Gay-Kimball Library

Board of Trustees meeting

April 1, 2010

 Members Present: Kathy Marrotte, Beth Richardson, Evan John; Catherine Callegari, Librarian

 Minutes of the last meeting were unanimously approved.

 Treasurer's Report: Checking-$124; Memorial  Fund- $35.00; Fines-$126.00; Petty Cash-$436.00

 Librarian's Report: Door Count-1497(1472); Circulation-2109(2243); Computer Usage-199(270); New Patrons-15.

 Old Business:

 We are waiting for a $9673.00 trust fund check from the library trustees.  She will be inviting them to the next Trustees meeting on May 6. She is also waiting for the remaining $2500.00 2009 allocation from the town.  We currently have less than $1,000 in our coffers.

 The Hot Soup Social on March 13 was a great success-the event went smoothly-there was enough food and help and the greatest attendance ever (46 people).  All food and related supplies were donated, and no money was collected from attendees. It was a gift to the community which was much appreciated.

 The automation system upgrade is moving along. It looks like the consortium of local libraries joining will be 3 rather than 4, which will raise the price to GKL by $5-600.00. The Trustees voted unanimously to move ahead with ByWater even with the price increase.  It was noted that the libraries that dropped out wanted to join, but didn't want to be one of the first to do so.  If more local libraries join, they will pay a bit more, and the original group will pay a bit less in the annual subscription cost. With more members, the cost will be reduced to each member. Catherine met Brendan Gallagher, the ByWater's co-owner &  tech guru, at the PLA conference in Portland.  She was impressed with his ability to answer some of her specific questions.

 The re-cataloging process continues.  18 area librarians volunteered to help with the process mid-month. All new books, DVDs, and fiction are finished. 4/33 categories are done.  Catherine is in contact with Infocenter, the current vendor, to address persistent glitches and will ask them to rebuild the data base. The backup file is functioning.

 Catherine had a very productive time at the PLA conference in Portland, Oregon. She purchased 7 books at a great discount and networked with a number of associates and vendors. She also picked up over 30 free books and materials for the library's use.

 New Business:

 Kathy met with the Selectboard on March 29 regarding the library treasurer's  request  (by a March 11, 2010 letter) to transfer $500.00 from the labor contracted services line item to the appropriation transfer line item, and then pay $2500.00 to the library from this line item.  A recent payment from the labor contracted services line item had brought the balance below $500.00, which we were not aware of.  Kathy noted that the Board doesn't fully understand the library's autonomy regarding management of its funds and she suggested that Terry Knowles, who works with Department of Justice, come for a learning session.  Catherine will follow up on this and see if she will come to a joint meeting at the library. She'll also bring a copy of the library's by-laws to the Selectmen's office in the meantime.

The trustees discussed taking back seasonal contracted labor, building maintenance and elevator maintenance accounts from the town to better manage these funds.

 Catherine noted that the furnace stopped functioning on March 15^th, and It cost $280.00 to get it fixed.

 The next meeting will by May 6, 2010 at 7pm.

 The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.