Minutes
Stephenson Memorial Library Trustees
Wednesday March 7, 2012
Minutes taken by Bob Marshall
Present: Chairman Neal Brown, Treasurer Mary Ann Grant, Kristen Readel, Bruce Dodge, Jami Bascom Scott Jones (alt), Bob Marshall(alt)
7:03 Mike Kavenaugh-Building Energy Conservation
Mike Kavenaugh presented several ideas he had about sealing windows and insulating ductwork in the Library in order to save energy.
· He had a model of a proposed window insulation unit that could be installed before winter and removed in the spring. He estimated that each unit would cost about $50 and he would volunteer to construct and install one window by the fireplace as an experiment that we could monitor next winter to determine if any savings could be expected. ACTION: The Trustees agreed that he should do one window, monies to come from our repair and maintenance budget.
· He suggested that we consider insulating ductwork in the building since that hadn’t been done. Scott Jones offered to help with this project. They will investigate what types of materials to use and get back to Trustees.
· He suggested the Trustees should begin a project to replace all windows in the Library by budgeting monies each year to replace one window at a time, with an eye toward energy conservation, while maintaining the architectural integrity of the building. The Trustees took that suggestion under advisement.
7:15 Minutes
Mary Ann Grant asked a procedural question about how the minutes were to be used. She wanted to know if they were being amended/corrected or if the content of the minutes was being discussed. Neal Brown said the intent was to review the minutes to see if they were an accurate reflection of what had transpired in the meeting and to make any corrections, amendments, deletions necessary to assure their accuracy. Bruce Dodge said discussions about content should be brought up under old business. Mary Ann Grant moved to delete the last sentence in paragraph four which read “ACTION: Mary Ann Grant will invite trustees from the Dublin and Antrim area for whom she has e-mails.” Moved and seconded to accept the minutes as amended, all in favor, the motion carried.
7:28 Treasurer’s Report
Mary Ann Grant presented the Treasurer’s report including records from January, February and March, 2012(copies provided). After investigating how we could improve our tracking of income and expenses with the Town Office, she found that we are having software problems communicating with the Town Offices because of our new Windows 7 operating system. ACTION: Mary Ann Grant volunteered to talk with Town Administrator Aaron Patt to see if we could consult with Primex to have them help us develop better accounting practices and communication between the Town Office and the Library.
7:50 Library “Corner”
a) Kristen Readel reported that the Alexandria software is currently being installed on our new equipment. Regular “hosting” of our system can be provided by Alexandria at a cost of $900 annually. Andre Wood reported that we could do our own hosting for a cost of about $600 annually. It was decided to have a more detailed discussion of these options at our April meeting with the goal of making a decision then. Kristen noted that we have a new e-mail address to enable her to get e-mail via her cell phone or other platform at other locations. We will make a more formal change at a later date when we are transitioning patrons to our Alexandria system to reduce confusion.
b) Neal Brown reported that both Gail and Kristen will be compensated by payment of their regular wages for the time they spent in court on behalf of the Library. It was agreed that in the future, if the Library had been closed because of court issues, they would re-open the Library as soon as they were able to return.
c) Bob Marshall reported back with a price from Mike Borden on two new shelves at a cost of $250. Funding is to come from the Merrill account. ACTION: the Trustees directed Bob to order the shelves from Mike to be constructed ASAP.
d) An invoice from KA Electric for new wiring for the new computers was reviewed. ACTION: Mary Ann Grant will wait for an updated invoice and use funds in the Technology account to fund the work.
e) Kristen Readel reported that they needed floor mats and a new small file cabinet behind the circulation desk. ACTION: Scott Jones volunteered to check prices at Houston’s in Jaffrey for the items.
8:20 Town Meeting Preparation
Neal Brown said he would be prepared to make a brief presentation in behalf of the Library Budget at Town Meeting. A major point to be made was that our budget increase is largely a reflection of increased costs associated with expanded Library hours that were requested by Townspeople last year, for which they indicated that they would support budget increases. Trustees were asked to encourage supporters to attend the meeting.
We will be conducting an Open House the week April 9th, as part of our celebration of National Library Week, to show off our new shelving, technology and the resources of the Library in general. It was decided that should the budget pass, the new Saturday hours would begin on Saturday, April14th. We will finalize preparation at our April Trustee meeting on April 4th.
8:40 Boston College Seismology Project
Neal Brown brought up the Boston College proposal to install a seismograph in the Stephenson Memorial Library and train a staff member(s) in the use of the equipment as part of a new educational program they were promoting. The following questions/comments were raised:
· We needed to know what the expectation for a “Science” librarian was. What staffing is needed?
· We noted that first year costs were to be borne by the Library. What were they?
· What training is required?
· Could we staff with trained volunteers?
· We suggested that we focus on beginning in 2013 so that we would have adequate time to budget for costs and prepare with training.
ACTION: Neal Brown will call and pursue this opportunity.
8:51 Library Director Job Description
Jami Bascom announced that she and Neal Brown are in the final stages of development and they will present the final draft at our next meeting.
8:53 Spring Library Trustee Conference
Jami Bascom reminded Trustees of the spring conference taking place on May 25. She said there are many relevant workshops being offered. Registration deadline is May 9th. We will discuss this further at our April meeting.
8:55 Number of Library Trustees
Jami Bascom found out that the number of Trustees that we currently have (3) was determined in 1894.
9:00 Sign Subcommittee report
The sign subcommittee is continuing to discuss options. It is felt that the co-location of the mailbox and sign is not advisable due to the effects of plowing etc. We will have further discussion of this issue at our April meeting.
9:02 Emergency management collaboration
Bob Marshall reported on information provided by Loren White, Fire Chief, about what we might consider as our contribution to emergency management services. Loren White suggested consideration of the following:
· Providing sleeping areas
· Cooking areas
· Providing areas for assembly/socializing
· Media access
· Emergency /public communications
· Restroom/bathing needs
· Pet occupancy
He felt we should determine our limitations and create a facilities map that could be used by potential users. He suggested that we might work with the GIVers or some other organization in town to create a “citizens corps” of volunteers to:
· help with transportation needs
· logging in/out and management of Library users during an emergency
· interviewing for special or medical needs and providing assistance as necessary
· any other management/oversight of the facility needed
The Trustees felt that perhaps we could volunteer some level of service, though not all. It was felt that we could make some contribution and work with other facilities to fulfill community needs. ACTION: Bob Marshall offered to prepare a draft for discussion, at our next meeting, of services we could provide for emergency management.
9:11 Adjournment
Moved and seconded to adjourn. All in favor, the motion carried.
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