Minutes for Nov. 14 2022 Trustees Meeting

The meeting convened at the library at 7 p.m. Present were Cindy Binzen, Rachel Kurland, Curt Albee, Marty Frank and Melissa Strayton (librarian).

Minutes of the October meeting were accepted.

Librarian’s Report: Melissa noted that the profit-and-loss statement circulated before the meeting doesn’t reflect her most recent purchases, which total about $500 for adult books. Outside has been added to the group of magazines we subscribe to and has been circulating well. The after-school program has been going well; seven kids attended today. There has been no progress in restarting storytime. Cindy expressed an interest in directing some attention to the matter and Melissa said she would talk to Kaitlin Christie. 

Doug Erhard came today and upgraded some of the computers to Windows 10. He also checked our security software that daily wipes information entered into our computers and restores their original settings. He’ll be coming back Wednesday to finish his work. Nothing has been done with the patron questionnaire. A thorough weeding of the collection is underway, using guidance provided by the state Department of Libraries and our own circulation figures. Responses to our annual appeal letter have started to arrive. Melissa said she is working on getting the Palace application, which would give our patrons access to the ebooks and audiobooks the Department of Libraries is acquiring. Use of Overdrive has increased significantly while borrowing of audiobooks through the LUV program has decreased. The trustees were supportive of Melissa’s suggestion that we reduce the LUV audiobooks we commit to. 

Friends Report: The Holiday Sale this year will consist of a raffle, a table at Barrett Hall and the sale of wreaths, according to Cindy.

Treasurer’s Report: Commenting on the profit-and-loss statement distributed before the meeting, Rachel noted that we’re below our projected income by about $5,000, but also that several sizable chunks of revenue are due before the end of the year, including a payment from the town. Spending for several line items under “Administration” has increased slightly; our payment to Ed Eastman for cleaning will be made at the end of the year (and it appears we’ll need to find a new cleaner); we haven’t heard from the Turrell Foundation about our grant application; nothing has been spent on adult programming in 2022. Rick Barrows is struggling to get our 990 done because of an incomplete history of our bookkeeping. We might end up paying more than we expected this year, but future filings should be easier.

Other Business: We held our open house last month and it went fairly well. The tent in the front has come down, not entirely the result of our own efforts. Rachel received a $1,000 estimate for cleaning one of our paintings. Marty moved that we clean the two oval paintings near the fireplace in 2023 and have one painting cleaned yearly thereafter. Curt seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Mark Chute will shovel this year. Curt will move our big ladder to the barn across the street.

Curt announced he will be stepping down from the board. The board began a discussion of possible replacements to nominate at Town Meeting. Marty announced that he, too, would like to leave the board but is willing to wait to minimize disruption. 

Our next meeting will take place on Dec. 12 at  7 p.m. at the library.

Submitted by Marty Frank