Town of Sutton

TOWN of SUTTON

SUTTON FREE LIBRARY

5 Corporation Hill Road

Sutton Mills, NH 03221

Board of Trustees December 3, 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

Note: Board Member Heckel participated by speaker phone.

Public Present: No members of the public were present.

Call to Order

Chairperson O’Neil called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. and then called the roll.

Public Comments

No public comments.

Approval of Minutes

The Board Members discussed suggested corrections to the draft minutes of the November 5, 2019 regular meeting.

Motion: Chairperson O’Neil moved to approve the minutes of the November 5, 2019 regular meeting as amended. Board Member Heckel seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Correspondence

No correspondence.

Reports

Treasurer’s Report

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

The end of November bank statement has not been received, but, as there were no transactions over the month, the balance should remain at $10,353.14.

Library Director’s Report

Lorri Himes, Town Bookkeeper, sent Library Director Geraghty the paperwork for hiring two new substitute librarians. It likely will be another month before all the paperwork and background checks are completed.

Jim Lord has been hired by the Town to do snow removal for the Library, Police Station, and Town Hall. He will visit when there is at least 4 to 6 inches of snow. He charges a flat rate of $43 per location per visit. If there is less than 4 inches, the Library staff will need to do the Library snow cleanup. Sand is available from the Town. Library Director Geraghty said that the Town Highway Department did a really nice job this week plowing the driveway.

Irish Electric was not able to replace the remaining two interior lights this week due to the storm. The stairwell light is fixed.

State Representative Schamberg’s listening sessions have been moved to the 4th Monday of each month. From November 1st to March 31st the listening sessions will be held at 5:00 p.m. and from April 1st to October 31st they will be held at 6:00 p.m.

Library Director Geraghty submitted a New London Rotary Club Literacy Committee Mini Grant application. She requested funds for collection development instead of a summer program. As the age range is pre-elementary school, a collection development request better fits with the program’s preference of having funds go to early literacy. Library Director Geraghty provided each Board Member with a copy of her completed application.

Library Director Geraghty asked the Board Members to review Library staff pay levels. After much discussion, the Board Members developed a starting hourly wage guideline. This guideline is to be reviewed at least once a year and updated when needed.

Motion: Board Member Lander moved that Substitute Librarians start at $14 per hour, Assistant Librarians with no advanced library education (e.g., ALA/MLIS) start at $15 per hour, and Assistant Librarians with advanced library education (e.g., ALA/MLIS) start at $16 per hour. Board Member Call seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

The Board Members then compared current Library Staff pay levels to this guideline and discussed adjusting the Library Staff pay levels accordingly.

Building/Grounds Committee Report

Board Member Call received and signed the TDS Right of Entry and Equipment Installation Agreement contract for fiber optic service. She reminded the Board members that it can take up to a month to get the paperwork in order before TDS comes to install the new wires.

Friends of Sutton Free Library Report

The Friends of Sutton Free Library will hold a Cookies & Crafts event on Saturday December 7th from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon.

New Business

2020 Proposed Library Budget

Library Director Geraghty emailed Robert DeFelice, Chair of the Sutton Budget Committee, a one page spreadsheet that he had asked for when the Library Trustees met with the Budget Committee.

Elly Phillips, Town Administrator, forwarded to Library Director Geraghty a copy of the draft minutes of the November 18th meeting of the Library Trustees and the Budget Committee.  Library Director Geraghty and Board Member Anderson read the draft minutes, noting some inaccuracies. Board Member Anderson emailed Robert DeFelice, Chair of the Sutton Budget Committee, providing corrections. The Board Members are waiting to hear if they need to meet again with the Budget Committee, and, if they do, they can then officially ask the corrections be made.

At this point in the meeting, Board Member Heckel needed to stop participating in the discussion and the phone connection was terminated. Chairperson O’Neil then designated Board Member Anderson to sit for Board Member Heckel for the remainder of the meeting.

Library Capital Reserve Funds

The invoice for the bathroom architectural design was paid from the Library Ramp fund. The funds need to come out of the Library Modification fund. Board Member Anderson will verify with Elly Phillips, Town Administrator, that the transfer of funds adjustment was completed.

Old Business

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

Review of the draft Memorandum of Understanding with the Town was deferred to another regular meeting.

Announcements and Next Meeting

No announcements.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for January 7, 2020.  Members of the Sutton Planning Board will be attending to discuss the Master Plan review process and receive input from the Trustees on the role of the Library in the Town and the needs of the Library.

Adjournment

Motion: There being no further business, Chairperson O’Neil moved to adjourn the meeting. Board Member Howard seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative. The meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Diane M. Lander, Recording Secretary