4/4/2012 BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES Minutes

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Cape Cod Volunteers was launched as an independent non-profit in November 2010. Their mission is to match people to meaningful volunteer opportunities on Cape Cod. They have created one"Opportunity Center" at the Harwich Community Center and are eager to establish a base of operations on the Upper Cape. They have already attracted volunteers from the Mashpee area to be the"team"for the Mashpee site. Mead& Kathy Sommers will serve as two of the volunteers who will work to promote the organization in the Mashpee community. The group works to match volunteers with suitable organizations,trains organizations on managing a volunteer workforce and provides new board member training. They will be hosting a community forum at the Library on April 17. On March 28, Cape Cod Community Healthcare returned to the Library for a Blood Drive. They collected 12 pints of blood for the day, which was much lower than the first visit. They attribute this to reduced advertising by the hospital. I have been working with staff members from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System to arrange for training opportunities for Trustees, Staff, and Friends of the Library. On June 14,the MBLC and MLS will come to Mashpee to offer a two hour workshop, "New Trustee Orientation." A description of the session includes: This orientation is not just fdr new trustees!If you are a seasoned trustee with ideas to share, or someone who wants a refresher about the roles and responsibilities of yourjob, we welcome you to this workshop. As a trustee, you have taken on two big jobs! The first is to serve as a tireless advocate for your library, working to help it become "bigger and better". The second job is to learn about your library, about your community and its needs, about the laws and state programs affecting your library, about other libraries, and about the issues facing libraries today. Cindy Roach, Head of Library Advisory and Development at the MBLC, and Deb Hoadley, Advisor, MLS, will introduce you to the roles of trustees, library directors and friends and will describe the resources out there to help you in your role as library trustee. As discussed at the March meeting, I contacted the MBLC and confirmed that the Trustees have the power to close the Library for professional and staff development activities. After contacting MLS staff members,I would propose that the Library close for staff training and development on Thursday, May 24. MLS staff has agreed to conduct a three hour training workshop on Effective Customer Service and Difficult Patron Interactions. I have also contacted Captain Fellows of the Mashpee Fire Department, and he will work with me to put together staff training for emergency situations which might occur in the building. Town IT staff will also take advantage of the Library closing to complete extensive upgrades on the Library's computer equipment and servers, which could not be performed during normal operations without considerable disruption of services. I have several other topics to discuss with the staff during the day, and plan to make the most of the available time with the entire staff.