LIBRARY TRUSTEE MEETING MINUTES, JANUARY 30, 2019
Present and not voting: Laura Rochat, librarian
Present and voting: Amy Borgman, Dan Childs, Emily Noyes
Not present: Kym Anderson, Cat Wright
-Minutes from prior Trustee Meeting were accepted.
-Treasurer’s Report: Dan reports that budget for Town Meeting has been prepared and submitted. Minimal changes are expected to the Library’s budget. A step increase in salary has been proposed for Laura and for a substitute librarian. Dan discussed the impact that EC Fiber, expected to be coming through in the next few months, will have on our communications budget and access.
-Librarian’s Report: Numbers look good for January circulation, despite difficult weather on days the Library has been open. Laura’s typewriter woes have been ameliorated by sharing our Town Clerk’s machine. In a typical Vermont way, this problem has been dealt with by the Library purchasing typewriter ribbons in return for the use. (“Good typewriters make good neighbors,” with apologies to Robert Frost) The computer is another story as it has now refused to cooperate and be good for anything. Laura will be checking with the Department of Libraries for minimum or recommended requirements for a new laptop or computer and will follow-up with local merchants to purchase a new one. Laura also reports being in touch with Brookfield Elementary School to arrange for a group discussion of John Lewis’ book March One, first in a trilogy about Representative Lewis’ life as a Civil Rights activist. It is the current Vermont Reads book. We may have a new outlet for discarded and donated books as the coffee shop re-opening in Randolph will have a space for a Randolph Friends of the Library book-shop. Laura will be in touch with the folks at Kimball Library to see if they would be interested in some of ours. Laura also completed the Herculean task of completing the Annual Library Report which keeps us in good stead in the Vermont Library community.
-Old Business: Laura hosted 11 children and 4 adults during the recent Ice Harvest Festival. The Library was available as a warm-up center with restrooms and children’s activities. Thank you Laura.
-New Business: A response to the recent successful Deconstruction Project? How about a Reconstruction Project! Laura suggested this as a possible Spring activity and we will discuss this at a next meeting. Laura has also been in touch with someone to put on a Pollinator program for children, complete with coloring t-shirts with natural dyes. This may also be a Spring program. We should be set for Town Meeting: the budget and Library Report have been submitted. Amy is running for another term. Although she is unopposed, get out and vote! She does need 10 votes to accept the privilege of continuing on the Board.
-Next meeting date is set for Wednesday March 20, 2019 @6:30 PM.