Trustee Minutes from January 4, 2012
The Board Meeting for the Trustees of Brown Memorial Library was called to order at 6:10 p.m.
Attendance: Patty Furness, Garry Kalajian, Bea Howe, Lorraine Macleod, Rod Jones, Connie Scheffy, Nola Jordan, Meg Fearnley
1. The secretary’s report was accepted as presented.
2. The Librarian’s Report was presented and discussed. Trustees agreed with Meg’s decision to no longer keep track of reference questions. It’s difficult to do and serves no real purpose. She also explained that the reference section is being phased out. It takes up a lot of space and is very rarely used as so many patrons look things up on the internet. In addition, it is very expensive to replace the kinds of reference works that go out of date quickly. Some items will be shelved with non-fiction and will circulate. A few works will be retained in case the internet is down on a particular day. Large print books will be shelved in the old reference section. They will be much more visible and accessible there. Meg commented that it has been very helpful to have Laurie Buchar, who is a professional librarian, around to discuss some of these ideas with.
3. A motion was made and passed to accept gifts and donations to Brown Memorial Library in December in the amount of $579.25. $84.25 of that amount was from our on-going book sale. We are very grateful to Fritz Von Beren of FVB Landscaping for donating his services to keep our planting beds looking good. Bea went over the end-of-the-year figures with the board. We overspent our 2011 budget but the overage was covered by income from our various funds, from the book sales and donations. We underspent payroll because the last two weeks of December were paid in January. This year we will overspend payroll and it all works itself out over time. The Treasurer’s Report was accepted as presented.
4. The Trustees reviewed and approved our investment policy. Bea must file a copy with the State each year. Her only concern is the low interest we are earning on our savings and CDs. However, the Trustees agreed with her assessment that seeking a higher rate of return would also lead to greater risk.
5. Bea reported that we have upgraded our internet speed from 5 megabits to 15 megabits per second for an additional charge of $10.00 per month. Unfortunately, our old router is only able to handle 10 megabits, and then not always. The Trustees approved the expenditure of $80.00 to $100.00 to purchase a G router that will handle 54 megabits per second.
6. Meg explained that Brooks McCandlish has pointed out that in a public building an exit door must be able to be opened from the inside even if it is locked from the outside. We are not sure if the dead bolt we have been talking about for the front door will comply with that rule, if, in fact, that is the code. Bea has offered to speak to the Fire Chief and will report back at the next meeting.
7. Garry reported that he has spoken to NE-OP Co. in Concord about making a sign for us but he has not heard back. He will act on Meg’s suggestion and contact the workshop at the State Prison to see if that is something they might be able to do.
8. For the remainder of the meeting the Trustees continued their revision of the library’s policies. One issue of immediate concern, however, was addressed out of order. In Section VIII B, the Board approved removing New Year’s Eve as a day when the library is closed and replacing it with Martin Luther King Day.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, February 1, at 6:00 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nola Jordan
Secretary