12/9/2008 BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES Minutes

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I attended a FEMA workshop on December 4"'. FEMA and MEMA are jointly working on a pilot program to use libraries as points of information in case of a natural disaster. Libraries would be trained to serve as access points to refer residents to a Disaster Recovery Center, located somewhere in the county. There would be at most 2 centesfor the Cape but libraries would provide literature and contact information for people calling the center or register for aid online. The MBLC staff suggested that libraries could be valuable information resources during a disaster. If the pilot is successful, it will be expanded out nationwide. Joyce adopted a different method of conducting budget hearings this year. My presentation was made to Joyce, Rene Read, Lisa Frye (Assistant Town Accountant), Terri Cook, Wayne Taylor and Sandra Lindsey (Fincom representative). I hadn't expected such a big group but it was quite effective. It should cut down on having to meet individually with the various groups. Everyone heard the same presentation and could benefit from questions that someone else thought to ask. Since we got a later start on the building than planned, Joyce said it won't be completed until May 2010 rather than January. In light of that, she asked me to budget utilities for the whole year on Joy St. rather than splitting between the two buildings. I also adjusted the collection amount since it is a percentage of the whole. Any time one line item changes, the collection expenditure moves up or down with it. Joyce is deferring the new positions to FY 2011 for the same reason. If the building goes up faster than expected, we would have the opportunity to bring it up at one of the intervening Town Meetings (October 2009 or May 2010). We will still write an article to create the positions for May Town Meeting 2009 but not act on funding and filling the positions until after the building is completed. This alerts the voters to the need for more staffing when the building actually opens. The group was very complimentary on my budget submission and my presentation. They had only a handful of questions because I had anticipated most of their questions and included the pertinent facts in my narrative. I felt the meeting was very positive but won't know their recommendations until late December or early January. With the changes, our bottom line dropped $27,335 below the draft distributed last month. The budget is a 2.9% increase over FY 2009 rather than the 11.4% from the draft.