Minutes for May 7 Trustees Meeting

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

Minutes from the April meeting were accepted.

Librarian’s Report: Melissa said things were going well; she had just submitted a large book order. She noted that Emily Zollo will be leaving at the end of the month and the trustees need to consider how they wish to proceed. She said she could take over the children’s programming if extra help was provided, but thinks it would be better to have someone else do it because she has her hands full with running the library. She said that she can handle the summer programming, giving us until fall to find a replacement for Emily.

Melissa plans to visit the school to tell the students about the summer reading logs. She’s going to take a different approach, asking kids to commit to reading a certain amount each day, depending on their abilities. Melissa plans to offer prizes to those who meet short-term goals and offer gift certificates to those who are achieve longer term ones. 

Friends Report: David reported that the Friends met for the first time since December. Membership letters will going out shortly. Denise Cote is a new member of the board. Preparation for the book sale continues.

Treasurer’s Report: Rachel said our budgetary situation looks good. We spent twice as much for heating fuel this year, in part because it was a colder winter and perhaps because Melissa initially didn’t understand how the automatic thermostat works. Offsetting that expense was a drop of $600 in what we spent for snow removal because Steve Handy filled in for Mark Chute and declined to charge us. Rachel’s research into the solar contract uncovered a prediction that we would save 10 percent on our electric bills, and her research into our past bills indicated that we had saved more than that. Rachel also reported that Rebecca has contacted Kerry about preparing the 990 tax filing, and we’re waiting to hear back from him.

Miscellaneous: Curt has trimmed as much of the lower branches of the trees along the side entrance as he could reach. He might do some more trimming during cleanup day. Plans for the Smiths’ concert are still in the works.

Carol has made and sent out the thank-you cards to all the volunteers, although she is still struggling to find the addresses for two people on the list. Curt is going to buy the old card catalogue for $100 (an auctioneer has informed us that it doesn’t have much value) and repair of the outdoor sign remains on his list. Thank-you gift certificates will be going out to Steve Handy and Kerry Claffey. Curt plans to talk to Eli Mintz about the remaining work that needs to be done on the grounds. The Personnel Committee — now comprising Cindy and Marty — will meet with Melissa in June.

Next meeting will be June 11. 

Submitted by Marty Frank