Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Minutes of January 17, 2011

Haverhill Library Association
Minutes of the Annual Meeting, January 17, 2011

The Annual Meeting of the Haverhill Library Association was held at the library and called to order by Board of Trustees Chairman John Landrigan at 7:00 P.M. on January 17, 2011. Present were Trustees John Landrigan, Vesta Smith, Ken Frank and Mike Marshall and member of the public Linda Landrigan.

A review of activities of the past year was made. Ken Frank and Mike Marshall joined the Board of Trustees. Minutes of monthly board meetings were posted on the library’s website. The Board met with Alumni Hall Director Keisha Luce to discuss the relationship of our two organizations. A regular column containing library news is being published in the Haverhill Corner Congregational Church’s monthly newsletter. The library has obtained a new e-mail address. The library’s financial status weathered a difficult start, but the year ended without a draw-down of our investments and the Board voted raises for the librarians. During the year, Ken Frank fixed the trap door and conducted a facilities inspection. The inspection revealed the slate roof and gable ends brickwork need attention; Ken Frank obtained estimates for the needed work. Community member Mike Welch refinished the floor of the downstairs hallway. Community service projects undertaken include establishment of a toner cartridge recycling collection box, establishment of ‘listserv’ - an online community discussion site and art & photography exhibits at the library. For the kids, there was a weekly story time, a summer reading program, a tour of the Conklin Farm, a bike parade and Halloween party. For adults there were two book discussion series, the continuation of a creative writing group started in 2009, a creative writing workshop and we hosted the first meeting in Haverhill of the New Hampshire Writers Project Book Club for Writers. Library fundraisers were a Chicken Supper / Book Sale / Raffle event in March, a book sale at the community Strawberry Festival in June, a Mystery Tea in August and a very successful pig roast / pulled pork lunch and book sale at the Autumn Festival. The Board noted the valuable contributions of volunteers throughout the year: Carolyn Danielson, Mike Welch, Dennis Mason, Lori Heels and Hugh Underhill.

In his role as Treasurer, John Landrigan submitted a 2010 Treasurer’s Report with the caveat that he is still waiting for the amount of checking account interest to complete the report.

A slate of officers for 2011 was proposed and approved: President – John Landrigan, Vice-President – Kathy Schiffman, Treasurer – John Landrigan and Secretary – Mike Marshall.

Looking forward to the upcoming year, the Board resolved to continue the activities and fundraisers of the past. The Board expressed its appreciation for all of the contributions of recently resigned members Kerri Harrington and Barbara May. Although Kerri and Barb will be hard to replace, new members will be sought with the intent of increasing community participation in our operations. John also will move forward with a plan to establish a de facto “Friends of the Library Group”.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 P.M.

The next monthly meeting will be on Monday, February 7, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Marshall

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Minutes of January 3, 2011

The monthly meeting of the Haverhill Library Board was called to order by chairman John Landrigan on January 3, 2011, at 7:30PM. Present were John Landrigan, Vesta Smith, Mike Marshall, Barbara May, and librarian Anne Ballam.

We did not have a quorum so no votes could be passed.

We discussed the need for a second bid for work that needs to be done on the building in order to write a grant and the ethics involved in this. John will draft a proposal for the February meeting and we will discuss it at that time.

We had no library report.
John reported that our finances are in good shape.
There is a budget meeting on Wed. evening at the town hall which John will attend and anyone else who is so inclined is welcome. John will get a letter to the chairman asking for a raise in our yearly donation from the town.

Fundraising: Ted Schiffman cannot commit to cooking for our chicken supper this year. After some discussion it was decided that we will be able to do this on our own. We will have two settings of approximately 1 1/4 hours each at 5:30 and 7PM. We will also have a book sale and a basket raffle. The basket needs more items. The drawing will be at the end of the evening. Menu: Chicken and bisquits, cole slaw, brownie sundaes, coffee and tea. This will be discussed more at our next regular meeting.

A wish list for various items (ie. Keurig machine, refrigerator, etc.) will be sent with our annual appeal letter.

The book discussion series will be entitled American Classics. John will get a letter out to the public.

Mike will ask Cathy Chase if Adam is interested in shoveling snow from the walk.

A patron survey was discussed and it was felt that we don't get many replies. This will be tabled for another time.

Next meeting will be the Annual Meeting on Monday, January 17, 2011 at 6:30PM.
Our next regular board meeting will be on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 7:30PM.

Barbara May, Secretary pro tem