Library Preliminary Minutes 07/02/2014
PRELIMINARY MINUTES
STEPHENSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014
Present: Neal Brown, Kristin Readel, Gail Smith, Jami Bascom, Mary Ann Grant, Bob Marshall, Bruce Dodge.
Absent: Scott Jones
7:10 PM - The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brown.
1) Review of the minutes of the June 4,2014 meeting:
The preliminary minutes were reviewed by the Trustees. The motion to accept the minutes as written was made by Neal and seconded by Bruce. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative to accept the minutes. ACTION: Pat will have the minutes posted to the Town website.
2) Review of the action items in the June minutes:
Kristin has collated some historical information about the Library building in anticipation of the upcoming meeting with the Select Board. Pat did not complete the review of the two and one half years of Trustee meeting minutes completely for references to the basement dampness problems, but did note that the first mention of it was in the July 2011 Trustees meeting notes. During the severe thunderstorm today, Bob and Kristin have taken videos of the water in the basement. Other agenda items for the joint meeting are a full tour of the Library, beginning in the parking lot.
Town Administrator, Aaron Patt, recommends that the Trustees invite the Select Board attend a trustees meeting in September. ACTION: Kristin and Neal will continue to finalize the meeting agenda and invite the Select Board to the September Trustees meeting.
7:18 PM – Treasurer’s Report:
Mary Ann provided the Trustees and staff with the year to date budget from the Town office and the staff provided copies of the spread sheet that they have been using to record income and expenditures in real time. The line item expenditures to date were reviewed and discussed, and the budget is on track for being through half of the fiscal year. Kristin reported that the Program budget will be used to collaborate with Crotched Mountain rehab in presenting the program “Bubblemania”. This will be the final program at the end of the summer reading program.
The motion was made by Jami to accept the treasurer’s report as presented. The motion was seconded by Bruce, and the vote was unanimous in the affirmative to accept the report.
7:30PM – Librarian’s report:
Gail provided the monthly statistics for review. It was noted that, in general, the use and popularity of electronic books continues to increase, and the Kindle format remains the most popular. There was a brief discussion about how e-books impact circulation statistics.
Kristin shared a letter from a resident whose grandchildren used the Library while visiting Greenfield. The visitors described this library to be “the best they have ever been to”. A discussion followed about how to let the residents and patrons know about feedback like this, such as a display of testimonial and thank you letters at the Library.
7:45 PM – Report on the status of the Library sign;
Bruce reported that he has gotten a number of bids from four area sign makers. He got prices on both three dimensional carved signs as well as flat signs. The prices range from $2350.00 for a two sided carved, 3 foot sign, to $545. For a two- sided flat vinyl sign. There is $600.00 in the budget dedicated for the sign fabrication. He stated that all the companies do beautiful work and use the same materials, all of which are made to last for many years. A discussion followed about the pros and cons of the vinyl flat versus the three dimensional carved signs. ACTION: Bruce will come back to the August meeting with graphic representations of three types of the sign styles.
Bruce also reported that he did research on the thermal window film that was discussed for the south facing windows. He found that there are only two companies that do the film. He has taken pictures and obtained dimensions of the windows and has sent them to the companies and is awaiting bids.
The Trustees and the Staff thanked Bruce for his hard work.
8:06 PM – Master Plan document revision:
Bob reported that as a member of the planning board, and in the process of their work on the master plan for the town buildings, he has updated the document for the Library to describe the current state of the library building. He provided the draft to the Trustees. There were some minor revisions made. ACTION: Bob will finalize the document and send it out electronically to the Trustees.
8:16 PM – New/Other business:
1) The second window has been installed in the Library.
2) The air conditioning units have been installed. There was a discussion about their efficiency and effectiveness in moderating the temperature in the Library. It will be documented for further review after the cooling season is over. In general, the staff reported that the units are not making a big difference in the inside temperature, as evidenced by a family leaving the Library today due to the heat in the building, and a trustee needing to leave the building during the meeting tonight due to feeling nauseous from the heat.
3) Gail provided an email to Neal about the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development grants. Neal reported that Greenfield does not qualify for application to the program because the median income of the Town is too high (by $2000.00).
8:32 PM – The motion was made by Bruce to adjourn the meeting at this time, and it was seconded by Neal. The vote was unanimous to adjourn the meeting.
The next meeting of the Trustees will be on Wednesday, August 6, 2014 at 7:00 PM at the Library.
Respectfully Submitted,
Patricia LaPree