PRELIMINAR MINUTES
SEPENSON MEMORIAL IBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
AUGUST 14 2013
Present: Neal Brown, Mary Ann Grant, Bob Marshall, Bruce Dodge, Jami Bascom, Gail Smith, Kristin Readel.
Absent: Scott Jones.
Minutes recorded by Patricia LaPree
7:03 PM – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brown.
Review of the preliminary minutes from the July 3 meeting:
1. Change line 9 to read Bruce.
2. Change line 54 to Kristin.
The motion to accept the minutes as amended was made by Jami and seconded by Bruce. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative. ACTION: Pat will amend the June and July minutes and have them posted on the Town Website.
There were no action items from the last meeting to review at this meeting.
7:10 PM - Treasurer’s report:
1. The budget year to date was reviewed by the Trustees. There was a question about whether there will need to be a budgeted amount in 2014 for General liability insurance. Mary Ann will find out from the Town office. Andre Wood has given an invoice to the Library for services rendered. The computer equipment and software line will be expended by October1.
2. The new treasurer for the Friends of the Library is Agneta Brown. Mary Ann will be meeting with her and will get information on the Friends funds.
3. Mary Ann spoke to Judy Burrows, the Director of the Merrill Fund through the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. There is approximately $8600.00 in the Merrill building fund, and those funds could be applied to a new climate control system for the Library as well as parking lot expansion. Jami requested that the parameters of the use of the Merrill fund be put in writing for the record. A discussion followed about the use of the fund, logistics of putting the building fund monies in a separate account from the book monies, and whether the Library could go in on a bid for the climate control system at the same time that the Meeting House gets
a bid for a new furnace in order to be more cost effective.
The motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented was made by Bruce and seconded by Neal. The vote to accept was unanimous in the affirmative.
7:30 PM – July statistics from the Library staff;
Gail and Kristin provided the data for the month and as compared to one year ago. Summer reading registrations were slightly down from last year, but circulation was up. A discussion followed about how the Alexandria software captures data for statistical analysis as well as what data is still hand gathered by staff.
7:36 PM - Librarian’s corner:
1. The 104th birthday celebration for the Library was lightly attended. Bruce suggested a larger celebration for the 105th, and it could also be a way to have a gathering in the downtown area.
2. The Tech Soup license for the Excel software is in the works.
3. The Library will collaborate with the Greenfield Historical Society in October to bring Kevin Gardner, the author of “Granite Kiss”, to the Library to give a talk about the book.
4. There are two fall conferences that Gail and Kristin will attend.
5. The flooding in the basement continues to be an issue that requires attention. Mary Ann has photos of the most recent incident. ACTION: Neal will acquire the photos and take them to the DPW Director and the Town Administrator.
6. The Wensberg room table is broken. Neal reports that he and David Bridgewater would like an opportunity to try to repair it. Discussion followed about whether the table is the best one for use in the room. Neal and David will do the repairs and try to make the table more useable in the space.
7. The repairs and painting to the exterior of the building are complete and look good.
8:10 PM – Amendments to the by-laws:
Jami has almost completed the changes that were approved by the Board in June. When complete she will send them to the Trustees via email, and then incorporate them into the approved by laws.
8:11 PM – There was a brief discussion about patron policies. No change will be made to the current policy at this time.
8:21 – Update on the Library logo contest and the sign:
No entries have been received for the logo. Flyers have been distributed about the contest, and it was also in the Spirit.
8:25 PM - Other/new business:
1. Aaron Patt will coordinate a meeting with the Manginis and Neal to discuss the possible parking lot expansion. A discussion followed about some other parking configurations that might also be considered, and that there should be a square footage amount ready to present to the Manginis. ACTION: Bob will ask the Southwest regional Planning Commission for a 25 year projection for the needs of Greenfield and provide that information to Neal. Neal will contact Mathewson paving for a recommendation of what might work for the expansion.
2. The front door was not painted as part of the recent contract. A discussion followed about the door and stairs and the drainage around it is part of a larger problem that needs to be addressed.
3. There was a discussion about the possibility of the Library starting a trust fund and the pros and cons of doing so versus working with the Friends of the Library which already has a 503 (c) tax status so that all donations are deductible.
4. Bruce was asked by the Historical Society about plaques that were on the front of the Library commemorating war veterans. Gail said that there is one on the building and that some were taken down when the addition was added. ACTION: Mary Ann will inquire at the Town Office about the plaques.
5. Neal reported that budget negotiations will begin in October. Gail has already started to write the budget and will have a rough draft for the next meeting.
6. Jami announced that there is a Library Trustees Orientation workshop at the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association in October.
7. Beechleaf design is a local company that works on promotional materials and websites for organizations and businesses. The web address for Beechleaf was given to Kristin.
8. Kristin has written a job description for her position. She will e- mail it to Jami and Bruce and then it will be brought before the Board.
8:53 PM - The motion was made to adjourn the meeting by Bruce and seconded by Neal. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative to adjourn the meeting.
The next meeting will be at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, September 4, 2013.
Respectfully Submitted,
Patricia LaPree
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