Draft Minutes, May 11, 2015

Present: Rebecca Seibel, Anni Praetorius, Carol Wilson, Marty Frank, Cindy Binzen, Curt Albee, Rachel Kurland, Miriam Newman

Minutes from the April meeting were adopted.

Librarian’s Report:

Rebecca said the after-school program is going well and will end May 28. She and Emily hope to visit Newton school one morning in June to talk about the summer program, which will run from July 6 to August 10.  With support from the Friends, the program will include a visit from a Rutland student theater troupe, and a visit from Steve Amos, a naturalist. The summer program will again include reading logs and a few storytimes.

Rebecca has signed up for a program with the Vermont Library Association called Passport to Libraries that encourages people to visit libraries around the state. She has also made arrangements with Sydney Lea, the Vermont poet laureate, to give a reading in mid-November.

Water in the bathroom is cloudy at times, and the board decided to take a sample and send it to the state for testing. Rebecca is trying to figure out how to do an inventory of the collection through LibraryWorld. She has discovered that there are a number of books listed in the system that are no longer in the library. She plans to soon buy a new barcode scanner based on advice from Mike Tisdale about decent brands; the Friends have authorized $75 for the expenditure.

Friends Report:

Anni reported that the membership letter will be going out soon. The Little Library is in the works (Curt presented Anni’s design, which he will build). It will go up outside the café. The Friends’ annual meeting is scheduled for Oct. 1. The Friends approved providing the library a number of requests totaling $2,570.

Treasurer’s Report:

Rachel reported that the budget looks fine; we appear to be on track, although snow removal exceeded our budgeted amount.

Grant Information:

Miriam checked out possible sources of funding. The best bet appears to be the Donley Foundation, which focuses on serving disadvantaged and under-served young people. The foundation provides both general support and help for specific projects in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $25,000, although usually not more than $10,000. It has supported such local organizations as the Montshire, Good Beginnings and The Haven. Its grant application deadlines are March 15 and September 15. Other possibilities are the Children’s Literacy Foundation and the various funding sources included in a list maintained by the Vermont Department of Libraries

Miscellaneous:

Rachel reported that the vacuum is now fixed. Curt reported that the light fixtures are installed. Mowing has been taken over by Dana Kendall, who is doing a fine job and might be considered for shoveling if Mark Chute is no longer interested.

The board decided to extract the drop-box from the basement during spring cleaning and put it out near the driveway to the side entrance to see how much it’s used. If the library decides to keep it, the board will make plans to refurbish its exterior.

Rachel will inquire again about the bank’s requirements for adding her as someone authorized to sign checks.

The board reviewed the typewritten version of the proposed revisions to the bylaws and discovered a couple of changes that weren’t made. Marty will complete that, the changes will be warned in June and the board will consider adopting the proposed changes in July.

The next meeting will be June 8.

Submitted by Marty Frank