Vice President Felicia Hopkins called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
Members present: Lloyd Murdoch, Jane Pingelski, Felicia Hopkins, Sheri Welch, Cathy Lozier, and Librarian Rebecca Fasulo.
Minutes of the previous meeting: Minutes from the Apr. 12th meeting were read. A motion was made by Sheri Welch and seconded by Jane Pingelski to accept the minutes. The motion was carried with all in favor.
Treasurer’s Report: The treasurer’s report was read and discussed. A motion was made by Sheri Welch and seconded by Lloyd Murdoch to approve all paid bills. The motion was carried with all in favor. A motion was made by Sheri Welch and seconded by Lloyd Murdoch to accept the treasurer’s report. The motion was carried with all in favor.
Librarian’s Report: The Librarian’s report was presented with highlights as follows:
- Farm2Library program is going very smoothly and is extremely popular
- Pandemic state of emergency has ended with the library returning to our regular number of hours being open
See attachment for complete librarian’s report
A motion was made by Cathy Lozier and seconded by Sheri Welch to accept the librarian’s report. The motion was carried with all in favor.
Old Business:
- Farm2Library – Things are going smoothly. The program is extremely popular- we have had 390 pickups of food items since we resumed. We had a local donation that will pay for the extra fruit for us during the summer.
- Pandemic – The library returned to our regular number of hours open as of May 3. The governor ended the state of emergency as of June 24 and the Open Meetings Law resumed on June 25. CDC guidelines remain in effect which still includes mask wearing for those who are unvaccinated when inside public buildings. The Phase 4A addition to our Safety Plan was emailed in advance to board members to be reviewed and as such needs to be approved.
RESOLVED, By the Board of Trustees of the Corinth Free Library that the Phase 4A addition to the Safety Plan as presented, is hereby adopted.
Motion is made by: Sheri Welch and seconded by Cathy Lozier.
Those in favor: Lloyd Murdoch, Jane Pingelski, Sheri Welch, Felicia Hopkins, Cathy Lozier.
Those against: None
Motion carried with all in favor.
When and how does this all end for us? Becky thinks we should keep our current status at least through the end of the summer (mainly for logistical reasons). Most libraries are planning to resume in-house programming in the fall. What works best for us? Questions for when the pandemic is over – will normal be the same as it is was? Shall we go back to charging overdue fines, or should we do away with them permanently as many libraries have? (Lost item and damage fines would remain as is.) [If yes we will need to change our policy on that.] Should we continue with our current schedule of hours or revert to our old schedule? It is looking as though mask wearing and social distancing will continue to be important for unvaccinated individuals at least into the Fall. What about our barriers? Keep or change some, all, or none? Are there other changes we should be making? New or different seating that is easier to clean for the coffee table area? An air purifier for the Children’s Room &/or HRR? Our Wi-Fi proved to be very popular especially during the lock downs. Since we are the only free Wi-Fi hotspot in the village, would it make sense to collaborate with the Village or Town or CMA to have a “bus stop” like area that is protected from the elements where people could more comfortably use the Wi-Fi? Anything like that would need to be in front of the building for visibility. Or partner with them to provide mobile hotspots for loan to borrowers? The Board will take into consideration these issues at future meetings.
- NY Hero Act – It was very recently brought to Becky’s attention that as an association library we must comply with a new requirement that deals with airborne infectious disease exposure in the workplace. We will need to have an exposure prevention plan that includes an anti-retaliation clause and we will also need to have appropriate exposure controls. More information will be available as soon as Becky has time to look over the materials.
- Strategic Plan – We have our committee in place (Sheri Welch, Mo Kelly, Michael, and Becky) and have had a few meetings. We are gathering information throughout the summer and will meet again in September. We hope to have as much done as possible for the October board meeting; however, it is quite possible that the full plan won’t be ready for board approval until our December budget meeting.
New Business:
- Trustee Book Club – Trustees are encouraged to join and attend these webinars that will fulfill new trustee training requirements. There are three webinars – one each in October, November and December.
- Juneteenth – June 19th was designated as a Federal holiday a few weeks ago. Will the library observe this? If yes, how – close for the day, or remain open but let staff take a floating holiday in that month? We will wait to see how other libraries and businesses observe it to decide on this.
- Library Birthday – The library will turn 100 in 2026 (or 2027 depending on when you consider its “birth”. A board committee should decide when and how to celebrate this milestone. Becky doesn’t think we should let it pass without some acknowledgement.
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Adjournment: The motion was made by Jane Pingelski and seconded by Sheri Welch with all in favor to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 PM.
Next two meetings: Oct. 11, Dec. 6