Library Minutes 10/01/2014
MINUTES
STEPHENSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014
PRESENT: Neal Brown, Mary Ann Grant, Bruce Dodge, Bob Marshall, Kristin Readel, Gail Smith
ABSENT: Jami Bascom, Scott Jones.
Minutes recorded by Patricia LaPree.
7:08 PM – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brown. Neal appointed Mary Ann as a voting member for the meeting in the absence of Jami.
1) Review of the minutes of the September 3 and nonpublic minutes of the September 21 meeting of the Trustees:
There was one spelling change to the September 3 minutes: on line 85, Kristen should be spelled Kristin.
The motion to accept the September 3 minutes as amended was made by Neal and seconded by Mary Ann. The motion to accept the September 21 public and non-public minutes as recorded was made by Neal and seconded by Bruce. The motions passed unanimously in the affirmative to accept the amended September 3 minutes and the September 21 minutes as recorded. ACTION: Pat will amend the September 3 minutes, and submit the public minutes from the September 21 meeting to be posted to the Town website.
2) Review of action items from the September 3 minutes:
Neal has not yet received a bill for the advertising charges from the Ledger=Transcript. He will forward his bill when his credit card is billed.
Status of the basement leak evaluation: Town Administrator, Aaron Patt, has recommended that Primex evaluate the status of the wet basement in the Library. ACTION: Aaron will contact Primex and schedule the evaluation. Neal reported that he has spoken to Margaret Dillon, a consultant in building repair, and she may be a resource to recommend a contractor to perform the remedial work on the basement, after Primex does their evaluation.
7:20 PM – Treasurer’s report:
Mary Ann provided the year to date expenditures and revenues to the Trustees. A discussion followed about how the budget is being utilized well as it enters in to the tenth month of the year. Mary Ann noted in the report that the oil tank is full and there have been two donations for Library programming. Ray Cilley donated the funds to purchase the wall clock in the Wensberg Room.
There was further discussion about the use of Merrill fund monies for books for the remainder of the year, and that the Merrill funds available to the Library are no longer designated as building and books monies; they are now a fluid resource. The Trustees asked for the staff to provide them a breakdown of how the Town allocated funds and the Merrill funds have been used for the purchase of books to date. The staff will provide that information.
The cost of the sign for the Library will be covered by unused funds in the Town budget. The total cost for the two sided sign and the installation will be $810.00, and will be done by Signorama, a Greenfield based business. ACTION: Bruce will contact Signorama and give them the go ahead to construct and install the sign. The work will be invoiced and paid by December 31, 2014.
Bruce made the motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented. Neal seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous in the affirmative to accept the report.
7:48 PM – Librarian’s Report:
Gail will help with per diem coverage at the Library for two dates in October. There was a discussion about how to best provide Kristin coverage until the new Library Director is hired. Kristin reported that volunteers will be checking in with her. Bob noted that Kristin will be alone for 14 days in October without a more cohesive coverage plan. Gail requested that she and Kristin have an opportunity to discuss coverage needs further, and they will get back to the Trustees with their decision. Other ideas that were brought up for coverage included hiring a temporary person, reaching out to other areas librarians, putting out a request on a blog, and scheduling volunteers if they are available. Interviews for the new Library Director are scheduled for the next two weeks.
Kristin reminded the Trustees about a document that she forwarded to them from the State Library that outlines changes to the e- lending practices for patrons.
“A Christmas Carol” will be performed at the Greenfield Meeting House on December 19.The Library will hostess the acting troupe, Project Shakespeare, for the performance.
With the help of a volunteer and Kristin, six years of statistics have been compiled for usage at the Library. It has been collated into two separate three year blocks for comparison and identification of trends.
Jami and Bruce did a gemba, observing an employee during a regular work day, with Gail. Bruce noted that he was surprised by the large numbers of videos that were checked out, He also noted that Gail reuses bar codes from periodicals, and saves about $1500.00 a year by doing so.
8:13 PM- First pass at the 2015 budget:
Gail and Kristin had provided a budget with explanations of increases therein from the 2014 line items.
Bruce asked for a break down of what per cent of the budget request that is for books/periodicals/audio visual/digital is for books and periodicals and how much is for the rest of the services in the line item as a way to support current and future usage by patrons.
Neal reported that the cost for a consultation/study to determine the best way to eliminate the damp basement problem will cost from $800.00-$1000.00.
The remainder of the budget outline was reviewed by the Trustees. There was a discussion about how to address wage increases over a three year period for the director and children’s librarian, and Kristin has information about area librarian wages in similar size communities. Kristin has the worksheet that the Town Administrator provided to department heads.
8:49 PM – Other/new business:
The Trustees will present a declaration of appreciation of service and a card to Gail on October 4 at the Library.
Bruce requested feedback from the staff about where to place the new Library sign. There was a brief discussion about placement and the question of whether a permit is needed to replace a sign. Mike Borden is the person to answer the question, and the square footage of the new sign is less than the old sign.
Mary Ann asked if there are plans to put a railing going down the outside stairs.
There are 5 external lights out. DPW is aware of it. With darkness coming earlier, it is a concern.
8:56 PM – the motion was made by Bruce to adjourn the meeting at this time. Mary Ann seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in the affirmative to adjourn the meeting.
The next meeting of the Trustees will be on Wednesday, November 5 at 7:00 PM at the Library.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia LaPree