Minutes from May 4, 2011
The Board Meeting for the Trustees of Brown Memorial Library was called to order at 6:15 p.m.
Attendance: Patty Furness Nola Jordan
Bea Howe Garry Kalajian
Rod Jones Meg Fearnley
1. The Secretary’s Report was accepted as presented.
2. A motion was made and passed to accept gifts and donations to Brown Memorial Library in April in the amount of $522.75. $326.50 of that amount was raised at our April book sale. The Treasurer’s Report was accepted as presented.
3. The Librarian’s Report was presented and discussed. We went over 1000 patrons in April due to the Easter Egg Hunt. The number of downloaded audio books increased dramatically, and unsurprisingly, fewer people are taking out audio books from our own collection. Garry asked if there was any way to keep track of computer usage. He’s concerned that the ever-increasing complexity of computers may make more demands on Meg’s time and energy. Meg explained that assisting patrons with the computers has become part of the regular services the library offers. She added that we are incredibly lucky to have a knowledgeable volunteer (in the person of Bea’s husband) to serve as our on-call tech support. .
4. Under Old Business, Bea reviewed the situation with BK Systems and our fire alarms. They are the ones who installed them originally. They recently came and replaced three batteries and charged us $535.00 ($65 each for the batteries, the remainder labor and mileage). After a phone call from Bea, they agreed to lower the bill by $90.00. Still finding that excessive, Bea did further research. Electronic Security Protection in Henniker, who services and monitors the fire alarms at Town Hall, BACC, and KRES-Bradford, would be willing to do an annual maintenance check and service for $240.00. They would also respond if we had a problem. Monitoring of the alarm would continue to be done by the Concord Fire Department for about $200.00 per year. A motion was passed authorizing Bea to sign a contract with Electronic Security.
5. Under New Business, Bea reported that in response to a heads-up e-mail she received from the Warner Library, she has done some checking with TDS about our phone bill. As a part of municipal government, libraries should not be charged tax on their phone bill. The tax (about $5.00/month) will be removed from our bill in the future. In addition, we are entitled to a rebate on taxes paid in the last three years. She also checked to see if we could get a better deal on our internet service, and, in fact, we can. We will now get faster internet service for less than we were paying before. Total savings on phone and internet service will amount to something over $10.00/month. (Bea for president!!!)
6. Trustees discussed the possibility of having a meal after Andrew Pinard’s magic show on August 24. This would take the place of our annual fund-raising dinner. There seemed to be consensus that it would be a good idea, and we will continue the discussion at our next meeting.
7. Meg mentioned that the theme of this year’s summer reading (and parade) is One World, Many Stories. She suggested that the easiest thing might be for us to dress in costumes typical of various foreign countries.
8. The next book sale will be held on May 28. Volunteers are needed to work.
9. Bea brought up a concern she’s had for some time about the very uncomfortable wooden folding chairs we have to use whenever an event is held at the library. She thinks padded folding chairs would be much more comfortable, though they are expensive. The trustees encouraged her to go ahead and get some prices, and Rod suggested she look at rental outfits that could have used chairs they want to sell.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, June 1, at 6:00 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nola Jordan
Secretary