Stephentown Memorial Library Board of Trustees Meeting November 8, 2018 Present: Scott M, Kim, Tom, Scott W, Alice, Rebekkah, Melanie, Nettie, Ed, Marcia Absent: Bob i. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm Scott M thanked Trustees for help with Veterans Annual meeting November 7. Also thanks to Pizza Plus, the Youth Commission for their Halloween events, and to the judges who awarded Nettie the most creative costume!!! ii. Adoption of Agenda. Scott M distributed a draft of the second 2018 Annual Appeal to be sent to those on our donor list who have not responded yet. He also distributed the recent copy of the New Lebanon Library newsletter which contains their appeal and an envelope to return donations. Nettie moved and Marcia seconded to adopt the agenda. All voted in favor. Motion carried. iii. Funding vote results and next steps. The 414 proposition passed by 42 votes (52% to 48%) on election day. There are still 86 absentee ballots to be counted, which could influence the final outcome.
Scott M asked Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt if he might be interested in contacting the Rensselaer County Board of Elections about the time frame of the ballot count on behalf of the Town Board since they need to have their 2019 budget finalized and submitted within two weeks and the final outcome impacts their plans as well. We discussed how we can thank our supporters. The ideas include: a banner, email, a letter to the editor of Eastwick Press, a two sided sign at the road in front of the library. Scott M mentioned that some libraries no longer do book sales, but have a permanent wall of for sale books, as we do. iv. Reading and Approval of the October minutes: Alice read the October minutes. Nettie moved and Ed seconded to approve the October minutes. All voted in favor. Motion carried. v. Halloween Events Review: Rebekkah reported that there was a Teen event on Saturday October 27 for grades 6-9. 19 teens attended. They carved pumpkins, ate pizza and watched two episodes of the popular show Stranger Things on Amazon s charitable donation site Amazon SMILE. The event proved so successful that the Youth Commission is
scheduling another Teen night after Thanksgiving with similar elements except pumpkin carving. The Halloween Party was held on Saturday October 28th from 1-3 pm at the Stephentown Fire Hall followed by Trunk or Treat outside. 219 people attended. There was a costume contest, games and snacks. The Girl Scouts helped out. Melanie thanked the Trustees for donations of water. 76 children, 46 teens and 95 adults participated. These teen events are being presented as part of our contract with the Town of Stephentown to manage all of its annual Youth Commission events, including the Easter Egg Hunt, Youth Summer Camp and Halloween Party. Rebekkah said we need a new Bunny Suit for our Easter event in the spring. vi. Veterans Lunch November 10: Scott M will meet with Phyllis DeFreest Friday at 3 pm to go over the plan for luncheon. Trustees will be at the Fire Hall from 10-2. Luncheon is about noon. They will only have one speaker so the event may be shorter than last year. vii. Holiday Market Saturday, December 1 from 2-5 pm: Kim reported that we have 5 vendors so far.
Kim will ask the Girl Scouts if they will help out at the event. Kim will reach out to the Berlin Music Department to see if any of their groups would like to perform again this year. It is a good idea to feature the Mitten Tree on facebook. Alice will coordinate baked goods- people may drop off their goodies on Friday November 30. viii. Director s Report (see attached) We need email addresses for all card holders. Scott M reported that out of 732 adults and 131 youth card holders we have only 500 email addresses. Kim said that one of the reasons cards expire is to UPDATE contact information. ix. Treasurer s Report Nettie discovered a discrepancy between the numbers we approved in our 2018 budget and those appearing on the YTD reports from QuickBooks. She believes the issue is on the projected income side and will check with Doris to investigate further. Other than expected overages on the payroll lines, we are sticking to our budget and our financial resources look good for now.
We are still short on donations. A fund raising letter is going out soon. More than 100 letters will go out now. If we use SMILE Amazon SML will get funds. Marcia reported that she and Nettie visited Hoosick, Troy, Berlin and Lansingburgh libraries. They found it very interesting to see how other libraries use their spaces. They particularly like the rolling bookcases in Berlin. Scott M recounted a few stories about the Library shared by Town Historian Pat Flint after the Veterans Meeting last night and suggested we remember to invite her to tell them again at our Charter Day and Founders Day events in 2019. x. Remaining 2018 tasks, Budget, Director contract and Bonuses. We discussed how to enlist new people/supporters and get ideas about what people want for their library. We could have a number of different timed meetings to elicit response from the community. Scott M and Nettie would love to speak to others who could step into their roles on the board.
xi. Old Business xii. Call for Public Comment xiii. New Business There was a brief discussion about the renaissance in Stephentown. A new restaurant is coming; Dave s Market is open; 4 Fat Foul is moving to the school across from the library; Everett Madden retired. xiv. Call to Adjourn 9:19 pm Nettie moved and Tom seconded to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted Alice Swersey, Secretary