2/7/2012 BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES Minutes

Home Browse Search

Cape Cod and Island Library Directors to discuss the future of libraries, and how we plan to keep up and stay relevant in the digital age. No airdate has been announced yet, but I will keep you informed. Also on January 26, I attended the monthly meeting of the Cape Cod and Island Library Association(CCILA) in my capacity as President. We discussed the need for the local libraries to work collaboratively to offer affordable and convenient training and development opportunities for staff at all levels. CCILA has also been invited to participate in a statewide library advocacy program to encourage state and local politicians to support library funding. On January 27, I attended a virtual statewide committee meeting representing the Cape Cod and Island Library Association. The meeting was chaired by the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Library System. He asked groups throughout the state to pool resources and develop a series of programs to essentially"Train the Trainer" in the field of library advocacy. The group will put together a series of training events designed to map out strategies which can be used to approach state legislators and educate them about challenges faced by libraries in the state. The group hopes to train library personnel, Friends, Trustees, and other library supporters. I met with Janet Trask and volunteer Art Show Coordinator,Janice Watford to discuss the growing interest in using the Library as a venue for local artists. Janice has done an outstanding job of coordinating the artist exhibits and arranging press coverage for the shows. We agreed that in light of the growing popularity,we need to formalize policies surrounding the events. I will provide a draft of the proposed paperwork for approval, which can then be submitted to Town Counsel for review. Per the memo received from Town Counsel on December 30, the Library can permit artists to sell their works, if the artist is willing to donate a portion of the sales to the Library. Mashpee CARES held its monthly meeting at the Library on January 30 to discuss the results of the survey conducted among middle and high school students. The group is planning a community wide event to be held at the Library in March. Sue McGarry and I participated in an ALA webinar on Library fundraising on January 31. The entire webinar is archived and available online for anyone who is interested in listening to it in the future. . During the month of January,the meeting rooms continued to experience a high level of use. As the demand increases we are faced with questions in regard to the policies governing appropriate use. Many of the questions center on the intent of the meetings, and whether they are truly informational, or primarily promotional with commercial objectives. I will outline the issues as part of the policy update section of the board meeting.