Minutes Home - Hours - Book Chat Room - Calendar - Reference - Contact Us

Grafton Public Library Trustees Meeting Minutes

November 16, 2015, 6:30 pm

Attending: Bob Donald, Lucia Corwin, Andrea Dunmire, Christopher Schemm, Deborah Toomey, librarian Michelle Dufort.

Bob Donald brought the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. The minutes from October 15, 2015 were approved.

Librarian’s Report

Michelle has completed a draft financial report for the Town and the Auditors. All the papers and the filings are complete with everything prepared for the state reports as well.

Thanks to the many folks that have helped with the Library building and grounds. Michelle suggested that an adjunct Building and Grounds committee be created which would include the folks who currently help: Ray Lisai, Charlie Carta and David Whittall. Once formed, the Board could give the new committee direction and offer our profound thanks for all they have done.

The light that was not operating correctly will be fixed by Gus Plummer. It needs a new ballast which costs approximately $75.

The Grafton Historical Society will focus next (after Daisy Turner) on Mildred Walker Schemm. The Library needs to replace worn copies of her books which are available in paperback. Michelle suggested that she meet with Tanya Evans to obtain her accord on using the remaining $500 of the Jean Whitnack monies to fund the purchase of the books, display materials and any potential co-sponsorship of a future program on this topic with the Grafton Historical Society. Christopher Schemm mentioned that his mother and Ms. Whitnack were very dear friends.

Automation

The addition of the non-fiction to the catalog with unique barcodes is almost complete. So far over 1,300 books have been entered and the Library volunteers have been essential in completing this so far. As older books have been discovered, Michelle has been required to do some original cataloging, a time-consuming process. Fiction will be barcoded and entered soon and will go more quickly than the non-fiction collections.

The Board discussed the books and ephemera stored in the attic. While some material may be considered for donation to other organizations, this should be put on hold until the automation is complete and a member of the Board along with the librarian, have been able to review the stored materials. Once the materials are uncovered, Michelle recommended that we ask Allen Berolzheimer to review some of the unearthed books.

Building and Grounds

In regards to taking down the diseased trees on the Library lawn, the Select Board meeting where it would be discussed coincided with the Library Board meeting, so what financial support the Library might receive is not known. Regardless, the trees need to be removed.

Three bids were received for painting the Library building. The bid by Kent Haskell was selected unanimously by the Board.

Other Business

Andrea Dunmire crafted this year’s fundraising letter. She provided a graphic that clearly explained where the donations went. A few changes and edits were made to ensure that the letter fit on one page. Thank you, Andrea for taking on this task when Deborah was ill and unable to do it.

Now is the time when we enter requests to be considered at Town Meeting for the budget. We are okay this year, but next year will need to be prepared to request funds since we will have had the expense of tree removal and the painting of the library.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Deborah Toomey

Secretary