Town of Sutton

TOWN of SUTTON

SUTTON FREE LIBRARY

5 Corporation Hill Road

Sutton Mills, NH 03221

Board of Trustees November 5, 2019 Regular Meeting

Corrected and Approved Minutes

Board Members Present: Diane O’Neil, Chairperson; Nancy Heckel, Treasurer; Jennifer Call; Yvonne Howard; Diane Lander; Betsy Anderson, Alternate; and Elizabeth Geraghty, Library Director

Public Present: Tom Schamberg, Wilmot Resident and State Representative

Call to Order

Chairperson O’Neil called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and then called the roll.

Public Comments

No public comments.

Approval of Minutes

There were no suggested corrections to the draft minutes of the September 26, 2019 special meeting public session.

Motion: Board Member Call moved to approve the minutes of the September 26, 2019 special meeting public session as written.  Board Member Heckel seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative with Board Member Howard abstaining as she did not attend the September 26, 2019 special meeting.

There were no suggested corrections to the draft minutes of the October 21, 2019 special meeting.

Motion: Board Member Call moved to approve the minutes of the October 21, 2019 special meeting as written.  Chairperson O’Neil seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

The Board discussed suggested corrections to the draft minutes of the October 1, 2019 regular meeting.

Motion: Board Member Call moved to approve the minutes of the October 1, 2019 regular meeting as amended.  Board Member Heckel seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Correspondence

Fall 2019 issue of the NHLTA newsletter

October 2019 Sugar River Bank statement

New London Rotary Club Literacy Committee correspondence re: 2019-2020 Mini Grants

Reports

Treasurer’s Report

Balance as of August 21, 2019: $10,353.14

No further transactions.

Balance as of October 23, 2019: $10,353.14

Library Director Geraghty presented the Board with $410.00 from the Friends’ book sale drawer cash and the overdue/guilt money.

Motion: Board Member Heckel moved to accept the funds.  Board Member Call seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Library Director Geraghty requested that this $410 in cash plus the $100.00 check from Pat Lomans submitted at last month’s regular meeting be used to purchase books.

Motion: Chairperson O’Neil moved to accept the $510 be used for book purchases.  Board Member Howard seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Library Director Geraghty will be submitting book order invoices totaling $518.96 to Board Treasurer Heckel and requests the remaining $8.96 come from the Library Trustees account.

Motion: Chairperson O’Neil moved to take $8.96 out of the Library Trustees account to pay for the remaining cost of the book order invoices.  Board Member Call seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Library Director’s Report

Diane Lander and Susan Knight donated a table.  Library Director Geraghty stated that she has already used the table twice.  The table is stored upstairs, behind the couch, for ease of access.

Volunteers worked outside about 4 hours this month: Chris Geraghty did mulching, Caroline Bacon readied beds for winter.  And Rosepath Gardens donated four plants.

There is a new monthly meeting happening at the Library at 6:30 p.m. the first Monday of each month.  The Sutton Butterfly Society is run by Sutton Conservation Committee.

The Library book discussion group asked Library Director Geraghty to create an online survey.  The group is searching for a better day/time to meet. The responses are all over the place. Library Director Geraghty will share the results with the book discussion group at its next meeting in December.

Library Director Geraghty started an account with a second book distributor in order to research more competitive pricing.  Library Director Geraghty already uses Baker & Taylor, and now has added Ingram.

The estimate from Brian Thompson for summer flower bed maintenance is $650.00.  Library Director Geraghty adjusted the proposed 2020 budget accordingly.

There is a new ILL system in place for the state.  Library Director Geraghty is learning how to use the system.  The system is working well so far. One downside to the new system is that the borrowing library can no longer choose which libraries to borrow from.  This affects the travel time of the borrowed items, which has usually been one week but now could be anywhere from two days to three weeks.

Library Director Geraghty received a correspondence from the New London Rotary Club Literacy Committee about Mini Grant Applications for 2019-2020.  The grants awarded are between $150 and $500. Library Director Geraghty will submit a grant application and, if awarded, would like to use the awarded funds for the Simon Brooks program.  The deadline to apply for a grant is December 2nd.

Robert DeFelice, Chair of the Sutton Budget Committee, wants to approach the Select Board to suggest the Town hire one Town employee to maintain the grounds of the Town Hall, Sutton Free Library, Sutton Police Station, and Sutton Fire Station all year-round. (i.e., grass, leaves, flower beds, snow removal).  He also would like a second new Town hire for inside cleaning (custodial) of the same four town buildings. This would not be for this budget year.

The Library is still looking for someone to snow blow.  The person must have liability insurance and be available specific hours.  The Board discussed putting an ad in the shopper and Board Member Call contacting Relax & Co and Pleasant Acres.  Also, The Board would like to know how much it would cost to insure an individual to do needed winter work. Board Member Call will ask the Town Administrator.

Library Director Geraghty suggested that, if the Trustees are still concerned about having one employee on during dark fall/winter hours, perhaps a winter hour change should be implemented.  The hours the library is open would not decrease, just be changed to a different time in the day. Also, the motion sensor light out back is now installed and working.

Motion: Board Member Heckel moved that from November 1st to April 1st of each year the Library hours be changed as follows:

Monday: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Board Member Call seconded the motion.  The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Library Director Geraghty requested the Trustees hire two Substitute Librarians.  The current Library assistants work limited hours or times of the year or have full-time jobs.  The new attendants would be for emergency use only. It is estimated that they would each work under 30 hours per year, for a possible total of 60 hours per year.  Library Director Geraghty has two retired librarians in mind. If voted on and passed, the Town would need to be informed and all pertinent paperwork acquired.

Motion: Chairperson O’Neil moved to hire two Library attendants at an hourly rate to be determined at a later date.  Board Member Howard seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

A new program that will be starting soon is a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten early literacy program.

The summer reading program theme for 2020 is Imagine Your Story.  The focus will be on Fairy Tales/Mythology/Fantasy.  Library Director Geraghty has discussed this with the Assistant Librarian and it was decided to run the program Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. from July 1st to July 29th.  Five programs (one for each day) are already confirmed.  The total estimated cost for all five programs is $2,050.  The proposed 2020 programming budget can cover two programs.  Library Director Geraghty hopes a New London Rotary Club Literacy Committee mini grant (see bottom page 2) will cover one program and that the Friends will work towards grants/fundraising to cover another two (estimate is $600 total for the two).  None of the programs need to be paid for until the day of the program, meaning there is plenty of time to secure funds.

Library Director Geraghty requested to overdraw the Supplies budget line by no more than $1,200.00.  The funds will be spent entirely on audiobook cases. The cardboard cases are getting destroyed and not protecting the CDs.  This will not overdraw the 2019 budget bottom line. If approved, an email will need to be sent to the Board of Selectmen by the Trustees informing the Selectmen of which line item will be overdrawn.

Motion: Chairperson O’Neil moved to allow Library Director Geraghty to overdraw the Supplies budget line by no more than $1,200.00, as long as this does not cause the Library to go over its 2019 total Town budget allowance, and to spend the funds on audiobook cases.  Board Member Call seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Board Member Call will email the Town Administrator in order to inform the Board of Selectmen of the Trustees decision.

Library Director Geraghty requested that the fruit snacks left over from Halloween be donated to the Elementary School.

Motion: Board Member Lander moved that the fruit snacks left over from Halloween be donated to the Elementary School.  Board Member Howard seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Library Director Geraghty requested that the Library not be open the day before Thanksgiving.  She stated that she cannot find coverage for that day. Also, there would be no listening session with Representative Schamberg that day.

Motion: Board Member Howard moved that the Library not be open the day before Thanksgiving.  Chairperson O’Neil seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Building/Grounds Committee Report

Capitol Alarm came this afternoon (November 5th) to check on the alarm system and fire extinguishers to make sure everything is in working order.  One fire extinguisher is fine but the two downstairs extinguishers needed to be replaced.

Irish Electric installed 8 new thread adapters into upstairs light fixtures and added fancy new bulbs.  The light upstairs is now fantastic! Three other upstairs lights are not yet fixed and Library Director Geraghty is hoping to get Irish Electric back in to fix these as well.  The back stairwell light blew a couple days after Irish Electric came. This was not one of the ones Irish Electric fixed.  Library Director Geraghty is hoping to get Irish Electric back in really soon as this stairwell starts to get dark around 4:00 p.m.  Irish Electric also installed a motion sensor light out back.

Library Director Geraghty received an invoice from Irish Electric and will see if it can be paid with funds from the new pooled capital reserve.

TDS called about installing fiber optics.  The Town Administrator needs to fill out and sign a form for permission to alter the building.  Assuming the Library has a separate TDS contract, the Trustees need to fill out and sign a contract for fiber optics.  It can take up to a month to get the paperwork in order before TDS comes to install the new wires.

The person doing the chimney and roofing work for the Town was hurt.  Hopefully he will be able to return to work soon.

Budget Update:

The capital reserve fund for the interior modifications has a balance of about $20,000.  Some of these funds will be used to pay the architect for the ADA bathroom design. 

Motion: Board Member Call moved to ask $15,000 be added to the capital reserve fund for the interior modifications.  Chairperson O’Neil seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Board Member Anderson will notify Robert DeFelice, Chair of the Sutton Budget Committee, of this request.

The RFP for the ramp should be in the InterTown Record and the Concord Monitor (Tuesday and Sunday).  The deadline for responding to the RFP is December 9th.  The site meeting is to be held at the Library.  The warrant article will be submitted after the 1st of the year.

Friends of Sutton Free Library Report

The Friends’ next meeting is on November 6th.

Old Business

The Action Items list was reviewed and Board Member Lander will update the list accordingly.

New Business

The Planning Board is currently reviewing the Town Master Plan.  Board Member Lander will contact Roger Wells, Chairman of the Planning Board, to ask if the Planning Board would like input from the Library.

Announcements and Next Meeting

The meeting with the Sutton Budget Committee is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Monday, November 18th.  All Trustees are encouraged to attend.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for December 3, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.

Adjournment

Motion: There being no further business, Chairperson O’Neil moved to adjourn the meeting.  Board Member Call seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.  The meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Diane M. Lander, Recording Secretary