Cornwall Free Library

Minutes of the April 18, 2005 Meeting

As corrected (see material in italics, below)

Present: Janet Gold, presiding; Alec Frost, John Green, Pam Jones, Norma Lake, Roxana Laughlin, Julie Schieffelin, Anne Schillinger, Jean Vitalis and Amy Worthington-Cady, Library Director. Absent: Paul De Angelis, Dominique Lasseur.

Janet Gold called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Upon motion by Alec Frost, the March minutes were accepted as presented.

Treasurer’s Report: John Green distributed a financial report on the Sam Waterston benefit. A check for $7,374.74 has been given to the CCS Fund for Excellence. The Fund also received $505 in direct contributions, bringing its total share to $7,859.84. The Library’s share was also $7,859.84. In response to a question, John explained that expenses totaled $4,325.82, with printing and design accounting for about half of this amount. (Amy announced that the printing for the forthcoming Friends benefit will be done in-house.) John also distributed a written financial report for April and commented that the $5,000 recently withdrawn from the endowment (as approved by the trustees during the March meeting) constitutes virtually the only cash available to meet April expenses. He emphasized the budgetary challenges to be faced before June 30, the end of the fiscal year:

· $14,000 must be found to cover anticipated May-June expenses;

· The “Speak Truth to Power” benefit will take place during the last week of June and cannot be counted on for 2004-5 budget relief; in any case, the proceeds are likely to total some $2,000 less than the projected goal for last summer’s MSQ concert;

· The Annual Appeal is currently about $6,000 short of its unrestricted goal;

· The Book Sale and Talent Show both failed to meet their fundraising goals; and

· The cost of fuel oil exceeded the budgeted amount by $3,000.

On the plus side, the Gross Sisters art sale realized about $3,700, and expenses have been on target for the most part. John asked for authorization to borrow an additional $6,000 from the endowment. The question is: how to raise revenue or failing that, how to cut expenses. John feels that the cost of operating the building cannot realistically be cut much, and program expenses are relatively small (restricted gifts cover most of the cost of the summer program for children). Staff salaries and benefits constitute about 45% of the budget. It is important to send a follow-up appeal letter, now that Amy Cady has returned from vacation. Upon motion by Norma Lake, seconded by Pam Jones, the trustees voted unanimously to authorize the borrowing of up to $6,000 from the endowment.

Library Director’s Report: Amy distributed a written report and, in her remarks, noted the very successful presentations by Richard O’Connor and John Zinsser as well as her recent meeting with the Personnel Committee to discuss staff hours and the use of comp time.

Strategic Planning: Ann Schillinger reported that Michael Eanes will conduct two 90-minute focus groups on June 8 and 9. The groups include both Library users and non-users; no trustees will be present. The day-long meeting on July 9 at Kent School will include the full board of trustees, both Amys and five other people from the Cornwall community. Ann has already received a question from a potential recruit about the cost of the event and who is paying for it if we receive similar questions, we should answer frankly, being sure to make clear that private donations are covering the cost and that neither the Library nor the Town of Cornwall will bear any expense. Ann needs suggestions of names of non-users.

Friends of the Library: Janet Gold reported for the Friends that John Zinsser’s talk was excellent and that future Friends events include a talk by Jill Sheffield on May 21 and the two Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark performances on Saturday evening, June 25, and Sunday afternoon, June 26. The Publicity Committee will meet with Jandi Hanna to coordinate publicity. Deirdre Fischer is chairing an Outreach Committee that has drafted a good letter describing various needs for the children’s room in the library: shelving, poster frames, etc. The 2005 Summer Program theme is “Medieval Life.”

Operations Report: The outside lights, with motion detectors, have been installed by Brad Hedden. The pine trees need trimming.

New Business: There was a discussion about where to find the $14,000 needed to meet the 2004-5 budget. The question of charging for use of the Community Room was raised, but the Tai Chi class, which was the only entity that could be considered at all commercial, is not using the space any more. There will be a global discussion of fundraising at the strategic planning retreat. The trustees must also give thought to what our own next special event (i.e., not a Friends-sponsored benefit) will be. The Manhattan String Quartet may return next fall, but the Quartet charges a fee to appear.

Janet announced that the Library was awarded the 2004 Connecticut Award for Excellence in Public Library Design by the Connecticut Library Association (in the category of libraries 18,000 sq. ft. and under).

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Julie Schieffelin

Secretary