Meeting of October 10, 2012

The meeting was called to order by president John Landrigan at 7:34 PM. Present were Jane Darby, John Landrigan, and Vesta Smith, trustees, and Nanci Myers and Anne Ballam, librarians. John noted two discussion items not on the agenda: board development and fund-raising ideas. The minutes of the August 27 meeting were reviewed but not approved, lacking a quorum.

Building 
Ken has rebuilt the front walk and has taken down the growth in the back yard. These were big jobs for which he should be properly acknowledged. Perhaps we will put up a sign in the foyer as we did to thank Mike Welch for this work on the floors. The new walkway has drawn considerable comment and praise. Russ Wilcox is continuing with the brickwork on the west façade. In addition, on his own initiative, he spent quite a bit of time helping Ken with the walkway and the brush clearing.

Meanwhile, Nanci reported a new issue. As a result of the water problems in the east vault room earlier in the year, water has seeped into the masonry in the first floor ceiling, and dust is falling into the children’s section. Russ Wilcox had a look and said that, while there is no pressing danger, this will continue to happen until the ceiling is redone. Nanci will talk with Russ about submitting a bid for this work.

Financial Report 
John reviewed the financial report, noting that with the completion of the third quarter, he has added the column of percentages to show how we stand going into the final quarter of the year. Nanci and Anne asked about the book budget; they are slightly ahead of budget not greatly so. John will be preparing a draft of the 2013 budget for review at the November meeting. He asked that all trustees be thinking of ideas for new fund-raisers for the coming year.

Librarians’ Reports 
Nanci reported that the adult side has been “super busy” this summer, and that she has signed up 24 new patrons since May. She notes that she is still in need of the shelves that she has discussed, and she has been moving books around in anticipation of new shelving. She will await Mike’s return to the area, since he thought he’d be able to assist there. The annual visit by the middle school students is scheduled for Friday, October 5. Anne reports that she had nine regular participants in the Summer Reading Program, plus some other occasionals. Thanks are especially owed to the Pike Store, which donated coupons for free individual pizzas.

Fundraising/Programming Book Sale: the book sale took in $539 on the 22nd and about $50 has come in since; combined with some earlier book sale income, we have now exceeded our projected income in this area. Nanci reported one patron comment that the sale could have been better publicized. Publicity and other ideas for next year include: announcement on the town listserv; listing on the sign in front of the town offices; cross-promotion with the other libraries; offering ancillary events such as face-painting for kids; ask Alumni Hall about scheduling a concurrent event.

Event Space: Discussion of Nessa Flax’s offer to do a program led to a discussion of our lack of programming space. Now that the growth in the back yard has been cut down, there may be an opportunity to create a summer event space there, perhaps with benches, an awning that would stay up for the season, even a brick-paved area. Nanci is already in discussions with the prison work program about another project, and she will inquire about having the program help us create an event space out back.

Fall Events: John noted that the writing workshops will begin this Saturday (Oct 6), that the fall book discussion series will begin Oct 8, and that there will be another installment of the Book Club for Writers discussions on Oct 25.

New Business 
NHLTA: John reported on the open discussion sponsored by the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association and hosted by the library in Warren.

Banned Books Week: Nanci noted that she has a display planned.

Board Development: The board identified three candidates to approach with the suggestion that they would start in January.

Mystery Date: Nanci described a new program she is considering, Mystery Date with a Book. Patrons are presented with a selection of books wrapped in plain paper and invited to borrow one to read.

Holidays: Nanci would like to hold a raffle for a holiday gift basket as a fund-raiser. It would be displayed some 3-4 weeks prior to the drawing, and would feature high value gifts. Nanci and Anne will develop a list and will seek suggestions from trustees; we will ask trustees to donate the items for the basket. Vesta reminded us that we need a permit from the town to conduct a raffle.

Adjournment 
The next meeting will be held Monday, November 5.