 |
PRELIMINARY MINUTES
STEPHENSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012
PRESENT: Mary Ann Grant, Neal Brown, Jami Bascom, Robert Marshall, Andre Wood, Bruce Dodge, Kristen Readel, Gail Smith, Scott Jones.
MINUTES TAKER: Patricia LaPree
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chair Neal Brown.
- 7:00 PM – A copy of the December 7, 2011 minutes were distributed and reviewed by the Trustees. The motion to accept as written was made by Bruce, seconded by Neal, and passed by unanimous vote.
- 7:05 PM – Discussion followed about several action items noted in the December 7th minutes:
- KA Electric has not done the outlet work because they are still waiting for the materials. Gail reported that she talked to them before Christmas and they said that their distributor will not ship what is needed until there is a “complete” order. Neal took the contact information and will call in an effort to get the work done before 01/10/2012.
- Mary Ann spoke with the Town Clerk about the Library Trustee opening(s) on the ballot for upcoming Town Meeting, and it will be corrected by the filing date.
- The Souhegan Valley Area Trustee Meeting will be held at the Brookline Town Library on January 12th, 2012. ACTION: Bruce, Neal and Jami will attend. Neal will RSVP to the appropriate person.
- 7:25 PM- Spending and Statistical Reports: Gail reported that she has the December statistics collated but not yet printed out. Mary Ann reported that as of 12/31/2011, there is $2708.49 in the checking account, and about half of that is from donations, the GIVers and proceeds from Ken Paulson’s book sales. All 2011 invoices have been given to the Town bookkeeper. There will be 1000.00 reimbursed to the account within the month to reflect the cost of paying Andre for technical services. The library budget will pay that cost under the correct line item. Discussion followed about the numbers n the budget report from 01/04/2012 supplied by the Town Bookkeeper. There are some questions about costs associated with electricity, books, periodicals and videos, heating fuel and mileage.
ACTION: Mary Ann will request a 12 month spread sheet from the bookkeeper. Bruce suggested that the Library ask for assistance with the budget figures for 2012 from the new Town Administrator, Aaron Patt. Bruce motioned that the report be accepted pending verification of the numbers in question. Seconded by Neal and it was passed unanimously.
- 7:40 PM – Status of Friends/Trustee fundraiser:
Mary Ann reported that David Buchannan said that there is $2887.00 as well as another donation of $1500.00, bringing the total to $4327.80. Neal has a list of the donors.
- 7:45 PM – Gail and Kristen, issues for discussion:
- Discussion about the incident that happened at the Library last month that resulted in Greenfield Police being called to the Library and written statements taken at that time. Privacy of patron’s usage of the public computers is paramount to the staff; the recent policy that was adopted and the request for a letter from Gail by a patron were all discussed. ACTION: Kristen will follow up with GPD as to whether a police report was generated from the incident and obtain a copy of it. The Trustees directed Gail to not write the letter requested.
- Alexandria Deal: Gail and Kristen negotiated a final price with Alexandria of $2970.00, which includes fifteen licenses and two scanners. Discussion followed as to whether there is a need for fifteen people to use the service simultaneously (both on-site and from home) or could it be reduced to ten, there fore reducing the cost by $500.00.ACTION: Kristen will email Alexandria about adjusting the cost to reflect less licenses and get a final invoice from them. The Trustees agree to have the hosting of the site done by Andre rather than Alexandria to further reduce cost, and the cost for Andre’s services will be incorporated into the 2013 budget. Once a final invoice is obtained, Gail and Kristen will go forward with the purchase of the Alexandria Program.
- Kristen reported that $275.00 was spent on the December Program of “The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe” and only nine people attended. Discussion followed as to how better market programs at the Library, the competition from internet resources for family entertainment that seems to be impacting program attendance, and to develop clear goals for future programming in the future (e.g., educational or recreational?). ACTION: Kristen will get this item on the agenda for the annual State Library Meeting in May and report back to the Trustees. She noted that decreased attendance to Library programs is a problem both in the State and nationally.
- 8:10 PM: Report on the overtime pay in the 2012 budget: Neal reported that based on information provided by Gail and Kristen there was $450.00 added to the 2012 budget for this item. The select Board had no issue with it.
- 8:15 PM – Library Director Job Description: Jami reported that she consulted with the Dublin Librarian about the draft of the job description generated so far, and the recommendation is that the description is too bulky. The job description that they use is only one page long and it covers all the points needed. Jamie asked for some feedback as to what should be more specific and/or more general in the Greenfield job description. ACTION: Neal and Bob will work with Jami to finalize the job description.
- 8:25 PM- Town Meeting Presentation and defense of the Library Budget: Discussion ensued as to how best “sell” the Library to the Town. Suggestions included a flyer handout, a power point presentation, and how best to write the report for the Library that will be in the Town Report. Bruce suggested that the report be a vehicle to tell the story of the Library and its value to the community as well as statistical data. ACTION: Neal will write the report for the Town Report. Gail and Kristen will provide Neal with statistical and computer usage data.
- 8:45 PM - Status of Bookshelf Construction: Bob reported that he has talked to Mike Borden and Mike will have the bookcases done within the next week.
- 8:50 PM – Status of Computer Inventory to date: Kristen and Gail report that with the four public computers that are available now, there are times when all are being used but not that often, and people are respectful of others waiting. Kristen suggested that it would be useful to have a public computer dedicated for on line classes and seminars in the future. ACTION: The Trustees decided to not spend any more money right now on another public computer. Bruce and Andre will work on a survey to gather usage data from the public access users to better determine future needs and present it at the February Trustees Meeting.
9:00 PM – The motion to adjourn the meeting at this time was made by Jami and seconded by Bruce. The motion passed unanimously.
Next Trustee Meeting will be held on February 1, 2012 at 7:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Patricia LaPree
| |
