Minutes from April 3, 2013
The Board Meeting for the Trustees of Brown Memorial Library was called to order at 6:05 p.m.
Attendance: Mary-Chris Duncan, Garry Kalajian, Bea Howe, Connie Scheffy, Nola Jordan, Meg Fearnley
1. In Patty’s absence, Garry chaired the meeting. Garry and Nola were both re-elected last month. The Board extended its appreciation to outgoing Trustee Lorraine Macleod for all she did during her term of service. Bob Toppi was also present at the meeting and expressed interest in becoming an Alternate Trustee. Bea will write a letter to the Board of Selectmen asking them to appoint him to that position.
2. Officers were elected – really re-elected — for the new term. Patty Furness will again serve as Chairperson, Bea Howe as Treasurer, and Nola Jordan as Secretary.
3. The secretary’s report was accepted as presented.
4. A motion was made and passed to accept donations to Brown Memorial Library in March in the amount of $208.00. Expenses for the first quarter of 2013 are pretty much where we expect them to be. The Treasurer’s Report was accepted as presented.
5. March circulation figures were good, stronger in every area than last year at this time. We had 123 people here for the Easter egg hunt on March 30 – 52 children plus their parents. We are grateful to the Friends of Brown Memorial Library for sponsoring the event.
6. Under Old Business, Bea presented the results of her research into alternate suppliers of electric power. This was not an easy task as some of the companies were reluctant to commit themselves to a rate or simply to give her the courtesy of a return phone call. The Trustees agreed that at the moment it makes the most sense to go with North American Power. Their customer service was good, and they have the lowest rate even though we can only get a 6-month contract with them. We should save approximately $120 during the life of the contract. If their rate spikes at the end of that time, we can re-evaluate the situation then.
7. Under New Business, Bea reported that Mike Merritt had come in to discuss some possible electrical work. First was the matter of running power out to the front yard so patrons can use laptops outside. He suggested running a buried cable to a post near the bench. Meg pointed out that before he digs we should check the exact location of the septic. Bea also asked Mike about ceiling fans and he believes putting them in would help keep the library cooler in summer. He thinks we would need three. Ideally they would be reversible so as to push warm air down during the heating season. The final concern is the poor lighting in the two restrooms. The current fixtures, which are very high up, only take 40 watt bulbs. Mike said that we could either replace those fixtures with ones that take higher wattage bulbs or that we could instead put new fixtures over each mirror. He will work up an estimate for us.
8. Bea also mentioned that we will be audited by the New Hampshire Department of Unemployment on Tuesday morning.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 1, at 6:00 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nola Jordan, Secretary