Rockingham Free Public Library
Personnel Committee Meeting Draft Minutes
January 15, 2015 at 5:00pm, RFPL Youth Department Program Room
Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes: PC_01_15_2015_DraftMinutes
Committee Members in Attendance: Carol Blackwood, Pat Fowler, Doreen Aldrich and Carolyn Frisa.
Library Personnel: Célina Houlné (Library Director)
Members of the Public: Hope Brissette (RFPL Board Member attended as Member of the Public)
Call to Order: Chairman Blackwood called the meeting to order at 5:04pm.
Public Comment: None.
Additions/Approval of Agenda: Add review of minutes from November 20, 2014 and December 15, 2014 Personnel Committee Meetings. Fowler moved to approve the agenda with this addition; seconded by Aldrich; unanimously approved.
Fowler moved to approve the minutes of the November 20, 2014 Personnel Committee Meeting; seconded by Aldrich; Aldrich noted “enquired” should have been “inquired” under Public Comment. Minutes were unanimously approved with this correction.
Frisa moved to approve the minutes of the December 15, 2014 Personnel Committee Meeting; seconded by Aldrich; Frisa noted her name was misspelled in the first paragraph. Minutes were unanimously approved with this correction.
The annual evaluation of the library director was discussed by the committee. Discussion included sample review procedures and forms found by Frisa on the American Association of Libraries website, particularly the review procedure used by the Mid-Hudson Library System Trustees. Copies of procedures and the evaluation form will be provided to committee members for review at their next meeting. Blackwood asked committee members to provide other evaluation forms and procedures for additional consideration if they wished to do so.
A timeline for the evaluation process was also discussed and initial recommendations are for a three-month period, starting in September 2015 and ending in December 2015.
- September: Personnel Committee provides trustees, staff and other reviewers (if applicable) with evaluation form and explains evaluation procedures, including submission deadline for forms.
- October – November: Personnel Committee reviews evaluation forms and meets with library director.
- December: Personnel Committee presents director evaluation findings to Board of Trustees.
Brissette (acting as member of public) asked if committee members would be looking at the form used in the past few years to review the library director. Frisa replied she had looked at this and was familiar with it since she has
filled it out for past evaluation periods and that the content of the form is very similar to the Mid-Hudson Library System’s evaluation form.
Potential weight percentages of different types of evaluation reviewers were discussed. Reviewers would fill out the same form. The library director would also be expected to fill out the same form as a self-evaluation. Initial recommendations may consist of the following, but more research into this topic is necessary:
- 40% Trustee Evaluation Forms
- 20% Staff Evaluation Forms
- 10% Outside Evaluation Forms which may include Town Manager, President of the Friends of the Library and one other familiar with the work of the library director.
- 30% input from monthly director evaluation reviews by Personnel Committee
Frisa asked the committee what the current goals are for this project. The committee agreed to provide a proposed written procedure, including a timeline, and an evaluation form for the annual evaluation of the library director to hand over to the new Personnel Committee in March 2015.
Brissette (acting as member of public) asked if committee members would include deadlines with the timeline. She also stated the director needs to take a “class” not a “webinar” or “seminar” to meet the requirements of her contract.
Executive Session: Fowler moved to enter executive session at 5:55pm to discuss the library director’s monthly evaluation [evaluation of a public employee] where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the Rockingham Free Public Library at a substantial disadvantage and that Library Director Houlné be invited to attend; seconded by Aldrich and unanimously approved. The committee came out of executive session at 6:34pm and no action was taken.
New Business: No new business was discussed.
Adjourn to Next Meeting Date: The next Personnel Committee meeting date was set for 5:00pm on February 17, 2015 in the Youth Department Meeting Room at the Rockingham Free Public Library. Frisa moved to adjourn; seconded by Fowler; unanimously approved at 6:40pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Carolyn Frisa, Committee Secretary, January 20, 2015