Minutes from December 5, 2012
The Board Meeting for the Trustees of Brown Memorial Library was called to order at 6:00 p.m.
Attendance: Patty Furness, Garry Kalajian, Erica Gross, Lorraine Macleod, Bea Howe, Connie Scheffy, Nola Jordan, Meg Fearnley
1. In the absence of Mary-Chris and Rod, Garry and Erica were seating as voting members.
2. The secretary’s report was accepted as presented.
3. A motion was made and passed to accept donations to Brown Memorial Library in November in the amount of $103.00. $83.00 of that amount came from our on-going book sale. Meg (and Bea) reported that they are very happy with the new computer, which is much faster and more efficient than our old one. The Treasurer’s Report was accepted as presented.
4. Meg reported that our circulation numbers were down somewhat during November in almost all categories. Hopefully, this is not a trend.
5. Under Old Business, Lorraine reported that she had spoken to Sam McCreighton, the roofer who worked on her house. He has examined our roof and while he believes parts of the back section need to be patched, he doesn’t think it has to be done immediately. We can probably wait 2 to 3 years, and he thinks the entire roof has about another 7 years of life left in it. The Trustees agreed to also ask Erica’s husband to look at the roof and give us his opinion.
6. Patty reported that she had been in touch with the New Hampshire Astronomical Society about their program to subsidize telescopes for libraries interested in having one to lend out to patrons. There is a one-time fee of $250.00 and we would need to designate one person to take a training course and serve as a kind of caretaker for the telescope. Patty expressed her willingness to take on that role. She will contact the Warner Library to see what their experience with the telescope has been. The Trustees authorized spending the $250 to participate in the program.
7. Also under Old Business, the Trustees rejected an offer from the state library to participate in the KOHA program to digitize our collection. The cost (start-up fee of $4,000.00, $2,500.00 yearly fee, and 8 cent per item charge) is prohibitive and we feel our card catalog works well and fits our library.
8. Under New Business, the Trustees re-approved our Investment Policy without making any changes.
9. Santa will visit the library on Saturday, December 8, about 4:00 p.m. His visit will be followed by the lighting of the Christmas tree. Many thanks are due Bea for her hard work . . and frustration . . in getting the lights on this year. We are also grateful to the Friends of Brown Memorial Library for donating the new LED lights.
10. Bea reported that the Local Government Council has ruled salary increases may begin January 1. The Trustees voted to begin the increases for our employees on that date. If there is a problem with the budget, we can take the funds from the book budget.
11. Meg mentioned that she has hired Stephen Wescott to do our snow shoveling. He will be paid $40 per storm.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 2, at 6:00 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nola Jordan, Secretary