Minutes from April 1, 2015
The Board Meeting for the Trustees of Brown Memorial Library was called to order at 6:00 p.m
Attendance: Patty Furness, Connie Scheffy, Robert Toppi, Nola Jordan, Sandy Wadlington, Meg Fearnley, Garry Kalajian
1. Sandy Wadlington was welcomed as a newly elected trustee.
2. The secretary’s report was accepted as presented.
3. A motion was made and passed to accept donations to Brown Memorial Library in the amount of $100.00. $80.00 of that amount came from our ongoing book sale; the rest came from individual donations. Nola reported that the unusually harsh winter created an overrun in the heating budget pre-buy. The trustees will consider buying more fuel in advance for next season in the fall. Currently we are on automatic delivery and wish to keep things that way. Our electric bill is still higher than normal due to the change in supplier occurring in the middle of the month. Our new contract is now in effect and future bills should reflect a lower rate. The treasurer’s report was accepted as presented.
4. Meg reported that the engaging Monday and Wednesday story hours are bringing in a group of mothers of young children who now have the opportunity to meet and chat while their children enjoy the program. This correlates with a substantial increase in the circulation of children’s books. In general March brought an increase in total circulation and in number of patrons.
5. Under new business, an update on library staff indicated that of the two absent members, one is back to work, and the current substitute will continue to work the hours she is now working to fill the remaining hours at this time. There was a discussion regarding the addition of solar panels to help decrease our electric bill. This topic had been previously considered and it was determined that the expense would be too great and would outweigh the benefits. The trustees discussed replacing the florescent lights in the library with LED lights. LED lights are much less expensive to operate. Meg will investigate the cost of replacing the lights.
6. Library programs were discussed, including kudos for the latest program, Creative Feast with Liz Barbour. Attendance was small, but all agreed that it was a high-quality, excellent program. The Friends of the Library annual Easter egg hunt will take place on Saturday, April 4. Also noted was the book discussion group on April 22. For school vacation week, there will be a variety of options for students to enjoy. Chess night is still on every third Monday of the month. Unfortunately, after two months of offering an after school program on Mondays, not one child has attended. It was decided to try this program again in the fall when school starts and parents are making arrangements for after school activities. The library trustees will hold two book and plant sales, one on May 22 and one on July 4. There will be an additional book sale on September 5. Patty will be the point person to determine that trustees are present at all of the shifts to help out with the sale. The theme of the library float for the July 4 parade is Peter Pan, to correspond with the theme of the summer reading program. Trustees began to plan for a magnificent float.
7. It was determined that the Bradford Art Group will remain responsible for the Art Wall in the library.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 6:00 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.
Respectfully submitted,
Connie Scheffy, Secretary