Rumney Library Trustees - 5/14/2014

MEETING MINUTES BOARD OF TRUSTEES BYRON G. MERRILL LIBRARY Rumney, NH May 14, 2014 – 12:30 p.m. The meeting was opened at 12:30 PM. Present were Library Trustees, Roger Daniels, Leina Smoker and Tom Wallace, and Library Director, Susan Turbyne. REPORTS 1. Review Draft Minutes: March 20, 2014 Meeting – It was moved (Roger Daniels) and seconded (Leina Smoker) to approve the minutes as read. The motion was passed. 2. Treasurer’s Report a. Account Balances – Tom reported that as of May 12th, 2014, account balances are: Checking Acc’t - $7,573.13 Disbursement Acc’t - $366.85 Library Endowment Acc’ts - $87,983.63 b. 2014 Spending: $ 14,149.47 (37.5% of appropriation). It was noted that fuel oil expenses for year are at 83% , but that tanks are approximately ¾ full and there should be no more deliveries until Nov. 2014. 3. Library Director’s Report – After being away for four weeks, I returned late April to find everything in order. I was able to keep up with email and book requests while traveling. Since my return, we have prepared for a new session of Story Time featuring the 2013 Ladybug books. Rachel has put together suggested activities for our young readers in the back of each book. Last Friday I attended the Small Libraries Conference in Concord. This is sponsored by the state library and offers three rounds of presentations as well as a lunch. The first session was on privacy, the second on making patrons feel welcome, and the third had to do with promoting the library technologically. I came away with many good ideas and enjoyed spending time with librarians from similar libraries. I was the lucky winner of five new children’s books! Yesterday, Jim and I drove to Bath, NH so that I could attend a children’s book review at the Bath Public Library. We will receive eight free books for our library because I attended. Today I received an invitation to a workshop to be held in Concord On Tuesday, June 10th... an e-Court testing session. Attendees will learn about e-Court and will be able to test out the e-Filing program that self-represented parties can use to electronically file small claims cases. Starting July 30th, all small claims cases in the Plymouth area will must be filed electronically. It is becoming more of a challenge to serve our patrons electronically. Next week Sheila will leave for a two week vacation and Rachel will be off the last two weeks in June. We will be busy the next few weeks preparing for the Summer Reading Program which will begin early in July. OLD BUSINESS 1. Status: Installation of safety valve discharge piping per boiler inspection: Carl Doe has installed the discharge pipe. Subsequently , the automatic fill control for the boiler was found to be malfunctioning. Carl Doe adjusted this, then returned a few days later when we had no heat. Everything is now working. NEW BUSINESS 1. NHLTA Annual Conference May 19: Tom advised he will be attending this conference in Concord. 2. Accessibility Project a. Selectboard support: The Trustees and Susan discussed their (Tom, Roger and Susan) meeting with the Selectboard on May 5 Meeting to see how we might gain their support for the project at next year’s Town Meeting. The Selectboard (all three) seemed in agreement that the project cost to the Town and its effect on the tax rate was their main problem and why they did not support the project at this year’s Town Meeting. It was suggested that we fund-raise in order to reduce the net cost to the Town. b. Updated Project Budget: Tom presented an updated Project Budget using an estimated inflation rate of 5% for 2015 construction resulting in a revised Project Budget Cost of $ 376,500. c. 2015 Town Meeting presentation: We discussed how to proceed toward next year’s Town meeting. In general, it was agreed to: • Present essentially the same design as this year. • Have the Architect and Construction Manager refine and develop the design and obtain firm bids for the work that can be presented during the 2015 budget hearing process and at the 2015 Town meeting. • Work with LCHIP to complete the remaining tasks funded by the Phase 2 Groton Wind Farm Mitigation Fund ($ 40,000) and to apply for a Phase 3 Grant from the remaining Mitigation Funds that could be applied against the project’s construction cost. • To seek out and apply for additional Grants to offset the net amount of funding that will need to be sought from the Town at the 2015 Town Meeting. • Work throughout the year to better inform the public as to the need for the project as proposed. d. Supplemental funding: Tom shared information about an informal fund raising committee of Town citizens now forming. He also advised that donations to the Library would be “tax-deductible”, but that it might be better to have a new 501.3.c “Non-Profit” formed that could receive tax deductible donations and disperse the funds raised. Tom also reported that an offer has been made to design and build a fund raising thermometer (or elevator) to reflect fund raising progress. Also, the idea of using this year’s OHD Booksale as a fund raiser for the project was discussed. Susan expressed the opinion that this would be too big a project for the Library staff to handle and that it would be better if the event was a joint effort of the Trustees and the fund raising group. Leina suggested that we set an initial “target” of $150,000. For fund raising. This amount would include both fund raising proceeds and grants and, if reached, would reduce the additional funding required from the Town at the 2015 Town meeting to under $ 200,000. Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 11th at 12:30 PM