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