Okay. Hi everyone. Uh, welcome to our first meeting in a long first buildings and facilities meeting in a long time. I love the new offices in the background. Especially yours, George. Thank you. I have a window.
Yep. Um, so let's just go around so I can I know I can hear you guys, but just to make sure. Um, George here, Tammy here, Sharon here. Okay. All right. First order of business
is to um approve the minutes of April 15th. Can someone make a motion? Motion to approve. Second. Thank you. Um, any changes, comments,
suggestions? Thank you, Tammy, for doing the minutes. This will be my last time this time, I think. Yeah. Wait, when when are we switching over? Uh Austin. Uh yeah, Austin will appoint at the next trusty meeting. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you,
Tammy. You're welcome. Um can we go around and vote in favor? George proof. Tammy, yes. Uh Sharon, wait. No, I don't and I sorry and I approve. Thank you.
All right. Next thing is public comment and I think we have one attendee. Uh if you'd like to make a comment, please unmute yourself and enter the room
or raise your hand first, of course. No. Okay. No public comment. All right, let's go to monthly building and grounds report. How are things going in the new building and the old building? I guess we're going to get a
report on both. Yeah. So, let me start and then George can take over. Um, specifically talking about us here at 101 University Drive. Um, we couldn't have landed at a better place. Uh the
landlords, the Slowbody family, um and and the couple of boots on the ground people, Dwight and Scott, are really fabulous. Um they are very receptive. Um uh and you know, there's been lots of
It's weird having a landlord. Um and you know what I we now have we have nothing but landlords. You know, we have the town of Ammerst with North and South and now we have the slowies here at 101. So, um it's so it's wild. Um you know, there's no mold here and it doesn't rain
inside and and the light is really so lovely. Um it's really giving people a glimpse of what the new you know, the new 43 AMD Street is going to is going to look like. Um
you know, my other comments are it's, you know, there's not nearly enough space here. Um all our our staff and our services are scattered in into six different suites on two different floors and they're at opposite ends. Um
the you know the children's department is alone on the first floor which is not from a safety standpoint. This is far from ideal. It's it's not good in that way. Um, we staff
so so far our not the safest. It's not the best way to run a public library. Um, it's definitely, you know, a short-term solution. Uh, you know, nights and weekends are the the most difficult because that's when we have a skeleton crew.
um uh special collections and ESL, you know, you have to make appointments to to meet with those staff members. Um and and our adult collection had to be because there's not enough space here. I mean, there's no programming. Well,
there's a little room for programming. Um it's a room that holds like 15 to 20 people. um we were able to carve that out, but our so our collection we couldn't fit the entire adult collection here. Um so
it's the adult collection is split between here and the basement of Mson which has its own environmental issues and uh and then and then the bunker and the items that are in the bunker are not accessible. That's those items are away
for you know the duration of of construction. Um, so I so it's awesome. It's it's the best uh it's the best place we could be for the next, you know, year and a half. But definitely there are
there are downsides and we're all looking forward to, you know, the new 43. Uh, but George has George has more to say. Can I not a lot more? You said most. Go ahead. Uh, go ahead, Farah. Can I quickly ask a couple of questions while just before we go into George? Um,
so Sharon, first off, space is amazing. Kudos to to you and the staff. I mean, when I walked in that in on the inauguration day, it was just like this this is how it should be. It just seems like it's made such a difference. And I
was really sad the day I went to work, the one space I wanted near the window was gone. So, I'm sure that goes right away. Okay, just real quick about the safety. Is there something we need to be worried about? Do we need to have like
after hours or like later in the day? Do we need to talk to Crest or somebody? So, we we have met with police, fire, and Crest. They all came here for a tour. Um, you know, so they all are very
aware that we're here. Crest stops by every once in a while to do a walk through. Um and and and police and fire uh did their things. Um one of the things both police and fire said is um the building, you know, we
staff have talked about using walkie-talkies. We've got, you know, telephones are everywhere. Uh and and most staff have cell phones, so those are all set. Um and we have we actually have an emergency phrase that we can
call and use in case there's a problem. Um, but we've the the walkietalkie piece. Apparently, according to police and fire, they don't work in this building. Um, so that's all I got really for now.
Can I make one comment? Um, I brought my granddaughters who they want they expected to be going to the the Jones and I took them to the interim space and I was so impressed with how they they had set up the children's room that was still pl you know the things to play and
space to to um hang out. So I thought and I did compliment them. I thought they'd done a really great job providing similar spaces um for kids. So inviting. Yeah. I mean, just the atmosphere down there is
amazing. I mean, the staff created a library out of nothing. It's amazing. But it is hard that the bathroom is locked. I guess you have to ask for a key on the first floor. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Second floor was was fine, but uh yeah. No, I I think that you guys did a great
job on both floors, so kudos. There are a lot more bathrooms, though, Tammy. Makes a big difference. Yeah. Right. Nice. It's pretty nice. And the locks close. Sharon, just just to for real quick to
go back to your safety question, there was no way to do it the other way around, right? Because you need that huge space for the main section of the library because the so on the the the base floor, you know, we're on slab, so
weight wasn't an issue as far as the stacks go. they just had to be uh apart from each other a certain number of feet for accessibility. But on the top floor they we had the accessibility issues as well as the weight issues and the adult collection is much larger than the
children's collection. So yeah, it just had to be it had to be sorted out that way. Um thankfully, you know, the kids department downstairs, um they're right next door to Cso and the bridge, so it's not like kids are entirely alone. Um we
also have down on the first floor we have interl loan and tech services are there. Uh also ATI we do we have wonderful neighbors um ATI we have UMass on the third floor we have Ammeris Media right next door to us on the second
floor. So it's um no one is entirely alone. They're just kind of being in our own suites is that's what's kind of making us feel blocked off. That's why the new space is going to be amazing. Yeah.
When when we're done with it. Yeah. Um, thank you. Uh, George, you were going to say something and we interrupted you, so please No, no, no, you're fine. Um, I don't have much else to add from what Sharon already said, but but yeah, that that is the that is the one issue with, you
know, we're basically in a modern office building, so everybody's kind of in their own silos and we have to go out into public space, public shared space to go from one department to another. So, we're all getting our miles in. Um, you know, that the the back staircase
right outside the main office is a godsend to have because it's the quickest way to get from point A to point B. Um, but what I will say, you know, I'll echo this. The staff really did an amazing job making something out of nothing. Uh, you know, when you're
jamming almost 50,000 square feet of contents into into half the space and, you know, trying to make make something workable. You know, they really they really did an amazing job. I mean, the one big advantage is we have big wide
open spaces instead of a bunch of tiny little rooms all over the place. So that's that was very advantageous. Um and I think that's why this temporary space just seems to flow a lot better and just it it seems to be a lot more
workable. We have more sight lines. Um we just have space to breathe and and roam. But you know, of course, we don't have anywhere near as much seating. Like you said, that window table is the most popular place. Uh there's somebody in there all day
long. every time I walk into that space, there's somebody sitting there working because it it really is the beauty spot uh to go to. Um you know, and thankfully we were able to carve out a small programming space. We actually had a program in there on Monday for the very
first time. Um this space was actually the catchall for everything that we didn't know what we were going to do with yet or stuff that we would normally store because we don't have any storage space here. Uh, so a lot of us have things in our offices that we wouldn't
normally have there because there's just nowhere to go with it. Um, but but overall I think we did a really good job of just getting everything in place, finding homes for things, uh, and really repurposing stuff to make it work as
good as possible in this space. And and I'll also echo what Sharon said, the landlords are really incredible. Um, we chat with them almost daily. So it's that has been a really good thing. I want to highlight some things that uh
Steve it Katherine special collections and George you know overall facilities. So they they have probably a year and a half ago at this point they started these spreadsheets with their inventory. uh we know so having to do with the
building project we know that you know um money is not uh endless and so we knew going into this that we may have to reuse furniture and and it and things like that. Um so so the spreadsheet
served as so here's the main inventory and then and then the locations where the different items are going to be stored for the year and a half during construction and then and then those spreadsheets are also being used for these items we're definitely keeping
again. these items if we have to keep we can you know we can use another 10 years or so and then here are the items where no it it's it's a piece of plywood we're not saving it kind of a thing. Um and so a lot of work went into these
spreadsheets. You don't realize when you go to empty out a house um how many actual end tables you own. and um and so just everything's been analyzed and we are so ready to move
back in and and make decisions at the drop of a hat in working with the interior designer. So, um, yes. So, huge shout out to Steve, Katherine, and, uh, yeah, and I will say, as you know, we dumped
out a building that hadn't been completely emptied in nearly a hundred years. And the most fun find was uh one of the last days we were there. We were just getting into like the deep
dark spaces and one of my guys found two table leaves in the attic above the trustees room way in the back. They're in their own specialbuilt case and they're they're enormous. They're they're probably 2 feet wide. Um, and
nobody knew where they came from, but come to find out they belong to a table that's part of the fine arts collection that Katherine had had on display in special collections. It's got provenance. I forget who it belonged to, but um the table leaves actually match the table, which is now in deep storage.
So, we still don't have them together. Uh, but we were able to identify them and now they sit in my office because there's nowhere else to go with them. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what has uh traffic been like?
So, it's funny. We Steve finally got the uh door counters in place. Um, and it's definitely decreased. I mean, it's summer and and people haven't all found us yet. Uh, once September rolls around,
you know, once everybody go back goes back to school, um, people will start coming more. But because we are all walking from suite to suite, whatever the patron counters say, they're not they're not accurate. Um, you know, and
I don't know how many staff members are, you know, leaving the room to go to the children's room or to go use the bathroom or, you know, to go to Dunkin Donuts or so I I can't even begin to fathom. So, right,
you know, we'll have an idea over the next 18 months while we're here about usage here, but it's not it's just not even it's not apples to apples. It's not apples to, you know, zucchini. It's like apples to corvettes. It's just not it
can't be compared to to 43, right? And yeah, summer is always kind of, you know, sometimes people come with their kids, people aren't in town. I guess in September or the end of August when camps are done, I think maybe
you'll see an upsurge and start coming back. Yeah. You know, with without a programming space, you know, without a Woodbury room. So, if we can't have a magician here that that's going to attract 150 people. So, it's just not it it's not the same thing. We do have
programming going on at the two branches, but those are much much smaller spaces. Um, right. And you know anyways, so yeah, we also lost a lot of just the downtown walk-in traffic. Yeah. You know, it's you know, there there's definitely advantages to being right
downtown and and you know, I'm sure we lost a lot of traffic in that aspect as well. Yep. Yep. Um and but the summer reading thing is kicking off is uh wrapping up at the Drake, right? So that would be good to see the numbers there. Yeah. And that's the for all the
libraries because I know that Mson used to have a separate one in your Yeah. All the staff would work together now. So it's it's only it's three summer reading programs. One's for adult, one for adults, one for teens, and one for kids, right,
among all three buildings. That's great. Um, thank you so much. Uh, Tammy, do you have any other questions about this about 101? No, I I I think it's interesting about
that the counters don't work because if you go out to go to the bathroom and go back in, you're being counted. Yeah. So, I and staff coming and going. So, I can see how um it's good to have it because we could see if if there are
more people using the site in the fall than in the summer, but I can still see how you can't compare them. We also have occupancy levels that we have to be aware of. Um uh and I should
know these off the top of my head. In suite B1, which is the adult, I don't remember what the number is. There's a certain occupancy level, let's say 87. Um, and then downstairs in the kids' room, suite A4,
I want to say that occupancy level is like 41. So, the patron counters will help us if we ever uh feel that we're getting to those levels. We'll be able to tell how many people are in the room and then, you know, we'll just stop people from coming in if we have to.
Right. That's interesting. Yes. Um should we also talk about uh building and grounds in terms of Amity Street? Do we any updates to share here?
Not not that I can think of. We have building committee on Monday. Um that that's yeah that way you know collers will be able to report about what's going on on site. Um,
I don't George, is there anything you can think of? We lost Far just left us. I'll give her a second to come back. See if she can come back. Yeah. There she is. There she is.
Sorry, I got kicked off. That's okay. That's okay. That's okay. You I'm I I heard you say building committee on Monday. Building committee on Monday. And then uh George George's wheels were spinning. Oh, yeah. I mean, I just just cuz we
haven't met since April. Um you know, we we did have the opportunity once once 43 AMD was completely empty. Uh we did have staff go back just so they could walk through and say their last goodbyes to the space as it was. And uh Katherine did a great job of just documenting the
space. Uh you know, she took tons of photo and video and um you know, we were able to it was going to be a mad dash getting out of there. Uh but we managed to do it with enough time that we were actually able to go in and it was important to staff to just be able to go in and like
say the goodbye for 18 months. So we were able to accomplish that. Yeah. I'm glad. I think I saw some photos on Facebook. Yeah. Yeah. Must have been sad leaving, but happy sad. Happy sad. Yeah.
Yeah. And there's a lot of work going on there, but I know that we'll talk about that at our meeting on Monday. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thank you both. That's it. Yeah. Um, that's it, right? I think so.
Any topics on ant unanticipated topics? Nope. Okay. All right. Thank you all. Have a good weekend. Wait, is it the No, it's only Tuesday. It's only Tuesday. Have a good week.
Thank you. Bye, guys. Bye. Take care. You too.