Following Chair Nancy Baron’s reading of the remote open meeting statement at 7 PM on April 7, and roll call attendance, Trustees voted to approve minutes from the March 3, 2021 meeting. Baron then turned the floor over to Library Director Leslie McDonnell for the Director’s Report.

McDonnell briefly mentioned that the Library received three Holliston Cultural Council grants for programming for children.  One program will be presented through Zoom, and the others may take place on a grassy knoll at the 1750 Washington Street building.

McDonnell began with a review of the Library operations of the past month for the Trustees. Painting and carpet installation is now complete, with some floor electrical outlets having been removed or sealed over for safety.   Director of Technology Chris Meo has also upgraded wiring of computers, and a heavy-duty outlet has been installed at the Children’s Library desk.

Above left is the exterior front entrance frieze and on right, the deteriorating windowsills.

The thermostat recently installed is now working and has a convenient feature in that it can be controlled through an app on McDonnell’s phone.  (Facilities Manager James Keast also has this app and ability.)  Failsafes have also been built into the heating system.  “It’s 100% better than it was,” claimed McDonnell.

Next week the front entrance will be closed due to building repair work:  the front concrete pad and the frieze above the front door are to be addressed by a mason.  Within the next two weeks, repair work will improve selected exterior windowsills (on the TD Bank side) that have cracked and given rise to small plants and “trees.” McDonnell mentioned that the funds for these repairs have been allocated from Community Preservation monies.

Surveillance cameras are 95% installed McDonnell reported.  Each camera is motion-activated and presents really clear images, covering a broad swath.  The digital recordings are backed up in the Cloud.  Signs at both entrances announce the use of these cameras.

Much information has already been transferred to the new Library website.  Holliston Public Library – Holliston, Massachusetts (hollistonlibrary.org)

The Trustees then discussed an email they had received from Mary Greendale concerning the establishment of a Comprehensive Long-Range Planning Committee. They agreed to take “a position of neutrality,” and designated Baron to email Greendale that they would hold off taking a position until they learned more.