Day: June 3, 2013

MINUTES OF BLAISDELL MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING

March 11, 2013

Present: Rhoda Capron, Laurie Legard, Susan Medeiros, Sara Wotton, Pat Vachon, Kathleen Matthews

Meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m.

Policy Update/Current Task:

Rhoda shared the draft of a Social Media policy which she adapted from on-line sources and guidelines. The policy was accepted with several minor language changes. The development of a staff appraisal of the library director was discussed again. Susan shared an example of a policy she had researched. Sara will make inquiries about the evaluations that area libraries are using when she attends the regional trustees meeting in Madbury later this month. Research and discussion on this topic will be on-going.

Secretary’s Report:

The minutes of February’s meeting were read. Rhoda moved to accept the report.

Laurie seconded the motion. All voted in favor.

Treasurer’s Report: T

he February budget shows zero because the new budget will not be approved until Town Meeting at the end of this week. Rhoda provided clarifications on a few items, including the furniture line, and reported that she has created Excel spreadsheets to keep better track of expenditures.  These will also allow easier comparisons to the monthly reports so that discrepancies can be quickly noted. Laurie moved to file the report. Pat seconded. All voted in favor.

Library Director’s Report:

Rhoda noted that there was a slight drop in circulation in February due to snowstorms and the absence of Story Hour, but the actual level and complexity of circulation activity was higher.  There was a significant increase in Downloads, for example. The town will be offering a CPR program for the staff. The luncheon-and-movie program held for senior citizens was a great success.  Rhoda expects the program to become a popular annual event and will include mention of it in the quarterly letter to the Selectmen. The miniature golf event planned by the Teen Group did not garner any teen-aged attention on its original date so the event has been opened to the whole community and is rescheduled for this Friday. Rhoda shared images of the soft chairs she intends to purchase for the back window area and described her concerns about the need for additional shelving space in the nonfiction section. The final Winter Farmer’s Market had to be canceled due to a lack of vendors with fresh produce. Brieghan Gardner, the market-master, is ready to send out flyers with the new guidelines to vendors.  Discussion was held about establishing a separate Farmers’ Market account.

Dick Blouin has volunteered his time and expertise to clean, update, and add memory to the public computers. Kathleen will send him a thank-you note. The annual NH Library Trustees Association conference will be held on Monday, May 20th this year.

Committee Report:

The “Seeds to Sow/Plants to Grow” fundraising program is going well. Kathleen reported on the landscape committee’s recent meetings in which their work has centered on: defining and refining project and fundraising goals, generating printed materials, and planning for the fundraising campaign’s official launch on May 18th. Discussion was held about ways to raise the funds needed this spring in order to complete the work on the ramp garden. A suggestion was made to develop an “Adopt-A-Shrub” program. Kathleen will discuss this with the committee.

Old Business:

The regional meeting of library trustees is being held in Madbury on March 14th. Sara will attend. The role of Alternate Trustee will be addressed after the town election when the position is officially open.

New Business: Rhoda completed the Annual Report required by the State Library. She has developed an Excel spreadsheet to help keep track of programs and events so that the report will be easier to complete each year. The Monthly Tasks were reviewed. Sara will send a written request to the town regarding pay increases. Rhoda will contact the lift inspectors to find out when they’ll be doing the inspection.

Discussion about setting this year’s Annual Goals for Trustees was tabled until the next meeting. Laurie moved to accept all donations. Sara seconded the motion. All voted in favor.

Tonight’s meeting was the last for Laurie, who has graciously served on the Blaisdell Memorial Library

Board of Trustees for more than a dozen years, many of these as its chair. Our deepest gratitude and best wishes were expressed in a final tribute to her generous spirit and fine leadership. Her presence on the board will be missed.

Next Meeting:

Monday, April 8th at 6:30 p.m.

Meeting adjourned at 7:14 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Matthews

MINUTES OF BLAISDELL MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEES MEETING

April 8, 2013

Present: Rhoda Capron, Susan Medeiros, Sara Wotton, Pat Vachon, Melanie Metz, Kathleen Matthews

Meeting was called to order at 5:31 p.m.

Policy Update/Current Task:  Susan joined the board as its recently-elected member and agreed to assume the role of Chair. Sara will continue to serve as Treasurer. Kathleen will remain Secretary. Rhoda introduced Melanie Metz, who has agreed to serve as Alternate Trustee. Discussion ensued about who should be responsible for signing checks, including questions about expediency, conflict of interest, and the need for a checkbook to be available at the library. Susan and Sara will sign checks. Rhoda distributed copies of the new Social Media Policy.

Secretary’s Report: The minutes of the March meeting were read. A correction was made to the time for the next meeting. Pat moved to accept the report with this correction. Sara seconded the motion. All voted in favor.

Treasurer’s Report: No report was available from Janet;she may not have been informed of tonight’s meeting due to the shift in board positions. Sara will be certain to contact Janet well ahead of each month’s meeting so that she will have ample time to submit a monthly report.

Library Director’s Report:

Rhoda gave Susan, as new Chair, the list of volunteers to be kept up to date for this calendar year. March was another strong month in regards to circulation statistics. Rhoda was pleased to see high borrowing trends for both the Adult and Juvenile books and noted that again this month the Downloadable Books were quite popular. This fact may account for the slight drop in the use of Books on CD but Rhoda expects borrowing to pick up in this column now that Pat has assumed responsibility for purchasing CD’s and is doing so more frequently. Rhoda requested a board member replace Laurie as the alternate contact in our Disaster Plan. Sara volunteered. When the lift was inspected recently it was discovered that the closing mechanism, which has been troublesome in the past, is not working properly. The inspectors were able to fix it temporarily but said it needs to be permanently replaced and should be included in next year’s budget. The estimated cost will be $700.00 plus labor.

Rhoda reported that during the last snowstorm the library lot was only plowed once –– at 8:30 a.m. ––even though the library remained open during the storm. The deep snow in the parking lot was difficult to negotiate and the height of the snowbanks created by the state plow made it hazardous to pull out of the lot onto Rte. 152. Susan will speak to Charlie Brown about this on-going problem and will ask for a phone number the library staff can call if the lot is not adequately plowed in future storms. A staff meeting was held yesterday after Sunday library hours were concluded. The Friends of the Library book sale will be May 20th. On April 21st the Friends are also sponsoring an evening program, “The Moose Man.”

During April’s school vacation week a selection of movies will be shown and in June, the end of the Story

Hour program will be marked with a puppet show.

Committee Report:

Kathleen reported that the “Seeds to Sow/Plants to Grow” fundraiser has been quite successful. The Landscape Committee has been focused on defining and refining the goals of the landscape project with an eye toward creating several specific tools for heightening community awareness as it prepares to formally launch the “Following Nature’s Lead” fundraising campaign on May 18th. This kick-off event will include plant sales, refreshments, raffles, book displays, tours of the library grounds, and informative talks by two experts on sustainable land care. There will be two other professional presentations on the following Wednesdays, May 22nd and May 29th. Kathleen gave a brief review of the information and estimate provided by the Rockingham County Conservation District representative regarding the eradication of poison ivy and bittersweet. By law, any chemicals used on library land (or any public property) must be applied by a certified professional; the library will also need to obtain a special permit due to its proximity to wetlands. The permit costs $200.00 per year and is only good for one year;eradication of the invasive plants is expected to take several years. More information on these issues will be discussed at next month’s meeting. The planting of shrubs along the ramp garden area should occur within the next month. Kathleen mentioned the need to schedule our annual clean-up day and suggested it be done as soon as possible and definitely before May 18th. Sara volunteered to remove the old plastic play structures at the back of the building and volunteered her husband to cut and dispose of fallen trees along the trail.

Old Business:

Susan will send a letter to the Selectmen nominating Melanie as the new Alternate Trustee.  Susan reviewed the list of information proposed for the upcoming quarterly letter to the Selectmen. A few additions and deletions were made to the list. Susan will send the letter as amended. Sara reported on last month’s regional library trustees meeting in Madbury. She also volunteered our library to serve as the host for the next meeting which will occur in mid-June.

New Business:

The Monthly Tasks were reviewed. Nearly all have been completed. Al Vachon will change the furnace filters. Rhoda will make certain the alarm system is cleaned. Susan moved to accept all donations. Pat seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
Next Meeting:

Tuesday, May 21st at 6:30 p.m.

Meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Matthews