Library Minutes 03/04/2015
MINUTES
STEPHENSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015
Present: Bob Marshall, Neal Brown, Jami Bascom, Bruce Dodge, Mary Ann Grant, Julie Steenson.
The minutes were recorded by Pat LaPree
6:58 - The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brown.
1) Meet the new personnel at the Library:
Julie brought the three new hires to the meeting to meet the Trustees. Jon Constable is a student at Simmons College in Boston. He will be working 22 hours a week as a library assistant. Eileen Ebers has been a volunteer at the Library and will now be working as an assistant. Austin Clark is a temporary aide/substitute. He is on loan from the New Boston Library . Julie reported that there were a lot of applicants for the library assistant positions.
The motion was made to accept the decision by Julie to hire these people for the three positions by Neal, and it was seconded by Jami. The motion passed with a 3-0 vote.
7:12 PM – Review of the February meeting minutes:
There were several changes made to the minutes. On lines 40, 52 and 80, delete “Please see attached report. “A discussion followed about how attaching work product documents to the meeting minutes were not necessary, and that adopted policies will be in the policy manual.
On line 55, replace “Bruce opposed…”with “Bob opposed...” On line 64, change “background checks” to “…check”, on line 73, change “these vehicle” to: these vehicles”, on line 87, capitalize mike, on line 94, change “will have a” to “will have”, and correct “stephenson.org” to “stephensonlibrary.org”. On line 102, subsection 3; rephrase “affix both the sign and the flag to the Library” to read “the sign to the Library and the flag to the sign post”.
The motion to accept the minutes as amended was made by Jami and seconded by Neal. The motion passed by a vote of 3-0. ACTION: Pat will amend the minutes and have them posted to the Town website.
The motion to accept the non -public, sealed minutes as written from the February 11 meeting was made by Jami. It was seconded by Neal. By a roll call vote, the motion passed to accept the non-public minutes by a vote of 3-0.
7:39 PM – Library Director’s report:
Julie presented a report to the Trustees. It included daily usage statistics, as well as circulation activity and patron registrations in January and February of 2015.There were increases between the two months in all areas except Overdrive registrations. The report also cited that the Library budget is on target for 2015, and that several building issues, such as the re-keying of the front door are moving forward. Julie has been voted in as Chair of the Joint Loss committee for the Town, and she presented an e-reader use policy for review by the Trustees. She reported that there have been some e-reader donations made to the Library for patron use. The report also described upcoming programming at the Library, and a meeting that Julie will be hosting for small town librarians in March. The motion was made to accept the policies as amended by Jami and seconded by Bruce. The motion passed by a vote of 3-0.
8:09 PM – Treasurer’s report:
Mary Ann presented the year to date budget report from the Town and the expenditures that are not yet posted on that report as of march 4, 2015. She also reported that she has added Neal as a cosigner on the checking account and has gotten a debit card for Julie’s use. Friends of the Library purchased new chairs for the Library and a new desk for Julie was purchased with funds from the checking account. Mary Ann reported that the audits of financial accounts will be on April 14, 2015.
A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by Neal and seconded by Bruce. The motion to accept passed by a 3-0 vote.
8:20 PM – Final preparations for Town Meeting on March 14, 2015:
Neal stated that he will introduce Julie and speak to her salary increase, and then Julie will address any other questions from the audience with help from the Trustees.
8:28 PM – Review of the three bids for the basement repair:
Neal made a motion to table this discussion and review until a later meeting, and it was seconded by Bruce. The motion to table was passed by a 3-0 vote.
8:29 – Other/New business;
The Moose grant for repairs to the Library basement has been provided to the Trustees by email. Neal reported that the Library only qualifies under the category of publically owned buildings. A discussion followed as to whether the Library needs to be on the Registry of Historic Places to qualify, and how the grant amount would be applied to the total repair amount if it is granted. The time line for submitting a letter of intent and application was discussed and it is applicable to applying for the grant this year for an award in 2016. ACTION: Neal will follow up with the Moose grant office about eligibility, and will file the letter of intent by April 18, 2015 for completion of the application by August.
2 Icicles on the Library roof : Julie reported that the DPW has been addressing the removal of the icicles as needed. Neal reported that he has done some research it to what might be a good long term solution to the problem, and a company that he has contacted will be at the Library on March 10 to give a consultation as to what might be the best solution. Bob and Julie will be here for that meeting along with Neal.
Chimney lining:
Julie reported that Barry True is coming on March 5 to give an estimate for the lining of the chimney. Bob did research on the cost for lining the chimney with Metalbestos pipe rather than a ceramic lining, and the costs before labor ranged from $259.00 for 4 feet of chimney to $479.00 for 6 feet. ACTION: Mary Ann will contact the Merrill fund Trustee to find out if Merrill fund money can be used for the chimney lining.
8:59 PM – The New Hampshire Library Trustees association annual conference will be held on May 18 and registration is due by May 4, 2015. The Trustees have all received the flyer, and three will attend. They will coordinate by email as to which of them will take what workshops and finalize that at the April meeting.
9:03 PM – The motion to adjourn the meeting at this time was made by Jami and it was seconded by Bruce. The motion to adjourn was passed by a 3-0 vote.
The next meeting of the Trustees will be held on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 7:00 PM in the Wensberg room at the Library.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia LaPree