Minutes of the Meeting
Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees
6 August 2018
Present: Susan Curtin (alternate), Dick Goettle, Barbara Green, Richard Mays, Ann McEntee, Nick Noyes, Trish Toomey (alternate) and Library Director Kate Thomas
Nick Noyes called the meeting to order at 5:25 PM in the Quick Meeting Room of the Library.
The Trustees reviewed and signed the Library Manifest and the Library Expenses Spreadsheet.
The minutes of the July 2nd Trustee meeting were reviewed; Richard Mays put forth a motion, seconded by Nick, that the minutes be approved. Motion carried.
Kate Thomas presented the Library Director’s report. July saw 1321 guests, and 245 people attended 20 programs. Circulation of materials was up 3% (compared to the month of July 2017). The Trustees discussed the proposal for the creation of a library brand and logo submitted to Kate by Coni Porter; Kate will secure a second bid for the same scope of services. Susan Curtin offered to provide names of branding design companies. After announcing this month’s programs, Kate encouraged the Trustees to attend the opening of Caleb Massin’s art show Saturday, August 11th at 10 AM.
The Trustees reviewed the Meeting Room Policy. A bit of wordsmithing led to recommended changes to the second statement in the sixth paragraph. Nick will edit the sentence and present the second draft of the policy during the September 10th meeting.
The Trustees discussed the Funding the Library document, which will be posted on the library’s website. Thank you Nick and Dick Goettle for putting together this information.
Nick stated the need to begin drafting the 2019 budget. Nick, Dick and Kate will meet during the next few weeks so that a draft budget may be presented during the September meeting.
Nick received a bid from Given Masonry, Jaffrey, for resetting of the loose walkway bricks adjacent to the main entrance. He will secure two additional bids to present during the September meeting. The trustees agreed that this reparation work should be included in the proposal to be submitted to Fitzwilliam’s CIP committee.
Richard announced that he has received a letter of approval from the Fitzwilliam Historical Society regarding the library’s new sign and post. Nick and Richard will record measurements of sign and post prior to pulling the construction permit.
Dick reintroduced the topic of the E. Massin Memorial Trust’s certificate of deposit that matured on June 6th. Monies not dedicated to 2018 and 2019 book expenses were to be deposited in a multi-year certificate of deposit or money market account. Given the greater return on the latter, Dick recommended we pursue what is currently available. He suggested CitiBank, which currently offers good returns on money market accounts. The Trustees agreed to pursue the eligibility requirements for retaining such an account; he will also contact Carl Gravina to learn what is available through Raymond James.
The Trustees reviewed the list of energy-efficiency recommendations received from Eversource that Nick has prioritized. They returned to the topic of insulating the second-floor ceiling. Ann offered to contact insulation contractors to entice them to submit bids for the insulation of both hung or dropped ceiling (the latter of which will entail rewiring and rehanging light fixtures, sprinkler system and alarm system and the subsequent cosmetic changes).
Richard reported a broken storm window (south side of building) on the second floor.
The Trustees reviewed the “Value of the Library” Flyer, which Dick created. Trish Toomey suggested that we wait until the branding and logo work has been completed before publishing the document in the Fitzwilliam Newsletter. The Trustees concurred.
The next Trustee meeting was set for Monday, September 10, 2018 at 5:30 PM.
Richard put forth a motion, seconded by Nick, to adjourn the meeting at 6:30 PM. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann McEntee, Secretary