Minutes, Gates Public Library, Board of Trustees, September 20, 2006

Present: Amy Gardner, President; Pam Brady, Neelima Gokhale, Paula LaManna, Julia Rivoli, Ralph Esposito, Supervisor; Judy MacKnight, Library Director

Absent: Bob Renehan, Linda Tribotte

Visitors: Friend Board members: Paul Harvey, Joan Bawden, and Judy Severence.
Gail Renehan

I Meeting was called to order at 7:07 p.m. by President Gardner.

II Agenda Changes: None

III Visitors’ Comments: None

IV Supervisor’s Comments: Supervisor Esposito thanked everyone for their survey participation. He stated he took action on the survey resulting in eliminating $30,000 from the library budget for 2007. He also said Trustee Bob Renehan reviewed the survey results involving the library.

V Correspondence: Ms. MacKnight shared a retirement letter from Jude Hanscom, Library Clerk, effective December 29, 2006, a letter from Janet Welch re` library construction and an idea from a library employee concerning a fundraising idea. All correspondence was made available for Board perusal.

President Gardner reviewed a complaint letter from a library patron involving returned materials found on the shelf. Ms. Gardner will respond to the patron suggesting they should request a receipt for returned materials.

VI Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the August 16, 2006 minutes was made by Julia Rivoli, seconded by Pam Brady and motion carried unanimously.

VII Approval of Personnel Report: A motion to approve the September 2006 Personnel Report
was made by Paula LaManna, seconded by Pam Brady and motion carried unanimously.

VIII      Financial Review:
            a. Approval of Financial/Year to Date/Budget Projection Reports: Ms. McKnight reported that our fines are up slightly. A motion to approve the reports as written was made by Neelima Gokhale, seconded by Paula LaManna and motion carried unanimously.
            b. Approval of Transfers: none
            c. Approval of Bills to be Paid: A motion to approve claims #209-225, accounts payable claims #20539-20563, including payrolls #17 & 18 for a total of 77,344.53, was made by Julia Rivoli, seconded by Neelima Gokhale and motion carried unanimously.

IX        Items Requiring Board Action:
            a. Action on revised 2007 budget: Ms. MacKnight handed out the revised 2007 budget. Discussion ensued re` $30,000 reduction from the Town of Gates. Ms. MacKnight reported Jude Hanscom’s retirement and a decrease was made in everything from supplies down to capital expenditures balanced the revised budget. A motion to approve the revised 2007 Budget to reflect $30,000 less from the Town of Gates was made by Julia Rivoli, seconded by Pam Brady and motion carried unanimously.

X          Reports: All reports accepted as written including a. Special Reports: Adult, YA, and J Summer Reading Program. Ms. MacKnight reported numbers of participants had increased in all three age groups and she also thanked the Friends for the summer reading program prizes.

XI Items for Board Discussion:
a. Board Committees: Those committees commented on -

Town Board: President Gardner attended the Town Board meeting and reported that many people had also attended the meeting after the articles appeared in the D&C. Many comments were made from the residents re` budget/survey.
Friends: President Gardner attended the Friends meeting. She reported the October newsletter deadline is September 29th. The Friends have gotten a bulk mailing permit. The cost of each item will $.13.1 instead of $.39 per item. The Friends Board is looking into sponsoring a student poetry contest. Money was received for distributing Wendy’s coupons at the desk. We will be selling Book Lover calendar’s for $10.00, Entertainment books for $25.00.
Grants: Ms. MacKnight reported The Building Bridges Grant ends April 2007.
Facilities: We are waiting for another estimate from the electricians to repair our wireless problem.
Building Planning Committee: Ms. MacKnight received a new design from the architect with changes that were suggested to them from the committee.

b. Other Items for discussion:
1. Library Hours for 2007: Discussion ensued re` 2007 Library hours. It was decided we would not be closed on Saturdays since it’s a high volume day and many patrons rely on us being open on Saturdays. Discussion ensued on other day/times we should close. There will be media coverage re` our new hours. The Board thanked the staff on the efforts made to maintain library service. The Board also thanked Ms. MacKnight on coming up with a budget that works.

Ms. MacKnight thanked the Board and Staff members on a successful Board/Staff picnic.

Having no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Julia Rivoli, seconded by Neelima Gokhale and motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna Andolina
Acting Recording Secretary