Gay-Kimball Library

Board of Trustees Meeting

2-5-2008

Present: Catherine Callegari, Kathy Marrotte, Jan Jones, Beth Richardson

Finances: There is presently $607 in the Library account due to the Trust Fund check not arriving yet.  Jan will take care of all financial responsibilities including bills and deposits while Catherine is gone on vacation.

Librarian's Report: Catherine reports that the door count for January was 1,245, up from 1,188 in 2007. 16 new patrons joined the library. The computers were used 214 times, which is about the same as last year. 2,346 items were circulated which is a huge jump over the 1,849 items circulated last year. 46 of these items were downloadable audio books, which is the most audio books downloaded in a single month. Also, the final figures for 2007 are in, and the library went over budget by 4%, which estimated to be about $2,800. This was due to expenses out of the control of the library such as workers comp, health insurance, elevator maintenance, part time salaries and the charging of the fire extinguisher which cost 2x as much as was told to us.

Old Business:

1.     Jan has sold her house and will be stepping down as a library trustee. After some discussion and an informal vote, it was decided that Beth will step in as treasurer and the new trustee will take over as secretary. The board appreciates all the hard work Jan has done for the library and she will be missed. We had a discussion about possible replacements and will talk about this more at our next meeting.

2.     Shelves in Children's Area: The crates full of new shelves have arrived and the party to put them together will be held on Saturday February 23^rd at 10:00am. Catherine will be sending out emails to recruit people to come and help. Tools will be required, and with enough people it should be fairly quick and easy. With the money from the Elaine Shubert Trust Fund and sale of the old shelves, the library is paying $24.86 out of pocket for the shelves. Catherine has given away the yellow cubby that currently houses the puzzles and games, and we will move those to the new shelves and put the round table and chairs in the spot where the cubby lives now.

3.     Hot Soup Social: The first annual hot soup social will be held March 8^th from 4pm-6pm. Catherine has received the following donations from local businesses: 1 gallon of soup from Marmadukes Diner, Sunflower Café and the Inn at East Hill Farm. This is enough soup to feed 48 people 8oz. of soup. Hannaford in Rindge has donated $25 worth of merchandise (bowls/spoons etc) plus a package of 200 cups and a package of 300 napkins. Frank at the Minute Mart has donated 6 2lt. bottles of soda. Catherine has put in a request with Panera breads and will follow up on this when she gets back from vacation. Catherine will also ask Stan's for ice to keep the drinks cold. Beth and Jan will donate crock pots to keep the soup hot. We will discuss this more at our March 6^th meeting.

4.     Deed to the library land: Kathy will take the deed at the end of the meeting and make sure it gets into the Historical Society's lock box. Thank you to the Historical Society.

5.     Maintenance: The air conditioners need weatherizing. Catherine has asked Harold, but doesn't seem to think he's interested. We will look for someone else to take on this job. When the weather warms up Harold will mud and pain the cracks inside the library and paint the exterior eaves. Harold did a fantastic job repairing the damage from the roof leak. The bill has been submitted to the Insurance adjustor, Tom. Catherine is waiting on a letter from him detailing how much money will be compensated. Harold will address the mold issue downstairs in the spring when the weather is better.

New Business:

1.     Budget Hearing: Catherine did attend the town budget hearing. No changes were made to the library budget. Town Meeting will be held Saturday March 15^th.

2.     NHLTA: There are updated NH Library Trustee Association manuals at the library. Also, the NHLTA awarded Catherine a scholarship that covers the $180 cost of registering for her conference.

3.     PTO and the Library: There was some discussion about the PTO and Library being more involved. Beth is an active member of the PTO, so this was a bit of a moot point. There was a small discussion about the PTO meeting at the library instead of the school. Beth will bring it up at the next meeting.

4.     Program at the Library: Catherine has information about Craig Brandon doing a talk at the library about his book, Monadnock More than a Mountain. It would cost $150 for him to come and discuss his book with an audience. There was discussion about it being a joint affair with the Historical Society. Kathy will ask at their next meeting. Catherine will inquire with Craig when he is available in April. We had a discussion about which night would be better and did not come to an inclusive decision.

5.     Public Comments: No members of the public were in attendance at our meeting.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday March 6^th at 7:00pm.