Minutes of November 7, 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 November 7, 2011. Present were Trustees John Landrigan, Vesta Smith, Sue Lewis & Mike Marshall and Librarian Nanci Myers.

Minutes of the October 3, 2011 meeting were approved.

State Library Van: John presented a copy of a letter in support of continuation of funding for the Inter Library Loan van which he sent to the NH State Library on behalf of our board. Nanci showed copies of a petition signed by library patrons and a letter written by one patron which had also been forwarded.

Building: Russ Wilcox submitted a bill ($5,189.86) for work completed thus far on the east gable end and rear of the building; he will complete the west end next year. The letter for matching Byrne Foundation funds is still planned, but has not been sent yet. We still need to find a new contractor for the slate roof repair.

Financial Report: We received only $29.48 income (from ‘Earnings from Investments’) during October. Before the end of the year, we expect to receive significant further payments from the Town of Haverhill and the Mildred Page Bequest. Because not all of the work on the building planned for this year has been completed, we will not expend all the funds expected this year for that project and part of the $25,000 transferred from our investment portfolio remains available for use next year.

Librarian’s Report: Nanci did not have a report available but felt that attendance and circulation are down slightly. She reported CD’s and DVD’s are popular and we had a discussion of Kindle e-readers and titles, which our library does not have. Nancy said that Piermont Library does have Kindles and they are popular there.

Fund raising / Programming: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is scheduled for the next book discussion on November 14. John’s planned October essay writing workshop did not attract enough participants to go forward. Mary Emig has offered to volunteer the use of her home and supplies for a Tea which would benefit the library. If approved by Mary, we plan to hold this Tea on December 10. We discussed possible program activities to be held during the event such as book displays, book recommendations and perhaps live music by David Heintz’ band students.

New Business: John prepared a proposed Budget for 2012. After discussion, it was amended to increase from $14,000 to $15,000 the amount to be requested from the Town of Haverhill. John said he will prepare a presentation to the Select Board supporting this increase. Vesta moved, and Sue seconded, a motion to accept the amended budget. John submitted a calendar of meetings and events for next year. A planned discussion of Board development was deferred to the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M. The next meeting will be held at the library at 7:30P.M. on December 5, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Marshall