Minutes
Webster Free Public Library
Trustees Meeting
August 23rd, 2017
The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. Present were Cathryn Clark-Dawe, Director, Nancy Picthall-French, Chairperson, Marty Bender, Treasurer Leslie Collins, Secretary and Dot Bourque, Webster Historical Society.
The Secretary’s report for July was reviewed and accepted.
The Treasurer’s report for July was postponed until next month. All finances are in line. Marty will pay Wendy the town’s portion next month. Diane Kordas was paid $312 for the puppet show culminating the summer reading program. The American Girl subscription was renewed for two years, saving $10 over the one-year subscription.
Old Business
On September 9th The Historical Society will be featuring Guns of August at 2 p.m. Dot Bourque inquired about access to the DVD player, speakers and long cord. Chairs will be set up at 9 a.m. On Saturday, October 21st a children’s movie will be shown as a matinee at 2 p.m. Recommendations for children’s movies are encouraged and welcomed from parents.
Nancy inquired on how Cathryn was progressing on her evaluation goal. Cathryn has started labeling some of the collections. She is presently out of labels and will reorder more. As she is doing this, she is realizing different ways of organizing the books.
It was decided that the library would start a Facebook page. Nancy will set it up and Cathryn will update it. It was also decided[LC1] not to restrict anyone who might want to join until a time when it is deemed necessary.
Marty is looking into preserving Currie Sawyer’s diaries. He will start with contacting Keene State College, and if necessary, followed by the state archives and written resources. Marty said it would be a long-term project scanning a couple hundred pages, followed by a typed translation of each page to help with clarity, ease of reading, handwriting issues and some of the names. There is great interest in obtaining and including some of the taped interviews and recordings currently owed by private citizens of Webster. Nancy asked Marty to find out how to convert a recording on a cassette tape to a CD disc.
The first goal of our Master Plan was established:
#1. To continue to be a community hub for the town of Webster by providing social and cultural interactions.
Six objectives were establish on how we were going to meet our goal.
- Foster community partnerships to enhance the offerings that the library has including working with the Webster Conservation Commission and other town entities.
- Present at least two community events each year.
- Continue the summer reading program.
- Seek grants to fund speakers and other programs.
- Continue outreach efforts for homebound patrons.
- Celebrate and welcome the birth of newborns in Webster with Baby Gift Bags.
Nancy got in touch with Bruce Johnson to inquire if the Library Board can be present to represent the library during the development of the Town’s Master Plan, and was reassured that we can. The selectmen will not be able to start working on the town’s Master Plan until next year due to the amount of time being expended on current grant issues.
It was agreed that we would take one section of the existing rough draft of our Master Plan per month and develop it more fully incorporating everyone’s ideas.
New Business
Leslie went over some upcoming dates and asked for some changes:
The Trustee Meeting on Wednesday, October 25th was changed to Wednesday, October 18th at 4:00 p.m.
The Trustee Meeting in November will be on Wednesday, November 29th at 4:00 p.m.
The Trustee Meeting for December will be on Wednesday, December 20th at 4:00 p.m.
A heartfelt thank you is extended to everyone on the Library Board for your flexibility and willingness to adjust your schedules!
The meeting ended at 5:00 p.m. The next meeting of the Webster Free Public Library will be on Wednesday, September 27th, 2017 at 4 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Leslie Collins, Secretary