Patrick Markey, Chair (presiding)
Commissioners Barbara Garvey, Craig Givens, Madeline Landrau, Sheila McElwaine, Vera O'Connor

Absent: Rudy Ruggeri

Emily Bader, Director
Lee Fogarty, Assistant Director
Carol Leaders, Business Manager
Janet Stupak, Volunteer Coordinator (minute taker)

Call to order:

5:35 p.m.

1. Opening reading

Commissioner Garvey.
[Next month: Ms. Landrau]

2. Minutes of the December 6, 2006 Meeting

The original motion to approve the minutes was made by Ms. Landrau. There was no second. After Ms McElwaine proposed amendments, Ms. Landrau again made a motion, which was seconded by Ms. McElwaine, and that motion carried. Therefore, the minutes of the December 6, 2006 regular meeting of the Springfield Library Board of Commissioners were approved with the following corrections:
Ms. McElwaine requested to be recorded as present but not able to vote on the November 1, 2006 Library Commission meeting minutes as she was not in attendance.
Addition to Agenda Item 5. It was suggested that the Library communicate to agencies working with young parents its practice of purging delinquent patron records after seven years. Ms. Bader will present this recommendation to the Policy Subcommittee.

With these corrections, the motion was adopted.

3. Library Advisory Committee Reports:

Mason Square: Kat Wright posed questions to the Commission regarding the sale of the Mason Square Branch Library building to the Urban League of Springfield. Chairman Markey explained the rationale behind the decision to settle the city's case against the SLMA over Mason Square. Commissioners encouraged members of the Mason Square community to attend the Steering Committee's public meeting on Monday, January 8, 2007 in order to suggest possible locations for the new Mason Square Branch Library.

Liberty: Mary Rivest thanked the Commission for the new book drop and signage at the Liberty Branch Library, adding that the group was very pleased with the new carpeting and concrete entry steps. Director Bader commended all members of the Liberty Advisory Committee for becoming members of the Friends of the Library organization at its January 3rd meeting.

4. Commissioner Reports - Library visits etc.

Ms. O'Connor stated that she visited both Central Library and the Sixteen Acres Branch Library this past month with both looking well.

Director Bader, Ms. McElwaine, Dave Meehan, Municipal Zone Chief for the Springfield Parks Department, and library maintenance personnel did a "walk through" of Central Library in December with most of the building looking very good. Items needing attention are in progress now or are done. Mr. Meehan stated that he was impressed with the overall state of the Central Library building.

Ms. Bader plans to meet monthly with Dave Meehan and Mike O'Laughlin of Facilities Management to discuss library building issues.

Changes to exterior signage and plantings at Central Library were discussed. It was requested that Ms. Bader get new blueprint drawings for this area of the State Street corridor upgrade. Dave Meehan, will continue to be involved in this project.

Improvements at the East Springfield Branch will be coordinated with Facilities Management in preparation for the upcoming 75th Anniversary celebration planned for late spring.

Repairs to the Forest Park roof and parapet are being finalized with bids expected by the end of the month. Stump removal will begin next week.

Air quality at the Pine Point Branch was discussed. Ms. Bader stated that the air quality report is not back yet. There will be one baseline report and then one done when the roof project is completed. Contract has been awarded for roof replacement, with work to begin when all supplies have arrived.

Ms. Garvey remarked that since the Friends of the Library annual campaign will kick off in February, the library should declare February as "Friends of the Library month." She would like to see at each location a visible display including applications to and containers for donations to the Friends.

5. Director's Report: FY07/08 Action Plan Progress Report

Ms. Bader gave updates on various areas of the Springfield City Library FY07/FY08 Action Plan and asked Commissioners to review the document and bring any questions to next month's meeting.

Mention was made that the current action plan is not on the library website and should be corrected.

6. Other Business

Ms. McElwaine questioned the erroneous listing of some Library telephone numbers under the headings "Springfield Library & Museums Assoc." and "Springfield Museum and Dr. Seuss National Memorial." Ms. Leaders, Library Business Manager, explained that since the Library's information is still incorrectly listed as a part of the Springfield Museums Association telephone listing, the change order must come from that organization. Chairman Markey agreed to look into this issue.

Ms. McElwaine read a letter from Linda Jo Perks of the Salvation Army complimenting the Springfield City Library system.

7. Adjournment

In accordance with the approved schedule of meetings, the next regular meeting of the Springfield City Library Board of Commissioners will be held on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at the Pine Point Branch Library, starting at 5:30 p.m.

It was moved by Ms. Garvey and seconded by Ms. McElwaine to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m.