PRELIMINARY MINUTES
STEPHENSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013
Present: Bob Marshall, Jami Bascom, Scott Jones, Mary Ann Grant, Neal Brown, Kristin Readel, Gail Smith.
Absent: Bruce Dodge.
Minutes taken by Patricia La Pree.
7:07 PM - The meeting was called to order at this time by Chairman Brown. Due to Bruce’s absence, Neal asked if Scott would be the voting member for this meeting. Scott agreed to do so.
7:08 pm – Review of the preliminary minutes for the January 2, 2013 meeting and review of action items therein:
1) The minutes were reviewed by the Trustees and staff. A motion was made by Jami to accept the minutes as read and the motion was seconded by Neal. The vote to accept was unanimous in the affirmative. ACTION: Pat will send the minutes to the Town Website for publication and a copy to Jami for the Secretary’s notebook.
2) Review of action items from January’s meeting was reviewed and reported on by Neal, Scott and Library staff
a).Scott reported that Mike Borden is aware of the windows for the Library and will install them when the weather is better
b).Gail reported that the exterior lights have been replaced. There have been issues with the timer for the lights and DPW will talk to the electrician who installed them about a battery back up for the timer so it does not have to be reset every time the power goes out.
c) Kristin reported that there have been no price changes implemented for public use of the printer yet due to not having a working printer and the need to do more research on ink usage by dating the cartridges.
d) The Joint Loss Committee did not tour the Library as scheduled in January.
e) Te finalized version of the Town Report was submitted by the deadline by Neal.
f) Jami and Bruce did have a work session and they finished the Mission Statement and reviewed all the by-laws. ACTION: Jami and Bruce will have another work session in February and will send the policies that exist now for review before the next Trustees meeting. Jami will send a copy to the Trustees and have it on the agenda for approval next month .She requested that the Trustees offer changes via e- mail so that there will be a consensus by next meeting
7:33 PM – Spending/Statistics and Treasurer’s report:
1) Mary Ann provided a line item list of expenditures month by month for Fiscal Year 2012, a copy of which will be kept in the Trustees binder for future reference. Bruce did devise a spread sheet to record expenditures in “real time” by staff, but Kristin has been unable to open it in her email. Bruce will fix the problem. In addition, Mary Ann reported that there was $161.00 of revenue from copies, $100.00 received as a donation, $124.00 of revenue from the annual Trust Fund, a vendor refund for $128.55 and a reimbursement from the Town for clerical wages for $100. There is, with these additions, about $4000.00 in the Library checking account. There
was a brief discussion about why it is that the Town is paying market price for heating fuel whereas in the past the Town has gotten a better bulk rate price. A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented by Jami and seconded by Neal. The vote was unanimously in favor of acceptance of the report.
2) Kristin reported that she has been getting more statistical data through the Alexandria System and is very excited about it. She noted that the Wensberg Room has been very busy and she is going to barcode the room in an effort to capture data about its use in Alexandria. Wednesdays and Saturdays continue to be the busiest days.
7:48 PM- Librarian’s Report:
1) A new brochure is in the works for the Library. The last one was done in 2006.
2) There will be a watercolor class starting in March. Computer Users group is being well attended. There will be a new story time for younger children starting soon.
3) Gail and Kristin are confident that they can work with the 2 per cent decrease in the operating budget in 2013.
4) There has been some talk about extending the Library parking area on to the abutting property. ACTION: Kristin will talk with Aaron Patt, Town Administrator, about drafting a letter to the abutter.
8:04 PM - Status of the Warrant Article for the painting of the Library:
Neal reported that the amount of the warrant article is for $5500.00, which will cover the exterior painting and needed repairs, but the tree work will have to wait.
8:06 PM – How to make the Trustees work more strategic in 2013:
Bob opened the discussion with the observation that the Trustees might want to be less involved in the day to day operations of the Library and more active in developing and implementing long term goals for the Library and its role in the community, obtaining grant monies and updating policies and procedures. All were in agreement that this path makes sense. Discussion followed about the need for the annual report that goes to the State of New Hampshire differs from the Town report, and does need to include a Treasurer’s annual report, a Trustees report and a Librarian’s report. ACTION: Jami and Mary Ann will get copies of other area Library’s reports and send them to the Trustees fro review and discussion at the next meeting.
8:40 PM – Old/New Business:
Mary Ann reported that there is a meeting on Saturday, February 16 at the Peterborough Library about the future of the Peterborough Library. Mary Ann will attend and report back to the Trustees next month.
8:47 PM – Jami made the motion to adjourn the meeting at this time. It was seconded by Neal and the vote was unanimous in the affirmative to adjourn the meeting.
The next Trustees meeting will be on Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 7:00 PM at the Library.
Respectfully Submitted,
Patricia LaPree
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