Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Minutes of May 9, 2011

The monthly meeting of the Haverhill Library Association was held at the library and called to order by Board of Trustees Chairman John Landrigan at 7:30 P.M. on May 9, 2011. Present were Trustees John Landrigan, Vesta Smith, Sue Lewis, Ken Frank, Kathy Schiffman, Jane Darby & Mike Marshall and Librarian Anne Ballam.

As the first order of business, John welcomed new member Sue Lewis to the Board.

Minutes of the April 4, 2011 monthly meeting were approved.

John presented a draft copy of a grant letter and a list of prospective sources from which to obtain money for repair of the building’s bricks and roof. Ken discussed the availability of Russ Wilcox and Doug Hayward and a motion was passed to have Ken notify both to coordinate their efforts and proceed with the work. Ken noted the need for a cleanup day of the grounds and drainage work and estimated the cost of materials for such work to be less than $1,000; he will coordinate the date, materials and volunteer labor. Jane Darby will look into the status of plumbing issues.

John submitted financial reports and talked about income from the Writing Workshop, Mildred Page Bequest and Annual Appeal. John proffered a draft letter thanking those who donated to the Annual Appeal.

Anne Ballam presented a written Librarian’s Report dated May 9, 2011 which covered the first four months of 2011. Anne also provided a schedule for the 2011 Summer Reading Program, which will coordinate with a July and August Shakespeare program by Theatre Under the Stars next door at Alumni Hall.

Plans were finalized for the upcoming author luncheon. A book discussion of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare will be held at the library on June 28 to coincide with Alumni Hall’s Shakespeare program. It has been learned that RSVP is looking for another group to take over sponsorship of the Autumn Festival; no action was taken and we will wait to see what happens and revisit the issue at next month’s meeting. The Board also took no action regarding library participation in the 250th Haverhill-Newbury Anniversary to be celebrated in 2012.

Under new business, John advised the group that the Haverhill Academy building was for sale, this in light of past interest for some to obtain it for library use. No action was taken.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 P.M. The next monthly meeting will be 7:30 P.M. at the library on Monday, June 6, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Marshall