MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE TOWN OF TONAWANDA LIBRARY BOARD SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Tonawanda Public Library was held on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at the Kenilworth Library, 318 Montrose Avenue, Tonawanda, New York, following due notice to trustees, official public notice to the Tonawanda News, and a posting in the Kenmore and Kenilworth Libraries. The following members were present: Michael Collins Eileen Crawford David Dietz Sheila Ginnane Jeanne Phillips Walter Sharrow Also attending: Dorinda Darden, Library Director of Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Libraries Board Chair, David Dietz, called meeting to order at 6:30 pm APPROVAL/CHANGES TO AGENDA: Motion made by Eileen Crawford to move New Business after Report of Chair and to add a brief Executive Session. Motion seconded by Michael Collins and passed. REPORT OF CHAIR: A. Chap. 414 Developments Informal discussion with Richard (Dick) Earne (Grand Island) about the possibility of forming an ad hoc committee to consider pursuing a Chap. 414 proposal. This small group would consist of Grand Island, Town. Of Tonawanda, and several likeminded contract libraries. It was agreed it was important to keep Sue Jacobs in the loop. While she is not optimistic about Chap. 414, David Dietz stressed the following: o 414 need not be considered in opposition to the Special Library District proposal but a stepping-stone, or even a complement to that effort. o If SLD were unsuccessful (a definite possibility) 414 would function as an alternative Plan B. o Perhaps this group might make a report at the Sept. 10 th meeting of ACT. No meeting of this group had yet taken place. B. Meeting with Supervisor Caruana and Town Attorney John Flynn on Friday, Sept. 3 rd. Caruana reviewed information regarding County Executive Collins support for the SLD, and his financial demands on town officials. Mike Collins and David Dietz filled in both Caruana and Flynn on meetings with both ACT and the Planning Committee of the Central Board. The implications of the Resolution expressing support for continuing to examine the feasibility of a Special Library District were discussed. It was agreed that passage of the resolution did not commit the Library Board or the Town to the SLD option. It was agreed the current draft memorandum of understanding contains several problematic areas that appear to be major obstacles to an agreement. The library trustees and town officials agreed to keep lines of communication open as discussions continue.
Meeting with Kenmore Mayor Mang and Mary Jean (Eileen Crawford, Michael Collins, Sheila Ginnane, Jeanne Phillips, Walter Sharrow) represented the trustees. Library Director, Dorinda Darden, attended this meeting as well. C. Upcoming Meetings Meeting of ACT on Saturday, Sept. 10 th at the Kenmore Library (9:00 PM) Meeting with Supervisor Caruana and Mary Jean on Wednesday, Sept. 28 th NEW BUSINESS: Resolution in support of pursuing the creation of a countywide Special District public library was distributed (Appendix) to trustees and open to discussion. There was much discussion re: pros and cons of this resolution. Point was made by several trustees that approving this resolution would result in no other options considered other than the Special District Library. Walter Sharrow made a motion to put the Resolution on the floor for a vote and seconded by Michael Collins. The result of the vote was 6 opposed and 0 in favor. A motion was made by Michael Collins that a letter be sent (Appendix) to accompany the result of our ballot. This letter would explain our concerns. Walter Sharrow seconded the motion and it was approved. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR: STATISTICS Circulation: Kenmore: August 2010: 30,585 August 2011: 33,668 +10.1% Kenilworth: August 2010: 11,368 August 2011: 9,185-19.2%* Foot Traffic: Kenmore: August 2010: 17,773 August 2011: 18,998 +6.9% Kenilworth: August 2010: 8,021 August 2011: 5,746-28.4%* *Kenilworth was open 176 hours in August 2010 and 143.75 hours in August 2011. Thus Kenilworth hours decreased by 18.32% from last year due to the budget cuts. Programs The Summer Programs at both the Kenilworth and Kenmore Branches were well attended and enjoyed by all. A special thanks to Reverend Ben Eder from the Pilgrim Lutheran Church for allowing us to move the Zoomobile program to their parking lot due to the power outage at the Kenmore Branch on August 16 th. There were 51 children and 38 adults for a total of 89 in attendance at the Zoomobile program. Leslie Jaszczak, a patron at the Kenmore Branch was one of the winners of the Adult Summer Reading Challenge which included participants writing book reviews and for each book review their name was entered into a prize drawing. Each library had a winner and one participant won the Grand Prize which was the color Nook. Leslie won a travel book light, travel water bottle, travel mug, and travel tote bag. Fall Programs will include a Preschool Story Hour, After school Programs, Family Story Hour, Adult Computer Classes and Adult Monthly Journal Group Programs at the Kenmore Branch and Preschool Story Hour, After school Programs, Family Story Hour and Adult Computer classes at the Kenilworth Branch. Library Accident/Incident Report - Central Library staff member Mary MacDonald who was working on RFID at the Kenmore Branch reported that her laptop was stolen near the upstairs windows in the Adult Fiction area of the library on August 31 st. A Library Accident/Incident Report was - 2 (of 5) -
completed and sent to the Town Clerk and Kenneth Stone, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library s Chief Financial Officer. Dorinda Darden has instructed staff to make sure their personal belongings are in a locker or a locked drawer in the staff workroom. The Kenilworth and Kenmore Branches experienced a power outage on August 16 th due to problems that National Grid had with underground cables along Kenmore Avenue. Kenilworth was closed for only 45 minutes because its power was restored, while Kenmore was closed for most of the day but officially closed at 3:00 PM because the power had not been restored. Town of Tonawanda Public Library Director Dorinda Darden along with the Town of Tonawanda Public Library Trustees J. Michael Collins, Eileen Crawford, Sheila Ginnane and Jeanne Phillips attended a meeting conducted by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Director Mary Jean Jakubowski with the Village of Kenmore Mayor Patrick Mang on August 22 nd to discuss the Special Legislative Library District. Town of Tonawanda Public Library Director Dorinda Darden met with Town of Tonawanda Public Library Trustee Sheila Ginnane on August 26 th to give her an overview of the remodeling plans at the Kenmore Branch. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Dorinda Darden went to Markarian Rugs to investigate styles of carpeting- both carpet tiles and rolls. She is recommending carpet tiles (since there has been great improvement in their quality in the past few years). A brochure with available colors was shown to the trustees. Dorinda Darden also distributed a design of a circulation desk (provided by the supplier). She explained that installation of the desk is 10-20% of the final cost. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Meeting was adjourned at 7:45 pm. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 11 at 7 pm - 3 (of 5) -
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