Library Preliminary Minutes 03/05/2014
PRELIMINARY MINUTES
STEPHENSON LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
Present: Bob Marshall, Bruce Dodge, Jami Bascom, Neal Brown, Mary Ann Grant, Gail Smith, Kristin Readel, Andre Wood.
Absent: Scott Jones.
The minutes were recorded by Pat LaPree.
7:05 PM - The meeting was called to order at this time by Chairman Brown.
1) Review f the minutes form the February 12, 2014 Trustees meeting. There were two corrections made: line 55 should read “The library staff has been working with the spread sheet.”, and on line 57, Bob Marshall attended the budget hearing. The motion was made by Neal to accept the minutes as amended and the motion was seconded by Bruce. The vote was unanimous in favor of accepting the amended minutes. ACTION: Pat will make the corrections and submit the minutes for posting on the Town website.
2) Andre reported that the fire wall on the Library computers ids getting a good workout due to a “distributed denial service attack”. It has slowed the internet down, but would do more damage without the firewall. Andre will continue to monitor the system .The Trustees noted that the decision to install the fire wall was a good one and thanked Andre for his work.
7:18 PM – Treasurers report:
Mary Ann provided the Trustees and staff with the year to date and monthly reports of revenues and expenditures.
Mary Ann reported that the disbursement from the Merrill Fund to the Library from 2014 has been received by the Friends of the Library. A discussion followed about what would be the mot effective way to use the disbursement for books, and that it will be clearer after Town meeting this month. Bruce suggested that a total dollar amount needed for books this year be given to the Friends with the request that the Fund provide the balance needed after the amount that is approved for books in the library budget. The Friends will have their next meeting after Town meeting.
Mary Ann reported that she asked Catherine Shaw to clarify why there were part time wages left over in the 2013 budget. She said that Catherine explained that it was due to how the pay periods fall at the end of the year, so that December payroll is not all disbursed until January. Bob Marshall noted that the amount of approximately $3400.00 left over in the 2013 budget represents about 4.6 % of the 2013 budget, so 95% of the budget was used, which is indicative of good budget development and use.
There was a brief discussion about the high costs of fuel at the Library this year. It is due to the severity of the winter so far, and will be explained as such of any questions arise at Town meeting.
Bruce made the motion to accept the Treasurers report as presented. The motion was seconded by Neal. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative to accept the report.
7:23 PM – Librarians report:
1) Gail provided the Trustees with statistics for the month and in comparison to a year ago.
2) The two prize winners in the Library logo contest have been chosen. The first prize went to Jim Fletcher and the second prize went to Toby Grey. There will be a press release to the Ledger-Transcript, and it will also be announced in the Spirit.
3) The second window has not been installed.
4) Children’s books and adult books have been ordered as needed.
5) Jami voted to accept the Librarians report and Bruce seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative to accept the report.
7:45 PM – Anticipation of Town meeting and the Library budget:
There was a brief discussion about the mood of the voters this year at Town meeting. Neal thinks that any questions that may rise about the budget for the Library will be very well answered by the Trustees and the Library staff. Every one is well prepared to address any and all voter concerns at Town meeting.
8:50 PM – Report on the Logo design meeting with Beechleaf Designs:
The meeting with Rose Lowry was attended by Bruce, Jami, Mary Ann and Gail. It lasted for about 45 minutes, and Rose will transmit the logo design mock ups to the Trustees. Bruce suggested that the “Memorial” be dropped from the name of the Library for the purpose of the logo design and structure. The legal name will remain Stephenson Memorial Library. Kristin said that she would like the logo to be on the book drop box. She said that the book drop box needs to be freshened up and the logo would be attractive. The Trustees thanked Bruce and Jami for their hard work on the logo development.
7:54 PM – Update on the proposal to the Manginis for the expansion of the drive way:
Neal reported that there has been no movement on the proposal to date.
7:55 PM – Status on the inquiry into Northeast Utilities Energy Efficiency program:
Neal reported that Laurel Brown from Northeast Utilities contacted Neal to set up a time to meet at the Library. ACTION: Neal will find out about dates and times with her and contact the Trustees with the dates available for a meeting. The meeting will be to explain what is realistic about the way the grant money is disbursed and how it might benefit the Library.
8:01 PM – Other/new business:
1) The policy committee has not had another meeting since the Trustees last met. Jami reported that there appears to be no snow day policy at the Library level. Catherine Shaw has a policy at Town level that states that the Library follows the Con-Val closure policy .The policy at the Library should state that if the Library is closed on a day when the staff would work more than the current number of hours paid for closure, that the staff should be paid for all the hours that the Library would have been open.
2) Bob and Neal have not met to work further on the Library Director evaluation. They will do so after and get back to the Trustees with their document.
3) The hazard mitigation report is being generated for the purpose of presentation to the Select Board. Bob reported that it will probably be some time before the Library is discussed again in the emergency planning proposals.
4) The New Hampshire Library Trustees Association annual meeting and conference is scheduled for May 19, 2014. Jami announced that she will not be able to attend this year. Once again, the Trustees will ask if a member of the Friends of the Library might like to attend.
8:15 PM – Jami made the motion to adjourn the meeting at this time. Bruce 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, April 2, 2014 at 7:00 PM at the Library.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia LaPree