Minutes of March 5, 2012

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 March 5, 2012. Present were Trustees John Landrigan, Vesta Smith, Ken Frank & Mike Marshall and Librarians Nanci Myers & Anne Ballam.

Minutes of the January 2, 2012 & February 7, 2012 monthly meetings and January 16, 2012 Annual Meeting were approved with corrections.

Removal of books from vault room: John reported he has started moving books out of the second floor east end vault room because of the presence of the boiler in that room. During his cleanup, he found stacks of old minutes that he is organizing for storage.

Roofing Contractor: Ken presented a contract proposed by Michael Mayo of WeatherCheck LLC for repairs to the library’s slate roof. Ken explained the price is more that obtained from another contractor last year who failed to follow through, but it includes more work. Ken has received good recommendations of WeatherCheck and feels their price is reasonable for the scope of work contemplated. Mike moved and Vesta seconded that we accept the offer. In discussion, John requested that the contract be corrected to indicate it was with the Haverhill Library Association and not the Town of Haverhill. The motion passed with the understanding the correction would be requested.

Financial Report: John presented financial statements for February. John has paid the outstanding bill to Hood’s Plumbing and included a letter indicating our dissatisfaction with their work. John has learned that the Haverhill Precinct Commissioners have recommended lowering the precinct’s contribution to the library this year from $1,500 to $1,000.

Librarians’ Report: Nanci submitted a Librarians’ Report. Nanci discussed the need for a kidney shaped table for the children’s room. Nanci has been communicating with North Haverhill’s Patten Library and reports they would like us to take their left-over slate tiles soon if we want them; Ken will contact North Haverhill. Nanci noted that the library’s computers have been having difficulties with Internet Explorer and email programs. The copier is making copies with black streaks; Mike will bring it to Ross’s Business Machines for repair. Nanci noted some parking difficulties with attendees of an exercise class held at Alumni Hall and talked directly with the instructor to remedy the situation.

Haverhill Historical Society: John reported that the Haverhill Historical Society intends to hire an intern during the summer to work on cataloging HHS holdings currently being stored in our library’s vault. The HHS has also proposed that we cosponsor a program in June of this year on a book by Kim Alexander and her husband about the diaries of Civil War General Fitz John Porter and a program during next year’s 250th Newbury-Haverhill Anniversary on Frances Parkinson Keyes.

Records Management Policy: John provided the board with a copy of a proposed “HLA Policy on Document and Records Management.” Discussion of this policy was tabled until next month’s meeting.

Proposed Right-to-know Law concerning public libraries: John received consensus of support from the board for a draft email proposed to be sent to members of the State of New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee outlining the concerns of the HLA concerning SB 214.

HLA Book Sale at Strawberry Festival: The board agreed that the HLA would have a book sale table set up during the annual Strawberry Festival sponsored by the First Congregational Church of Haverhill on June 16.

Fund raising / Programming: The board finalized plans for the March 10 Chicken & Biscuit Supper. The next Winter Book Discussion will be on Dickens’ Bleak House on March 19.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M. The next regular meeting will be held at the library at 7:30 P.M. on April 2, 2012.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Marshall