December 8, 2021 | Librarian BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES DRAFT MINUTES Date of Meeting: Thursday, October 14, 2021 @ 7:00 pm Members Present: Nancy Heckel (Chair); Jen Call; Nancy Glynn (Secretary); Marcy Vierzen (Treasurer); Elizabeth Geraghty (Library Director) Betsy Anderson (Alternate) Members Absent: Emily Cooper, via Zoom; Note: This meeting was conducted on ZOOM for all present. Public Present: No members of the public were present; The Board met in person at the Sutton Free Library for their Board of Trustees Meeting. The public, per the Governor’s Executive Order 2020-04, Section 8, Emergency Order #12 Section 3, had the option to Zoom in to this meeting. CALL TO ORDER: Roll Call, Introduction of Guests The SFLBOT meeting was called to order at 7:09pm by Board Chair Nancy Heckel, and roll taken. No members of the public were present. No other members of any households of Trustees were present within listening of this meeting. Review of Minutes Minutes from the 9/14/2021 meeting were reviewed with corrections made. Board Chair Heckel invited a motion to approve, with revisions, the minutes from the 9/14/2021 meeting. Board Member Marcy Vierzen made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Board Member Jen Call. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative. Correspondence Director Geraghty reports Sutton Free Library received a letter from the New Hampshire Department of Justice in regards to reporting library trust fund files. Board Chair Heckel will inform the NHDOJ that Sutton Free Library does not have the trust funds. Director Elizabeth Geraghty reported Sutton Free Library received three checks in the mail. A check from the Linvilles to be used as reimbursement for the purchase of the Mcauliffe Shepherd museum passes, a donation from the Leary family for $100 with a request to restrict funds for books and media and a check from the State of NH relative to the ARPA grant which is to be used for the Storywalk project. Director Geraghty shared email correspondence from Town Administrator Elly Phillips requesting information to assist in the Master Plan. Director Geraghty reports that she circulated an email from the New Hampshire Library Trustee Association in regards to an optional virtual roundtable to take place on November 10. Board Member Nancy Glynn makes a motion to accept funds from correspondence, seconded by Board Member Call. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative. REPORTS: Old Business Financial/Treasurer’s Report Board Member Vierzen noted the beginning balance of the Trustee Account for Sutton Free Library in September was $4,686.55. Board Member Vierzen reported little activity on the account. One transaction was made to purchase the Mcauliffe Shepherd museum passes in the amount of $300.00. Board Member Vierzen made a motion to accept the Linville check for $300.00 and the State of NH check for $1208.00. Board Member Nancy Glynn seconded. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative. The bank balance on the Trustee account at the end of September was $6,195.56 Director Geraghty reports she has 6 checks to sign and to be mailed. These include: reimbursement to order a laminator with pockets and a 4 year warranty from supplies and reimbursement to Board Chair Heckel for a years worth of Zoom membership. Board Member Vierzen is researching obtaining a debit/credit card for the library at Sugar River. Building and Grounds Director Geraghty reports Capitol Alarm will come on October 26th. Capitol Alarm has received the deposit from the town to proceed with installation and Director Geraghty asked Board member Call if there is an existing expense that SFL would be responsible for. The town is responsible for the final invoice. Storywalk: Board Member Cooper contacted Dig Safe and they sent an email with their report that we are cleared to dig. Town Administrator Elly Phillips was consulted about the overgrowth along the fence where Sutton Free Library plans to install the storywalk. We have her permission to have a volunteer come and cut the overgrowth on the side of the fence adjacent to the library. Christopher Geragthy graciously volunteered. Board Member Cooper reached out to local businesses for supplies Lavalley’s replied and is open to covering the cost for materials. An invoice was sent through email but we need clarification if the total on the invoice is our share of the bill or their donation and if there is a delivery charge. Director Geraghty asked about the $1208.00 match from the Friends for the storywalk. Board Member Call will follow up with Carol Merullo on the funds. Installation of the posts for the storywalk was discussed. Director Geraghty asked Ben Prime about a post digger attachment on his tractor. Ben Prime volunteered to dig the holes for the post and offered to assist in installation of the posts. Holes for the posts and installation is projected to be done in two weeks. Board Member Vierzen noted the spigot outside of the library is not working. Board Member Vierzen will investigate the repair of the spigot. Final plans for installation are in process and Director Geraghty will keep the SFLBOT informed on the updates of the installation. Director’s Report Director Geraghty reports that Sutton Free Library was awarded the full amount of $5,691.71 via the SHARP grant. Director Geraghty received an email last week that we are going to be awarded the full amount. Forthcoming will be the official letter of award. Two installments and a report will be sent back in the spring. We will need to ask Dig Safe to come back to evaluate the posts for the new bulletin board. Automation is DONE! The new catalog is live and patrons can visit the site to browse. You do not need a library card to browse the automation system but they will need a library card . The automation link is not yet on the website but it will be widely shared. There is a kids catalog that is kid user friendly and is secured to show appropriate books There was a communication error in regards to the new hire. The new hire was not fingerprinted until today and the results of the background check will not be back for an additional 2-3 weeks. Director Geraghty is making an ask of the board to be open full hours again with the new hire to start work immediately under the condition that she will not receive payment for work until we receive the results of the background check. Board Member Call asked about the salary line item before making a motion. Director Geraghty reports that they will be hired as an assistant librarian to start at $15 an hour at up to 10 hours a week vs substitute librarian for $14 an hour. Director Geraghty reports that the workload is beyond the bandwidth of current staff and they are in need of support. Board Member Glynn makes a motion to hire the assistant librarian and to start work on October 26th at the rate of $15 per hour up to 10 hours per week. Board Chair Heckel seconds the motion. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative. BUDGET: A draft of the budget was discussed with changes appropriate for next year. The budget will be brought back to our next meeting with the salary details. NEW BUSINESS: Friends: Evaluation: Board Member Vierzen reports that we have received 32 responses from the evaluation with nothing really changing in regards to data. The comments and resources were interesting and should be referenced. There was consistent feedback in regards to bringing in new resources like magazine subscriptions and newsletters. A recommendation was made to consider asking the community for “subscription donations” to help cover cost. The budget committee is meeting with the select board at town hall on November 22 and November 29 at the fire station. Non-Public Session: Board Chair Heckel makes a motion to go into non-public session per RSA 91-A:3 (1: when divulgence of the information would likely adversely affect the reputation of any person, other than a member of the board itself.) The motion was seconded by Board Member Marcy Vierzen. The motion passed with a unanimous vote in the affirmative. Board Chair Heckel noted that with this motion, the board move into a non-public session. The Board decided to come out of non-public session. The next Sutton Free Library Board of Trustees Meeting is Tuesday, November 9th at 7pm. Board Member Glynn made a motion to adjourn the meeting, and this was seconded by Board Member Call. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative. The Board of Trustees meeting ended at 9:31 pm.