PRELIMINARY MINUTES
Stephenson Memorial Library Trustees Meeting
Wednesday April 4, 2012
PRESENT: Mary Ann Grant, Bruce Dodge, Neal Brown, Bob Marshall, Scott Brown, Kristen Reade, Gail Smith, Jami Bascom.
ABSENT: Andre Wood
MINUTES TAKER: Patricia LaPree
7: 04 PM: The meeting was called to order by Chair Neal Brown.
The minutes for the March meeting were reviewed. One amendment was made; to replace “I” with “It” in Library Corner, section b.
Motion to accept the March minutes as amended was made by Bruce Dodge, seconded by Jami Bascom. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative.
7:10 PM: Treasurer’s Report, spending and statistics reports.
Mary Ann, treasurer, presented the Trustees with the current budget report from the Town Office (see attached).
Bruce has developed an Excel spreadsheet that the Library staff can utilize to track expenses in “real time”, because the Town accounting report has a two week lag in the posting of accounts payable due to their billing cycle. The goal of the spreadsheet is to enable the Trustees to better track the budget, especially at the end of the fiscal year. The first quarter 2012 spread sheet from Bruce reconciles with the Town office report to date. Discussion followed about the pros and cons of using both the spreadsheet and the Town report. Kristen stated that the Town Administrator intends to hold quarterly budget meetings with Department Heads during F/Y 2012. Bruce stated that the spreadsheet is a way to track what is spent by the Library before it is actually paid out of the budget .Jami stated that the Trustees
are legally responsible to disburse the Library budget, so the spreadsheet is a useful tool. It was agreed to use the spreadsheet. ACTION: Bruce will assist Library staff with using the spread sheet on the Library staff computer. Mary Ann will continue to get the monthly report from the Town Office.
Friends of the Library: Kristen asked if the Merrill Fund could be distributed annually instead as needed. Mary Ann said that it cannot be changed due to the accounting practices of the Friends. ACTION: Mary Ann will discuss whether there might be a different method of disbursement of the Merrill fund at the next Friends meeting. The fund is used to purchase books.
The Merrill account balance to date is 6697.46. The Friend’s building fund balance is: 4866.67 and the Computer fund balance is: 933.73. Bob spoke about how it is important that the Trustees know how the Friends monies are spent because “it is reflective on the Trustees as to how the Friends’ money enhances the institution”. Bruce stated that there is a place to enter that information on the Excel spreadsheet.
7:55 PM: Librarian’s Corner:
a) Alexandria Hosting: It will cost $900.00/year through Alexandria, and Andre gave a tentative quote of $600.00/year. Kristen does not feel like a decision can be made at this time about the hosting because of not having a formal bid from Andre. ACTION: Kristen will follow up with the Trustees on this matter at next month’s meeting.
b) Email address: The library needs to convert to a static IP address. The Trustees are in agreement with this. ACTION: Kristen will contact Fairpoint and get the IP address changed to a static address.
c) Public Computer Use Policy at SML: The attached policy was reviewed by the Trustees and Library staff. Bob suggested grammatical changes in sentence four; to put “digital or print” in parentheses and a comma following “…behind”. The policy would now read:
“Stephenson Memorial Library offers public access computers and 24/7 wireless access in a mixed age public library environment. The Library does not assume responsibility for any information transmitted to or received by patrons using the Library’s computer terminals or wireless access. However, it is the policy of this Library to prohibit the use of it’s computers for any purpose that is prohibited by law, including the transmission of information that is libelous, that infringes any copyright, violates any applicable licensing agreement or is intended to harass, intimidate, threaten or defraud. Further if any offensive or adult content material (digital or print) is left behind, it will be documented and be used as grounds for a minimum 30 day suspension of all library privileges.
Said privileges may only be re-instated by scheduling an appointment for review with the Library’s Board of Trustees.”
The motion to accept the policy as amended above was made by Bruce and seconded by Jami. The vote to accept was unanimous in the affirmative.
d) Library Open House April 14th: The Open House has been advertized. Some Trustees will be in attendance throughout the day and will help with refreshments. Kristen asked if invitations should be sent to the contributors to the fund that enabled the Library to upgrade and expand the public computer services. It was discussed, and agreed to send the invitations out and set noon time as the time to dedicate the new computers. ACTION: Jami will address and post the cards.
8:23 PM: Souhegan Area Trustees Meeting: The meeting is scheduled for 6:30PM, April 5 at SML. Bruce and Jami will help set up for the meeting. Bob has donated the refreshments.
8:28 PM: Other Business:
Library Director Job Description: The job description that Jami and Neal have been working on was presented to the Board. A discussion followed about whether requiring a Bachelors Degree was too restrictive, and it was decided to amend that requirement to read “or relevant experience”, and to put in “3-5” years experience in the field…”. ACTION: Jami will amend as per the discussion and email it to all. Bruce motioned to accept the job description and Jami seconded. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative.
Attendees to the NH Library Trustees Association meeting in May: Neal, Bruce and Jami will attend. Workshop attendance will be decided and Jami will register everyone as needed.
Report on investigation of the Boston College/Weston Lab proposal: Neal reported that he has talked with Weston Lab about the possibility of having a Seismograph at SML. It will cost about $10,000.00 to put the program together and could be funded by grants, per Weston Lab. They also recommend that a science librarian be on site and Neal said he would be willing to train that person. Neal suggested that the Trustees go for a visit to Weston Lab. Jami and Neal will go, and Bruce may go too. ACTION: Neal will get some dates for a visit and will bring them to the next Board meeting.
Mail Box and New Sign Placement: Bruce made a scale model of the new sign and had it at the meeting. Discussion will continue about the specifics of the sign configuration, and the Board liked the model Bruce made. Kristen requested that the old sign come down, be kept, and put a mailbox up by the time the Post Office box rent comes due again in June. The mailbox has been purchased. It will be located at the end of the driveway. ACTION: Gail will contact DPW about getting the mailbox installed.
9:12 PM: Old Business:
i) Mike Kavanaugh will follow up with the Library staff and Trustees abut covering at least one window by the return of cold weather. Monies will come from the repair and maintenance part of the budget.
ii) The new bookshelves are all installed in the Library.
iii) KA Electric has been paid for the work at the Library.
iv) Scott Brown has installed a small filing cabinet and a floor mat behind the circulation desk.
v) Bob provided a draft of how SML could be utilized by the Emergency Management Team in the event of the Emergency Management Plan for the Town. A discussion followed about some of the points in the draft. In general, the Trustees think the draft is a great start and discussion will continue at the next meeting.
9:22 PM: New Business:
Bruce brought up the fact that the lot next to the Library is listed as for sale and that this may be a good time to approach the owner about the Library procuring an acre of it for additional parking in the future. Action: Bruce will talk with Town Administrator Patt about strategies to use to pursue obtaining extra space for parking.
9:27 PM: The motion to adjourn the meeting at this time was made by Bruce and seconded by Neal. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, May 2nd at 7:00 PM at the Library.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia La Pree
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