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Grafton Public Library Trustees Meeting Minutes

August 17, 2017 6:00PM

Attending: Bob Donald, Lucia Corwin, David Whittall, Deborah Toomey, and librarian Michelle Dufort

Bob Donald called the meeting to order at 6:10 pm.

Public comment: No public in attendance.

The minutes of the June 15, 2017 meeting were read and approved.

Librarian’s Report

The Community Memorial Gathering was very successful with five people who had not been coming to the monthly meetings attending. It was a lovely day at Grafton Ponds and was a meaningful celebration for departed loved ones.

Treasurer’s Report

The budget for 2017 has been completed and the Library was on budget. Bob distributed an updated report from TIAA regarding the Library’s endowment.

The new budget for FY 2017-2018 was reviewed. The Board unanimously passed a 3% increase for the librarian’s salary. Blue Cross and Blue Shield has announced a 9% increase in premiums, and we have budgeted 10% so barring unforeseen circumstances, costs should be covered. Monies have been added for anticipated repairs. The Board discussed approaching the Select Board for additional funding since the funding the Library receives does not cover the costs for the building’s insurance. The proposed budget was approved and seconded.

Building and Grounds

Michelle reported that the furnace has been repaired. The actual cost was $60 over the original estimate of $500. The hot water heater is rusting and will need to be replaced this year. Gus Plummer fixed one light fixture and recommended that since the ballasts cannot be replaced in the old lights and they will begin to fail, the fixtures should be replaced. The Board approved replacing them with the proposed recommended LED fixtures.

New Business

Michelle reported on the meeting that was held by the libraries beta testing the Verso system that will eventually replace Library World. It is a very complex system and not all functions were understood by the beta testers. However, Library World will eventually be eliminated by the Department of Libraries (DOL) as more libraries switch to Verso. DOL will pay for the migration to Verso and for the first year of operation. Michelle will have to oversee the migration of the collection that was added to Library World to ensure that all materials transfer and do so correctly. It will be a monumental task. She recommends that since Library World fees have been paid by the Library until January, we keep it until it runs out and we are fully functioning on Verso. Chester and Townshend will also be migrating this year. The Board approved the migration to Verso and Michelle will so inform the DOL.

A start should be made on crafting the annual appeal letter. Ideally we should have it ready for the printer in October. Other Grafton organizations are already mailing out fund raising letters. Deborah will draft an appeal letter prior to the next Board meeting. She and David will be away, but she should be able to have a start by then.

Book Sale

The Manual was reviewed and the few remaining tasks were assigned. All Board members are asked to help recruit volunteers for book set up, assembling the tables, but most importantly, carrying boxes down from the second floor to the waiting tables. Volunteers will also be needed for breaking down the tables and bringing boxes of unsold books upstairs to the permanent book sale room.

The next Board meeting will be on Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 6 pm.

The meeting adjoined at 7:15 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Deborah Toomey, Secretary