Building Improvements
In what may be a first in the history of construction projects, the recently-completed elevator replacement and upgrade project came in ahead of schedule and under budget. As a result, we have not yet met our pledged matching expenses for the grant amount approved for the project by DLD. Fortunately, we have learned that we are likely to be able to amend the scope of the project to include the planned upgrades to safety and security systems including upgraded hardware and software for proximity locks and the fire suppression system in order to qualify for the full amount of the grant.
Fiscal Year 2024-25 Audit
Representatives from MMB+O will attend the June 8, 2026 Board of Trustees meeting to present the results of the Fiscal Year 24-25 audit.
Personnel Update
After 12 years in the position, Operations Working Supervisor, Ric Taras, announced his retirement with very little notice, with his last working day on May 18, 2026. Recruitment for his successor is underway, and in the meantime reporting and scheduling responsibility for the three main functions within the Department have been distributed among its three full-time staff: Cleaning, Jessica Rogers; Building Monitoring, Rob Peck; and Maintenance, Dan Salmon. With the help of Dan and Tonya Faiola, I am monitoring and approving contracts and bills. Interviews for the position will be scheduled in short order.
We wish Ric a long, healthy, happy retirement of hunting, fishing, traveling, and ticking items off his “honey-do” list!
Signs of Hope
In recent months, I’ve had the great good fortune to meet and have conversations that make me optimistic for the future with young people mostly from the Saratoga Springs area, but also from across the state and globe. At a recent Rotary International district conference, I helped facilitate conversations that included high school exchange students from around the world who are studying in schools across New York state, and students from across the state who are outbound to live and study across the world. Their views about ways to be of service to others and promote cooperation were truly inspirational. Following that conference, I met a group of Teens who are currently being of service to the library and our community by serving on the Teen Advisory Board. They were full of curiosity, energy, and hope. I’m grateful to them for their service to the library, and to Teen Services Librarian Anna Rae Furlong for extending the invitation to the meeting. Most recently, I had the opportunity to review several dozen scholarship applications for the Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs, and interview about two dozen finalists along with other members of the club’s scholarship committee. The variety of lived experiences and hopeful outlooks on the future are heartening. The club, and its sister Saratoga Rotary Education Foundation, will distribute a total of $105,000 in scholarships to 18 college and trade-school-bound students at a banquet on June 17.
Programs, Events, and Meetings
In addition to the items mentioned above, I attended and/or participated in a number of programs, meetings, and events since the board last met, including attending the memorial event and plaque unveiling for Shawn Nolan on May 16, the SALS annual meeting on May 18, the monthly board meeting of the Friends of the Saratoga Springs Public Library on May 20, the annual board installation dinner of the Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs on May 21. Also on May 21, I facilitated a lively discussion of The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides at the monthly meeting of Books and Tea. On June 2 I was honored to once again serve as Pronouncer at the WSWHE BOCES Annual Regional Spelling Bee, joined by Judges Catherine Brenner, Jamie Chabot and Jen Ferriss.
Upcoming selections for the monthly Books and Tea group are inspired by the Summer Reading theme “Unearth a Story” and include:
- June 18: Lives in Ruins: Archeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble by Marilyn Johnson
- July 16: The Dig: A Novel Based on True Events by John Preston
- August 20: Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie.
