martha canfield library

PO Box 267 • 528 East Arlington Road, Arlington, VT • 05250
802.375.6153 • martha_canfield_lib@hotmail.com

  • Tuesday — 9:00AM – 8:00PM
  • Wednesday — 9:00AM – 5:00PM
  • Thursday — 9:00AM – 8:00PM
  • Friday — 2:00PM – 6:00PM
  • Saturday — 10:00AM – 3:00PM

Russell Collection

Open 9:00AM – 5:00PM
Tuesdays or by appointment

MARTHA CANFIELD MEMORIAL LIBRARY
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
September 11, 2017

**Minutes are considered to be in DRAFT form until approved at the next scheduled meeting**

The Board meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM

In attendance: Alyson Grzyb, Carrie Gutbier, John Spencer, Phyllis Skidmore (Librarian), Bill Budde (Russell Collection), Sheila Kearns, Dave Thomas, Simon Metcalf, Brian Allen, Bob Dudley, Sandy Vassallo, Cindy Pike

Absent: Charlie Cummings, Dave Van De Water

The additions to the agenda were.

Minutes

  • August 2017 – Cherese Madigan was added as an attendee. Other adjustments were made. Sheila moved that the August minutes be approved as revised. Cindy seconded. The motion was unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report (summary):

  • Cindy sent the report today
  • She reported that not too much was happening. She will have to do a draw this month.
  • Brian is drafting/writing a letter to big donors and then one to the other donors.
  • Last year one person from each town signed the letter. We need to decide what to do this year. It was suggested that Don Keelan be asked to sign for Arlington.

Librarian’s Report (summary):

  • The new inter-library loan system is working well. An increase in inter-library loans is being seen. Peggy likes the new system. Discussion continued about the new system.
  • Martha’s Book House has new book cases from The Vermont Country Store
  • Advocates group is working on getting gift baskets and gift certificates for the basket raffle.
  • 50/50 raffle is going on right now. Prize will be drawn on Halloween.
  • Basket from the board – last year was comfy-cozy. Discussed what a good theme for this year would be. Chocolate is always a good theme. Basket drawing will be when Santa visits. It was decided we would do Best sellers plus a treat that goes with the book. Need to have basket assembled and ready by November 10.
  • Phyllis did some weeding on some crammed sections of the library
  • Phyllis is taking application for crafters for the craft fair in December

Martha’s Book House Report

  • Sandy reported the book house is doing well
  • We need a new sign for the book house
  • End of year will be October 31st this year
  • The plan is to do a new sign over the winter. Get estimates and build it into the 2018 budget
  • Alyson said that approval by the town may be required – Sandy will contact the town office
  • We need to announce a hold on book donations
  • Still need people to sort books in the library basement

Russell Collection Report

  • August was an interesting month – visitors from as far as Maryland
  • Planning an annual display of U.S.S. Bennington
  • Folks who now own the Arlington station stopped in and have asked for old photos to blow up and display in their home.
  • Some students have been doing research on a Sunderland family
  • There is discussion about charging a fee for having the Collection provide photographs

Finance Committee Meeting

  • The finance committee met on July 22nd
  • Cindy reported on first half of 2017 and the outlook for the remainder of the year
  • Missy Kraus who handles our investments was present. She stated we have done a little better than standard indexes. Current value is approximately $1,400,000.
  • Committee will meet again in December to review budget proposal for 2018.

Old Business:

1. Follow up on DCF award. We had discussed putting some information on the website which Bill gathered and Laura put it up on the website. Should we continue to plan a community discussion on the topic? John Whalen has agreed to moderate a discussion. Someone from the Department of Libraries will likely attend. Phyllis is meeting with John W. tomorrow to start planning. People with opinions on both sides will be contacted to see if they are interested in participating. Targeting a scheduled date toward the end of September prior to the VT Dept of Libraries decision on the matter.

2. Landscaping – no additional information or discussion at this time.

New Business:

1. Sunday, September 24th – Ham and bean dinner to benefit the Library. Asked for volunteers.
2. Need to start thinking about filling some board vacancies. Charlie Cummings has resigned from the board. We already have one board opening. Also need to start thinking about a new slate of officers. May need up to 5 new members. We should probably start “advertising” again. Bennington Banner, FPF, etc. If anyone is interested in the President or Treasurer position, talk to Alyson
3. Long range plan check-in. Review goals for 2017.
* Collection – moving forward well
* Adult programming – achieving goals (programs nearly every month)
* Youth programming – we’ve done game days and crafts. We have not surveyed students yet, but Simon needs a stats project so we’ll see what we can tie together
* Children’s programming – all goals achieved!
* Staff and Volunteers – Need to hold training on computer and copier – rest is complete or in progress
* Technology – ask for $7,500 for new computers. Phyllis will contact Florence Belnap, plan technology workshops
* Building – done!
* Grounds – complete for this year.
* Canfield Gallery – were not able to host movies due to licensing issues.
* Russell Collection – all goals being met.
* Community Awareness – some work still remains – increasing metrics
* Relations with town select boards – present before Arlington Select board – more work needed
* Fundraising – target annual fund increase of 5% over last year
4. 65 People attended the K9 program at the Library yesterday.
5. Dave V. may be taking over as chair of the Canfield Gallery replacing Valerie.
6. John will not be able to attend the October meeting, so another person will need to take minutes. Carrie volunteered to take minutes.

 

Next meeting – Monday, October 2nd at 7PM
Meeting adjourned at 8:33 PM.

New Books

for all ages

clean-up

Click to see updated lists