Present: Curt Albee, Cindy Binzen, Martin Frank, Danette Harris, Rebecca Seibel, Cindy Stableford (from The Friends), Carol Wilson

Absent: Rachel Kurland

1. Secretary’s Report: The minutes from the November 10 meeting were reviewed and approved as written.

2. Librarian’s Report:

          A. The Heritage Quest website is accessible by obtaining the pass-

          word from Rebecca.

          B. The Impact Survey for patrons is on hold for now.

          C. The annual statistics have been filed.

          D. Work on the Turrell report will happen this week.

          E. Programs:

                   1. 34 people attended the program by Gus Speth on 11/19.

                   2. The After School Program is continuing with 16-19 children

                   in attendance each week.

                   3. There is no story time planned for the immediate future.

                   4. The Humanities Program is being planned for the evenings

                   of February 10, March 3 and April 14. The theme is “Masters

                   of the Short Story”.

                   5. The book drop from the Norwich Library has arrived and is

                   being stored in the basement. The plan is to fix it up for use in

                   the spring.

                   6. The current amount of income from the annual appeals letter

                   is $3,290. Danette will work on thank you notes.

                   7. Rebecca was asked about vacation time and she reported

                   that she will take a vacation day this Wednesday.

3. Cindy Stableford presented the report from The Friends:

          A. A report was given about the Holiday Sale that occurred last

          Saturday. The net profit so far is $3,300, but income is still coming

          in. There was a discussion of how each area did compared to previous

          years.

                   1. One idea that was mentioned was that it might be helpful to

                   post a sign at Barrett Hall about the library sale.

                   2. The trustees congratulated and thanked Cindy for all of her

                   efforts on the sale and for her outstanding organization.

4. Treasurer’s Report

          A. Marty handed out the proposed budget for next year for review.

          He noted several line items that would change and provided an

          explanation for each change. Upon Cindy’s recommendation to Marty,

          a cost-of-living increase in the librarian’s salary was included.

                    1. Once the budget is formalized, Carol will talk to Selectman                         Steve Marx and let him know that the budget is basically level                        funded.

                    2. Cindy thanked both Rebecca and Marty for their work on the

                   budget.

          B. It was noted that there is still money left from what was

          received from Efficiency Vermont. Are there other

          weatherization projects that need attention? Curt said that

          he would look into the chimney.

          C. Marty contacted the town clerk about the $1,000 bequest

          and is still waiting to hear back.

          D. There was a discussion of possible future income from the

          endowment. Several ideas of what might be done with this

          income were discussed.

          E. It was pointed out that the support of The Friends is very

          important for the library. The group wondered how the trustees

          can be of help in sustaining The Friends.

          F. There will be no tax preparation fee charged again this year.

5. Other Business:

          A. Curt will start work on the workstation soon. He gave The Friends

          a final estimate for the work, which was approved.

          B. The basement reorganization and clean out has been

          accomplished. Some boxes of copper bookplates were found.

          Rebecca will check with Kay Campbell to see if she knows  

          what these are.

          C. Holiday thank you gifts for library employees and the after school

          program volunteers were discussed and decisions were made.

          D. The Building Use Policy was reviewed as a result of a recent

          request. This request prompted a discussion about whether groups

          involved in potentially controversial issues can be considered non-

          partisan and therefore be allowed to use the building. Although

          some trustees expressed reservations about what that might lead

          to, the general sense of the board was that the library should be open

          to a wide range of organizations as long as they “reflect the

          educational, cultural, social and recreational role the library plays

          in the community”, as stated in the policy, and that there was no

          need to change the current policy.

          E. Marty will do the Town Report narrative and financial report.

6. At this point in the meeting, Rebecca and Marty both excused themselves from the final discussion of the proposed budget. Cindy, Carol, Curt and Danette discussed the budget as constructed by Marty and voted to accept the 2015 budget as proposed.

7. Next meeting: January 12, 2015.

                                                                   Respectfully submitted,

                                                                   Danette Harris, secretary