Gale Library Trustee Minutes

GALE LIBRARY

Established        1892                                                                                                                                          

16 South Main Street

Newton New Hampshire 03858

(603) 382-4691

DATE: Wednesday, June 14, 2017

TIME: 10:00 a.m.

LOCATION: Gale Library, 16 S Main Street

MEETING MINUTES

Call to Order: 10:05 a.m.

In Attendance: Lynne Camp, Chairperson; Kathy Meserve, Treasurer; Anne Banks, Secretary; Terry Caswell, Director; Julie Lamere, Alternate.

Non-Public Session: RSA 91-A:3 II (a) Personnel Matters: Trustees entered non-public session at 10:06 a.m. They returned to public session at 10:19 a.m. The Trustees wish  to announce the following step increases, effective Jan. 8, 2017:

                         Nicole Belisle-Briggs Lib. Asst. I grade IV/VIII to IV/IX, $10.38 / hr. to $10.63

                         Cathy Breslin Lib. Asst. I/float grade IV/VII to IV/VIII, $10.12 hr. to $10.38

                         Molly Breslin Lib. Page/float grade IV/II to IV/III, $8.95 hr. to $9.17

                         Lauri Gaudet Lib. Asst. I grade IV/IX to IV/X, $10.63 / hr. to $10.90

                         Kara Hahn Lib. Page/float grade IV/II to IV/III, $8.95 / hr. to $9.17

                         Jillian Holmberg Lib. Asst. I/float grade IV/VII to IV/VIII, $10.12 hr. to $10.38

                         Francis S. Mears Chil. Lib/Asst. Dir. grade X/IX to X/X, $14.25 hr. to $14.61

                         Amanda Plante Lib. Asst. I/float grade IV/VII to IV/VIII, $10.12 hr. to $10.38

                         Betty Standing Lib. Asst. III grade IX/IX to IX/X,$13.57 to $13.91   

                         Terry Caswell Director grade XVIII/IX to XVIII/X, $21.06/ hr. to $21.58    

          Terry will communicate these to staff at her earliest convenience.

Newton Historical Society Updates (Historical Document; Loan of stage curtain book): At this point in the meeting Bill Landry joined us to explain more about the historical document discovered and how it affects the Historical Society’s bylaws and Gale Library. The document names Gale Library as the beneficiary of all bank accounts, documents, artifacts, and other holdings of the Historical Society including the building at 22 S. Main Street, Newton, should the Society disband at some future time. The current Society bylaws stipulate that the beneficiary, should the Society dissolve, be a ‘similar institution’ but does not name any institution. The Society plans to incorporate the document into their bylaws when they next meet. The Trustees had questioned whether Gale Library would qualify as an appropriate beneficiary, since the Society is a non-profit 5013C organization while the Library is a municipal organization. Kathy had contacted Terry Knowles with the Justice Department in Concord for a legal opinion on the matter. Terry Knowles has told us we would qualify. That being said, the Trustees gave Bill the verbal approval to put the question to a vote at the Society’s next meeting. If it passes we agreed we would officially vote to accept the bank accounts, documents, artifacts, buildings, and other holdings of the Newton Historical Society should they dissolve at some future time.

As to the stage curtain book that was presented to the Historical Society, Kathy asked if the book would be part of our collection and could be loaned out. Bill agreed that it could be. The Trustees agreed to accept the book as a donation when it is given to us and will vote on it at our next meeting.

Minutes from the Previous Meeting (May 10, 2017): Lynne motioned to accept the minutes as written. Kathy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Correspondence and Communications: The Department of Justice sent out a notice about workshops scheduled this month on several topics pertaining to Trustees. None were of interest to us at this time.

Library Director’s Report: Kathy moved to accept the Director’s report as written. Anne seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report: Kathy reviewed her report with the Trustees. Lynne moved to accept the Treasurer’s report as written. Anne seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Unfinished Business:

Carpeting Project: The first phase of the carpeting will be done on Thursday, June 15. Kathy has paid for the materials. The first phase should be completed in that one day. The contractor will expect payment for the first phase installation at the end of the day.  It is expected that anything that needs to be moved or covered during the work will be put back and the library will be open as usual on the next day, Friday.  The second phase of the project will take place over 2 days, June 22nd and 23rd. Again, It is expected that anything that needs to be moved or covered during the work will be put back and the library will be open as usual on the next day, Saturday. We expect the same contractor will do both phases, and will be paid for phase 2 when that is complete. Terry will make signs for the patrons and put a message on the outside board to let the public know the library will be closed that Friday. She will also post a message on the library website and on Facebook.

Circulating Trustee DVD’s: This topic was tabled until the next meeting.

Secretary’s Job Description: Anne presented a job description taken from several different sources, including the Trustees’ bylaws. Lynne moved to accept the job description as rewritten. Kathy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Anne will present a copy of the secretary’s job description with the appropriate date on it and the Trustees will sign it at our next meeting.

Tru-Green Lawn Treatment: Terry reported she is satisfied with the situation as it is currently. We will revisit it if anything changes.

New Business:

Annual Investment Policy Review and Signage: The Trustees reviewed the Policy as written. No changes were required or made. Lynne moved we accept the Policy as written. Kathy seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The Policy was signed and dated by those present. Terry will send a copy of the signed Policy to Audrey Blodgett at the Justice Department in Concord as required by law. She will give Kathy a copy to present to the auditors, which they require as part of their yearly audit.

NHLTA Conference Review: The Trustees shared their experiences from the Conference. They all enjoyed keynote speaker George Needham, and the “Strategic Planning” presenter Deb Hoadley.  The “Big Ideas for Small Libraries” was quite inspiring. Lynne enjoyed “Making the Ask” by presenter Porter Caesar. All agreed this year’s conference was worthwhile and they were glad they were able to attend.

Audit Review: Kathy reported there were no negative comments from the auditors on any Library items in the town audit.

July Meeting: The Trustees were undecided whether to cancel the next meeting, scheduled for July 12. We will postpone our decision to the week before the meeting in case we feel there is any urgent business to discuss. If not we may decide to cancel that meeting.

KBA Grant Update:  Terry did receive a check in the amount of $320.00 for the KBA grant that Sue wrote and submitted. The Library will sponsor a magic show in July with a portion of the money.

Guidelines for Non-Public Meetings: The Trustees discussed the lack of guidelines available concerning the level of detailed information suggested as best practices when writing minutes of non-public meetings. All agreed there should be enough information in the minutes so that Trustees could review the minutes in the future and understand decisions made and why they were made, even if no actions were taken as a result of the meeting. Anne also wanted a better understanding of what actions, if any, were required once sealed minutes were unsealed. She will research that topic and prepare some guidelines for us to discuss and perhaps adopt at our next meeting.

Possible Training for new AEDs: Several dates for AED training have been set up. Terry also received a training DVD that the fire chief and Larry Foote approved as a retraining aid to replace attending refresher classes.

Acceptance of Donations: Patrons-$0.20/ Books; Friends of the Gale Library for 1st Floor Carpeting - $2,440.00; KBA Grant - $320.00; and Summer Read Prizes from Storyland, Water Country, Canobie Lake Park, Hodgies Ice Cream and Cowbunga’s Gym: Lynne moved we accept from patrons-$0.20/ Books; from Friends of the Gale Library for 1st Floor Carpeting - $2,440.00; a KBA Grant - $320.00; and Summer Read Prizes from Storyland, Water Country, Canobie Lake Park, Hodgies Ice Cream and Cowbunga’s Gym. Kathy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Friends’ News: The Friends raised $201.00 in their Book Sale held on Saturday, June 10, at Estabrook’s Garage. They are planning their annual luncheon on July 18, 2017 at 1:30. The Trustees are invited to join them. They will have their annual Christmas Basket raffle again. Tickets will be available on November 14 and the drawing will be on December 15. The Friends next meeting will be in September.

Monthly Invoices Review and Signage: Invoices were reviewed and signed at this meeting.

Next Trustee Meeting: Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 10:00 a.m. We may cancel the meeting at the discretion of the Board. If we decide to do so, July 7 is the last day on which we will make that decision.

Adjournment: 12:15 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

        Anne D. Banks, Secretary