Library Minutes 09/07/2016
MINUTES
STEPHENSON MEMEORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016
PRESENT: Bruce Dodge, Ray Cilley, Jami Bascom, Neal Brown, Mary Ann Grant, Julie Perrin, Library Director.
The minutes were recorded by Patricia LaPree
6:31PM – The meeting was called to order at this time by Chairman Dodge.
6:31 PM – Review of the preliminary minutes from the meeting on August 3, 2016:
There was a content change: on line 41, replace “Julie” with “The Policy Committee”. There was one grammatical change: on line 46, at “Library.,” delete the “.”.
The motion was made by Jami to accept the minutes as amended, and it was seconded by Neal. The vote was 3-0 in favor of accepting the minutes as amended. ACTION: Pat will amend the minutes and have them posted to the Town website.
6:35 PM – Treasurer’s Report:
Mary Ann provided the Trustees and the Director with a year to date report of revenues and expenditures from the Town budget as well at the Merrill Fund. There were no expenditures from the Merrill Fund in the last month. The Town budget was reviewed line by line and it is on target for the year. Julie reported that she got a new promotional rate from Fairpoint that will expire in August 2019.There was revenue from copies and nonresident library cards.
The motion was made by Jami to accept the report as presented, and it was seconded by Bruce. The vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to accept the Treasurer’s report.
6:40 PM – Foundation repair update:
Ray reported that Underwood Engineering has drawn up tentative plans for the foundation repair job. They have estimated the cost of the whole project to be in the $65,000. 00 range. A discussion followed about whether the bidders will have access to the engineering plans in order to submit a bid, and the bidders will have access to the plans. It was also discussed who will be the clerk of the works, the Town DPW or the contractor, and who will gather the three bids needed for a project this size. Ray reported that he will meet with Underwood and finalize the plans. He will also meet with the Select Board to provide them with the plans from the engineer and clarify who will solicit the bids and who will be the clerk of the works for the project. The Trustees agreed that they want the Select Board to be informed at every step of the project and thanked Ray for his work on the project. ACTION: Ray will meet with the Select Board as soon as possible.
6:52 PM – Librarian’s Report:
Julie provided the Trustees with her monthly and year to date statistics for Library and her monthly report for their review.
Jami asked for clarification for the category of in-house circulation, and Julie explained that the increase number represents training of new staff on the Apollo system. She further explained that she breaks circulation statistics down and in to several categories so the numbers will be highly accurate.Julie noted that collections are increasing due to more Library of Congress acquisitions, the Children’s Literacy Foundation grant, gifts and expenditures from the Town budget.
There was a discussion about how best to acknowledge gifts and bequests that come to the Library. It was decided that the Trustees will hand write thank you cards to donors. Julie also writes thank you notes. It was also decided to follow the wishes of benefactors and donors in public acknowledgement of their generosity, including when and whether it should be publicly acknowledged.
The website is progressing. Julie reports that it will be three to four months until it is completed.
Julie requested that the Policy committee meet as soon as possible because a policy on public notices at the Library needs to be written. ACTION: Jami Bruce and Julie will set up a Policy committee meeting this month.
Julie provided a hand out describing the Versa Card program. It would allow patrons to borrow books through the Apollo system from other libraries that use Apollo. She stated that she would have to contract with individual libraries and that the current circulation policy would have to be revised. Discussion followed about how the Versa Card program would be different or similar to the Inter Library Loan system. Bruce suggested talking to other Trustees and see how they feel about the potential advantages of the Versa Card. Julie offered to reach out to other Apollo librarians and start the discussion of pros and cons as well.
The Joint Loss Committee has raised issues that need to be addressed at the library having to do with non-compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act. There are no automatic doors, no handicap parking spaces designated, and the driveway being paved would make it more safe for all patrons. Julie has been working with the DPW and asked the Trustees for permission to have the DPW pursue solutions to bring the library into ADA compliance. Bruce made the motion to give Julie authority to have the DPW bring the library into ADA compliance and it was seconded by Jami. The vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to have Julie give the DPW permission to do whatever necessary to achieve ADA compliance at the Library.
The DPW will fix the book drop box.
Julie wants to work on a solution to getting the gas fireplace in the Library working. It needs to have an installation that is safe and legal. The Trustees noted that Julie can manage her budget for the Library in any way that she sees fit to achieve this goal. Bruce made a motion that Julie be able to move money in the budget to address the fireplace issue and it was seconded by Neal. The vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to allow Julie to re- allocate funds within the budget as needed at her discretion.
Julie opened up a discussion about how to know when patrons reach the age of attaining a teen library card without gathering birth dates from patrons. The privacy issues were discussed at length, and Julie noted that a child, ages 5-12 needs parental permission to get a card, but 12 and up do not. Julie reported that other librarians collect birth dates. The motion was made by Bruce to allow Julie to collect birthdates from patrons for the purpose of card designation under the age of 18. The motion was seconded by Neal, and the vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to obtain patron birth dates as needed.
Julie asked if she can be reimbursed for mileage to New Hampshire Library Association meetings, and the Trustees thought that was fine.
8:40 PM – Update on the locking file cabinet for the Trustees:
Mary Ann reports that she still has not been able to get a two drawer filing cabinet with only one locking drawer. She reports that they aren’t made any more and she will continue to search.
8:43 PM – Follow up on action items:
The policy binder has been made.
8:45 PM – Other/new business:
Pat LaPree has tendered her resignation from the position of clerical staff for the Trustees, effective 12/14/2016. Her last meeting will be 12/7 and she will transcribe the minutes from that meeting in the preliminary format. The Trustees thanked Pat for her 5 years of service.
8:47 PM – The motion was made by Bruce to adjourn the meeting at this time and it was seconded by Neal. The vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to adjourn the meeting.
The next meeting of the Trustees will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 6:30 PM in the Wensberg Room at the Library.