Board of Trustees Minutes (12/14/2020)
Wiggin Memorial Library Stratham, NH Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Monday, December 14, 2020, 6:30pm Virtual Meeting Via Zoom
I. Call to Order - Kate Kim called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm.
Attendees - Library Director Lesley Kimball, Library Trustee and Chair Kate Kim, Library Trustee Michael Hunter, Library Trustee and Treasurer Steve Simons, Library Trustee and Secretary Susan Wilbur, Library Trustee Joanne Ward, Library Alternate Trustee Kathy Bower, Library Alternate Trustee Mike Deutsch
II. Welcome / Guests -
III. Review / Adoption of Minutes - Susan made a motion to adopt the November 16 and December 7, 2020 meeting minutes. Michael seconded the motion. Via roll call vote, all voted in favor.
IV. Director’s Report - Lesley shared via email.
The library is on pickup service only which is a good choice based on the community situation. All remote work will be finished by 12/31/20. Lesley did ask the staff for a list of ideas if they had to go back to working from home.
Lesley is looking at extending pick up hours on Thursday and Friday and adding Saturday pick up hours but will wait until the new year to implement. Lesley will review the service plan during the middle of January with the hopes of ramping service back up as soon as possible - the first step will be going back to browsing appointments.
Steve asked about requiring vaccinations for employees and staff. Lesley said there is a NHMA seminar coming up that will address those types of legal issues and she will be attending for more information. Kathy asked if there is an advantage to seeing if staff want to use vacation time if working remotely becomes necessary. Lesley said that could be an option.
Lesley is interested in the circulation stats she shared. She did start a survey on the library listserv, out of curiosity, asking other libraries where they are at with traditional circulation this year vs last year and whether they’ve been open to the public. How much does curbside pickup affect borrowing? Digital usage continues to be way up compared to last year. Courtney, Sam and Karen are putting together data on the program bags that have been distributed. It is hard to get accurate attendance data for zoom programming.
V. Old Business -
a. Budget Process Update -
i. Scheduled Presentation Date -
ii. Presentation Guidelines & Plan - Lesley is scheduled to present the proposed library budget to the Select Board on 12/22, 7pm - the fire department is up first then the library is presenting. It is in person and the Select Board is just asking for department heads to attend. Lesley will find out if there is a Zoom option so the BOT can attend. David Moore shared with Lesley that the suggestion is to submit a budget that allows for maintaining current services. Lesley gave Dawna an update today that the salary request is a 1% increase for salaried staff (except Assistant Director position), 2% for customer service librarians, 3% for shelvers/customer service staff with a bottom line of a 5% increase in the overall budget - all from the salary line. Lesley should finish the draft of the presentation tomorrow and will send it out to BOT for thoughts about what should be highlighted. The Assistant Director’s salary is included in the payroll line as if it’s for the full year although that position is vacant right now.
b. Guidance Plan (tabled until 2021)
c. Fundraising
i. Sweet Grass Farm - 10 order forms have been submitted. Order forms did go into bags. The library will get 50% of all the sales. Joanne will pick up the forms to collate and submit them to Sweet Grass.
ii. Annual Appeal - The Giving Tuesday program is going very well. Lesley mentioned that there have been 6 new donors this year. The library has deposited $1905 in donations plus has also received donations via PayPal. Kathy asked how much the annual appeal usually brings in. Lesley said usually $4-5ooo plus there has been an annual $10,000 gift from a specific donor.
VI. New Business -
a. Organizational Structure Review Process - Lesley said it is time to look at the library’s organizational structure. As the library brings in a new assistant director in the coming year, it’s a good time to review the entire structure based on the services provided. She will be looking at how would it be designed if the library was starting from scratch and also looking at personnel management. Lesley has asked in staff appraisals how the staff feels about the current organizational structure. Lesley will bring her thoughts to the BOT at a future meeting. Steve asked about hiring from within for the Assistant Director position. Lesley has to post the position first then anyone can apply. For the Director/Asst. Director positions, Michael D. suggested a framework of having one person do external duties, one do internal duties with the option to overlap if necessary.
VII. Treasurer’s Report - Lesley put together and emailed the report to the BOT. Steve shared we are in good shape. Steve moved to accept the donations of $1905 (annual appeal). Susan seconded the motion. Via roll call vote, all voted in favor. The BOT will have to accept the donations via PayPal in the future.
VIII. Executive Session (Non-public session if necessary) RSA 91-A:3 a. Personnel Matters (91-A:3 a) Lesley requested an executive session. Joanne made a motion to go into a nonpublic session based on reasons A and C listed in RSA 91-A:3; Steve seconded the motion. Via roll call vote, all voted in favor. Executive session began at 7:26 pm. Joanne moved to come out of executive session; Steve seconded the motion. Via roll call vote, all voted in favor. The public session resumed at 8:46 pm. Steve made a motion to seal the executive session minutes; Michael seconded the motion. Via roll call vote, all voted in favor.
IX. Next Meeting -
a. Budget Presentation - December 22, 2020, 7pm
b. Regular BOT Meeting - January 18, 2021, 6:30pm - This falls on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
X. Adjournment - Steve moved to adjourn the meeting; Joanne seconded the motion. Via roll call vote, all voted in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 8:47pm.