Minutes of the Morrill Trustees Meeting, January 12, 2015

Posted by Morrill Memorial & Harris Library on Thursday, January 15, 2015

Morrill Memorial Library Board of Trustees

Meeting Minutes for January 12, 2015

Present: Curt Albee, Cindy Binzen, Martin Frank, Danette Harris, Rachel Kurland,

Rebecca Seibel, Cindy Stableford (from The Friends), Carol Wilson

Secretary’s Report: The minutes from the December 8, 2014 were accepted as finalized.
Cindy asked if there were any changes to the published agenda. There were none.
Librarian’s Report

A. The library will be closed next Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

B. Rebecca is working on a Humanities Council program. This will be a

series of 3 programs based on books that are already available at the library.

Publicity for the program is in the works.

C. David Grant has a new book coming out in March. Rebecca spoke with

Margo Baldwin at Chelsea Green Publishing about inviting David to

do a presentation on his book The Social Profit Handbook at the library on non-profit organizations.

D. Cindy Stableford has agreed to do an iPad question session on a Monday

evening for drop ins.

E. Eleven children attended the After School Program last week. A helper

is needed for the program and Rebecca will look around for help.

F. No one attended the last Story Time program, probably due to weather conditions. Perhaps a story time could be presented at the preschool.

G. Emily and Rebecca attended a maker space program. The guest

speaker was from the NH Department of Libraries and many new ideas were presented.

H. The smoke alarm has been acting strangely, chirping even after the

battery was changed. Cindy will contact Tom Root. Curt recommended

having a carbon monoxide/smoke detector in the furnace room.

I. Rebecca will be purchasing some new light bulbs for upstairs.

J. Rebecca is hoping to take vacation time from March 24 to April 1. Cindy

offered to help find coverage for the library.

K. The appeals letter has brought in $620 in 2015, so far. All donors have

been sent thank you notes.

Report of The Friends of the Morrill Library

A. Cindy reported that their next meeting would take place in February.

The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss why the organization

got started, where it has gone and to generate ideas for its future.

Marty commented that The Friends are crucial to the library and

asked how the trustees could be helpful at this time.

C. Rachel wondered if it might be helpful for The Friends to meet only

quarterly, with meetings centered only around fund-raising events.

D. Cindy Binzen thanked The Friends for their efforts as well as the

funds that they have generated for the library. She stated that the

trustees want to work with The Friends and to please let the trustees know

what they can do to be helpful.

Treasurer’s Report

A. Marty distributed the final Profit and Loss Statement for 2014.

B. He stated that the library had a good year in 2014 due to help from

The Friends and grants and also due to the fact that no money was spent on heating oil last year.

C. The net income for the library for 2014 was $1,224.39.

D. Marty also handed out a draft of the narrative for the town report. A

financial statement will accompany this report in the town report.

Marty requested that the trustees peruse this draft and give him feedback.

Cindy thanked Marty for preparing this report.

E. Cindy asked Carol if the library budget request was made to the Selectboard

for Town Meeting and Carol said that everything was “all set”.

Other business.....

A. There was a discussion of which trustee terms are expiring as of Town

Meeting Day and what positions would need to be filled. Danette Harris

submitted her letter of resignation as a Morrill trustee. Two Harris trustees

are considering becoming a Morrill trustee. Curt and Carol’s terms are up

this year, but both agreed to continue. Carol will need to be re-appointed

by the selectboard. Cindy stated that the board will need one new Harris

trustee and a secretary.

B. The by-laws state that there is a term limit for Harris trustee service. After discussion, the trustees decided to remove this term limit from the by-laws. To do this, the meeting where a vote is taken on this must be warned 30 days prior to the meeting. Cindy will post a warning on the website and Rebecca will post one at the Town Clerk’s office and Coburn’s Store. At this point, the date of the next meeting was set for February 16.

C. There was a discussion of potential trustees.

D. A substitute for Mark Chute is needed for snow removal from March 8-

March 29. Danette will call Dana Kendall to see if he might be willing to

do the work. Rocky Fuller and Curt agreed to be on call as back up.

E. The work station for the circulation desk is being built at Curt’s home

and may be installed within the week.

F. A box of printing plates was found in the basement. Rebecca will contact

the Strafford Historical Society and the Morrill Homestead to see if they

are interested in them. Danette suggested contacting Kay Campbell to see

if she knows about the plates.

G. Curt will continue work on weatherization and will check the chimney.