATTENDED CERTIFICATION TRAINING THAT THE TOWN WAS PUTTING UP. WE RECEIVED 24 APPLICATIONS FOR THE OPEN LIBRARY SYSTEM POSITION. MIKE TRACY AND I DID THE FIRST INTERVIEW TODAY. WE ARE GOING TO BE INTERVIEWING FIVE OR SIX PEOPLE. AND THEN WE ALSO RECEIVED THREE INTERNAL APPLICATIONS FOR THE LIBRARY TECH POSITION. so i'll be um mike and i will be interviewing those people next week um and since it'll be a library assistant that we're promoting we're going to be choosing two people for the current open library system that makes sense um so hopefully we get two good candidates um been attending an online ALA human resources crash course. So far we've met, we've actually met twice now. So far we talked about how to properly format a job description, job posting, how to go about choosing someone to hire and choose applications and all the legal stuff behind that. And Yeah. So, so far so good. It's, it's online. It's led by two, one former library director and one current library director. And they both don't really have HR departments. So they kind of do all the HR. So they're sharing what they know. I think they're in Illinois, but everybody it's for people across the country. Staff underwent some basic ADA training on May 26th in Town Hall. It was a required training for a grant the town was going for for ADA. So everyone who worked with the public was required to attend. So we all, pretty much everybody on the staff attended that. And it was interesting, but honestly, there's a lot of stuff we already do. So that was good to at least hear.

Good findings.

Yep. And then on Tuesday, Detective Sergeant Pablo Fernandez came and he offered us civilian response to active shooter events training. And that went well. The staff learned a lot. They had a lot of questions for Detective Sergeant Fernandez. And that's pretty good. Staff performance reviews are completed and submitted to HR. uh, everyone pretty much received the good review or excellent review and no major issues to report. Uh, everyone who is eligible for a step increase will receive one in the new fiscal year, which starts on July 1st. And, uh, we are now accepting applications for artists to display their work in the gallery. Um, I posted it online. So, um, we've received a few applications, applications already. And, uh, that will close on June 30th. Um, And then at the end of the month, I'll be attending an ALA conference in Chicago from June 23rd to the 30th. And then when I come back, that'll be like a couple of days before July 4th weekend. And we're closed on Friday anyway. So instead of just coming in for a day, I'm just going to take the rest of that week off. So I'll be back on July 6th. And MVLC voted to approve moving forward with the new ILS system from Equinox called Evergreen. And so right now their lawyers are talking to our lawyers and basically figuring out everything's good. And then once that's done, we'll begin moving forward with the rollout within the next few months.

Have you seen that system?

So we used to have Equinox, and then we got rid of it because it was an older version that was terrible. But then, like, the year after we got rid of it, they drastically improved it. And so Mike has actually worked with it before. He likes it. So, yeah, so we took a look at the demos, and it looks pretty good so far. It's a web-based system, pretty user-friendly. I don't think other staff will have a hard time with it. Yep. And then financially, we're on track for the end of the year. No issues to report there. And the rest is just the stats. Any questions?

Okay. I have questions about the definition of inhalator circulation looks much larger than it was two years ago. And I was just wondering if there was any insight into what trends are those, just because we're getting Westford's people coming to get things, are those trends e-books or electronic material for being circulated more? Is there any things we learned from other sizable junkets?

It goes up and down every year.

The definition didn't change, though.

No. It's probably larger this year because of Westford patrons, definitely. But It's not a staple thing. It's something that goes up and down.

I've been looking over the last few months and it's been like consistently 30% higher than two years ago. It doesn't match the same door count increase. So I was just kind of curious what's

So I've been...

It's either a definition change of what's being captured in that number or there's something else in there.

No, so I have been focusing on buying more of the best sellers so that I might have something to do with it.

I mean, I'm assuming Westford Patrons coming here is...

Right, Westford Patrons. Yeah, there's a lot of factors that go into it, but...

I didn't know if there's any lessons learned. No, definitely not either. True. They probably may be adopting choices of borrowing versus buying. Yeah. And then I was just thinking of, as I was looking at the new library assistant positions and, you know, you've had retirements, you've had a lot of people leave and new people come. And I was just realizing I would love a new staff list of who's where and what staff position just for, just to wrap my hands around where everyone is right now in terms of what role they're playing on the staff. Like, do you have another staff chart or? If you don't mind updating one, it would be really interesting just seeing it. Is it in the sheeted thing? Yeah. With names?

Not with names.

Okay. It's really just curious where people are currently. I'm having trouble keeping it track in my mind and visuals. If there's a way to look at where people currently are in roles and if there's any anticipated departures or more retirements or whatever. Just curious. It's been a lot of change, so I feel like nearly every month there's a new confession about you having to do an HR work with them for a new posting. Maybe not ever. That's an exaggeration, but a number over the last year with retirements and whatnot.

Okay.

Thanks.

Any other questions for Sam? Thank you. Okay. Old business. Charter community updates. I have no new updates. Okay.

Thank you.

Sam, strategic plan.

So I sent out the strategic plan that Barbara and I worked on. It is not final. So if you have any changes, I can, I know I sent you guys the Google doc of it, which I think

We can't comment on it, because then it becomes a competing issue. There are things I would love to give feedback on before we finalize this, just in terms of small things, but then... But I think maybe spending time on the objectives is really where we discuss.

Yeah, I heard one sort of... One thing struck me as strange, and that was the descriptions of desired adult services. I thought That sounds like a tactic that would serve as a strategic goal rather than...

I agree with you there.

And so I'm not sure it belongs in the strategic plan document itself.

Yeah, that was something Barbara kind of pushed for.

It has to be there. I would embed it in goal number three, where it seems like it's really most relevant. Okay. Or I would say after the one big step that I've leveraged to achieve it. both one, three, and six would be to hire, well, sorry. Like, and I was- It serves multiple purposes. Because otherwise it feels like it's solution-like for a problem, because you're describing it before you share the evidence for why it's needed.

Yeah, I agree with that.

It's just a, you know, in terms of document, narrative, trajectory. Okay.

Yeah, I definitely, and in that, because it, to me, read much more like advocacy, like it was really calling out this is why this is a position and something we are clearly going for in a five year plan right and we've talked about this before so this isn't a new thing I think putting it in writing in this document I think I just want to make sure that there's clarity over is it a position we're asking for or is it a whole department it was a little bit blended in those I read it both ways and so it was a little bit I just want to make sure we're crystal clear about what we're asking for in there. And I do think having it in the strategic plan aligned with the objective so we can show where it's needed and why. I think it does then serve as a memorial for the reasons why we need it. And that might actually help us later on as we're talking to FinCom and the select board advocating for the role, like laying it out there and clear, grading, is really important, I think, for that next step.

I think a strategic plan lays out these goals and doesn't commit ahead of time that you already have only one solution approach to meeting these goals. Then when you come forward with a request for exposition, the document doesn't predispose people in any direction. So that would be the reason. It's easy not to mention it explicitly.

Yeah.

or to only mention it as one of the possible ways to achieve the goals.

I do think the information in there is important to keep at our fingertips when we need it.

And so the other thing, if you relocate it, I wouldn't put the red font title of the non-existent person on the org chart either. They aren't there yet. And so really the early part of the strategic plan is telling What have we learned through talking to our focus groups? And then what are our goals coming out of that?

Then it could be, here's a way to use one power. We support multiple. Does that make sense, Sam?

Yep.

And I have emailed Sam that I would like to see the library hill slash slope listed somewhere in goal five. Might list it.

Yeah, I didn't want to write on this document, but I also haven't taken the time to download it and then make my own comments in it. So I'd like to have time today to share it. Okay.

So why don't you all separately send me edits? Does that work?

Yeah, you can call us all of our thoughts into one thinking and present it at the next time you need. Do we want to share it and decide it? Do we want to just review the bullet and make sure we're all aligned that we've heard the goals we want. This is our purview, our responsibility, so I don't have to announce the time to talk about them.

And I'm assuming we don't need to help them with the title stuff. There are a little things.

There are little things.

Yeah. At all. It's like that.

Yeah, we definitely want this.

I do think this is a document I see having at our fingertips to share as we go around to various other boards or the town administrator or manager or whatever model we get going to just so that we can explain that's where we are and this is how we're getting to this five years from now. It has to happen. Absolutely. It should be posted in public.

I agree with you. So goal one is strengthen communication, community awareness, and engagement to ensure all residents are informed about and connected to library services, programs, and resources.

I think that came out pretty strongly in the focus groups that people are looking for ways to connect to information about the libraries. Bill ones. Are we just looking at the goal goals?

You can do major goals. Or do you want to look at a checklist?

I think the problems went through this part.

Goal two is to enhance collections and resource access by providing timely, relevant, and diverse materials that reflect the evolving needs and interests of the community. Goal three, promote information literacy and digital confidence by empowering the community to effectively navigate information, technology, and emerging tools such as artificial intelligence.

That was the goal, right? I thought the Adult Services Library could be focused directly on people's steps that you could achieve.

It's hard to achieve without somebody spending a lot of steps. Or expand youth and educational support services to promote academic success, creativity, and overall development of children, teens, and families. Then goal five, advanced sustainability and environmental responsibility by integrating environmentally conscious practices into library operations, services, and community engagement. And this is where you want it. I think that's the right sign. Okay. Goal six, strengthen the library's welcoming community space by positioning it as a safe, inclusive, and vibrant third space in quotes for all residents.

That's the last goal.

Yeah.

Okay.

I think all of these came out pretty strongly in the feedback we got from focus groups and other conversations I've had. Sam, do you think these are all achievable within a five-year period? Are there any that you are concerned about? No. I mean, anything that's in here, if more information is gathered, we can change course.

Right. No, I think it's fine.

Okay. And do you think these will serve the library?

Yes, they do.

We don't need to go to improve it or anything, and then we'll allow any other visual artists to do it.

Yes. And ahead of our next meeting, so if he has time to edit, we'll pick the meeting later, I know. Try to get them how much lead time ahead of that meeting.

Well, I'm also going to Chicago.

So it would be later July or early August.

Yeah, so that should be.

We're meeting on July 3rd, and you must.

Sounds good.

No, it's Friday.

No, the 4th is actually Saturday. I know. That's why I said July 3rd. Oh. So we're all good on the strategic plan for now? Mm-hmm. I think it's a good start. Can I just see it kind of coming together to tell the story of where we are, where we need to go? So if everyone could just review it, and if you have any comments, just email Sam directly, please.

So assuming we're not having a July 3rd meeting, is a week ahead of the advance of the meeting enough time for you at most, or do you want it earlier?

We could have this one. Library director contract.

Oh, that's neat. All right, so where we left the saga, we had all reviewed at the last meeting and approved the contract as written and shared last meeting. So I took that document, cleaned it up, and shared it, as I said I would, with the town administrator. And I checked in with our town treasurer just to make sure that they think we can fund it. We can. She did not anticipate any problems. And the TA said, thank you for keeping me in the loop. And keep going, doing what you're doing, Sam. So glad that Sam is continuing. And so at this point, we need to, at the end of this meeting, we should sign, unless there are any further changes, this is it. OK. I don't think there's any edits. It's been through the entire process multiple times at this point, so at the end of this, maybe we should sign it before we depart and then get Kimberly to sign as well. And then it goes to the town treasurer for a signature, and then it goes to the... Jim doesn't sign it, right? Jim does not sign it.

We have to keep him in the loop. Right.

It's important that he knows what's happening. Yeah, I think it's just me, you, and... And then he goes to the treasurer and then back to HR so they can put it in the computer system. We should get a scanned copy before it disappears completely, but... So anyway, we're at the part where we can hire Sam effective July 1st on our new contracts. Thank you for letting me work on that. You're welcome. And the next time, three years from now, somebody... We'll need to take out this link until, if I'm still on the board, it can be with me so someone can train under it, but I think we'll need a succession plan. Am I still not here?

It seems like the last time we did this was with you.

Year of an election.

Right, so I think it's you. Yes, it's me.

Felicia, it's me. It's fine. I think everyone in town has been delightful to work with and really helpful. So hopefully this will go smoothly.

Welcome back. Okay, new business. We're going to review the public posting and display policy. Hopefully everyone is able to access those. Thank you. So... You can see there's a lot of, there's some changes. So the first change is just like rewording. Most of this is just minor. There was not a lot of substantive, right?

So they're not going to be substantial. We kind of talked about it and then talked about it. Right. In order of statements.

Seems like it's a little bit different.

Am I in the wrong?

Posting is in display, right? Posting is in display. I did have a couple of questions, just minor things. There's an asterisk, but I couldn't figure out why. I think my cursor is currently on it. It's in the very first sentence. And it stuck you out of the, was that meant to point to a footnote?

No. Possibly this is when we were going back with the art exhibits, and we wanted to make sure we were using displays. We wanted to make sure we used a consistent turn-throw if we were following between this and the art exhibits. So that might have just been a no for us at the time. A no for you? Yeah.

OK. And then, maybe it's changed, but we're talking about the gallery walk. Again, I'm hiring things on you. Here and then in the art display that's just called the gallery. What's the preferred term? What is the preferred term for consistency?

The gallery? I've never heard it called the gallery wall.

I didn't either.

I mean, technically it's called the gallery once.

That's true.

That's because what Cheryl named it. What, like O-N-C-E once?

But it's just the gallery, not the gallery area, right? Do you know why she called it that?

It's some kind of inside joke with her and her husband. And since they paid for it.

They got to name it. Yeah. But is it the gallery area or just the gallery?

Just the gallery. We just refer to it as the gallery.

Can you take out the word? It still says area. Yes, thank you. And then we need a space after that.

And then my only other And this is maybe for discussion versus jumping in and trying to edit something is I'm wondering if we should include a statement someone like, sorry, backing up my brain. In this first section, we cite areas where postings are allowable. So glass covered bulletin board, display cabinet, console cabinet, temporary display spaces available by the discretion of the director. I am wondering if we also should call out signs posted outside on the building's grounds. I know you have approved the signs that were put out from Beto and things like that, but I'm just wondering, do we feel like we need to call out that as a display area that is under the control of decision-making of SAM or the library director in general?

Yes, since people generally just post things without even telling me. So that would be helpful to have a policy to point to, to say, you didn't follow our policy. You didn't ask me.

I mean, it's not, I don't think, I'm not trying to stir the pot. I just think to be clear that whatever our policy is inside the building should be consistent outside the building. That is my third. So the policy is consistently applied across all libraries, properties.

Any outdoor signage? Where did you end? Is that where everyone is? I'm so excited. Is that okay, sir? Yeah.

If it's parallel, is there anything else in the outdoor locations?

Should we put on library property?

She has a library property.

I am the ruler of all of it. Let's see.

Don't get to choose what sign is on the COA building here. But I do think we can call it that this is under our jurisdiction to manage. And there's a process for that. That's all. For consistency, I think it's better to have it called out like any indoor space. Now we know it's like taping things to the building, outside of the building. Okay.

People would never do that.

Any other questions?

Oh yeah, they cleaned it up.

Did they get it off?

Well, they told me they were going to clean it. Highway department told me. I haven't looked yet. There was a spray painting.

I don't know if you guys remember. They were trying to figure out how to clean it.

Yeah, I asked Highway to help me with something else, and they said they would do that too.

Oh, thank goodness. I look forward to seeing you updated.

I had no other questions. I don't know what else. Are we good with this? It does not want to speak to me. Does it need to be right justified? Can you just put it on the left? Left justified. I move to approve the public posting and display policy. I move to approve the public posting and display policy as drafted. All in favor? Aye. So moved. Okay. Moving on to, now we're going to the art exhibits and display policy, which is different. And we're changing the name. Changing it to just art exhibits. That's what I'm thinking. Chris, Steph, and I looked at this a while ago and then kind of dropped off. I think it does make sense that we're just talking about art exhibits here, right? So we should take out the displays. That was our thought.

Well, what if something's not an art? Well, if it's like someone's asking, like historical society asks if they want it. display something.

Does that go under the display policy? The public posting display policy?

This is for the gallery.

People have asked what's up in the gallery.

Gallery exhibit policy.

I like that idea.

Then we're calling out specifically which space is public. I think that's a good idea.

Did you get this one?

No, I was updating that. Gallery exhibit.

So we're changing the name of the policy to gallery. Gallery policy, right? Why didn't you say gallery?

I said gallery exhibit policy.

OK, it's fine.

And it's a singular policy. Yes, it is a singular policy.

So that means it'll have to be changed somewhere.

Yeah, should all the sentences still be some plural about spaces, or should it just be a gallery?

Right, so do we want to say gallery and exhibit space in the library is gallery? Yes, sir. Gallery.

Are there other BERT display spaces in the library beyond the gallery? Not currently. That would fall under this false.

Is it space? The second sentence.

We still would say art exhibits in the library. We're going to say exhibit gallery. Are there other exhibits? It says other exhibits remain by . Sam. Where are you looking? The library also uses exhibit spaces, so it's not gallery then. The library also uses those.

The third sentence is other exhibits are arranged by general staff. What other exhibits? Other exhibits. Are there other exhibits?

Maybe they're referring to, like, the glass case.

But the glass case is in the display policy. But it also could be under the gallery, because we've had items displayed there.

Let's leave it, because I'm going to talk around with my brother, and that's fine. And then we were asking, Sam, is the display period September through, like, August 31st, or do you have a specific?

Yeah, currently that's what it is. Okay.

Do you want to say September 1st? Since we're saying August 31st. You can either say September 1st or take out the ST on August.

Thank you.

We do appreciate your love and assistance. Well, I even argue a bit given that we are not perugino gators. But the criteria are still present to be said.

Do you want to say a minute? I'm looking at the second sentence, second to last paragraph. The library does not exhibit contents.

Yeah.

Yeah, companies.

Okay.

Okay, can I get a motion to approve the gallery exhibit policy? We move to approve the gallery exhibit policy. All in favor? Okay, thank you. Now we look at The trustee code of conduct, which have to be in operation. We are reviewing this annually.

My only quote, it was like a high level stepping back, was the inconsistent use of must versus shall. And now I see should. So I think we just I think shall is originally used in there for the, like, that language is used in the original select board code of conduct because of the legal binding. But I know that's not necessarily how it's done these days. So I just want to make sure we discuss what we think should be there and be consistent.

We did discuss. It was a long discussion about must or should. The shall was wrong, and I fixed that today. So the shalls are all now shoulds. But the must, which is the first one, Chris was saying, that is mandatory. The rest is like a guidance. And the very first bullet statement was something that she thought was non-negotiable, or we collectively thought that. So if that's true for all of us, we would leave must for the first bullet, and the rest would be should, not shall. It's not grammatically. Well, not because you're grammatically correct, but I know in the Tanami Deweyer, he uses shall to be the must equivalent for it, which he acknowledges to mean shall, even though it's grammatically.

Yeah, no, I think this is getting into the I'm not aware legally is piece of what shall means in legal documents and policies versus... Yeah, I think should is weaker.

Maybe that's... Maybe it's not shall, like challenge it, right? Or... What?

If you want to make them all required. That's the question.

I think should was, we did should intentionally because it was like a guidance. That's right. Okay. So we'll do should instead of shall, which that's easily correct.

I can't imagine. Yeah. What the select words is. Because I know we aligned it with theirs.

At 1.22. When we first grabbed it, it was based on the select work. Yes, and then we changed it, obviously, to fit the library.

Shall is generally used in a legal sense. It's a mandatory requirement.

Yeah, I feel like the first bullet being, like, we're going to follow laws, and it's going to be shall.

There's no impunity.

Shall be aligned with those things.

Unless there was a requirement that we have to do all the others, you could just use should.

Yeah, I can see the shall appears in a few of the bullets in the select words. Like, select words shall enforce the code of conduct. It's a funny one because we're talking about the code of conduct. But there are shoulds in here for things that are like guidance but not required.

Are we happy with the Schutzen Schatz? Not the language of it, but the where it falls. The placement of it? No, just we agree that the first bullet is more of a must or a mandate and the rest are more guidance. I think it's, yeah.

Yeah, I think it was. Is there any other bullet where you feel like failure is really unacceptable?

The confidence one. A trustee should respect the confidence. It should be shown that everything... The other one is to strive to... I think you can make an argument about why you would breach some confidence if there is a dangerous situation, right? If you overhear something, you might decide that you need to take action on it, so you can't always 100% uphold the confidence, but you should generally.

I hear that.

Good point.

I mean, we shall uphold library patron's rights privacy, if that is one of the cornerstones of our job. But again, I think that falls under the laws and things too. So it's less clear and less ambiguous then.

The second to last one about conducting business. That might be.

Does that actually fall under the first one, like, reply to the laws, rules, and regulations? Like, should it, does either one need it because it's duplicating the thought, or does it need to be called higher earlier in the... You could put it next to it. That might be... Do all the shalls in the beginning? Yeah. I think that's better.

But I think it deserves a stronger...

This is Maya with a 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5th bullet down now. Trustees and fulfilling their responsibilities. Just to be consistent, should say trustees should, and then start, obviously, by blah, blah, blah, when fulfilling their responsibilities.

I'll start the sentence with fulfilling their responsibilities and when trustees should.

I think she was doing it because of how we started. I'm sorry. I'll do it this way and switch it back in a minute. Do we even need that? I don't know if we need it. Well, I mean,

I guess they're saying we can do whatever we want on our own time, just by saying, in fulfilling of our responsibilities. We can be as sweet as partisan things as we want, just not in this room. I think that's the intention there.

Yeah. It probably does belong up in the front, then, somehow.

As much as I gated the grammar of it, I think it does belong where it was. Could you do trustee should not be in and fulfilling our responsibilities suede bot?

Yes. Okay, that's a good solution. I can even do the consuming bot. Your word is dropping.

It's very dropping.

You got it. What if you put it after criticism and then end the sentence and start another sentence? They should repeat.

Yes, we should try it.

Your criticism . Oh, there it is? Yes.

It shouldn't be in there.

That worked.

The contents changed, correct? Where is it?

The third from the bottom one sounds like . But that might be an out. That.

I think in, like, 15 years, someone's going to be like, there's this shell, and they shouldn't. I'm like, what's the bad type of stuff? They're deliberately picking the shells up.

I feel like this is the shell discussion happens every time, because we're like, is there anything we can do about it?

I have no other recommendations. Any more comments?

Sam, we'll keep with our non-interfering being the second to last bullets.

That's a good point. You can move that up right under the last shot. It should say.

And you're hurt.

We didn't mandate ourselves for any. I started putting them in.

Yeah.

I wonder where this one didn't slip.

I got an email the other day that I guess Kyle asked Jim if he could go and talk to all the Tell him department heads. Yeah. And so Jim sends out an email to everybody saying he has permission. That's okay.

And so he's trying to get the lay of the land.

I haven't met with him yet. So I guess he just wants to meet with everybody.

Good with this? That was nice. Okay. Can I get a motion to approve the Rivenport Library Trustee Ethics Statement and Code of Conduct?

I'm willing to approve the original library, just the ethics statement, but it's on the ass writer.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Thank you. So this needs to be printed, and we all need to sign it, correct?

Yes.

And then who keeps it?

Do you keep our copies, signed copies? We took them last year. The clerk retains and hands to put it on our mail. So we'll get this printed, and everyone will sign before we Then we scan and we save. Or the next time to be able to sign a message. Or do you want to know? We will not be hearing. We can put them in our mailbox and sign as. No, you can stay. Can we just put them in our mailbox and sign?

Is it a docusign?

Oh, a docusign. Do we have access to that here?

Susan does.

Let's do that. I will ask Susan to submit it for us. Um, so annual trust transfer to MMDT.

Um, do you want me to go or do you want to go?

Why don't you set it up?

All right. Uh, so for the past two years, no, three years, two years, three years, three years. Yeah. Um, we've been transferring, um, funds from trust to MMDT for, um, books and materials and, um, program. It's been different every year, actually. So this year, I'm requesting $15,000 for books and materials, $15,000 for programs and supplies, $6,000 for professional development, and $4,000 for the Ray Graney Scholarship. So that totals $40,000. I believe there will be some carryover from the current year, but I'm not sure what that amount will be yet. Currently, as for the earlier financial statement, there's about $15,000 in there yet still, but I know that we're still getting in bills for the books that we've been purchasing. Susan's been out, so she hasn't been... She's out sick, so she hasn't been posting up. I don't know much that is yet but um anyway um so i'm requesting that forty thousand dollars for the next fiscal year and then um i was planning to use whatever carryover we might have left over to purchase an actual um reference desk because we did have a reference desk when we built the library but it looked more like a regular desk and some patrons would just sit at it and they actually messed up the computer because somehow they got into the computer And they were also like just doing random things there. And so my plan is actually have a picture of it for those of you that haven't seen it. So I want to get something looking more like this. So it's a little more professional looking. And then I also want to get like some drawers and cabinets so there's storage there. And so the idea is that probably me and Mike gets what you're being, we would sit there and then eventually if we do get this adult services librarian, they will have a place to sort of be posted in the library. So the plan is to put it where the current reference, where the old reference desk was and where there's the signage, the dedication plaque. So for those of you who don't know, it's in that back, sort of that back cubby where in between the, where all the study rooms are. There's, that's where the reference desk used to be. But then, like I said, I had to remove it because patrons were doing things. But based on the focus groups and, you know, feedback and everything, it looks like patrons do want professional to go to, even though Mike and I are always there. It would be easier for them to have a place to go. In the public area. Yeah. Like I said, I don't know how much I'll have left over, but I think it'll be enough to cover this and delivery. Anyway, that's my request for FY27. Any questions?

Just an order of back. This is the $40,000 has come out annually as taking the total amount available in our trust funds and saying I think that's about 2% of that to spend annually just towards the betterment of the library in various ways. The categories we've identified in the past include furniture and professional development, all the areas that Sam listed, and the scholarship. So those are the areas we've in the past decided were areas we wanted to invest in using trust funds. The $15,000 actually was negotiated with a prior treasurer, town treasurer, who was trying to Re-adject the budget.

It's actually something we've been doing since I've been here.

Yeah, we've always put $15,000 in to the town appropriation for the library from trust funds. They don't list it as a line item now because it's not coming from town appropriations because it's coming from trust. So while it's no longer listed in the town expenditures, it's still an appropriation that we make out of trust funds for materials, which goes towards our payment of the mark.

No, it doesn't go towards the mark.

It doesn't go to the mark?

No.

It's just... That's not counter-appropriated.

Right.

Thank you. Yep. But it was just alleviating some of that. We currently are still annually providing $50,000 there of the $40,000 tribute. So there are no questions about Sam's plan with our trust fund money. I've done some treasurer work. This is probably the hardest task of the years to figure out where to pull it from. So for those who are not as familiar with the BARTH, you might as well educate new members. If you look at the BARTH report, there's four different categories. There's 100-level, 200-level, 300-level, and 400-level accounts. And in each of these, we can expend out of ending earnings expendable column. So way over here. And then so the 100 levels are specifically for books, and it can be books for anyone in the library. The 200 levels are very specifically for children's books. The 300 levels are for other library things. We need furniture, professional development, other things like that. The fourth level, I think there's just difference of whether they have principal preservation or no principal preservation. But those were largely set up for the various new library buildings . So those are, again, meant for others towards the library. So as I studied this, I made up my movement. So I moved to transfer funds from MN. Move to transfer funds to MMDT from the following. Don't take. I think Katrina will email. Yeah. So $4,000 from 110 John Hilton Star for teen books. $7,000 from 111 Dave F. Rouse Memorial for adult books. $2,500 from 203 Natalie R. Curran Fund for children's books. $1,500 from 112 Edward Potter Sanderson for children's books. $15,000 from 311 Jordan Rose Wood Fund for program and supplies. $6,000 from 314 Second Century Librarians Fund for professional development. And $4,000 from 310 Theodore Fletcher Cobb Memorial for the Ray Grande Scholarships. Any questions about my book? I guess someone should approve it so we can discuss it. Sorry.

All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Okay. Dirigible liquor license for the block party with COA in August.

Yes. So I remember. Did I bring this up last time? Okay, I brought it up with friends. Yeah, because I think I hadn't had the conversation with Liz yet. So Liz reached out to me a few weeks ago and Megan Murphy, her programming person, they would like to do a block party. Basically, they want to close off the parking lot between our two buildings on August. I can't remember the date, but sometime in August. yeah and um basically they want to do sort of like a third thursday um but just the two of us um so promoting what we do promoting what they do um yeah jen is working or has gotten a um an animal program person to come I think Megan's working on getting a henna tattoo artist and just kind of like a carnival. There's talk of a dunk tank and guess who they volunteered. Interesting. So anyway, so I brought up that, well, maybe it would be fun to have Gergible there to do something. So I have reached out to Gergible, to Colin. He has not responded to me yet. But if he does, we'll need the trustee's approval to get a liquor license. and then he'll go to the select board and get their approval. But yeah, so if you guys think it's a good idea, Liz thinks it would be fun to do, and we've done it before with the mini-golf, so we kind of know what to do.

Yeah, I believe he has to fill out the form first, though, no?

No, we've always, we've done it first and then he's gone to fill out the form and like go to the select board. We just have to say he has the okay to go ahead with it.

So can I get a motion to allow Dirigible to get a liquor license for the block party with COA on August 19th?

Yes.

So moved.

Authorize. Here's four. All in favor?

Aye.

Thank you.

Okay, so there are rain.

We'll get wet.

We'll just get wet. Well, I'm getting wet. I don't care.

Our staff allowed the

Well, you can't. I have done performance reviews already, but...

Okay. We need to find a date for our meeting. So we are not meeting on July 9th, and we are not going to meet on August 13th. We need to find a date in between So Felicia just saying no.

Now the building's built. We can try to take her somewhere and only make one meeting between the two months. Unless there is a need.

Is that okay with others?

I have to see if there's a room available.

We'll be here. I think that is better.

There is actually a room available. July 30th at 630.

And then we're back to the September 10th.

Is there anything you'll need from us between now and... You know, besides the strategic plan, it's...

Besides the strategic plan, and it's... I'll do that at the same time. Yeah. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Very good.

Any other business? Anyone have anything?

This is more like looking ahead. So this November, the building will be five years old. It doesn't seem to be opening our doors. I didn't know if we wanted to, do you have plans for any commemoration of the milestone or friends have talked about it or anything?

No.

What's the next one? 19, the pack.

Oh, they'll be regular.

I'm just saying. It's a fun meeting.

I can mention it to them. In November is when you would park it.

We opened in November, if I recall correctly.

I remember the exact date, but it was November.

Close enough.

It was definitely cold, because we had one of our... It was a cold day out there. You need to have a ribbon. Um, I'm just wondering if it's something we want to acknowledge and plan something around more brainstorming out versus waiting until September and then brainstorming and then not whether I know I did try something like the year after we opened and it was kind of like, I mean, that was a year of I love the block party idea. I think in some ways that's kind of... I mean, that could be it. I remember that day that we opened, there were like, I feel like every people are coming in and exploring and there's something in our room. I just don't know.

Yeah, I actually almost feel like the block party is better because it's summer and it's like November is going to be cold.

Yeah.

And it's going to be Thanksgiving and holiday. Yeah.

I mean, the block party's a celebration, even though none of us will be here. But then the strategic plan, because it's been five years posting that, not the best celebration, but it's better.

No, but I think what you touched on, and you probably have, too, is should we do something? And I like that idea. If the strategic plan's ready and almost unveiled, we will.

Can you do a state library statement?

State of the Union? No. No, just the annual report is like, as I get to that.

Not a bad idea. Maybe a five-year.

Five-year State of the Union.

Yeah. Okay.

I'm open to it.

I mean, yeah. Maybe we can brainstorm and if we come up and use specifically.

You can invite some library directors to come and host you with example centers.

I think that we may not need to make a huge, big CS festivity. But I do think a moment pausing and saying this is where we've, you know, so much of the push was to open the building. We've had five years to get our feet under us and we're going. unveiling the strategic plan at the same point in time. It might make, just give it a touchstone moment to have people, various members of different boards and committees and neighbors and collaborators and friends and just library supporters in general. This may be one of those moments for a little bit of advocacy just to keep the library in front of people's minds too. And we can get some of these D&D team members to come talk at the library or they could be coming out of school. You could have cake cupcakes.

It's just an idea.

I haven't fleshed it out yet, but it feels like a moment to mark some way. And I do like the times of the strategic plan.

I didn't get that yet. If you give it enough time to be finalized, then you can unveil it.

Let's talk about this is what our plan is and why it matters. Start to build support to adult services.

That is one nicer working on the budget.

Start working on the budget. It can't hurt. I suspect we're going to have some tough financial years coming up, but it can't hurt. Keeping it in front of people's eyes.

Yeah, I'll think about it. We'll talk about it if it makes sense.

The friends will be excited if there's cake.

Yeah. Not cooking cakes. And I have a down bed. Book cake, like a sack of books. I don't think it's better than getting a book of cake. What are you doing?

There. Anybody else have any other business?

We don't need to talk about the kind of cake. Others? Sometimes. We're going to argue about that.

If you want to talk to me, you have your better friends. They have a fun time. It's like a 2K bonding and shopping thing. I do that myself.

Trusty updates. Do you have any updates to share?

I am signed up for the summer.

I'm signed up for the new digital. They're going to be four, but you can only go on their website and sign up for three. They don't have the August one up yet.

Is it monthly?

No, it's like three weeks in July. They're skipping July 22nd and then the first week in August. Are they virtual? Yeah, they're all virtual.

I could use a refresher.

They said you can just sign up and then they'll send you the recording if you can't be in person. Yeah.

Are we done?

I finally finished the... You just took it in one go.

No, but we can have it for the end.

I'm impressed that you could read that quick. I finally finished the community reads, but I really appreciated this one. I liked it. It just took me a little longer than I would have liked.

You guys have ideas for the next one, just send it my way.

I updated the trustee list. Oh, yeah. So I really hope that I got the date right. So that is out there. Maybe take a look at it on your way home. Okay. No one has anything else. Can I get a motion to adjourn? I'll adjourn. Okay. I second that.

All in favor? Aye.