Library Board of Trustees June 8, 2026

So it's a it's not just physical above and beyond.

It couldn't hurt.

There's no data on this either. So you can't type, right?

It's you want to take a look. That's the computer.

No, it's not. It's gold.

But we don't have a newer one, right? I mean, those are the bylaws. Okay.

Latest. Super.

Who takes what committee takes care of that? Here we go.

I wonder if we could just like can't we just approve it as a trustee?

I don't know the procedure.

I We can of course What do we need?

Majority there's probably not going to be very many changes in it at all, if any.

Yeah, we we probably should take a look at all the bylaws line by line.

Yeah. Mhm.

Does everyone have a copy?

Yeah, I do.

Sue, do you have a copy of I don't think I do.

I don't.

Bonnie, could you email us a copy of the next meeting? Maybe for the next

Okay, that's our assignment for July.

Okay.

It'll be on the July agenda.

Okay.

Motion to approve the minutes of May 11th. The revised the revisit to the current year.

I make a motion.

Any discussion?

Any other changes or questions?

All in favor?

Date of next meeting, July 13th.

Second or a second.

Oh, second. Sorry.

Any issues with that? We I We don't need that. Do we need We haven't voted on that before.

Feel free to make a motion.

Okay.

And feel free to jump in when we're really messing up.

doesn't hurt.

Okay. Bonnie, do you have any correspondence?

I do not know.

Okay. I received in the trustee email an email from a Westport resident and we have discussed it in the subcommittee and we will bring that to a future meeting for full discussion by the board.

And next on the agenda is executive session. But this session isn't required for today's meeting. It's depended depending on prior approvals of job descriptions. The personnel committee has to meet and review every single job description. And then hopefully in July, it's going to be a busy meeting.

So, we'll pass.

It shouldn't be too bad. I don't think most of them haven't changed.

How many job descriptions are there?

How many? Like six.

Five.

Two, three, four, five.

Five, three, four.

And it's both union and non-union.

Yeah.

Full-time, part-time.

Okay.

Uh, just one note on that. I believe I said this in previous correspondence. So for um union positions those fall into our collective bargaining agreements and ultimately any change or any suggested change will come through me. Um and then obviously that approval process is separate um for non-UN positions um you know again it would come in the form of a recommendation to my office. Um, and

then what we're trying to do for all of our job descriptions, um, is as positions become available, we're revisiting them, um, you know, we're updating the format and obviously looking at the terminology, making sure that it's, uh, taking into consideration it's the 21st century.

Do you have any formats that we should be using?

Uh, I can send over just a a template.

Okay.

For the category headers and of that nature.

That's great.

Yeah. And then, you know, as I'm sure you do looking at the descriptions or fine looking at these descriptions, um is obviously if there's anything that is um still applicable um I I just say the preference in keeping language that's there, especially if um you know, we do have employees in the position because they'll say, you know, why the wording change?

Yes.

You know, I agree.

Thank you.

So, could you just review for us union and non-union? Who is who on the staff?

Um, okay. So, I'm non-union as the director. Um, Amy is part of the union.

She's the assistant director and tech services. Ryan and Dan are also in the union. They are principal clerk. Um, which is that goes with the town wording. Um, we have Teresa and Nancy who are library aid one. They're union.

Um they work part-time up to 19 and a half hours a week. Um let's see. Robin is library aid too. Uh she's is she? No, she's non-union also. And then um John is the maintenance man and he is part of the union. He is parttime, but he is still part of the union.

He's part time with his full benefits, right? And that's because that position used to share 19 hours here and 19 hours with council on it was the same person.

So when they changed, she still retain retained full.

Yes.

So we have two separate people in two separate positions now.

I'm not sure that should be looked at or not.

I guess these conversations happen.

Definitely something we can look at. And I mean I don't know if you're getting there, but you know, a lot of work's already been done with the personnel bylaw this year. So Yep. Okay. More to do.

Does John's job description fall under us or No, it does. There is a job description for him.

The same as the one from Okay.

I compared those last year.

Yeah.

Yeah.

His role.

Yeah.

His role and the the descriptions are the same.

I'm not exactly sure the roles, but the descriptions are the same.

Yeah. When the personnel committee meets, we'll be reviewing all the job descriptions and then distributing them to everyone.

to review at the board meeting and formally approve them or reapprove, you know, if there are no changes.

Terrific. Great.

So, we could all have a folder with the most up to date.

Yep.

Letter head dated. Yeah.

Then we're going to have a shredding party for all the old papers that we pass around in circles.

And dates need to be on dates.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

On the first page.

Yeah.

So under correspondence um I know you mentioned that but is also the email that you sent us from um the uh person interested poet poet lauria is that under correspondence or no should be could be or old business because it was old business.

Okay. All right. Okay. Last month I've had a lot of emails with him.

Yes. He's very funny.

And I wanted um this isn't quite on the agenda, but I've emailed everyone with the guidance from the board of library commissioners that if there ever is a request for public records be any trustee business we discuss in our personal emails is a public record.

Yeah.

So, normally the requests are fairly narrow, but we could have a situation where people's personal emails are also exposed.

Okay.

So, we have the sales board of trustees email that Don passed on to me as chair, but it might make sense to share it.

Can use that. the chair will be the one to because everybody can access that.

So I would have to give everyone their email address and the password, but I would be the one to correspond with Yes. So just I guess one note on that um so for um for as a public body uh you can't share an email address because that also is uh okay it's a form for open meeting. You know if you're sending out correspondence and other people are able to read it or

reply to it. in that chain.

Okay.

Um, so, you know, as a records request, obviously it has to come to whoever the records access officer is. So, you know, typically you wouldn't necessarily get a records request to your private email address.

Um, I would just say under those circumstances, I would just forward it to the trustes email so that it's in that public record. Um, now obviously where public record does come into play is if you're regularly communicating town business using your personal email.

Um, my recommendation would be a couple things. Um, you know, number one, obviously best case is you have a personal uh sale email address, you know, that you can do your business with. The second option uh is if you're using that address, just have a separate folder where those conversations you're dragging and dropping just so that if there was ever a request, you could separate your personal business from

trusted business.

Um, and some people just set up entirely new email addresses. Um, personal email addresses, but still separate from their regular communications. Makes the most sense. Set up a separate Gmail account.

Yeah. Which which people do. And again, I think it just depends on how much correspondence is going on or um or what business you have. and should be.

Yeah. Which, you know, and again, I think that that's also something where, um, you know, I'll take like my office for an example. Um, you know, we have our general, you know, select board inbox.

Um, you know, that's managed by my staff and then it's routed to the applicable, you know, the applicable party. Um, so that's just kind of how we handle it administratively. Um, you know, but I it's really just depending on how you know you guys need the operation to run.

Now, can sales set one up for us?

I don't think they would for the board of trustees email, but you can get like a free one from most email like that.

Well, what's our board of the one you shared before is was actually board of trustees. Is that that was set up by sales.

That one is sales. I don't trust individually for each.

Somebody had a complaint. They're supposed to send it to that email address, right? That's the public facing email for the board.

Okay.

If anyone wants to communicate with it's on the library or that's uh trustees I mean or that's on sales sales at sales. It's at sales. Okay.

Yeah. Salesync.org.

I I personally think the best option is to have a folder. Just drag everything into a folder. So if you ever get questioned, there's the folder with all the communications.

Yeah, I do that now. But I do that.

I do that too.

I have like 18 categories on the library. So it's not until it becomes an issue.

Which, you know, again, it just it really just depends on how often and what are the topics. And you know, sometimes you just can't wait for a month for a meeting. Yeah.

For response to Yeah.

Well, and I, you know, as residents and elected officials, you know, I think there is an expectation that you're accessible to constituents on different issues. And so, you know, how much or how little use that as the form to communicate, you know, is, you know, certainly your discretion.

I, for one, will go with a separate folder.

Okay.

Your same email address.

I already have four. I don't want another one.

I know. I don't know.

Do you remember George cautioning us all the time?

Mhm.

Before Bonnie cautions us, we had George said, "Do not, this is not appropriate for email discussion, right?

Save it for a meeting."

So that's note to self.

Yeah.

What you what you share, what you don't share.

Yeah.

How you share it.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay. Motion to accept the director's report.

Motion discussion questions.

So, did you second that? I'm sorry.

Okay. Thank you.

I just going to bring up a couple of things. They finished on Friday the um students from Diamond finished the benches, so they look really, really good. Very happy with that. Um we had actually found some stain in the in John's um area. So, that didn't cost us anything, which was really nice.

Um, I did order the new plaques. I had shown them to Don to the subcommittee, but if anyone wants to see it, that's what they look like. Um, they are supposed to get be shipped out on July 21st.

Okay.

So, that is going to push things back a little bit.

And we're talking about the dedication when that happens.

Yeah.

Um, the contractor to do the pads for the benches, it'll do it into June. So, that'll work out fine. That'll be good.

He's booked until then, but we're not in a hurry.

Do we have any sense of when we might be having the dedication?

Well, it's getting closer.

July 21st, the PL August sometime then because it'll get shipped out the 21st, but it'll probably take, you know, early fall.

Late summer, fall.

And what type of event is it? How how wide is it? How deep is it?

I don't know. Holly sent me some things that were sent out when they did the building, the addition. And on the things for the dedication, she had the plaques. She said those plaque names should be part of the um dedication.

So who contributed to those and then the man foundation of course did the big big contribution.

So continue to sent out I don't know how many people come.

What kind of were you here? Here the building. Um, I came to it, but I wasn't I was only working part-time then, so I don't know any of the How big was it? Did it seem like a big deal? Was it like 30 people were here or Yeah, it was it was probably like 30 people and they had um I think somebody from the man Foundation was here because that was a really big project.

Um, and I think someone from the state representative I can see if anybody from Foundation wants to show up.

The Men Foundation is under Hugh Morton.

You know him? You know the man?

I know you.

Okay.

Yeah.

So, sorry. What are we doing?

Okay.

Still working on the benches.

Okay. Strictly benches.

It'll be all the benches and the area, the amphitheater area.

So, Joseph because he did the beautifification.

He has a sign there already, but he'll be part of it.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sorry. Excuse me. tickling my throat.

Um, and then the other thing I want to bring up is somebody contacted me from Traveling Toys. Um, which I immediately thought was a scam.

Um, but they, someone in town, they do, let me start at the beginning. They have a nonprofit where they set up toy lending libraries in libraries. Um, they're in based in Connecticut and they've recently done some in Rhode Island. Um, they have family ties to Westport and there is an individual in town who was offered $5,000 for us to set one up here, which is why I immediately thought it's a scam.

So, I have a meeting with the woman I talked to on the phone, Diana, um, next Monday to find out more information.

But, I'm going to talk to Windsocket Library um, just had one put in. So, basically um, the library would own everything. U we would pick out exactly what we wanted and then um everything gets put into little bins and they we keep track of the circulation for them the statistics.

Now they actually sign something they take the book out or how do you know they they would check it out just like a book basically or they could use it in the library but it would basically be so we would um I've been looking at like switches for the teen area for ages and have not been able to come up with the funding for them. So something like that

would be great and we get stuff off for the older kids because that would be great and our toddler toys are just a mess right now.

So anyway, I was really excited about that.

I'm hoping that will work out and I will let you know.

Can I work at that?

Yes, there's I actually um when I was going around getting signatures for the election, I had a couple people actually talk about that and said that would be a great idea. So and I heard her name so that Yeah, I'm glad she contacted me. That's great.

Anybody wants to see there's pictures of what other libraries look like? So, it's just space is always an issue, but we'll figure something out.

Any other comments, questions?

Do you have the policy that you this week's Oh, yeah. I did send that. I'm sorry.

That was in here. Um, we had talked last month about the not purchasing generative AI materials. So, I did add that to the policy. Um, it's just Yeah, it's just sentence on page four, I believe. Um, it's just under things the library does not purchase. Basically, it's it's under scope of the collection. The following materials are not usually collected by the library.

Do we have should we have a policy in place?

Um, that was what we had decided last time. Instead of doing entire policy, we could just add it to our current collection policy.

So, how do you know if anybody's using AI on the computers? I mean, sometimes you can tell Jessica's got very terribly. Um, sometimes it's harder. I know Hoopla, who we use for um, ebook collection, has had a lot of complaints about that from libraries because they had started adding it without telling anybody and then people, it is, you know, sometimes very obvious. So, they have

stopped, as far as I know, doing that.

Um, but if you would like to vote to add that one sentence in, it just says um under scope uh scope of the collection. Wait, I'm sorry. My paper go here. It's under materials that we do not normally buy.

So, it's like foreign language books, um, you know, photos, things like that. So, it's just materials compiled using generative AI.

We should vote on the on, excuse me, on that line.

Yeah. to amend the policy.

I recommend we approve the policy with the new line item in there about AI.

Could you read it to all of us?

Yes. That be the beginning of the sentence.

Okay. So in the section on scope of the collection, the following materials are not usually collected by the library which includes foreign language books, pictures, genealogies, prints and artworks, manuscripts, rare books, maps, textbooks unless they serve the general public, microforms, music scores, outlines and study guides with the exception of those for equivalency entrance or civil service examinations,

and materials compiled using generative AI.

I second. Okay.

Could we back up just a moment? What I should have done was had us all vote on accepting the director's report.

Oh, I thought we did.

We had a motion and a second and this came up with the discussion.

Okay. Okay.

All in favor of accepting the Bonnie's report.

It was in my report. I had talked about it in my report. So I kind of went along with that.

So motion to accept the amendment to the policy with AI added.

We go back to D.

I moved it and I Okay. Any more discussion?

All in favor?

I actually do have a question. When it said generative AI, is that different than AI?

And Don, I know library commissioners about the link like the chat and things like that where it's been trained using I got accepted to material. So it's copyright, there's all sorts of issues and and quality was also an issue that would be under our collection policy. So So yes, but I can't even specific.

Okay. Next, uh assistant director's report motion.

Any discussion or questions?

All in favor?

I.

Now, the friends update, a new reporter.

It's on the It's below the assistant director, but they met on May 14th. Um, and they talked about their donation last year to the library, which was $40,000. Uh, they will vote um in July on how much to give for 2026, which will be done in September.

Um, and as Bonnie said, it goes directly into the gift account.

Um, their membership looks flat as of May, but they have a lot of renewals that come up in October, so they expect that to go up. And as as you know, their book sales are coming up. Um, as of the date of the May 14th meeting, they had 101 boxes already, toned stuff. Uh, I'm sure they have way more than that. And the paperback sale is July 11th through the 25th. And then their annual book

sale is the 12th through the 19th, but there is a member preview the night before on September 11th.

And they have a really nice program coming up in August um here 6:30 to 7:30. So that Thursday night, it's the new New Bedford Symphony String Quartet which will be here. Um and again as you know that they're part of the planning for the dedication ceremony and the next meeting will be July 9th here on Thursday night 6:30.

Good to second it's more an update.

Okay.

We waffle every meeting whether we vote on it or don't vote on it when we're doing an update. It's one of the You can make a motion to receive the file.

Make a motion to what?

Receive.

Thank you so much.

I love it.

We'll remember that next month, won't we?

That down.

So, Don, you made that motion, right?

Yes.

Okay. Does that have to be seconded?

No.

No, that's a motion. Yeah. So second all see the second it boxes donated all in favor it's all on that now all right trustee subcommittee updates building grounds and safety the tentative title the concrete pads are going to be poured for the benches and the table over there and for the bookmarks for the bike we got all those he'll be doing that in July.

Um there's not much else on grounds in building the building the I want to keep that on HVAC project. Um I know it was brought up at the last selectman's meeting, but it's too expensive for us to do the whole thing. So the work on trying to do the oldest unit outside on the ground and that's like 250,000 something like that.

The total was five. I don't have it in front of me. 550 5 something. We're getting like 57,000 back from the whole thing for a rebate.

So, I'm not sure that'll get approved, but we've been on that list put it down for years.

Something always takes a priority.

I have a meeting with our energy manager uh later this week or next week. Can't think of the exact date. Uh just on townwide projects. So, I'll be sure to ask her about this project and yeah, you know, get her take on that.

Okay.

Yeah.

Appreciate it.

No problem.

Cuz I was thinking if we're not going to get it till the year after, we might look at the M foundation for the top the roof the roof units. If they're going to do the bottom, then we could do the the man foundation.

I'll bring that on tour.

Okay.

Yeah, I've talked to her about that already.

But if we can't do one, maybe we can do, you know some um that's it. I think everything else is going well. I we continue to get compliments on that front door.

Easy coming in.

It's awesome.

I keep forgetting that I don't have to do anything. I keep walking.

Sometimes I see when I'm out in my backyard cutting, I see kids standing in front of moving back and forth with the doors. It's just dead. Of course, it's okay in the summer. Yeah. In the winter we discard that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But that's all we have.

Safety. We do have something on safety buses. We got the approval from the school department to put up the two signs.

One is going to be the down by the driveway where we go into the school.

It's going to be there so people hopefully won't go past that and make their left. And the other one's going to be right at our entrance. We got to talk to Chris's highway department. He said he put him in, but he's got the pole. We got the signs.

Yeah. Okay.

And those are big signs.

You can't miss them.

What are they going in?

I got to wait on Chris.

Okay.

Hopefully next week. But when he has time, he'll sw by and put him in.

So the fiasco that happened the last time shouldn't happen again. And what they should have done is they should have made an announcement with the loudspeaker that anybody who was parked over here should have been told to get over here and move their vehicles. There was no place to park. Absolutely nowhere. And she had a 10:00 group thing that was going to happen. That's her new business.

There was no place to park.

You want to talk about that?

It was just ridiculous.

Yeah.

And I parked at the end stopping cars from coming in because they were still coming in and some guy moved his moved one of the cones and took her parking spot and he wouldn't move.

He would he moved the cone and he parked his truck there and he wouldn't move.

There was absolutely no place to park.

parking with schools school.

There's absolutely no place to park.

I know when they build a school, they only allow so many parking spots, but they I think they kind of included some of ours for But they opened up the campground for people to park and they were told to park at the campground. And I drove by there. There was a lot of open space for people to park, but they chose to park here. When I showed up, there was no

place to park. I parked in front of the dumpster.

This is a sneak preview of new business.

Yeah, we'll get to it.

It was awful.

It was.

So, for the updates for the subcommittees, we do each one separately. Okay.

So, motion to receive and file the safety updates.

Motion.

Second.

Can you second your own report?

I'll second.

All in favor? I for the personnel committee. We've met once and we will be meeting again to review all the job descriptions. We'll have to make sure that the three of us have all of them from Bonnie and then just go through.

Yeah, I think we got I think we have we'll have to set a date and now maybe we'll wait for the format the town prefers so that we so we could maybe have have a clean version of it and then a red line version that'll help with the review as well.

Anything else?

Motion to receive and file personnel subcommittee update.

Second, you can't. You're on it.

Second.

All in favor?

finance committee. Have you had a chance to meet yet?

We did, but someone has done all the work.

I actually Well, uh, what I did do is I created a description.

So, I didn't make copies. I should have made copies, but I think I might have emailed for next month.

Did you send it out?

Yeah, I'll send it out. Yeah.

Um, but we we plan on talking after this meeting to set a set a meeting and probably set a meeting with you and just kind of decide how often we should meet.

But we did do the descriptions.

I'll throw a few things your way for the finance committee.

Yep.

That's funny.

I do.

We have basically three subcommittees and they never had job descriptions before and it was prompted with Caroline joining the board.

Yeah.

And I brought up the fact that we should start a finance committee which we haven't had. This is my sixth year now and there hasn't been anyone here to to work on that. So Carolyn said, "Okay, I'll be on it. What do I do?"

Okay, you tell me what you All right. Motion to receive and file finance subcommittee.

Motion.

Second.

All in favor?

I.

Now let loose on parking.

I think one of the problems we have is multiple problems, but one of the problems is when they close that road up there, so the elementary cars don't go back that way.

When when there's a cop there, but when the cop is new, when a sports bus comes in, he turns them away.

They're supposed to go in that way and come around to the tennis courts. What they do is they come in this way and go around the tennis courts because they don't know. And if it's either a new driver or a new separate police officer doing it, it's confusing on their part.

I don't know if you can fix that.

It's an individual. You could have a different bus driver from a school one day, another different bus driver another day. I don't know if everybody's communicating to all their bus drivers how to get in here because if you Google it, it doesn't say that way. It tells you to come through our driveway if you use Google Maps.

Do coaches ride the buses?

I don't We don't see that just to communicate with weather directors.

Part of the problem is you have these buses that come in. They're coming in when the kids are running across coming over here. They drive in. Now they're trying to back out. You've got cars that are supposed to be parking over there that are parking in here to pick up kids from over there. And the buses are backing up. One of the one of these days they're going to hit the building. The

old people that are backing up, they can't drive to begin with. We watch them. We sit at the building and we watch them.

It's ridiculous.

What they do is they pull all the way down here to the tennis courts. They realize they can't go any place.

They can't go anywhere, right?

So, what's the solution? So, I mean, I know that our police department's been working with school administration, obviously, you know, the walk configuration, but then when it bleeds out onto Old County Road, uh, is really where police are coming in on it.

You know, I know that there are a couple things that they've been working on over the last few months to try and make the the flow a little bit better. You know, I think uh to the point that was mentioned earlier about the old campground, I know there's been some discussion about, you know, a future, you know, um maybe secondary entry or alternative exit, um you know, using that property, but that is very much in

conceptual at this point in time.

You know, I think, you know, to the points that were mentioned, you have kind of two issues, right? You have the everyday in-n-out traffic issues and behaviors and patterns that are kind of ingrained in the community. And then you have the special events and what communication do you need to provide the public, the buses, the coaches coming in ahead of time. You know, that's one thing that

brought up that was actually interesting about the GPS. Um, and I think there's a way, I don't know this, but I think there's a way to actually like send a request to say like to the the um like Google Maps or or Apple to say, you know, when you're giving directions to this address like use this entry um and I don't necessarily know again because really this this entry or this

shared entry is really more or less for library. Well, library the bus the bus is coming in stay they stop the buses proper right well and the the visitor I guess during the day like the visitor parking in the front of the building but everything else I mean really should be diverted to that other and you can't really put up a one-way sign because you still need people to come back to the library.

Yeah, it's been an ongoing issue since the school was built. I mean it's a slow process and you get new people things change and they have been responsive because I emailed Dr. Roy with that last incident about the elementary school event. And she emailed me back within 15 minutes at most and said they tried to explain to the parents where to park. And she said next year they're probably going to have

a school safety officer directing people away from the library if they're there for.

We've done that. We've done that.

We've gone through that before though.

Yeah. Well, we've done it twice. When the when a police officer is out there, it's perfect. He'll turn people away.

Yeah.

But when there's nobody there, sometimes they ignore him, too, though.

But yeah, it's it's a hard thing to overcome behavior right?

I think everyone's kind of in the same mindset. I want to get in and out.

Yeah.

Within this 20 minute window.

You have people waiting there quarter of one in line already.

Yeah.

Must have not have anything to do.

Yeah. I'm not a traffic engineer, but you know. I don't think they did.

Search of people all looking for the same thing.

When they had the traffic study done, everything was going to be perfect.

The traffic study didn't work out the way they thought it was.

This is interesting. If you put in 400 Old County Road, it shows my house.

Oh, interesting.

Do you have a lot of buses going on?

Well, the house is correct, but it shows 400. I'm 424. Oh.

Mhm.

So, we do have a lot of Door Dash drivers and stuff come to our house.

Nice.

Really?

And I don't know how you change that.

I know there's a way to um when I work I refer that to our PD.

I know that's I know they've done that before. Yeah. Well, because you know, if you think about it, right, when there's uh like construction work going on and you have uh the state like will send that to these companies and then they'll reroute you because they know that a certain road is going to be closed. So, I know it's possible. It's just how do you how do you get them a message? I can

talk to our chief about that.

Okay.

Yeah. Because I know Google and Apple both have contacts for that.

When I worked in Rahobit, they had our library hours wrong. So people would come when we were closed because it said we were open Sundays and stuff like that. And I emailed them and they corrected it pretty quickly. That's good.

Well, my house is on the other side of 88 behind the restaurant and I'm on the other side of 88 on the main road.

We can't correct it. We've tried.

Yeah.

So I've heard before I think I saw in that report that they're think of the campground maybe people coming in through there to go to the elementary school that would alleviate some secondary entrance.

Yeah. I mean there's no design at this point. So it's it's really conceptual.

They tried one thing in front of the school. They had two rows of cars going to elementary school but then the people who leaving high school couldn't get out because they almost had them blocked in.

There's got to be a fix somewhere.

See, we only have by law, we had to have 26 parking spots, right?

And we don't always have 26.

Oh, here. It's And with the end of school coming, I remember last year at the end of the year, the parents are they just all park in all the parking spots here because they don't want to go wait in line. So, they park over here and they block everything. So, as the kids are trying to come through, they're they're trying to drive out of here as the kids are coming across and the kids are

excited. It's the end of school year, right?

They come running through. It was a nightmare out there.

We couldn't even get to our cars.

Do we have a traffic engineer that works for the town?

Uh, we do not. We We rely on uh firms to provide our recommendations.

Don't take Don't use the same one that did this design.

But I what I will say is it's being looked at and I think um they're looking at what they can do obviously without having to do a full redesign or supplemental construction.

I'm surprised there hasn't been an accident on old county road where like they back up from here down to the head and from there up to 88.

Yeah.

Well, I think they also recognize that you have a lot of, you know, new drivers, right? You know, a big surge of traffic in the area.

Anybody ever thought of letting more people ride the bus without charging them?

Uh I well perhaps no conversation that's come to my desk as of yet because I've heard a lot of parents don't want to pay the money.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think you get a free ride up until what fourth grade or something and then how you're supposed to get here.

If you pay paid you can ride the bus. If you can't your parents what happens from a fourth grader to a fifth grader they get they get money they earn money.

I'm not sure I'm not sure what grade it cuts off at.

It's kind of a funny Um, time to start charging because it's that's when they went to the other school.

I'm so pay for the bus.

I have nothing to add.

Do you think the signs make a difference? Have they in the only one?

We don't have them.

We had We had a sign this big. I think it says library only, but you know, doesn't do too much.

These are big orange reflective signs.

Okay.

If you if you go out there and you tell someone that you know who's waiting for their kid and you say you can't park here, you know what they'll tell you?

Oh, well, I'm not going to say it. Use your imagination. I'm not going to say it, but I've been told where to go.

And they'll say, I can park here.

Okay.

It's Yeah.

belongs to the town. I can park here.

I pay taxes.

Yeah.

Cuz we were out there for a while telling people you're not supposed to be parked here. It's for the it's for the library.

Yeah. Doesn't work.

It does impact all of our programming because we can't have anything that starts at two or around during the school year.

Yeah. So, it's there's a whole chunk of time where we can't have programming.

Do you have any activities going on on Saturday mornings? Um, sometimes we have special programming because this past Saturday both lines lines of cars, right? There had to be 40 cars all back play ball.

Yep.

They never allowed any parking spots for the tennis courts.

Over the summer, that's more of an issue because they have tennis lessons there, the recreation department. So, um, that line is usually full on the mornings when they have that.

And you get the bikers that biker club that parks up here, too. Yeah, I don't know if they permission to do that, but they just pop and they read their cars there all day and they're out riding the bikes. Yeah.

Everyone ready to move on to complaining for the day.

Why was that new business? That's kind of been a We've been talking about that for a long time.

Because of the incident on it was just happened when I could have come to work. Just it should just be on the agenda.

Five minutes. That's it.

Okay. The poet laurate proposal.

Oh, here we go.

Yes.

Thomas Fredo sent a letter.

Yes.

to the library to to my attention which finally showed me and did you put it in the package?

Yeah, it's in here.

You could read the initial letter and this is you've had time to think about it. We talked about it. He when I asked him specifically in email if he was asking for funding from us, he said just to condense his answer yes and no.

Um he isn't even directly proposing himself. He sounded like first.

Well, it did. It did. But he I think he is willing to step aside. He just likes the idea of it.

He likes how other towns have one. Not that many towns, but there are some towns. and he's trying to create community support for getting a coalition of certain groups in town to propose it to the select board because he thinks it would be more successful if it was to the town.

Do you want to see?

Yeah, it's Yeah, I think the oldest email is at the bottom and this is his proposal. He wrote this out.

Yes.

I do. So, shouldn't he go through like the art art culture group instead of us?

Well, he wrote a number of groups in town. He didn't specify any others except for the cultural council and he said he was being asked to speak at their meeting beginning June, which is I think it's happened already.

Was it Did it happen or is it was it June 6th?

Yeah, it happened but I looked I didn't see the meeting or the minutes haven't been posted on the town's website. So, do you record that?

No. No.

No. Yeah. Oh, so it's not even recorded.

Oh okay.

I could write the chair be because he thought they would be a natural right supporter of it and library.

I imagine friends.

We can support his idea.

Yeah.

But I think a lot more work needs to be done on the the proposal. I think he's expecting the people who support it to do that to do a job description.

I his emails are very long, but basically it comes to Wouldn't it be great? And I support the idea. I don't support putting a proposal together.

I don't think it's our place to do it. I think it should go through the art cultural people.

The Westport Cultural Council seems like a natural fit to um work on a description.

And then I think we would could write a letter of recommendation, right? This is our support for this and then it's taken before the board once the select board once the the final description is done and and I would put that I don't think we should put any any dollar support to it.

We wouldn't I don't No, I would go before the select board.

And again, when he said that yes or no, no, I'm not asking you directly for money, but yes, I think the position should be supported with an honorarium.

He said usually it's $1,000, which won't be coming from us.

Yeah. Because I read something that they do get paid for traveling, meals, other expenses. So, that's going to come from somewhere.

Yeah. So, uh I guess just with regards to that, uh if it's a town position that's being proposed, um you we have personnel bylaws. So, any non-UN position would have to be included in the personnel bylaw obviously have the you know, if there's a stipen um that's tied to it or compensation package. Um you know, that yeah, that would all all be kind of done within the budgetary process.

you know, I think I don't know enough about other communities that have a position like this. Um, you know, but I think to the points that were mentioned, there are organizations, um, both town and private organizations that do this work or have a vested interest in this work. But um I I think it's it may be better served to get a little more information forms of a formal proposal that would go to the select board,

right?

Um because his changes every time he sends another email out.

Yes.

He's very enthusiastic.

Yeah, he's refined.

But very non-specific.

Yeah. Well, again, not even just talking to the the merits of it, you know, but you know, just in terms of, you know, the process, I think it needs to be more of a community conversation.

So, you know, certainly if you want to report my office and if he has information or examples of other places, you know, we can look at it. Um, but I was just reading through that. I just I couldn't fully grasp kind of the concept of the, you know, the multi the committee. if that was a hiring committee or a separate committee be established.

I've done some research on most of those positions they're more poetic people and that type of would attend a town event and because I thought he was look at first it seemed to me that he was looking for himself but he has no qualifications right and if this is something where again it's a you know just like our committees if this is just a an appointed position, you know, a volunteer position that's not getting

compensated.

Um, and I won't say kind of operates like a say committee, but h what's this the term? Long story short, it's the a designation that the board would give. um you know maybe it could be structured that way but I guess I just need a little more information to work off of and so that how it's structured in some other towns and you're suggesting he should be directed to the um select board.

Yeah, you could you know and that's you could refer this to my office.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think you're right. You need for some type of formal proposition.

How is this person going to be appointed?

Yeah, there's some good examples and a couple of the towns has some good examples. One of them I don't have with me has a complete um job description as part of an application.

What are your, you know, where's your areas of study? What all that stuff? And one one town, I don't has a they create a poet from a high school student.

They have a contest. somebody poets my school and he picks them and he promotes them around around town. I mean, some of them have very specific things they do.

I'll make that.

I don't think it says we could support it. I mean, definitely think it it made sense from someone who has a writing skill and a right art. Reading is art. Writing is art.

Definitely.

Um, programming here. I think that would be a good use of the space.

Right.

But I'll direct him to the select to get it started.

Put his former proposal together to Chris.

Email it to him so he has he has to read it before he watch.

It will be a public artistic way.

Right. Exactly.

Good. He he said he looks forward to getting out.

I'm curious how they how he was received at the postal um check that anybody know anybody that you talk to?

I don't I don't know anyone of that committee.

Do you committee?

Isn't that the guy that owns the Raven Cat and Raven?

Cat and Raven.

Oh, the young man that ran for the Slow Keys.

Yeah. I don't know.

He's on that cultural community.

I believe he is.

I could email him.

Yeah, I think he's on that.

He's in the official sales email.

Received it, but he's pretty far.

But I think he's on that comm.

Okay.

Any other topics?

Motion to adjurnn.

Motion to adjurnn. Second.

All in favor? I I've got one o'lock.