Minutes for Nov. 6 Trustees Meeting

Present: Cindy Binzen, Curt Albee, Miriam Newman, Marty Frank, Rebecca Seibel (librarian), Carol Wilson, Rachel Kurland

Minutes from the October meeting were accepted.

Librarian’s Report: Rebecca reported the after-school program continues to be attended by eight to 10 kids, which is a very manageable number. A Shakespeare reading group is forming and will be meeting at the library once a month. It’s November, which means that she’ll begin compiling 2016 statistics to submit to the state. Rebecca has signed up for the courier service, but doesn’t know if they’ll agree to include Strafford. If they do, the service will deliver/pick up once a week, which would cost the library $390 annually (the state subsidizes the service by covering half the cost.) The recent upgrade of the interstate library loan service has resulted in more books being borrowed by other libraries.

Unfortunately, the library basement remains sooty, making it difficult to work down there without getting one’s hands covered with the stuff. Rebecca said she would like to have a swivel stop installed on the side-door entrance.

Friends’ Report: Rebecca gave the Friends’ Report: A meeting is scheduled for the following night, primarily to discuss the Holiday Sale. The Friends welcome any help the trustees can provide.

Treasurer’s Report: Rachel reported that spending so far this year is $46,123, compared with $47,056 at  this point last year. Income so far  this year is $36,139, compared with $40,249 last year. The higher figure for income last year can be partly attributed to money we received for restoration of the painting. Some of the gap between income and spending in the current year resulted from the emergency chimney repair, which cost $2,525.

Building and Grounds: Curt reported that Eli Mintz has been quite busy and has had to postpone the planned tree work. He still intends to do it fairly soon. The masonry is still not quite finished, and Curt plans to talk to Ken Frank about the mortar that’s being used because it doesn’t match well with the existing stuff. Ken did tell Curt that Dave Taplin has generously offered to cover the cost of the repointing. Curt proposed and the board agreed that a professional cleaning company be contacted to get an estimate of what it would cost to get the soot removed from the basement.

Hiring Committee: Cindy reported that three of the four people interviewed for the library director’s job have been strong candidates, and it will be a difficult decision to choose among them. The board agreed that the best way to proceed is to have the full board make that decision together Thursday night, two days after the fifth and final candidate is interviewed.

The next monthly meeting will be Dec. 11.