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Board of Trustees
Monroe Free Library
Minutes of Monthly Meeting
Monday, November 12, 2007
                                                                       

Present:            Patrick Carey
                        Kathy Demos
                        Denise Harris
                        Catherine Hilliard
                        Sandra Keltai
                        Charles Pakula
                        Rose Ann Pomares
                        Patricia Shanley
                        Gary Skeels
                        Gerrie Whittington
                        Beth Zeman
                        Barbara Zerner
        
Excused Absence: Mary Pobedinsky
                  
Also Present:    Marilyn McIntosh, Library Director; Suzanne Skeels, Assistant Library
                        Director; Maria Vasquez-Doles, President of the Friends of the Monroe
                        Free Library; Sue Croston, Library staff member
                         
__________________________________________________________

Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 8:02 pm by Board President, Denise Harris.

Guests at the Meeting Speak to the Board
Sue Croston, a new member of the staff, introduced herself to the Board.    She works at the Circulation Desk, has a Batchelor’s degree from Fordham, and lives in Washingtonville.   She originally worked as a lab technician, but obtained a position at the office at Chapel Field when her daughter started attending the school.     She added that she was interested in obtaining a library degree.

Maria Vasquez-Doles introduced herself to the Board, saying she wished that she had visited with us sooner.     She went on to describe how she had become President of the Friends.    She said that it was her mother who had introduced her to libraries as a child.     Because of her regard for libraries, she became involved with the re-establishment of the Friends.    She was interested in an officer position with the group and accepted the position of President.     When she learned that expansion of the Library was being planned, she began to plan fund-raisers, as well as being involved with getting petitions signed for the annual operating budget drive.    She has also begun a drive to get more members for the Friends.     She also voiced her upset at the fact that building expansion referendum had not passed (she said that she and her husband had been distributing flyers just before the election).

The members of the Board complimented Maria on her efforts and those of the Friends and urged her not to be discouraged.    She asked the Board to keep her informed about future developments.

 Discussion of the Results of the November Vote by the Board

Denise Harris asked each Board member to voice their feelings about the results of the vote.    The Board then engaged in a more general discussion of the vote and how to deal with the results.

Marilyn McIntosh also spoke in particular about the apparent defeat of the operating budget (note: when absentee ballots were counted subsequently, the defeat of the budget was affirmed).   She had begun to rework the budget, and said the Board might have to consider reinstating the previous fines for DVDs.    She went on to say that we had definitely run out of space in the present building, so we will have to buy fewer books, and we would be in trouble if OSHA  or the State came in to inspect -- since we are not in compliance, we should move forward eventually on building plans.   She had gotten a message from Mike Conte that the building project should be scaled down, and it was definitely her feeling we should drop the idea of being a community center, and be instead basically a library for the town.    In addition, we should look to the possibility of getting grants from corporations for future building.

Suzanne Skeels suggested to the Board that it might be a good idea to demolish the former dentist’s building next door; it was her concern that, if we don’t take this step, people will begin increasingly to urge us to us this building if we have run out of space.

Disposition of the Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of October 15, 2007
Barbara Zerner made a motion to accept the minutes without changes; Gary Skeels seconded the motion, and the Board voted to approve the minutes.

Correspondence
None.   

Library Director’s Report
Marilyn said that she had deliberately made her written report very brief this month so that the Board would have maximum time to discuss the results of the vote.   

Treasurer’s Report
Beth Zeman delivered the report, and said she wanted to point out ways we could augment our budget in the future, such as reinstating DVD fees, and also possibly increasing the charge for making copies.    Kathy Demos asked if there was an understanding why the copy line on the report was so low.     Marilyn responded, saying that her feeling was that patrons are more often using home copying machines, rather than using the Library’s copier; also, copying was never intended to be a big money maker for the Library.   

Pat Carey made a motion to accept the report; Sandy seconded the motion, and the Board voted to approve the motion.

Beth spoke further about reinstituting the one dollar DVD fee.     Denise Harris then proposed tabling this fee until December, when we would know the final result of the budget vote (since she would not be able to attend the December meeting, Barbara Zerner wanted it noted that she supported fee increases).

Committee Reports

Nominating
Gary Skeels announced that John Wells, who was not at this meeting, had resigned from the Board.    As a result of discussion by the committee, Gary proposed that Gerrie Whittington be moved up to full membership on the Board.    Pat Carey seconded Gary’s proposal, and the Board approved the proposal and congratulated Gerrie.

Denise said that asking Beverly Bowen of the Friends to fill one of the vacant Associate positions was also considered by the committee; the Board approved of this idea.

By-Laws
The Board examined the proposed changes to the by-laws.    With no subsequent discussion of the changes, Pat Carey proposed that the changes be adopted, Charlie Pakula seconded, and Board voted to adopt the changes.

Finance 
Beth Zeman announced that we had taken in $9,600 thus far for the annual fund drive.
 
Fund Raising
Charlie Pakula passed out to the Board a copy of the proposed letter that would be used for soliciting ads for the Centennial Journal.  Charlie then made a motion to ask the Board to authorize $10,000 for Journal-related expenses.  The Board then engaged in a discussion on the proposed prices for the Journal ads: Beth Zeman felt that, as head of the Finance Committee, there should be a breakdown of costs before the Board authorized $10,000 for the Journal.    Charlie replied that it was his feeling that most of the money would be spent on postage for sending out the solicitation letters (He was figuring on doing 10,000 mailings).

As a result of the discussion many Board members felt that $100 was too high a price for the lowest category of Journal ad; the consensus was that it should be reduced to $50, since the lower price would likely attract more advertisers.   

Unfinished and Ongoing Business
None.   

 

New and Miscellaneous
Marilyn McIntosh read a note to the Board about the annual holiday Library boutique being held in early December.

Charlie Pakula thanked Gary Skeels for all of his work devoted to the building project.     

Good and Welfare
None.

Adjournment
Cathy Hilliard made a motion to adjourn; Barbara Zerner seconded, and the Board approved.   The meeting ended at 10:26 pm.