Present: J. Nicholas Noyes, Gail P. Landy, Richard Mays, Dick Goettle, Barbara Green, Nancy Woodward (alternate), Director Kate Thomas
Absent: none
The meeting was called to order by President Noyes at 6:02pm.
Trustees reviewed and signed the manifest.
The minutes of the August 3, 2015 meeting were approved with correction of two typos.
The new second floor window has been installed and the roofer contacted. He hopes to schedule the roofing before the first snow. It is supposed to take only one day to complete. Trustees indicated that as soon as possible would be better.
There was no report from the Long Range Planning Committee although work on the document continues.
The budget committee (Kate, Nick, and Dick) has been hard at work reviewing figures and possibilities for next year. One proposed increase would allow funding for vacation replacements for library staff. Work will continue on the budget which will be presented to the Trustees at a later date.
Kate requested a clarification/ modification of policy related to cell phone use in the library. In the past cell phone use was not allowed. After discussion, the Trustees felt current needs and public use patterns have evolved to where judicious and non-disruptive use of cell phones in the library is appropriate. Richard moved and Gail seconded a motion to revise the Behavior Policy to include acceptable use of cell phones.
The next Trustee meeting date will be October 5th when the Library investment advisor will review library accounts. The Investment Policy will be reviewed and renewed or revised by Trustees. The November 9th Trustee meeting will be held at 5:30pm instead of 6pm to accommodate other library programing.
Dick Goettle has begun work on the evaluation form for the Librarian and also brought up the idea of self-assessment for the Trustees. He indicated he is looking at 5 categories of responses to questions: 1. Fully satisfactory, 2. Satisfactory, 3. Needs improvement, 4. Underdeveloped, 5. Can not assess. The comments on individual items matter more than number scores. The Librarian evaluation is due to the Selectmen by the end of December.
Librarians report:
Circulation for August appears to be slightly ahead of last year. Exact figures will be available later in the week.
16 programs in August had 244 participants.
Entryway lights have been repaired with a new ballast.
Kerry Shrives provided a list of books on antiques to be ordered and paid by the Massin memorial.
Nick has been working on updating the public computers. We may need a new router.
The Friends booksale will be September 12th from 9-2
For summer reading club the teens read 18,000 pages, and adults read 57,300 pages with Maria Filipi getting the teen award and Cathie McGuirk getting the adult award.
Susan Silverman will be exhibiting her artwork at the library beginning September 26th.
Kate indicated she will be taking vacation time Labor Day weekend, September 11-19, and October 27-Nov.1
Meeting adjourned at 6:45pm
Respectfully submitted,
Gail P. Landy, Secretary