Minutes for June 11 Trustees Meeting

Present: Cindy Binzen, Curt Albee, Marty Frank, Rachel Kurland, Miriam Newman, Carol Wilson, Melissa Strayton (librarian), David Webb (Friends)

Minutes from the May meeting were accepted.

Librarian’s Report: Melissa said the farewell party that Carol arranged for Emily went well. Melissa is planning on taking a week’s vacation in June and still has a few slots to fill with volunteers. She’ll also need to round up some circulation coverage to help out while she doing the summer children’s programming, which will run through July and into the beginning of August. She’s planning on going to the school this week to talk to students about the program.

She had a meeting with Marty and Emily to discuss how to make changes to and otherwise maintain the website. There are probably some pages that need to be updated, and some new photos wouldn’t hurt. She asked the trustees if they wished to upgrade the level of service we receive from Yola, mostly to scale the website for use on cellphones, and the trustees decided it probably wasn’t necessary at this point. Once again the Friends have provided financial support for the summer reading program.

Friends Report: David reported that the planning for the book sale is proceeding apace. Twenty-two people have signed up to help, although the biggest concern is finding relatively young, strong people to haul boxes of books out of the basement. The trustees urged David to hire some teenagers.

Treasurer’s Report: Rachel said our budgetary situation looks good. Some line items are a bit more than were budgeted for (heating) while others are a bit less (book purchases, shoveling).

Miscellaneous: Some people in the community have asked  whether we plan to replace the tree that has been removed from the front. Cindy offered to consult with some landscapers to see what trees they would recommend if we decide to plant something. Curt said he has not forgotten about the need for sign repair. Cindy noted that it’s time to start planning to find a replacement for Emily. The trustees asked Melissa to put together a job description for the next meeting, when we’ll decide how we want to seek candidates. The Friends of the Homestead have expressed interest in acquiring the boxes of printing plates for the biography of Justin Morrill. Sylvia and Stuart Smith have said the benefit concert they plan to put on will occur sometime between Oct. 26 and 28.

The next meeting will on July 12, a Thursday.

Submitted by Marty Frank