HomeMy Public PortalAboutsept16mblcLibrary Director
Leone E. Cole
TO: Board of Library Trustees p /�
FROM: Leone E. Cole, Library Director
DATE: September 1, 2016
RE: Letter toMBLC
Attached please find a draft letter to the Director of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
regarding deadlines for action plans. AS it is explained in the letter, we feel that the deadline is too early
for us to prepare realistic and achievable action plans for the following fiscal year.
I would appreciate your consideration on this matter.
123 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472-4476
617.972.6434 watertownlib.org
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Library Director
Leone E. Cole
September 6, 2016
Diane Carty, Director
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
98 North Washington St., Suite 401
Boston, MA 02114
Dear Ms. Carty,
We write to request that the timeline for submission for Action Plans be reconsidered.
As the timeline currently exists, libraries are required to have action plans on file for the coming fiscal
year by December 1. These action plans will cover a time period beginning six months later. In order to
have the plan submitted by this deadline our library staff, and likely most library staffs, must create the
plan by the end of October to give sufficient time for the Trustees to approve the plans at the November
meeting. This means that we have to complete a plan that won't begin for another eight months.
We agree that planning ahead is an important part of good library service. However, we do not think the
December deadline is reasonable, especially given the fast rate of change that occurs within libraries.
Our patrons have high expectations and in order to best serve them we need to work quickly. Often we
find that we're completing items in our plans well before the next fiscal year even begins. On the other
side of this issue, it is difficult to anticipate action items that need to be continued to the next year given
that we're only four months into the current plan when the next plan is written and submitted. This
timeline renders our action plans ineffective.
We suggest that the MBLC moves the deadline for Action Plans to April 1 in order to better serve our
patrons and to make the action plans the tools for our staff they are intended to be. If this suggestion
does not suit all libraries in Massachusetts we request that you make an exception for the Watertown
Free Public Library and accept our Action Plans on April 1 for the FY18 Action Plan and any future Action
Plans.
Sincerely,
Timothy J. Tracy, Chair
On behalf of the Watertown Free Public Library Board of Trustees
123 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472-4478
617.972.6434 waiertownhb.org