Board of Trustees Minutes (6/17/2019)
Wiggin Memorial Library
Stratham, NH
Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Monday, June 17, 2019
Present: Library Director Lesley Kimball, Library Trustee and Treasurer Steve Simons, Library
Trustee and Secretary Susan Wilbur, Library Trustee Joanne Ward, Library Trustee Michael
Hunter, Library Alternate Trustee Kathy Bower, Library Alternate Trustee John Dozet, Library
Alternate Trustee Beth Rohloff
I. Call to Order / II. Welcome - Joanne called the meeting to order at 6:32pm and welcomed
guest Mark McCleary, president of the Friends of the WML. Joanne appointed John as a voting
member of the BOT.
III. Review/Adoption of Minutes - Michael moved to accept the May 20, 2019 meeting
minutes and Steve seconded the motion. Minutes were approved unanimously.
III. Old Business -
A. Review BOT Work Calendar -
i. Budget Preview - Lesley will discuss more in New Business but mentioned it was
important to note the BOT will start the budget process in July.
B. Equipment Loan Policy - Lesley passed out final version for signatures.
C. Book Sale Dates - October 3, 5pm, is confirmed for setup. October 4 and 5 are
confirmed for the sale. Michael will take the lead on managing the book sale.
IV. New Business -
A. Trustee 101 - Lesley distributed a list of Board Education topics for the trustees to
choose from. The schedule is as follows -
- Susan - Advocacy - July 15
- Steve - Budgets and finance - August 19
- Michael - Right to know laws - September 16
- Joanne - Open meeting laws/executive session - October 21
B. NHLTA Conference - Joanne, Michael and Susan attended on May 29.
The keynote speakers focused on library advocacy… going out to interview community
leaders, determining what the community problems are, summarizing the info, holding a
meeting then the library creates the solution - more community centric rather than
library centric. They also discussed finding personal stories, backing them up with facts
and examples of how the library has generated positive change.
C. Budget Preview - Lesley said the process has changed and now everything is due
October 1 to the town. She clarified that the library budget year is April to April but the
town fiscal year is January - December.
She also presented some background information as a preview for next month’s meeting.
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i. CIP (Capital Improvement Plan)/Space Study - CIP projects are ones that
take longer than a year so the town is asked to approve increments of money year by
year to accrue the total. The only CIP the library asks for is $5000/year for computer
upgrades.
Lesley met with David Moore, Town Administrator, to discuss space needs in town.
Lesley said the library needs more study rooms, a larger meeting room, a maker
space room (3D printer, film scanner). They discussed whether we could reconfigure
town office space plus build onto the back of the building to have space to be used by
the library as well as other demographics.
David is asking the trustees to think about putting aside CIP money to do a feasibility
study on space to determine if that would make sense for the library and larger
community. We would need to create the boundaries of what we are looking for in
order to get a quote for the cost of the study. The study could determine - would it be
possible and what would we gain?
ii. Materials/Collection Line: 2016 to 2017, the line increased 45K to 47K.
Electronic collections are the biggest increase in both usage and coast. Lesley will
review with Collections Committee.
iii. Programs Line: Could use increase but it increased in 2016, 2017, 2018 and
2019. Lesley will meet with Programming Committee to review and strategize and/or
develop justification for increase.
iv. Education/Training Line: 2020 is a PLA (Public Library Association)
conference year. In 2018, costs were $4,200. Part of that will be spent in 2019
(registration, travel reservations) and the rest in 2020.
v. Supplies Line: Review actual spending.
vi. Equipment Line: Increase to $7000 due to copier increases, print management
and additional equipment for patron use (like memory lab).
vii. Special/One-Time Project Request: Some way to carve out certain spaces
(like memory lab, sound booth) without building permanent walls. Would need plan,
cost estimates.
V. Reports -
A. Treasurer’s Report - Steve distributed the report.
Matching Gift Challenge / Annual Appeal Gifts - Steve moved to approve gifts of
$2620 and Michael seconded. Gifts were unanimously approved.
Kathy mentioned the Matching Gift Challenge was a good test to determine that a match
for donations is a good idea for fundraising. What other opportunities are there to do
another match? Another anniversary? Annual appeal?
Operating Gift - Susan moved to approve an operating gift of $120 and Steve
seconded. Gift was unanimously approved.
i. Recap - Lesley wanted to clarify definitions of lines on the treasurer’s report.
Circulating Equipment = telescope, e-readers, microscope, trail camera, etc.
Hardware = tech (CPUs, laptops, printers, etc.)
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Equipment = in-house staff use (laminator, A/V systems, disc repair, die-cut/
cricut, 3D printer, fish tank)
ii. Matching Grant - Lesley distributed two sample thank you letters. She will write
thank you notes to each person. Could the board draft the official thank you/tax
letter? Susan will draft something and send to Beth and Kathy for review.
iii. Fundraising Account - There was a recent transfer out of the fundraising
account for the following - $700 for extra copies of materials and $2000 for half of
the ILS host and support.
B. Director’s Report - Lesley distributed the report and mentioned the great article
about Courtney Wason in the June 2019 Stratham magazine. Also she met with Lee
today about computer upgrades. There will be a soft opening on the use of the film
scanner to work out the kinks. The AF shelving project is finished… the team on that was
amazing and got it done quickly.
Joanne questioned what to do with photos she has for the library’s facebook page. Send
to Lesley for posting. Can be photos around town, they don’t have to be library photos.
Lesley is still talking with the library staff about going to Thursdays at Stratham Hill
Park for a pop up library. Lesley plans to go to some of them as a town department head.
Michael questioned why there is a significant drop in new library cards. Lesley said in
part because the Stratham population remains steady and partly because the numbers of
cards are small enough each month that the percentage can be greatly affected by a small
change. There are about 4200 cards in the system, around 3000 active (in last 12
months). Can we put registration cards by town clerk office? Can we get permission at
town meetings or voting day to set up a sign up table for new cards?
Lesley brought up the question of whether the statistics in the director’s report are useful
information.
We do have a door tracker that counts people coming in and out of the library to help us
see trends. Lesley also tracks total library use monthly - looking at specifics of online use
and programming. Michael offered to help organize the spreadsheet of the statistics that
Lesley tracks.
Mark suggested putting the tracking in line with the budget to see if money is going to an
area that is growing.
Friends of the WML Update - Mark plans to arrange another Margarita’s fundraiser
closer to dates of the fall book sale. Last fall, the fundraiser brought about 52 people to
Margarita’s. He is also talking to Philips Exeter Academy about partnering on a reading
of The Christmas Carol. The event would allow for a request for donations and
potentially a bake sale. Please contact him if you have any questions or need anything
from the Friends.
VI. No Executive Session needed.
VII. Next Meeting - Monday, July 15, 2019, 6:30pm at the library.
X. Adjournment - Steve moved to adjourn and Joanne seconded the motion. Approved
unanimously and meeting was adjourned at 8:03pm.