Library Preliminary Minutes 04/06/2016
Preliminary Minutes
Stephenson Memorial Library Trustees meeting
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Present: Ray Cilley, Bruce Dodge, Jami Bascom, Neal Brown, Mary Ann Grant, Julie Steenson.
Guest: Bob Marshall, Selectman.
The minutes were recorded by Patricia LaPree.
7:02 PM – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brown.
The first order of business was to discuss and review the updated engineering proposals from Underwood (civil engineers) and Ben Tyrie (structural engineer) for the repair of the Library foundation:
Bob Marshall addressed the bid that he has received from the two engineers. The two firms were informed that the Trustees would be in contact with them to negotiate the final contracts. The Trustees were provided with copies of both proposals for their review. Ray agreed to go forward with the final negotiations for the two contracts. Ray stated that he will keep Town Administrator, Aaron Patt, apprised of the process, and the Trustees will have the final say in the acceptance of the contracts with the engineers.
The timeline for the project, as of now, is as follows:
Negotiate the final contracts and costs with Underwood Engineering and Ben Tyrie.
The goal is to have the engineering work done by September 1. 2016.
Bids can go out to contractors after September 1, and the bids will be completed and the contractor chosen by October 2016. The Trustees can then go to the Select Board with the information needed to develop a warrant article for the repairs for Town Meeting 2017.
The Trustees presented Bob with a citation in thanks for his years of service as an alternate Trustee.
7:25 PM Review of the preliminary minutes from the March 2, 2016 Trustees meeting:
There were two grammatical corrections: spell Cilly correctly, Cilley, and on line 60, replace “stack” with “shelve”.
On line 86, delete “if Bob resigns,”
The motion was made by Neal to accept the minutes as amended and it was seconded by Jami. The vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to accept the minutes. ACTION: Pat will have the final minutes posted to the Town website.
7:28 PM- Treasurer’s report:
Mary Ann provided the Trustees with the year to date expenditures and balances from the Town budget and the Library checking account. She notes that at 25% of the year, 19% of the budget has been expended. Julie reported that there are some outstanding invoices that are not reflected, due to the Select Board changing their meeting day so accounts payable affected.
The Trustees explained the workings and management of the Merrill fund to the new alternate, Ray Cilley.
The motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by Neal and seconded by Bruce. The voter was 3-0 in the affirmative to accept the report.
7:38 PM – Election of Officers:
Jami made the motion to nominate Bruce as chairman for the coming year. The motion was seconded by Neal. The vote was 3-0 to appoint Bruce as chairman.
Bruce made the motion that Jami be appointed secretary for the coming year. The motion was seconded by Neal. The vote was 3-0 to appoint Jami as secretary.
Neal made the motion to appoint Mary Ann as treasurer for the coming year and it was seconded by Bruce. The vote was 3-0 to appoint Mary Ann as treasurer.
A brief discussion followed about the process of recommendations of alternates and notifying the Select Board. ACTION: Bruce will the recommendation for Mary Ann to be an alternate to the Select Board.
7:46 PM: Consideration of appointing a third alternate to the Trustees:
Jami read the RSA202-A:10, which states that “…up to three alternates can be appointed annually by the governing body”. A discussion followed about whether to pursue a third alternate. Bruce stated that he thinks that more alternates are better. The decision was reached to continue the discussion at the upcoming strategic planning meeting.
7:54 PM: Contract for Julie:
Julie started the discussion by outlining her reasons for wanting a contract now that she is a full time, salaried Director. She noted that the Town’s support of the Library at Town meeting was wonderful. She stated that she would like the protection of the contract and she requests that the renewal date of a contract occur after Town Meeting. She provided the Trustees with a couple of example contracts from other towns, and she noted that in some towns, the Library Director contract is the same as to the Town Administrator contract. The discussion that followed included the pros and cons of a contract and whether the Trustees want to enter into a contract. It was decided that the discussion will continue at the May Trustees meeting. The work of defining and codifying a contract will occur in a work session and non- public session. Jami suggested that contacting the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association for suggestions. ACTION: Bruce will send out possible dates to the other Trustees and Julie for a nonpublic session in May.
8:25 PM: Librarian’s Report:
Julie provided a detailed monthly report and monthly and year to date statistics. She noted that even though programming was less in March, patron numbers continued to increase.
Julie presented a circulation policy and the Trustees agreed that it was fine. The motion was made by Neal to adopt the circulation policy as presented., and the motion was seconded by Bruce. The vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to adopt the policy. Brice, Jami and Julie will schedule the next policy meeting.
Grant Station Webinar: Julie asked for feedback from the Trustees about the Webinar. The Trustees all attended it, and they all reported that it was very informative about grant resources, strategies for effective grant writing and development of worksheets for each project that grants are being written for. Julie reported that she also has a power point presentation about charitable and donor development, and the presenter may be willing to come to a Trustee meeting in the summer. ACTION: Julie will contact Terry Knowles and see when she might be available to meet with the Trustees.
The off-site strategic planning meeting for the Trustees and the Director will be held on Saturday, April 30ht at the Historical Society from 25 PM. Everyone will come with an idea for short term goals as well as five year goals.
Julie is still trying to hire for the open Library assistant position. She has hired a library page. She is a senior in high school and a Greenfield resident. Julie, Roger and Eileen have been covering the hours that will be assigned to the Library assistant.
8:55 PM: The motion was made by Neal to enter into a non- public session at this time, pursuant to RSA91-A:3(a), the dismissal, promotion or compensation of any public employee. The motion was seconded by Bruce. The roll call vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to enter into non-public session.
9:02 PM: The motion was made by Jamie to exit out of non-public session at this time, and the motion was seconded by Neal. The roll call vote was 3-0 to exit out of non-public session at this time. The decision was made to change Roger Robbins’ title to Librarian from Library assistant. There will be no change in compensation.
9:02 PM: Librarian’s Report continued:
Julie requested that she be able to adjust her schedule so she can have a Saturday off. The Trustees stated that they defer to Julie to adjust her schedule as she sees fit.
The Library is now open one more day a week, on Tuesdays from 2-6 PM.
9:19 PM: Other/New Business
Mary Ann reported that the Friends of the Library, as volunteers for the Trustees, will run a monthly used book sale at the Library every third Saturday. The revenues will go to the Trustees account, not the Friends. Julie noted that a background check will need to be performed on all volunteers at the cost of $10.00 a person. The Trustees will pay for all background checks.
Julie will be participating in a panel discussion entitled “Protecting Patron Privacy” on April 20.
Neal, Julie and Eileen will be participating in the River Center Spelling Bee on April 29.
The NHLTA annual meeting will be held on May 23, 2016. The Trustees will collaborate on who is attending and which seminars each will attend. They will share materials with each other. The fee for attendance will be paid by the Library budget.
9:35 PM – The motion was made by Jami to adjourn the meeting at this time, and it was seconded by Bruce. The vote was 3-0 in the affirmative to adjourn the meeting.
The next public meeting of the Trustees will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the Wensberg Room at the Library.
Respectfully submitted:
Patricia LaPree