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February 21, 2019

Trustees Minutes

Haverhill Public Library

Board of Trustees

Minutes of February 21, 2019

The regular monthly meeting of the Trustees of the Haverhill Public Library was called to order at 8:40 a.m. on Thursday, February 21, 2019 in the Donald C. Freeman Whittier Room. In attendance were Trustees Klueber, Veasey, Bresnahan, and Rurak, along with Director Sarah Moser and Chairman, City of Haverhill Mayor, the Honorable James Fiorentini. Trustee Coletti was in attendance via telephone.  Trustee Sheehan was absent.

Secretary’s Report

The trustees were given copies of the minutes dated January 17, 2019.  After perusing the minutes, a motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes.  The minutes were so approved.

Treasurer’s Report

Sarah and Karen provided copies of the January financials for the Trustees to examine. Sarah noted that a large amount of money was transferred from the Special Collections fund for the Senter digitization project and the final donation was received from the Geoffrion family for the project.  Also, the financial audit is taking place.  A motion was made and seconded to approve the reports.  Approval was unanimous.

Director’s Report

A copy of the Director’s Report was given to the Trustees.  Highlights include that a Tech Services Assistant was hired and that we are in the process of interviewing for two open positions in the Reference Dept.  Also, Sarah went to Seattle for the ALA conference and gained valuable information regarding fundraising, legal issues surrounding 1st amendment rights, and federal funding.  Sarah also noted that the library has been busy, there is a lot of programming going on and the Friend’s shop is completed.

Old Business

There was brief discussion regarding Haverhill Promise with concerns from the Trustees about the program being a lot for the library to take on. Sarah will remain on the steering committee and will revisit options regarding the involvement of the library.

New Business

The library has received a waiver for FY19 from MBLC, and beginning in FY20, the waiver program will be phased out over a 5 year period.  There was discussion as to how to meet the budget requirements in order for the library to remain certified by the MBLC.  Mayor Fiorentini suggested adding more services, such as, a coffee shop, bookstore, more outreach, and opening more hours and asked for proposals for these to be considered in order to receive funding by the City.  Sarah and the Trustees also suggested adding more staff and increasing salaries for existing staff.

There being no further business to discuss, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn. The meeting ended at 10:10 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Bresnahan

Secretary