HomeMy Public PortalAboutjune museum pass_201308071031466146Library Director
Leone E. Cole
TO: Library Board of Trustees
FROM: Leone E. Cole, Library Director �• �"°--
DATE: May 31, 2013
RE: Museum passes and periodicals
As a follow up to discussions we have had over the past fiscal year, we have switched the vendor we use
for museum pass reservations in order to make it possible for some passes to be available for
Watertown residents only and others to be available to all. Mr. Tracy had requested we evaluate this
when the software is expiring, which it did this month. We will begin using Plymouth Rocket software
beginning tomorrow, June 1.
We can use this software under our current policy, which allows anyone with a Minuteman library card
to reserve passes or we can consider a policy change, as per Mr. Tracy's suggestion, to have multiple
passes, with some available to Watertown residents only. We would also need to discuss how those
additional passes would be funded. Currently we have $750 allocated from the Burke Fund, which
covers our current passes. My suggestion, if you want to increase the number of passes would be to ask
the Building Committee for the funding.
I will have an up-to-date museum pass circulation report for you at the meeting.
Another ongoing topic is the cost of periodicals, and I have a few updates to share with you. We have
purchased some iPads which will be located in the periodical room, and will be loaded with the Zinio
software and the magazines which we subscribe to through Zinio. Patrons will be able to read those just
like reading a magazine. The iPads will be locked down at the tables and will be for library use only.
Additionally, the cost of the Zinio software and subscriptions is rumored to be going up significantly,
possibly even triple what we pay now. And we are not expecting the interest on the Pratt account to
increase either, which supplements our periodical budget. So I will be talking with my staff about how
much of the book budget we want to dedicate to periodicals both in print and online prior to the start of
the new fiscal year. If possible, can we put the Ruth Griffin Fund stocks back on the table as a further
supplement to the periodicals budget?
123 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472-4478
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