2022-11-10
TOWN OF BERLIN
BERLIN-PECK MEMORIAL LIBRARY BOARD
BOARD ROOM (WITH ZOOM ALTERNATIVE)
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2022
6:30 PM
NOVEMBER 10, 2022
6:30 pm
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ATTENDANCE:
Members Present
Vice Chairman Robert Lewis, seated as Chairman
Chris Fasciano, Sharon Powell, Elaine Borselle, Carol Welz, Gail Marino, Karen Pagliaro
Staff Present
Kim McNally
Members Absent
Chairman Moore
Lillian Ulan
Call to the Order
Chairman Moore called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M.
Audience of Citizens
None
Review of the Minutes
Gail Marino moved to approve the minutes, October 12, 2022 seconded by Karen Pagliaro, passed unanimously.
LIBRARIAN’S REPORT:
Director McNally reported “All Staff Day” was a huge success.
The Annual Statistics for the state library were reported.
The library was open full hours for a total of 2,756. The library had 64,557 visits. There are 6,063 library card
holders. The public computer/internet session count was 4002 with 7746 WI-FI sessions. 15,652 reference
questions were answered.
Laurie Fink is back from maternity leave. The new Town Historian Sally Caliandri has joined the library and will be
available in the local history room on Wednesdays 1:00 - 3:00 pm.
In October 2022, the library had 425 unique users on the WI-FI. 1,232 monthly sessions and 1,022 visits were
logged. The busiest hours tend to be midafternoon 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm. Wednesdays see the most use.
Computers are here and they are working with Novus to get them installed.
New carpet is going out to bid and the copies of the bids should be in 2 weeks at which time the library will select
work hours, timeframes and samples. The bid should be awarded in late December and the installation is expected
in March 2023.
New volunteers did a beautiful job incorporating Ukraine on the board for the month of October.
Hoopla costs have exceeded $1,500 a month on the $15,000 annual budget. Adjustments to reading material will be
made.
The Lucky Day books are starting to rotate. There are 121 books in the collection and 15 on the shelf available
(11/4/2022). This collection is very popular.
Patrons have been requesting more hybrid meetings due to weather change.
Technology classes will begin January 2023 using the laptops that were purchased in 2021.
The library will be launching a Berlin Peck Memorial Good Reads account with staff favorites. This is scheduled to
go live on the website January 2023.
The computer Usage and Internet Access and Computer Use Policy were handed out to the board to review.
Director McNally reported that she will be adding a “Strategic Plan” line item to the budget. This can run anywhere
from $5,000 to $20,000. This may consist of hiring a consultant to help with a “Mission and Values”. A sample from
another library was distributed to the board. This could take anywhere from 3 months to a year. Director McNally
attended a webinar about Strategic Planning and thinks it’s a very important item to have in a library for success
and helping to break barriers that patrons may face.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
None
SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS:
- Policy and Personnel Committee – None
-Finance & Foundation Committee - None
- Outreach and Advocacy Committee - None
OLD BUSINESS:
The Friends along with Director McNally will revisit the Memo of Understanding. The main function and goal of the
Friends Board is Fundraising.
ADJOURNMENT:
Elaine Borselle made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 pm, seconded by Karen Pagliaro, passed
unanimously.
Marlo Matassa
The Recording Secretary