Nesmith Library Board Trustee Minutes
September 9, 2003
Present:
Mary Lee Underhill,
Chair, Shirley Beaulieu, Vice Chair, Sharon Scannell, Treasurer, J. Gross,
Assistant Treasurer, Pat Skinner, Secretary, Dr. Murray Levin, member, Willie
Day, member, John Barrett, Director, and Marija Sanderling, Assistant
Director.
Mary Lee called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm
Announcement: John shared the sad
news of the death of Olga Surikova. She
was a visitor to Windham from our Sister City, Suzdal, and the subject of the
book RUSSIAN GIRL, Life In An Old Russian Town, by Russ Kendall.
Minutes: The August 12, 2003
minutes were accepted with the following corrections:
Director’s Report.
·
There was action taken in the
Non-public session. It was
determined that:
All hires by the Director, however
necessary and well-motivated, must have prior approval of the Board of
Trustees.
REPORTS:
Financial Report: Sharon
Scannell reported that 65.55% of the
budget was spent as 66.7% of the year has passed. Since there was insufficient time to complete preparation of the
budget, the finance committee will meet at 7 pm on Monday, September 15, and
the full Board will join them around 8 pm to approve the budget draft.
Director's Report: The
report was e-mailed and read prior to the meeting. Library statistics showed that in August 11,781 items were
circulated, there were 7,968 registered patrons, 7,718 people visited the
library, 305 used the Internet and volunteers contributed 138 hours.
John distributed a
flyer from the Academy for Educational Development regarding its Open World
Leadership Program which is soliciting interested Host Organizations. The Library is interested in participation
in 2004.
Personnel
Committee: Pat
Skinner reported that the committee met with John on Thursday, August 21, to
discuss projected staff increases and hours.
MOTION: was made by
J Gross and seconded
That the Board accept
the resignation of Beth Strauss, Youth Services Librarian, with extreme regret
for the loss of her boundless energy, enthusiasm and creativity; and wish her
well in her new position as Media Generalist at the Wilson Elementary School in
Manchester.
The motion passed unanimously.
Needs
Assessment Committee: J
reported on the Board’s meeting with Marjorie Judd, the Library
Consultant. She will soon provide the
Board with a summary of her three days at the Library and her next step in the
assessment process. She encouraged the
Board to create a Long-Range Plan. J
asked that the members think about membership in a Town Long-Range Planning Committee
to be discussed at the October meeting.
The members were given a copy of the form J submitted for a Library
Addition to the Planning Board. Mary
Lee wrote to Ross McLeod, Chair of the Planning Board, requesting the projection
of the Town’s population “build out” in terms of the time and the size of the
population when it stabilizes.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Technology
Plan: The
Town Technology Committee has not yet reviewed the plan. Marija will meet with the
Librarian for the School District to discuss combining catalogs.
Procedure
for Accepting Gifts:
The Board was reminded that it needs to be careful to execute the policy
adopted for accepting gifts
MOTION:
was made by Murray Levin and seconded
That gifts donated to
be placed on the Library property must be approved in advance by the Board of
Selectmen.
The motion passed unanimously.
The amendment will be made to the policy at the October
meeting.
Patriot
Act: Upon examining the draft,
Library Policy on Confidentiality of Library User Records,
MOTION:
was made by J Gross and seconded
1) to include
“Internet Usage” in the list of items to access user information;
2) to delete the word “currently” and the words following
“checked out;” in the sentence following “Circulation Records” and
3) to delete the
second sentence under “Computer Use Records.”
The motion passed unanimously.
The changes will be made to the policy at the October
meeting.
MOTION:
was made by Pat Skinner and seconded
That discussion of
the By Laws be postponed until the next meeting.
The motion passed unanimously.
MOTION:
was made by Murray Levin and seconded
To nominate
Pat Skinner as Trustee of the Year.
The motion passed with one abstention.
MOTION:
was made by Willie Day and seconded
To postpone
the remaining items under New Business until the next meeting.
The motion passed unanimously.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Finance Committee will meet at 7 pm on Monday, September
15, 2003.
The Full Board will meet in special session at 8pm the same
evening.
The next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, October
14.
There will be a “Mystery Potluck” at the Library on Friday,
September 26 at noon.
MOTION:
was made by Willie Day and seconded
That the Board enters
a Non-public session to discuss personnel in accordance with RSA 91-A-3.
Mary Lee polled the Board:
all were in favor.
Action taken:
1) Money
in the Professional Development budget appropriated for tuition reimbursement for
2003 was granted to Amy Mallett (Yi-Ching Chen).
2) Salary
step increases for all staff as budgeted for September 2003 were approved.
3) Proposed
grade and step increases for staff for 2004 were approved for the budget that
is being prepared.
4) The
job description to advertise for a Youth Services Librarian was approved as
amended.
5) The
Personnel Policy in which the hours for full-time status were increased from 30
to 35 hours was amended to reflect the original intent of the motion when it
was passed in September 2002. The
sentence “Existing employees currently at thirty (30) hours and receiving full
benefits will retain their status.”
MOTION: was made by Willie Day and seconded
To leave the
non-public session.
The Board was polled and agreed.
The meeting adjourned at 11:26 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Lee Underhill
Draft subject to approval