Minutes of June 4, 2012

The meeting was called to order by president John Landrigan at 7:30 PM. Present were Jane Darby, Landrigan, Mike Marshall, and Vesta Smith, trustees. The minutes of the May 7 meeting were approved as presented.

Old Business
SB214: John reported that the New Hampshire Senate concurred with the amended version of the bill that was passed by the House, and it was subsequently signed by the governor on May 29. Under the terms of the bill, it will now go into effect on July 28. Mike suggested that a copy of the final bill should be provided to the librarians for reference.

Building
Roof work: John reported that the initial payment has been made on the repairs to the slate roof, and that the company has projected a start date of early June. It appears that it will not be possible to re-use the slate from another job as the company had at one time hoped.

Property Map: At the May meeting, John had promised to ask Jim Alexander for a copy of a property map for Haverhill Corner, and John now reported that Jim had supplied this map and John has shared it with Ken. The map was wanted in connection with Ken’s plan of removing the brush behind the library with his grading equipment; the concern was whether there is anything just under the surface that might be damaged. Unfortunately, though the map shows the property line clearly, it does not seem to indicate what might be buried.

Financial Report
John noted that the May financial report indicates that we are currently about $10K behind for the year, as compared to about $5K behind at this time last year. The two primary reasons for this difference are: 1) the annual appeal has not yet been sent and the resulting income therefore not yet received; 2) this figure includes the substantial down payment for the roof work, though in fact that will be covered by the special building funds carried over from last year. The library regularly shows an operating deficit in May because we do not receive the second quarterly payments from the town and the Mildred Page Fund until June. The contribution from the Haverhill Corner Precinct, however, has been received. Although our finances are in keeping with previous years, John reminded the board that we are still looking at a difficult year since the contributions from both the town and the precinct will be less than projected.

Librarians’ Report
The librarians sent word that they will provide a two-month report at the next meeting.

Fundraising/Programming
Annual Appeal: John noted that he has failed to get the appeal mailing done on its usual schedule this year, but he arrived at the meeting with the elements completed, and the trustees present prepared the mailing during the course of the meeting.

General Fitz John Porter Program: The trustees had previously agreed to co-sponsor this program with the Haverhill Historical Society, since it is based on a book and will include a booksigning, and John announced that it is now scheduled for Thursday, June 14. Our co-sponsorship primarily involves helping to publicize the event, and to this end, John has announced it in the appeal letter and will put it on the library’s web site.

Shakespeare Discussion: John announced that he will hold a discussion of “The Taming of the Shrew” a week before the first performance at Alumni Hall by the Shakespeare Under the Stars troupe. The trustees expressed pleasure at the opportunity to support our neighbor organization in a small way.

Strawberry Festival: The trustees had previously agreed that the library would once again participate in the church’s annual Strawberry Festival, and John reminded everyone that it will be held on June 30.

Writing Workshops: Driven by the need to write the appeal letter, John has set dates for three half-day fiction writing workshops to be held in late July and early August. These will be fund-raisers for the library, and will experiment with a new format, compared to the six-week workshops we have run in the past.

Fall Festival: At one point, the trustees had considered the possibility of assuming responsibility for the Autumn Festival, in order to create an opportunity for another pig roast or some other fund-raiser. No progress had been made on this, however, and John felt it was time to close the loop on the discussion. The board decided that, at this point, it is not feasible to assume responsibility for this event.

New Business 
Haverhill Historical Society Request: The Historical Society has requested permission to hold the dessert portion of its annual Progressive Dinner at the library. The plan for the dinner is to focus on former Grafton County buildings in Haverhill Corner, including the former jail, the courthouse (Alumni Hall), and the records office (the library). The dinner is tentatively scheduled for October 27. The board agreed to grant permission to use the library, but expressed concerns involving capacity/crowding, seating, and access to the second floor. John was directed to share these concerns with the Society.

The meeting concluded with the completion of work on the annual appeal mailing.