Minutes for Dec. 12, 2016



Present: Cindy Binzen, Curt Albee, Rachel Kurland, Marty Frank, Rebecca Seibel


Minutes of the November meeting were approved.


Librarian’s Report: Rebecca said the after-school program is still going well, with the number of kids showing up dropping to a more manageable level. Tori Lloyd did a program about planning ahead for both financial security and health decision-making at the senior lunch. It went well; in fact, one person requested that there be more such programs. 


The library has received a total of $4,175 in response to the annual appeal letters this year (including the most recent one, and donations made at the beginning of the year in response to the 2015 letter). Rebecca reminded trustees that the American Library Association has produced a series of short videos about the roles and responsibilities of library trustees.


John Gilbert Fox has donated a framed photo of Ned and Vi Coffin’s house, raising the question of where it might best be hung. The trustees decided that replacing the little-used bulletin board in the passageway between the front and back rooms with the photo would represent a significant improvement.


Friends Report: Rebecca reported, on behalf of the Friends, that the Holiday Sale did quite well again, and that the Friends would round up the proceeds to $4,750.


Treasurer’s Report: After deciding that the library should offer between $18 and $20/hour to whoever is hired to replace Rebecca, depending on the person’s experience and qualifications, the trustees reviewed the budget presented by Rachel. A few adjustments were made, and the Trustees voted unanimously to adopt a budget that calls for spending a little more than $54,020 and projects income of $53,202, with the shortfall covered by the operating surplus generated in the current fiscal year. The budget requires no increase in money from the town and accounts for Rebecca working fewer weeks and Emily Zollo working more hours. If the library finds itself in the position of having to replace LibraryWorld as its circulation system because of changes being made statewide, the one-time cost of the switch will come from the reserve fund.


Our next meeting will be Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.


Submitted by Marty Frank