NOTICE OF MEETING Inhabitants of the Town of Amherst: You are hereby notified that there will be a meeting of: Public Body: The Jones Library, Inc. Personnel, Planning and Policy Committee Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021 Time: 4-5pm Location: Zoom Webinar ADVISORY TO THE PUBLIC: This special Jones Library Personnel, Planning and Policy Committee meeting will occur virtually via ZOOM and will be streamed live here: You are invited to a Zoom webinar. When: Aug 12, 2021 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Topic: The Jones Library, Inc. Personnel, Planning, and Policy Committee Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://amherstma.zoom.us/j/81703664637 Or One tap mobile : US: +13017158592,,81703664637# or +13126266799,,81703664637# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 876 9923 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 408 638 0968 Webinar ID: 817 0366 4637 International numbers available: https://amherstma.zoom.us/u/kc8f97qdL Meeting Agenda I. Call to Order II. Minutes * III. Proposed Deaccessions * IV. Jones Library Plan for Phased Resumption of Services to the Public o Masks Required o Open Hours Schedule * o 50% Meeting Room Occupancies (Woodbury 62; Amherst 12; Goodwin 25) V. Director Annual Evaluation Forms * VI. Adjournment ** Please note that the list of topics in this notice was comprehensive at the time of posting, however the public body may consider and take action on unforeseen matters not specifically named in this notice. * Indicates Handout(s) will be made available. Red indicates vote required. joneslibrary.org Meeting of the Jones Library PPP Committee May 7, 2021; Virtual Zoom meeting Members Present: President Austin Sarat, Chris Hoffmann, Chair of the PPP Also Present: Sharon Sharry (Director), Cyndi Harbeson (Staff), George Hicks (Staff), members of the public via Zoom The meeting was called to order at 4:30pm. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Library Reopening Plan Cyndi reported on the Phased Resumption of Services to the Public plan developed by the staff. The committee found the plan comprehensive and well thought out. There was clearly an incredible amount of work put into it. The committee had some concerns about putting the staff at the frontline of confronting patrons who ignore the rules. Sharon reported that department heads will be prepared to step up and help if someone is uncooperative. There was also a question of whether volunteers will be required to be vaccinated as well as staff. As they are not town employees this would be very hard to do. The committee unanimously recommended that the full board approve the plan. Deaccessions Cyndi also presented a report of items that are in the Fine Arts Collection but for one reason or another did not meet the Artwork Policy approved by the Board. For instance, they had no provenance or connection to Amherst and often were in very poor condition. The report included an assessment by a museum consultant of the value of the items and recommendations on their disposal (e.g., transferred to more appropriate institution, consigned to public auction, discarded). The PPP recommended that a committee be set up that includes local experts to review this list and confirm that they do not meet the requirements of the Artwork Policy. Director Six Month Evaluation As called for by the Board’s evaluation procedure, the PPP held an informal mid-year discussion with the Director about her progress on her goals for the year. It was agreed she was making satisfactory progress on each. There was question as to whether the Equity Collaborative Group would create metrics to evaluate the progress the Director has made on implementing its recommendations. Sharon replied that at this stage the group was still discussing what its goals should. Once that is done creating metrics would be appropriate. The meeting adjourned at 5:45pm. Respectfully submitted, Chris Hoffmann JONES LIBRARY NORTH AMHERST LIBRARY • MUNSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY To: Jones Library Board of Trustees Sharon Sharry, Library Director From: Cyndi Harbeson, Head of Special Collections Date: July 13, 2021 Re: Meeting of the Deaccessions Committee Following the direction of the PPP Committee, I created a Deaccessions Committee consisting of people in the Amherst area with a wealth of experience in archives, special collections, and/or museums. The following individuals agreed to be on the committee: Mike Kelly, Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Amherst College Julie Bartlett Nelson, Archivist, Forbes Library Jennifer Tuleja, Library Director, The MacDuffie School Jane Wald, Executive Director, Emily Dickinson Museum Members of the committee were given all the inventories and reports to review prior to our meeting. On June 4, 2021, the Deaccessions Committee met to discuss the proposed list of deaccessions. One of the topics discussed was our lack of storage space. As Jennifer Tuleja notes, “When there is a need for additional space for collections that are mission driven, it is not in the best interest to hold onto materials that have been deemed outside of the collecting scope of the institution. With a qualified professional report partnered with the discussion of the group you gathered recently, it is clear that a majority of the materials listed on the Deaccessions spreadsheet can either be given to other institutions, sold at auction, or discarded depending on condition.” Because the Jones Library has limited storage space and is also trying to expand and diversify its collections, these items without provenance or in poor condition take up valuable shelf space while providing little historical value in exchange. Mike Kelly sums up the meeting best when he writes, “After reviewing the consultants report and inventory spreadsheet you shared with the group, I am impressed with the careful consideration you have given to the legacy collections in the Jones Library. Non- book and non-manuscript objects are always a challenge for archivists, but should be subject to the same standards for research value, condition, and provenance that we apply when assessing books and manuscripts for potential accession. The lack of provenance information for many of the items under consideration is a major concern; much of the meaning and significance of objects is lost without clear information on where the object came from and how it came to be in the collections at the Jones. LEARN • DISCOVER • CONNECT joneslibrary.org JONES LIBRARY NORTH AMHERST LIBRARY • MUNSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY It may be that there are other cultural heritage institutions that could accept some of the materials under consideration for deaccession. For instance, the Strong Museum of Play (museumofplay.org) in Rochester, NY holds a massive collection of dolls and toys that spans hundreds of years. They might be the appropriate home for the doll collection at the Jones; they might also respond with another suggestion. The best future for many of these materials might be sale at auction. A 19th-century powder horn with no provenance information is not appropriate for an archive or special collection, but it might find new life as a prop in a local theater production, for example. Our goal as curators of cultural heritage materials ought to be to place materials in the appropriate repository, while also recognizing that no repository can take everything.” All members of the deaccessions committee are willing to speak with the PPP Committee or the full Board of Trustees if you would like to hear more from them. I hope this provides you with the information you require to proceed with a decision on deaccessions. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like any further documentation. Thank you for your consideration. LEARN • DISCOVER • CONNECT joneslibrary.org JONES LIBRARY NORTH AMHERST LIBRARY • MUNSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY To: Jones Library Board of Trustees Sharon Sharry, Library Director From: Cyndi Harbeson, Head of Special Collections Date: April 30, 2021 Re: Request to deaccession out-of-scope items from the Fine Arts Collection I am requesting to have the items listed on the accompanying spreadsheet deaccessioned from the Fine Arts Collection. These items do not fit the criteria established in the Artwork Policy approved by the Board of Trustees on August 19, 2004. All of these objects are out of scope to our collections, having no provenance or no connection to Amherst. Additionally, some items are in poor condition. I am recommending that these items be deaccessioned. For each deaccessioned item, we would then decide on its disposition. In order of preference, items will be: • Kept and used at the library while the object remains useful (ex. Furniture) • Transferred to a more appropriate institution • Consigned to public auction • Discarded, as a last resort if in poor condition or with no monetary or historic value In addition to the list of deaccessions, I have also included the 2016 assessment compiled by museum consultant Richard Malley and the Artwork Policy for background information. With some exceptions, mainly the oriental rugs, the items listed in the accompanying spreadsheet were all assessed by Mr. Malley and his professional opinion was that they be deaccessioned. The oriental rugs are included because they were originally purchased to be library furnishings. Though collectively valued at $24,975 in 2013, these items are inappropriate for our Fine Arts Collection because they have no relationship to Amherst, are not historically valuable for scholarly purposes, and are unable to be properly maintained and cared for according to acceptable professional standards. Some of the rugs are also in very poor condition. It is my opinion that these rugs be deaccessioned and either returned to use as library furnishings or consigned to public auction where the proceeds could fund future preservation efforts with the Fine Arts Collection.