HomeMy WebLinkAbout112973The Port Townsend Library Hoard met on Thursday, Idovenber 29 with the following
present: Einarsen, Warms, Kilhatl, Scheyer, Yearian and Librarian Wallin. The meeting
was opened by Chairman Killian and the secretary's minutes were read. Mrs. �!allin called
attention to the fact that the letter to the Leader editor, published after the last
meeting, had a statement in regard to past weeding practices with which she disagreed,i.e.
��. . for a long; period of time in the past for reasons such as Lack of help and in some
cases insufficient knowledge, adequate weeding of the collection has not occurred
On checking, it was discovered that the reference to "insufficient knowledge" had been
deleted fron the carbon copy filed in the secretary's book. Unfortunately, an original
copy had been accidentally handed to the Treader reporter and thus was printed, a matter
which had not been noticed by the Hoard menbers and which is deeply regretted. :•Irs.
?Wallin asked that this letter be included in the T;ovenber 1 ni.nutes, rather than only a
copy being on file and the secretary was so instructed.. it is assumed that the Leader
reporter, who was in attendance at the Novenber 29 meeting, trill adequately cover this
subject in his published report of the Ilovenber 29 meeting
• Thus, the l:oarcl's denial of
the irmAplication that IArs. Wallin has insufficient knowledge for the taeeriing process should
receive the desired publicity.
In her monthly report, ' Irs. 1 -.'a.? lin read a corimunication from the ashin ton Library
Association inviting, the trustees to become r_?enbers. ltiscussion follucied, and it was
decided drat we would loos. into the ,) after more thoroughly before cominf, to any decision,
rrobably at the ne;,t tteetin ;.
TI1e oil for heatin ; ran out and ",1r. '+arper said t4at the Library b.a(.1 used already
more oil than was used. the previous year. ,owever, �rs. !allin felt that this nust he
a. mistake as she still t)as pore money left in her tudget for oil than a year ago and has
been really trying, to conserve. eneri;y during the recent oil crisis.
There is a pole right beside the lil >rary steps v7lnich causes difficult,, when parkin,,.
car.,. Mrs. 'Wallin asl;edi Chat perhaps the Tjoard request that this bole '?e moved especially
since there are to be 4 trees planted in front.
Mrs. ';'allin rear.] a letter fr_or, Dorothy Cutler, director of Literary Development for
the State Library stating that they could 1,,,e happy to r:i..ve assistance in weed-l.n- the boo!,,
collection. There is tto cost involved. i'owever, before they undertake the wort:., they
=.could lilro the opportunity to discus the procedure with the hoard and. the librarian.
1'he first step would l:,e to find a. date that would be nutuall;- ;satisfactory to their
representative, the librarian and the board. 1t was decided that any Thursday in January
after 3 o'clock.. w'ltich would be convenient to the :state Library representative, would be
agreeable for us.
!,.Irs. sug;p ested that since cje nocr have remaining over . 900 in budgeted funds
which can, be used for the purchase of a copy ritachine, perhaps now is the tine to buy one.
Sbe has beezi looking into what other libraries have found satisfactory. 31I comes regularly
to service other machines in the area, so the problem of clpkeep should t>e no problem.
with this make. AL type which takes pictures of a boob, is the re.cot.imencied '.rind. 31I has
a very satisfactory ttodel_ which costs $1695. Uffiile this is more than we have in the fund,
Mrs. 17allin is sure the renain.inc can be transferred from balances left from. such other
items as film rentals, travel fund, etc., crhiich have not used their budgeted ariount this
vear. ; tether a copy nachine should have first priority c,as questioned. It was explained
that the one that used to be in the library was used frequently and there are many
requests for this service. The Board had felt last spring that this was a needed piece
of equipment, but decided to wait until the end of the year to see what funds were avail-
able. The question of a guarantee was raised. Since we have till_ the 15th of January
to use the rtone�T, rlrs. Wallin will find what is included in the 31I guarantee on this
equipment, and if the guarantee appears to be satisfactory, we will buy it.
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Port Townsend Library Board minutes -- ?Ioveriber 29
x1rs. Wallin then presented for the Poard's approval, samples of carpeting for
the upstairs. A discussion followed as to the possibility of it being more practical
to do some ouch needed painting before the carpet was laid, but Mr. Y ilham stated that
from his experience as a professional painter, he could assure the Board that this
would nta.ke little difference in a job such as the Library, where all the books
would have to be carefully covered to guard then from paint splatters. Also the
question was raised if books were not more important to buy than carpeting. Mr.
Yilham explained that carpeting would cut doom considerably on the noise upstairs
and was even more important for insulation from noise at doi•mstairs meetings. the
money was budgeted in Building and Maintenance and the understanding last springy;
was that, if anything was left over from the roofing project, we should use it for
carpeting. Mrs. harms made the notion that we burr the carpeting, Mr. Yearian
seconded it, and motion passed. The nen on the committee left the color choice to
the woven.
There was discussion as to how well the available upstairs space is being; used.
It was suggested that a meeting; there when the library was not officially open might
be profitable for discussion of various problens. Pars. Scheyer moved and it was
seconded and passed that we have an infornal meeting upstairs for this purpose. A
tentative time chosen for this meeting was the following;ldednesday at 5:30. The
Library will be left open during; this meeting so that any other interested people can
come in and share ideas with us.
Discussion then followed as to which clay and which hours would be most advan --
40 tageous for the Library to add to its present open hours. It was decided that Mrs.
?'Iallin would make a survey of the patrons asking for their ideas before any decision
will be made.
Mr. Killian. reported that there are several areas of the building that need
repair work: the front entry, the downstairs door, the lavatory, the windows,etc.
People have been contacted to wort: on these items, but as yet none have shown up.
The lavatory has a special problem, since a city crew must come and shut off the
water before work can be done. Mr. Yearian asked if the Library carries insurance
to cover possible injuries to people working on repairs. The Library does not,
and since we would probably he held liable, Mr. Killian asked Mr. Yearian to check
with the Council about this.
Mr. Killian reported that he had had a complaint from a blind man, who reported
that the »erson who answered his phone inquiry was completely disinterested in his
problem, giving; no suggestions as to where he could go for assistance, etc. Mrs.
Wallin replied that this was a most regretable incident to have had happen and that
while she couldn't imagine anyone on her staff being so inconsiderate, she would
surely emphasize to them the need for tact and consideration in answering phone
inquiries.
The hour being late, Mr. I:.illian. moved that we adjourn.