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Grafton Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

Grafton Public Library Board

Minutes – March 7, 2019

Present: Patrick Spurlock, Lucia Corwin, David Whittall, Deborah Toomey, Librarian, Michelle Dufort, Mary Beth Culver

Minutes of 1/24/19 approved

Reorganization of Board:

· Introduction of new board members – Patrick Spurlock & Mary Beth Culver

· Deborah Toomey reviewed the Trustee Manual, Trustee checklist, and reviewed library finances

· Election of new officers: President, Deborah Toomey, Treasurer, Patrick Spurlock, Secretary, Mary Beth Culver

· Mary Beth approved to sign time sheets for March 23^rd.

· Trustees declined offer to copy reports, sending them by email is fine

Librarian’s Report

· Reviewed written report

· Building & Grounds: Michelle was caught off guard by the building inspector’s visit. She will speak to Bill Kearns at the town office and ask him to let us know when inspections are scheduled. It was fortunate that she happened to be in. The recommended railing for the basement stairs should be able to be incorporated into the current project. Michelle has not been able to coordinate inspection of the fire extinguishers with Code 3. She will check into other possible vendors if needed.

· Snow Removal: Snow removal on the handicapped ramp and fire escape has not been done in a timely manner leading to access and safety concerns. Michelle checked with Ivor Stevens. He can take on the job and has a lower hourly rate. However, it would cost more if he actually keeps up with the snow sliding off the roof as required. The board approved terminating the services of the current contractor and beginning with Ivor.

· Board Transition: Michelle will copy and distribute the Trustee Calendar. It lists the key finance and governance due dates.

· Programs: Both programs went well. The Global Warming program was not well attended, but the technology all worked fine. The kindergarten read-a-loud visit went well. Michelle is working with Elaine Kraiger at the school to team up for summer programming. Our local families can’t get here to participate in the library based programs. Instead, Michelle will take the program to them at the school. She will continue to have pop-up activities available for those families who do visit the library.

· Reports: February & March are completed and she has started preliminary work on the next fiscal year budget

· Communication: Constant contact seemed to be very effective and Michelle plans to continue with it.

Other:

· There is approximately $10,000 in a bond fund for infrastructure. Pending projects include interior painting, carpeting, painting the handicapped ramp railing, porch, and tree trimming.

· Labor Day Book Sale: This fundraiser will be discontinued. It is very labor intensive creating a great deal of work for a dwindling number of volunteers. Both the previous board and the current board voted unanimously to eliminate the annual book sale. We would like to continue to have some sort of fundraiser on Labor Day weekend as it has become a popular community event. We will need to make an announcement in the Grafton News early to notify the community.

· We explore how to expand the library book saleroom. We have already exceeded budget projections in on-going book sales. Michelle is concerned about classics currently stored upstairs. We would need to develop protections to prevent them from being sold inadvertently.

· Patrick asked if we take advantage of Dollar General Grants. We do not, but it sounds like a good potential source of revenue.

Next meeting: The fourth Thursday of the month – April 25^th at 6:30. Please note the time change.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mary Beth Culver, Secretary