Library Trustees Meet in New Year

Holiston Reporter

Library Trustees Chair Karla Alfred opened its first meeting of 2022 at 7:09 PM, on Wednesday evening, January 5, 2022.  All members and Library Director Leslie McDonnell were present virtually, attending to two important items on its agenda:  the evaluation of the Director and the FY23 Budget.

Chair Alfred (above) explained that the Trustees are responsible for evaluating the Director and briefly noted the new format of the evaluation form received from the Town Administrator. She noted the categories, and Trustees made quick work of numerical evaluations of several.  Trustees then voted to approve the numerical portion of the evaluation.  This will be sent with an accompanying narrative to the Town Administrator and Assistant TA. 

Director McDonnell (above) shared her screen of the FY23 budget draft, describing some figures with more detail.  The Trustees approved the draft budget totaling $558,986 following some discussion of the appropriate figure for the Director’s compensation (because of a new hire to follow the planned retirement).  The total figure represents a 4% increase over FY2022.  The draft will be sent to Town Administrator Travis Ahern. 

McDonnell provided the group a COVID update, highlighting recent changes/additions to the Town’s practices.  A town mask mandate will begin on January 6 and surface cleaning continues with the addition of nightly spraying (that will dissipate prior to morning opening).

McDonnell reviewed plans for the hiring of a new director due to her June 2022 retirement.  Trustees requested McDonnell send the advertisement for and job description of the Library Director position to both the Town Administrator and Assistant TA Kathleen Buckley as soon as possible.  McDonnell suggested the ad be posted on the MA Board of Library Commissioners website, and members suggested exploring additional sites as well.  McDonnell is collecting ads from communities similar to Holliston and will turn these over to the Assistant TA for compensation  comparisons.

In other business, McDonnell announced the receipt of a gift to the Trustees from Sheila Adams that McDonnell will use to purchase books in memory of Adams’ husband, Jared Adams.  The Friends of the Library has purchased a second scanner for the library, and McDonnell plans to request a new label maker and a replacement train table for the Children’s Library.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM.  The next meeting of the Library Trustees is on February 2, 2022, at 7 PM. 

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