MINUTES
STEPHENSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
SPETEMBER 4, 2013
Present; Bruce Dodge, Jami Bascom, Gail Smith, Kristin Redeal, Neal Brown, Mary Ann Grant, Bob Marshall.
Absent: Scott Jones
Guest: John Gryval, Emergency Management Director for the Town of Greenfield, Andre Wood.
7:05 PM - The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brown.
1) John Gryval presented a brief update to the Trustees about the role of the Library in the emergency management planning for the town. He reported that the Library will be an auxiliary retreat to the Fire Station and Town Offices in the event of an emergency. The Library could be utilized as a cooling station during a protracted heat wave when it has a new climate control system installed, and it would be advantageous for the library to also have a generator. There will be more planning and strategies for obtaining the needed features to make the Library viable in future emergency management planning. Neal will participate in the hazard mitigation committee as
the Library representative. The committee will be made up of the Planning Board chair, the Emergency Management Director, primary department heads, and the Board of Selectmen.
7:12 PM- Review of the August 14 minutes and action items identified therein:
1) Grammatical corrections on line 36 replace semi-colon with a colon and on line 85-86, put the action item in bold. A motion was made at this time to accept the minute as amended by Jami and seconded by Bruce. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative to accept the minutes as amended. ACTION: Pat will amend the minutes and post them on the Town Website.
2) Review of Action items from August 14 meeting:
Pat did amend the minutes for the June and July meetings and had them posted on the Town website.
Neal has not yet obtained the recent pictures of the flooding in the basement and given them to the DPW director. He and the DPW Director have looked at the problems again, and DPW wants to investigate the drainage issues around the stairs and fix the problems if needed. Bruce made a motion to allow the DPW to assess and fix the drainage problems around the stairs as needed. Neal seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in the affirmative to have DPW proceed with needed repairs.
Bob did obtain the projection figures for population increases over the 7 years in the Town of Greenfield from the Southwest regional Planning Commission and this information was provided to the Trustees. A discussion followed as to how best use this information in the long term planning for the parking lot needs for the Library. The general consensus is that the parking lot size should increase by about two acres from its existing size. ACTION: Neal will contact Sheldon Pennoyer and ask for a consultation about space utilization and expansion for parking for the Library.
7:48 PM – Treasurer’s report:
Mary Ann provided the year to date expenditures and balances for the Library budget to the Trustees for review. The budget is on target for expenditures and balances so far this year. A discussion followed about how both budgeted and Merrill fund monies are being utilized and what is the most effective way to expend the balances within this fiscal year. A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented by Bruce ad seconded by Neal. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative to accept the treasure’s report.
8:05 PM – Update on the progress of the spread sheet for Library staff. Kristin is still in process of downloading Excel.
8:07 PM - Preliminary discussion on the Fiscal year 2014 budget:
Gail reported hat she has begun drafting the 2014 budget, but does not have a lot of numbers yet. She will continue to work on it, and reference last year’s numbers and will have more for the Trustees for the October meeting. A discussion followed about the use of book monies from the Library budget and from Merrill Fund, and specifically how the Merrill fund disbursements vary significantly from year to year and have consistently been going down over the last few years. Mary Ann has been working closely with the new Friends of the Library treasurer to try to get the most accurate disbursement figure for 2014 and Gail reviewed with the Board the method by which Merrill fund monies are disbursed for book purchases. ACTION: The Trustees will invite the Friends to a Trustee meeting to discuss the 2014 budget
as it might be affected by the Merrill funds. Other items discussed for consideration in the 2014 budget included a Library website, energy costs and maintenance needs for the building.
8:43 PM – Librarian’s Corner:
Monthly and year to date statistics for Library usage were presented to the Trustees by Gail. She noted that there are more adult visitors in the month of August 2013 than in August 2012, and that computer usage is about the same as last year. There was revenue of $41.50 from the copier. A discussion followed about the impending need for a new copier and the pros and cons of leasing one versus purchasing one.
8:50 – Update on policies:
There are three more policies that have been revised and Jami will send them to the Trustees via e-mail for comments. If a trustee does not respond to eh e-mail, Jami will assume that they accept the policy as written. The Trustees have been invited to meet with the Board of Selectmen on September 12 to discuss the Library’s computer use policy. Neal requested that the Librarians attend if possible.
8:56 – New/other business:
Kristin reported that there have been no entries for the Library logo contest as of yet. A discussion followed about the possible use of a business that specializes in logo designs to design a logo and Bruce said that his company does provide this service. He will look into cost and other factors and report back to the Board.
Pat reported to the Board that she will be having surgery in September and will be recuperating for about six weeks after. She will keep the Trustees informed as to whether she can record the minutes for the October meeting.
9:07 PM - Neal made the motion to adjourn the meeting at this time. The motion was seconded by Jami and the vote was unanimous in the affirmative to adjourn the meeting.
The next meeting will be on October 2, 2013 at 7:00 PM at the Library
Respectfully submitted by Patricia LaPree.
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