January 6, 2021 | Librarian BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING MINUTES ~ Corrected & Approved Date of Meeting: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 @ 7:00 pm Board Members Present Nancy Heckel (Chair); Jen Call; Diane Lander; Marcy Vierzen, Yvonne Howard, Betsy Anderson (Alternate), Elizabeth Geraghty (Library Director) Note: This meeting was conducted on ZOOM for all present. Public Present: No members of the public were present for this meeting. In light of COVID-19 Concerns and applicable executive and emergency orders, this evening’s Sutton Free Library (SFL) Board of Trustees meeting is being held per the Governor’s Executive Order 2020-04 Section 8, Emergency Order #12 Section 3. CALL TO ORDER: Roll Call, Introduction of Guests The Sutton Free Library Board of Trustees (SFL BOT) meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm by Board Chair Nancy Heckel and roll taken. No members of any households of Trustees or other members of the public were present within listening of this meeting at the beginning of the meeting. Review of Draft Minutes Heckel invited a motion to approve as written the minutes from the October 27 meeting. Board Member Jen Call made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Board Member Yvonne Howard. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative. Minutes from the November 10, 2020 special meeting were reviewed and corrections made. Heckel made a motion to approve the amended minutes, seconded by Call. Board Members Marcy Vierzen and Howard voted in favor of approving the motion; Board Member Diane Lander abstained. Correspondence No new correspondence was noted. REPORTS Financial/Treasurer’s Report Following November deposits, which included $563 from cash received from donations from the book sale on Election Day, the ending balance of the Trustee Checking Account for November 2020 is $10,174.09. It was noted that funds from Library book sales are restricted to the purchase of books for the Library. Library Director Report Geraghty noted that the Library has stopped doing the to-go-craft kits, as the worsening weather has not been conducive to leaving crafts out-of-doors. Unless requests for these are received, this service will cease until warmer months arrive. Geraghty also noticed that with the change of season and NH COVID cases increasing, the NH Library Listservs have noted that many libraries, including those who had re-opened, have returned to curbside service. In regard to automation, Geraghty noted that the Library is about 1/3 of the way to completion of this process. Budget Committee/Select Board Meetings: The meetings with the Select Board and the Sutton Town Budget Committee regarding both the Library MOU and its 2021 budget were discussed. Follow up with Town Counsel regarding the review of the MOU was discussed, along with confirmation that changes noted during the Budget meeting were updated into the SFL 2021 budget by Budget Chairperson, Bob DeFelice. There was a general discussion by members about whether or not to consider preparing a gross budget for all funds received and spent for purposes of planning and reporting. Lander noted the NHLTA RSA on this matter, which budgets and reports gross income and expenditures for libraries; Lander also suggested Board Members review Page 16 of the NHLTA for a list of budget line items. Geraghty stated that she completes an annual report from the State of NH whereby she submits the Library’s gross income and expenditures in electronic form. The income and expenditures in the Trustee account are limited and by donations; they are therefore not guaranteed. Heckel offered to review donations to the Trustee account from past years to estimate an average of these. Buildings & Grounds Update Geraghty asked when All & Awl plans to pick up the Library snow blower. Vierzen responded that All & Awl has it on their “to do” list and she will follow up to see when they plan to pick it up. The slate roof of the library has been discussed in past meetings on multiple occasions. Geraghty requested that Members do further research on who may be qualified and available to inspect it. Anderson offered to look into this further. Alarm System Regarding the alarm system, Heckel said that the quotes are in. At this point, the Library is waiting for Budget Committee Chair Bob DeFelice to inform the Library if we should move forward with the panic buttons, given that 2020 is nearly at an end. Installing a fire alarm would be a costlier venture, involving commercial grade lines, annual monitoring and hook up fees. This would need to be accounted for in the library budget, and we should determine if and when the Library is moving forward with this. Old Business Pandemic Policy Heckel suggested that members review the Pandemic Policy for the library, and Geraghty will resend the latest version. Geraghty will also resend the sample pandemic interim service policy to review. Master Plan Regarding the Master Plan for the Town of Sutton, Lander will follow up with Roger Wells on the planning board to see where that stands, and if there is a form for departments to complete to be a part of that. OLD BUSINESS Geraghty asked that the subject of reviews and the interim pandemic policy be placed on the January 5, 2021 meeting agenda. NEW BUSINESS With the library entering a time of increased COVID cases in NH, the value of libraries in their role during this time, and as communities recover, was briefly discussed. Concepts like the library calculator, which help to define the financial value of a library to a community and its patrons, as well as libraries being a vital and accessible resource for all, was noted. NEW ACTION ITEMS Upcoming meetings Mon, Dec 7 @ 4pm: Marcy Vierzen Mon, Dec 14 @ 4pm: Yvonne Howard Mon, Dec 21 @ 4pm: Diane Lander Mon, Dec 28 @ 6:15pm: Mon, Jan 4 @ 4pm: Betsy Anderson Tues, Jan 5 @ 7pm: Trustee Meeting ADJOURNMENT: Lander made a motion to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Call. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative. The meeting was adjourned at 8:26pm.
