Tonight (2018-02-05) was a Mendon Public Library Board of Trustee meeting.
By pattern, tonight should have been a Village Planning Board meeting. But apparently they did not have a meeting tonight, and instead are having one next Tuesday. I’m sure there is a good story behind that. Regardless, it did create and opening so I was able to go to the Trustee’s meeting tonight.
Tonight there were gifts for attending the meeting. In particular, Rochester City School Library System branded PopSockets. Might be showing my age (or other bias) here, but not something I had seen before, or even considered adding to a phone. Although, considering they were being given away, perhaps I’m not the only one that doesn’t see the point to this accessory.
Much discussion at the meeting was about the library’s upcoming renovation. Or maybe it was expansion, reconstruction, or some such. As there are grants (and similar) from multiple organizations, I got a sense that many details (including name of project) must be just right for the whole thing to work. To such an extent, after the meeting was formally over and most of the people had left, there was still a small group trying to work out the math to pull it all together.
If all goes as expected, the Town will approve the project at their next meeting. At which point the Library can start spending money. Will probably be some impact on service, but shouldn’t be too much. We’ll see as time goes by.
Completely separate and smaller scale project, but the ceiling lights should be replaced with more efficient LED’s in the new future. Sounded like next week, as some equipment was being borrowed from the school (HFL). The intent is to save money on replacement bulbs, as the current model seems to burn out rather frequently.
As with last years meeting at this time, there was discussion of an ‘ugly report’, which contained various numbers and statistics on the library’s activities for the previous year (2017). As I don’t have a copy of the report, I can only go by what I heard, and only what struck me as interesting in that. Apparently internet usage (both things downloaded from the library, and usage of the library’s open wireless) were significantly higher then previous years. Is good to know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the wireless usage numbers were inaccurate. Having talked to some of the librarians before, I don’t think they know how to track that. Still, good to see the effort.
A number of policy revisions/updates were approved. Only one detail stood out to me, and that was the policy stating the library can take (and use) your picture if you are in the library. While I understand where they are coming from, from both a legal and practical point of view, I wonder if it doesn’t say something about society in general. That such a policy even exists…
If you (or anyone you know) would like to be a Friend of the Library, they are looking. To such an extent, the topic caused a tangent on how difficult it is to find volunteers in general. Much lamenting on how everyone is too busy to volunteer. Not quiet sure I buy that, as everyone in the room volunteers for at least one organization. Still, was interesting to hear about the various groups that are also having trouble filling positions. Strikes me there is an underlying reason, and discovering that could be of value. If only someone else would take the time to figure that out.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the February 5, 2018 meeting of the Mendon Public Library Board of Trustees.