Stowe Free Library

Stowe Free Library

Minutes of Trustees Meeting February 1, 2008

The meeting came to order at 8:40 a.m. with Dick, Stephanie, Phyllis, Jo, Meg, Nancy and Louise Thompson of FSFL present. The minutes of January 4 were accepted as emailed.

Treasurer's Report: Dick presented an endowment summary of the first half of ‘08, and also a graph of annual circulation patterns.

Directors Report: S. spent most of Jan. dealing with heating problems and a cascade of problems resulting from power failures. Also, the Electric Dept. has changed our billing rate from $69/mo to $209/mo, and we will be forced to "eat it" in the budgets of ‘08 and ‘09.

Phyllis asked about our sponsorship of events with other groups, such as the Ski museum, Osher, Copley Woodlands. S. said the money comes from grant and endowment funds and are often used to make the events free for seniors. S. feels that partnering with Osher helps Library visibility in programming. It was suggested that the Library provide a reading list on SFL letterhead for each Osher program, and on it also provide acknowledgment of the grant donor.

Fine policy: When fines are abandoned in July, patrons with outstanding prior fines will be handled verbally as the patronize the Library. It is too expensive and time-consuming to handle by mail.

Downloading books training for staff is Tuesday February 19^th at 10 and if any of us want to attend, we may. MP3 players have been purchased.

The web site will be ready in about a week. Nancy should make an appointment with S. To learn how to post minutes on the Trustees' page.

FSFL: Louise is meeting with S. on Monday to learn how to use the web site. She sees it as an opportunity to use it as a newsletter for Friends. FSFL has been asked by Osher for their mailing list but will not give it out; instead Louise will put their contact info in FSFL minutes. The donation cost of Adopt-An-Author books has been dropped to $16. And Chris Curtis has offered to donate a large stone bench to FSFL to raffle at a special event. The idea was greeted with enthusiasm and a slew of ideas.

SHS Model: Frits has finished the model. We will ask Justin to come look at it on Tues. Feb 5 at 10 and any Trustees who would like to be there should show up then.

Computer and Internet Use Policy Review: The only significant change regards the use of the Library's laptops, which were not available when the policy was written. The policy will appear on the log-on page and users will have to accept it to proceed. S. gave us copies to review before our March meeting.

Long Range Plan: S. distilled what she saw as the undone portions of the ‘03 plan. Each Trustee should look at their section and meet with S. During Feb., and report at the March meeting.

Current Topics: Meg; Cultural Awareness: Nancy; Life-Long Learning: Phyllis; Staffing: Open; Technology:Trisha; Commons: Jo; Space Needs: Frits; Capital Plan: Dick

The Trustees moved into executive session to discuss personnel issues.

The next meeting will be Friday, March 7, at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy Stead, Secretary