|
Minutes
Home - Hours - Book Chat Room - Calendar - Reference - Contact Us |
Grafton Public Library Trustees Meeting
Minutes
April 30, 2015
Attending:
Bob Donald, Andrea Dunmire, Lucia Corwin, Christopher Schemm, Deborah
Toomey and Michelle Dufort
Bob Donald brought the meeting to order at
6:35 p.m.
The minutes from the March meeting were
approved.
Public
Comment
There was not public comment. Christopher
suggested that each Board member talk to one community member about the library
to bring public comment to the library.
Librarian’s
Report
Michelle is meeting with Rob Fish, a
consultant recommended by the Vermont Department of Libraries to work on the
GPL website and update it.
Building
and Grounds
While not visible from the Library
perspective, the white pine at the back of the grounds is severely damaged and
needs to be removed. Thanks go to Chris Wallace who notified Michelle of its
condition. There are also several dead limbs on the maple tree that need to be
pruned out. Lucia Corwin will contact several tree services for estimates.
Suggested: Jordan Fletcher, Melvin Rice, and Pete’s Tree Service.
There is an issue with the public toilet.
Sometimes when flushed, it will continue to run, depleting the library well.
Christopher Schemm assessed the problem and indicated that the interior is not
standard issue so a plumber will be needed to repair it. The Board then
discussed writing a policy allowing the librarian to contact appropriate repair
personnel if the repair is estimated to be under a certain dollar amount. Bob
Donald will write up a policy and present it to the next Board meeting. In the
interim, Bob Arbuckle will be contacted to see if he is taking any local
customers (he’s not). A plumber will
have to be contacted to correct the situation.
Kate Anderson submitted an estimate on yard
work around the Library for $250. Her work would include pruning the
rhododendrons, cleaning up the flower beds, mulching and edging. If any monies
remain after this work is completed, she has offered to include setting a drip
edge for the rain gutter. Her estimate was approved and Michelle will contact
her to begin.
Lucia reported on her meeting with Ivor
Stevens regarding filling the sinkholes on the Library lawn. The Board felt
that his estimate of $1,340 may be a bit high although all agreed Ivor does
excellent work. The Board asked Lucia to
contact Jamie Gregory to obtain his estimate and ask both men when they can get
the work done. The hope that the work could be completed prior to the Memorial
Day ceremonies on the lawn seems to be unreasonable. Concern about people
attending the ceremony getting injured from sinkholes was discussed and it was
decided that if they were not repaired by then, the tape used for the book sale
would be placed around them.
In regard to the structural issues with the
Library floor, Michelle reported the Patrick Cooperman has the name of the
structural engineer who worked with him when he was on the Board. A full
assessment was made regarding the Library underpinnings, and this information
may be on file with the engineer. Bob Donald indicated that this was good news
and that he’d call Patrick.
Lucia will ask Dean Silver to provide an
estimate on painting the front of the Library.
Annual
Volunteer Brunch
This will be held on June 14th and
assignments to Board members will be made at the May Board meeting. Last year we used cups and saucers courtesy
of Jerry Stevens. Deborah reported she had an insufficient number of cups to
meet the need. Lucia offered to contact Barbara Rogers to see if we might
borrow them from the Chapel.
Automation
Project Update
The juvenile 600 and 700’s (Dewey) have been
entered, so the Library is moving on this well. Michelle will send out overdue
notices (by phone?) to try to recover books so they may be entered into the
system. Books not returned will be deleted from the collection. It is hoped
that scanning is not an onerous task and that the Library automation will be
completed by fall.
Treasurer’s
Report
The library is within budget so far. Funds
will be withdrawn from the Jerald L. Stevens Memorial Fund at the end of the
fiscal year to pay for the librarian’s health care and the salary of the
assistant librarian.
Michelle asked to use funds from the Windham
Foundation grant to cover the cost of Deep Freeze, a computer program that will
not allow downloading on any library computer. She had to spend an inordinate
amount of time removing malware from one of the computers and installing Deep
Freeze would help prevent the downloading of malicious software. This was
approved.
Strategic
Plan
A strategic plan will not be started until
automation is completed. Lucia is ready
to get started organizing the process. She and Deborah will meet to review
materials obtained at the strategic planning meeting they attended at the VDOL.
Michelle reminded the Board members that information on Strategic Planning is
available on the VDOL website at: http://libraries.vermont.gov/services/public_libraries/strategic_planning.
Other
Business
Bob thanked Andrea Dunmire for her help in
validating the Library timesheets. Bob was away and unable to certify prior to
leaving. In the future, Bob indicated that he would contact a member of the
Board to fulfill this function when he would be unavailable.
In June, Michelle will begin advertising “Passport to Vermont” an
initiative of The Vermont Department of Libraries. This allows the “Passport”
holders to use any library in Vermont
The daytime program on grief and the book discussion of “To Kill a
Mockingbird” were excellent according to Deborah, who attended. Both were well
attended and provided good information. Michelle announced that the postponed
evening meeting, “Support for People Experiencing Grief” has been rescheduled
for Wednesday May 6th at 6:30 p.m.
The next meeting of the Board is in three weeks on Thursday, May 21st.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Toomey