Haverhill Public Library
Board of Trustees
Minutes of September 19, 2024
The regular monthly meeting of the Trustees of the Haverhill Public Library was called to order at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 19, 2024 in the Whittier Conference Room. In attendance were Chairman, Mayor Melinda Barrett, Trustees Bresnahan, Coletti, and Veasey-Sirois. Also in attendance was Director, Sarah Moser and Assistant Director, Jane Lemuth.
Secretary’s Report
The trustees were given copies of the minutes dated August 15, 2024. After perusing the minutes, a motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes. The minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Business manager, Josh, presented the financial highlights for August:
- Josh gave an update on the funds in the endowment and MacDougal Trust.
- There were a few small gifts in August.
- In the Operating Report, Josh highlighted that the library generated funds earned more in August. It has been up and down since Covid.
- Josh created a new report for the building project of funds received and expenses. He will continue to work on the format to incorporate a more traditional income statement format.
Thomas Bringle
Thomas gave an update on his work including that Bloomerang is now integrated and that there are over 500 total constitutes in the system. There are also 19 grants and/or foundation possibilities. He is working on writing letters of inquiry to those organizations that require an invitation. He has started working on writing the collaterals and cases for support. Tom will submit a list of priorities and a list of the top 10 potential library board members.
Director’s Report
A copy of the director’s report was given to the trustees. Sarah discussed the highlights and other director’s news:
- The ARIS reports were submitted.
- Financial report for the state is complete and we meet all requirements for the MER and MAR.
- Jackie’s 40th year of employment is this year. The library purchased a gift for her.
Old Business
Building:
The Summer St. doors are fixed.
Rob Garland is starting the EIFS repairs next week.
The elevator companies are contradicting each other. Embree says that the work they did will pass inspection. Delta says that there needs to be $80,000 in repairs in order to pass inspections. Paul is working on meeting with both companies and the state inspector.
Staff: We made an offer to a reference candidate.
New Business
Becky would like to ask for approval to transfer a field notebook of a local archaeologist to Buttonwoods. Trustee Coletti stated that Buttonwoods doesn’t have the ability to protect and preserve books and notebooks like the library does and that years ago the board at Buttonwoods and the library agreed to have the library hold them and protect them. She suggested loaning the notebook for now.
Mayor Barrett made a motion to transfer the notebook to Buttonwoods since they have an extensive collection of the archaeologist’s materials. Trustee Bresnahan seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Sarah has been attending bi-weekly meetings with OverUnder and CHA. Paul will also be joining to discuss building related issues.
The library is starting to sell tickets to the Fall Fundraiser.
Sarah is working on a list of questions for the lawyer.
Sarah stated that it is important to appoint new board members. There was discussion about recruitment and qualities a board member should possess.
Haverhill Promise is officially part of the library. Jessica is on staff now. Sarah and Jessica met with HR and the Mayor’s staff to finalize the transfer.
There being no further business to discuss, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn. The meeting ended at 11:00 a.m.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Bresnahan