Forbes Library director discusses reopening with trustees

July 27, 2021 | Dennis Hackett
dhackett@thereminder.com

The Trustees of the Forbes Library meet for a Zoom meeting on July 23.
Screen capture by Dennis Hackett

NORTHAMPTON – During the Trustees of the Forbes Library’s July 23 meeting, the trustees received an update on the library’s phased in reopening and transition from remote work.

To start her report on the reopening process, Forbes Library Director Lisa Downing said some services have returned but in-person programming is still on hold.

“We are very much along the way to reopening, we have added hours and we have added services. A few things that are not happening yet, our in-person programming and in-person use of our meeting rooms are the big ones,” she said.

Downing said the library would be returning to normal hours on Sept. 7 in order to receive its state funding and added she is working with staff to strike a balance between in-person and remote work.

“We still have to get to our full hours by Sept. 7 for state aid purposes. That will be another big transition and that is also when we are calling all our benefitted staff back, some are still working remotely for at least part of their hours. We are committed to be open to remote working possibilities and at the September meeting I will bring a policy back,” she said.

When asked if the library was considering changing the mask policy, Downing said she was not ready to make a recommendation at the time of the meeting.

“We are kind of taking a back seat to the board on this discussion. I surveyed the staff in advance of our last meeting, and it was close, but some who said they wanted to go forward without masks now say they have changed their minds. I did not feel like this was the month to bring it up because I did not have any recommendations,” she said.

While discussing the financial report, Downing said the fiscal year 2022 budget would be like the fiscal year 2021 budget with a slight deficit.

“This was a very unusual year, we spent money in areas that we normally would not have to and certain things we did not spend because of our reduced services. At the end of the day, we are talking about a budget that is going to be close to the previous year and I think in a slight deficit,” she said.

Downing said some of the biggest contributing factors to the overages in the budget were in payroll, electricity and repairs.

“There were significant overages in payroll and electricity, both of those were directly related to COVID-19. There was also an overage in labor and repairs, we started the fiscal year with a $5,700 HVAC filter and maintenance project so we ended up spending more in that area than we had anticipated,” she said.

During the meeting, the trustees also approved the audit for fiscal year 2020.

The Trustees of the Forbes Library next meet on Sept. 15.

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