Stowe Free Library

STOWE FREE LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING DEC. 2, 2011 – 8:33 AM

PRESENT: R. Mateyk (RM); D. Bryan; JS Courtney; C. Lusk; E. Wechsler; P. Thibault ; S. Clymer; A. Kuhnert; D. Reever ( Friends); D. Johannesen ( Treas.)
The Board officially welcomed Elizabeth Wechsler to our group as the newest Trustee
MINUTES of the November meeting will stand as read
Treasurer’s Report – Dick reported $9652 in the regular checking account. We will owe the town $7575 in late Dec. By the end of the calendar year the regular account will have a balance of about $2500. The Development acct. shows $62871. The Copley account has been spent down to about $300 per their requirements and we hope to receive money from them this month. Registration income continues to decline. We are 48% below where we were in 2009 when we started charging $10 for out of town members. Dick requested to see an analysis of the out of town registrations, to better understand why they have been declining.
Friends Report – Dee reported 14 new members since the Oct. mailing and $1560 in additional donations. There were 39 responses to the mailing. Dee also presented us with a copy of the new newsletter. They are sponsoring an author program, Orah Moore, Dec 14.
Director’s Report – RM is very satisfied with Fairpoint as our new ISP. The KOHA migration is going as well as could be expected with only minor glitches to patron accounts. Monday AM children’s story is becoming more and more popular.
RM presented us with a policy to loan out the LCD Projector – instead of trying to loan it to the public we discussed making it available for use by non-profits. We are concerned about the high cost of bulb replacement. RM will check on the actual bulb costs and Charlie will see if similar projectors are available for rent in the area. Our decision is pending re. what to do with it.
Staff is working harder on long – overdue materials, possibly getting the police involved as is done in other communities. We are also sending out more bills for missing items. RM is planning to enhance the enforcement of the library privacy laws with signed records.
New Business – HDAC summer sculptures – Louise Thompson of the Friends brought up the need for better communication with HDAC re. siting of the art, safety issues and communication before the book sale. We also see the need of a set date for sculpture removal at the end of the display.
Board reviewed the Inclement Weather Policy which will stand as is.
NEXT MEETING scheduled for Jan. 6, 2012. Location TBA.
Meeting adjourned at 9:23 AM
Respectfully submitted,
Phyllis Thibault, Board Secretary