MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 12, 2008
BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ MEETING – MINOT-SLEEPER LIBRARY
PRESENT: Deborah Doe, Co-Chair, Roger Nicholls, Co-Chair, George Corrette, Treasurer, Shirley Yorks, Bill Barrett, Barbara Greenwood, Claire Moorehead, Consultant, Deborah Thouin, Assistant Librarian, Deborah Gilbert, Librarian/Secretary
ABSENT: Glenn Dorr
SECRETARY’S REPORT: The minutes from the January meeting were read by all those present. George Corrette noted that the treasurer’s report read, “checking account with a balance of about $2000.00.” He stated that it should read “$9000.00.” Barbara Greenwood made a motion that the minutes be accepted with the noted change, George Corrette seconded and the motion carried as all were in favor.
TREASURER’S REPORT: George Corrette handed out an annual summary of the financial reports as they will be presented in the annual town report plus a list and description of all of the library funds. Deborah Doe noticed that some of the check numbers were off. They read in the 1900’s and should be in the 1800’s. She apologized for the error and said she would get the corrected information to Krystal Alpers at the town office.
George Corrette reported that the checking account balance was $9352.00. He also reported that the stock portfolio has suffered a loss and was currently sitting at $122,000.00.
CORRESPONENCE: Updated copies of the Trustees’ manual had been received. Deborah Gilbert handed out copies to each of the board members present and will see that Glenn Dorr gets a copy. There will also be a copy kept at the library.
OLD BUSINESS: Deborah Doe inquired about the status of the Pay Classification study. Deborah Gilbert explained that the proposed salary increases for the library staff were currently included in the salary lines of the library budget. They are still contingent upon approval of the budget at town meeting.
NEW BUSINESS: Deborah Doe opened discussion regarding possible changes and updates to the By-Laws and Statement of Policy. Roger Nicholls has been working on them since the January meeting and had supplied copies with suggestions and the input gathered from other board members since then.
She then referred to Article V (Librarian) of the By-Laws which states “The Head Librarian shall be chosen or confirmed by ballot at the Trustees’ annual meeting and shall hold the office for one year or until another shall be chosen in his/her place, unless dismissed earlier by the vote of the Trustees.” Deborah questioned if this meant that the librarian was an elected office. The ensuing discussion determined that it was not it simply meant that if the board did not feel that the librarian was effective or doing an adequate job the board could vote to replace him/her. After the discussion, there were no suggested changes to the article.
Deborah Doe suggested for the point of clarification that is should be stated in the By-Laws under Article 1 Section A that a trustee filling the role of treasurer can receive no financial compensation.
There was some discussion of Article VI (Book Committee) of the By-Laws. Currently book selection is done by the librarian in accordance with the Statement of Policy, Section IV, B, 1. Deborah Gilbert stated that when she came on board as librarian that there was period of about 6 months where there was a book selection committee. They disbanded as soon as they were comfortable with her selection process and were confident that she would maintain a balanced collection. The current suggestion is to change the article from “shall provide” to “may provide.” Following the discussion there were no additional changes suggested.
Bill Barrett referenced section IV, A, 1 of the Statement of Policy and inquired about discussions at the November meeting about charging a non-resident fee to library patrons from other towns within the school district. Roger Nicholls stated that discussion had been tabled until a later date.
There was discussion concerning the number of Trustees. Currently the By-Laws say 9 and the Statement of Policy says 7. It was agreed that increasing the board to 9 would be a good idea if there were that many people interested in serving. Deborah Gilbert stated that this year’s ballot has George Corrette and Nancy Gavalis running with 2 spots for write-ins. There was no decision to change the By-Laws or the Statement of Policy at this time.
Shirley Yorks referenced Section V, B of the Statement of Policy where it states that the “The Board of Trustees shall designate one member to conduct the annual evaluation of the Head Librarian.” She questioned whether in the past it had been done by a committee. Deborah Doe stated that it had. Several members felt that it was better to have the input of more than one trustee. Deborah Gilbert stated that Roger Nicholls had done it this year as it needed to be done by a certain date and there were no others available. It was suggested that in the future this could be done by the executive committee. It was pointed out that the head librarian is a member of the executive committee so the suggested wording is now, “the executive committee with the exception of the head librarian will conduct the annual evaluation of the head librarian.”
George Corrette pointed out that the change in hours of operation as proposed in the statement of policy section IV, B, 1 is contingent on the approval of funding at town meeting.
At this time the floor was yielded to Claire Moorehead to give an update on the work she is doing for the library. She stated that she had been familiarizing herself with the library, had spent some time going over the recent town survey and had several meetings with Roger Nicholls and Deborah Gilbert.
She suggested to the board that it might be good to purchase a digital camera for library use. She could see how there would be much potential for promotional use.
She reported that she was planning to attend the Friends of the Library meeting on February 27. She is planning to help develop a brochure for a membership drive.
She has been working on prioritizing a timeline and a list of suggested press releases. She is also looking at the calendar of events for the town and looking for cross promotional opportunities. She will continue to work with Deborah Gilbert and Roger Nicholls on this.
She spoke with Marcia Morris of the Record Enterprise. It does not look as though a non-profit sponsorship is going to be a possibility. However, it may be possible to have a column dedicated to the library under the Talk of the Towns section, where something could be put in on a weekly basis. Some editorials may be possible as well.
At this time the floor was yielded to Bill Barrett. The library had suffered some water damage due to some winter related leaking in the foundation. He had looked things over and thought that some cracks in the asphalt along the foundation could be part of the problem. He volunteered to fix it in the spring but thought that there was really not anything that could be done at this time. Deborah Gilbert suggested removing the carpet in the small office area of the downstairs. She thought it might make it easier and cheaper to address the problem when it does occur. She also suggested a smaller desk, one that is easier to move and would not take up so much room. Deborah Doe suggested going to the government surplus store in Concord.
BUILDING COMMITTEE: NONE
Roger Nicholls reported that he had heard something on NPR about the Gates Foundation and possible funding for small rural libraries. He is currently researching this.
PUBLICITY: Deborah Gilbert reported that there had been a number of articles about the library in the Record Enterprise recently. A reporter/photographer has visited the library several times. It was suggested that a parental permission and photo release should be something that be included with the library policies. Claire Moorehead said she thought she had one that would work.
LIBRARIAN’S REPORT: Deborah Gilbert reported that the electrical work was done with the exception of an additional light at the top of the stairs.
Deborah Gilbert reported that she felt the library was running quite well in her absence.
Deborah Thouin asked if the library would still expand the hours of operation in April if Deborah Gilbert was not back from her leave of absence. The board felt that this was something that could be addressed at the March meeting. Deborah Thouin also stated that Eileen Gilbert would not be available after the end of March. Deborah Thouin asked if it would be possible to work longer shifts and fewer days when the expanded hours were put into place. Roger Nicholls felt that scheduling was something that should be addressed by the Head Librarian not the board. Everyone agreed.
Deborah Thouin reported that there were problems with both of the vacuum cleaners. Roger Nicholls made a motion to purchase a new vacuum cleaner, Barbara Greenwood seconded and the motion carried as all were in favor.
Roger Nicholls asked if anyone had any objections to changing the agenda and putting the Librarian’s report earlier in the meeting. There were no objections.
The meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Gilbert, Secretary/Librarian