Director reports graffiti incident, staffing changes and a $4,500 matched grant application

The Library Director reported several operational items at the Dec. 15 meeting. Staff discovered graffiti in restrooms and the teen space; the director said the library identified the responsible high school student and, in coordination with town officials, removed the student’s library privileges for six months.

The director announced a staff promotion (Lauren Yost moved from page to part-time library services assistant) and that the library is hiring two additional part-time library services assistants for the children’s department. Director also said staff requested the recording of an ACLB webinar and will pass it along to trustees when available.

On fundraising, the director said library staff applied for a Kinetic Humanities grant to support a One Book, One Town program for next year. The grant is roughly $4,500 with a 50/50 match; matching funds will come from the Friends of the Library and a partnership with the Gardeners of Simsbury.

On budgeting, the director said the town is doing zero-based budgeting and the library will work one-on-one with the town manager’s office; the town manager is on medical leave and expected to return Jan. 5, and the library’s budget is due in mid-February.

Trustees asked questions about how activity percentages in the strategic plan review were calculated and about circulation statistics and cardholder types; the director said the percentages reflect staff activity rather than direct measures of goal attainment and agreed to provide additional data at a future meeting.