Minutes of April 4, 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 April 4, 2011. Present were Trustees John Landrigan, Vesta Smith & Mike Marshall and Librarian Nanci Myers.

Minutes of the March 7, 2011 monthly meeting were approved.

Notice was taken that scaffolding with yellow tape has been placed to provide protection from the weakened brick structure on the Alumni Hall side of the building. John is still working on identifying prospective grant sources and applications for funding the needed brick and roof repairs. The members present thanked Mike for the donation and installation of stair treads. Hood Plumbing and Heating submitted a bill for a service call in response to slow draining of the toilet. However, Nanci reported that they did not do any repair work during that visit; their service man told her that the problem might improve with warm weather and the pipes needed replacing. Further discussions with Hood’s will be held to determine if their bill should be paid.

John presented a statement reflecting the Association’s finances at the end of the first quarter, noting we are in reasonable shape. Trustees John Landrigan, Vesta Smith and Jane Darby attended the Precinct of Haverhill Corner’s annual meeting in March and were successful in having the Precinct’s contribution to the library raised from $500 to $1,500. In light of the fundraising success of the March 12 supper-raffle-book sale, John offered up his thanks to all who participated.

There are no Board of Trustee recruitment developments.

John provided a rough draft of the New Hampshire Public Library Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2010. Nanci commented on the need for a thorough physical inventory to re-establish a base figure of our holdings and the members present agreed that should happen this year. Nanci also reports she is getting short on shelf space and has unsuccessfully been looking for a few shelf boards that were removed some time ago. Nanci will contact Grafton County Corrections for a status on the projects with which they have already agreed to help and see if they can also remedy the shelf issue.

The March 12 chicken pie supper was reviewed and possibilities for changing the date and menu were discussed. In anticipation of our Annual Appeal mailing, John will distribute a mailing list to be reviewed for corrections, additions and deletions and will have the letter prepared soon after that. A new edition of John’s six-week fiction writing workshop, with 4 or 5 people already signed up, will begin on Tuesday, April 12. A book discussion, on Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, will be held on Monday, April 18. The date of the author’s luncheon was set for Saturday, May 21 after John reported John Walter’s availability and willingness to appear that day. Possible library participation in the 2012 celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of Haverhill and Newbury was discussed.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M. The next monthly meeting will be 7:30 P.M. at the library on Monday, May 9, 2011, which is one week later than usual due to schedule conflicts.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Marshall