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August 14, 2013 Trustees of the Gale Library Minutes
GALE LIBRARY
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                                                                Established      1892                                                                                                                                
16 South Main Street
Newton New Hampshire 03858
(603) 382-4691
        

DATE: Wednesday August 14, 2013
TIME: 10:00am
LOCATION: Gale Library, 16 S Main Street

MEETING MINUTES


  • Call to Order: 10:05 A.M.
  • In Attendance: Marilyn Landry, Chairperson; Kathy Meserve, Treasurer; Anne Banks, alternate/acting secretary; Lynne Camp, alternate; Sally Woodman, alternate; Terry Caswell, Director.
  • Secretary’s Report: Lynne motioned to accept the minutes as written for the July 10, 2013 meeting. Marilyn seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
  • Correspondence and Communications: Terry read a thank you note addressed to her and to the Trustees. It was from Kathy Meserve, for the Newton Greenhouse gift certificate sent to her during her recent surgery and recuperation. We all admired the photo on front of the card, which Kathy took herself.
  • Library Director’s Report: Kathy commented about the large number of programs run during July. There was a program every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Kathy thanked Terry for all the hard work Terry and her staff did to make that happen. Terry commented that attendance has been good at the programs and is growing; there were 53 attending the Dig into Dinosaurs program. Kathy motioned to accept the Director’s report as written. Lynne seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
  • Treasurer’s Report: Marilyn motioned to accept the treasurer’s report as written. Kathy seconded and the report passed unanimously.
  • Unfinished Business:
  • Terry sent an email to the Kingston Library Director on August 7, proposing a joint meeting of trustees sometime in October, possibly October 23rd.  Terry is waiting to hear back from them on a date that will work for them.
  • Newton Town Day: The library will sponsor Bingo for Books for all ages on September 21st, as part of Newton Town Day.
  • Disposal of old electronics: The older model TV and DVD player owned by the library will be mentioned on the library Facebook page to see if anyone will take either of them away for free.
  • New Business:
  • NHAS Library Telescope Program has us as number 3 on the list, so we should receive our telescope in the late September or early October time frame. Terry will work on developing a lending policy and some programs around the telescope.
  • Terry received a letter from Mary S. Searles, the Law Librarian at the NH Law Library, concerning e-Filing in NH Small Claims Court. The Law Library will be setting up websites and other information on this topic, to be rolled out in about four months. They are hoping that the libraries across the state will facilitate access to the information. That will be our only role in this.
  • Landscape review – Terry thanked Sally and Diane for their hard work doing general cleanup, planting daisies out front, and pruning the foundation plantings around the building.
  • Terry attended a webinar about the information that will soon be available on line about the Affordable Health Care Act. The libraries are expected to be one of the major ways people will access this information. We currently have two books on the topic in our collection. Terry has ordered one additional book, entitled “Healthcare Handbook”.
  • The NHDB (New Hampshire Downloadable Books) Fee Schedule proposal appears to have reduced Newton’s fee from $1000 last year to $556 this year. Terry will keep us informed when the official fees are announced.
  • John Meserve spoke to us about the Newton Municipal Complex Committee, of which he is a member. This committee is studying the best ways to use the property on Merrimac Road, which will soon be a gift to the town and includes 2 existing buildings and 51/2 acres of land. There is a possibility that the library will be included in the planning, and for us to be offered space in the new complex. We discussed various options that might be proposed for a new library in the complex. John acknowledged any ideas that are proposed by us need to be approved by the town at future meetings, and that the process will take years. The Trustees will definitely need to put together a proposal as soon as possible if we want the ideas to be considered. The trustees will start by having meetings with other NH town library Directors and Trustees that have recently built new facilities, to learn from their experiences.
  • Volunteer Best Practices: Terry has updated the library document to reflect changes in the web links.  We are compliant at this time.
  • Trustees’ Meeting in October: Due to conflicts, the date has been changed to Monday, October 7 at 10:00.
  • Acceptance of Donations: Kathy moved to accept $1.50. Marilyn seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
  • Friends News: There was no meeting in July. Next meeting is September 10.
  • Monthly Invoice Review and Initialing:
  • Invoices were reviewed and initialed.
  • Plans to visit the Newton Municipal Complex on Merrimac Road: In order to get some ideas back to John Meserve before the September 16th meeting of the Newton Municipal Complex Committee, the Trustees and Director will visit the site on August 22nd, as well as visiting the Kingston and Plaistow libraries. Terry will contact the libraries to let all parties know our plans, and Kathy will ask John to do the same for the complex on Merrimac Road. The Trustees and Director left to visit the East Kingston library, which will not be open the morning of August 22nd, immediately after adjournment of this meeting.
  • Adjournment: 11:45 A.M.
  • Date of Next Meeting: September 11, 2013 at 10:00 A.M.
Respectfully submitted,

Anne D. Banks