Cornwall Library Association

Minutes of the July 14, 2006 Meeting

Present: John Green, President, Carla Bigelow, Paul De Angelis, Louise Dunn, Pam Jones, Roxana Laughlin, Julie Schieffelin and Ann Schillinger. Absent: Alec Frost, Dominique Lasseur and Jean Vitalis. Also present: Amy Cady, Library Director.

John Green called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m.

Approval of Minutes: Upon motion by Louise Dunn, seconded by Pam Jones, the minutes of the June 9, 2006 meeting were accepted as presented.

Treasurer’s Report:

Preliminary financial report as of June 30, 2006: John Green distributed a preliminary financial report for the end of the fiscal year. Thanks to two splendid fundraising events, CartoonFest and the Book Sale, the Library ended the year with approximately $14,000 in the bank after repaying the endowment for the funds previously borrowed (The amount is approximate because the CartoonFest financials are not final.) Louise Dunn pointed out that the Friends have been credited with more money than they in fact raised last year and asked that $10,000 be reclassified as Book Sale proceeds.

Budget 2006-2007 John also circulated the final version of the 2006-2007 budget, which includes the staff salaries voted at the last meeting. There is one change, the way we recognize endowment income, that he will discuss further at the August meeting: instead of estimating only the actual income from dividends and interest, we will move to a total return policy in which we withdraw up to 4% of the total value of the endowment, using the average of the previous three years as the baseline number. This system could mean that we withdraw as much as $16,000 a year from the endowment toward operating expenses. John will work up some sample figures for the next meeting. In response to a question, he said that the current endowment stands at about$430,000: $405,000 managed by Torrington Savings Bank and $25,000 managed by the Berkshire-Taconic Foundation. John also reported that Helen Migliacci cannot currently continue her work of writing checks to pay Library bills; John has set aside a sum of money to hire someone who can combine two jobs, keeping the books and paying bills. There was a discussion of the way income and expenses for special events, both Friends and Board-sponsored are allocated; John will revisit this.

Library Director’s Report: In addition to the written report she circulated, Amy Cady commented that the work the Library has done over the last 3-4 years with Cornwall Consolidated School has started to pay off with increased use of the Library by CCS students. She will prepare a circulation report for the next meeting; the trustees expressed an interest in knowing how many books these children are taking out in their own names. Amy can certainly report on the number of juvenile books that have been borrowed.

Amy also presented the Annual Fund total as of June 22, 2006: $52,188, just $812 short of the budget goal of $53,000.

Report of Trusteeship Committee John and Roxana Laughlin reported that a number of promising candidates have been identified by board members. They asked approval to increase the number of trustees to 13 people (the maximum permitted in the current by-laws). Upon motion by Paul De Angelis, seconded by Ann Schillinger, the board voted to increase the number of Library trustees to 13. The two additional members will be elected as part of the Class of 2009 at the Annual Meeting in September. Trusteeship Committee members will approach the candidates and report on responses at the August meeting. When we know the composition of the new board, we may decide to change the current meeting time.

Final Report on CartoonFest: Paul De Angelis circulated a financial report for CartoonFest that shows net proceeds of $5,424. The biggest disappointment, financially and as a matter of attendance, was the evening show. It was difficult to get people to attend. The biggest positive surprise was the sale of cartoon reproductions, which exceeded expectations. There was a discussion of what worked well and of the excellent PR value for the Library.

Report on Friends Activities

In Tom Levine’s absence, Amy Cady reported that the sixth grade event was very successful.

Reports from Selected Committees/Task Force

Public Relations Paul distributed a written report. There was discussion of several items: (1) different domain names the Library might choose for its own website (as opposed to the one hosted by Bibliomation), the cost to register them being nominal; the best way to distribute the questionnaire on library use that the Task Force has prepared (Paul will circulate a draft version); and (3) whether to approve the request by the Cornwall Land Trust to give them our mailing list. We agreed that we will share the list of Cornwall names only and request an exchange loan of CLT’s list in return.

Development In Jean Vitalis’ absence, Louise Dunn reported that the Development Committee has decided to make the Annual Fund its focus for now, as opposed to seeking endowment gifts. The plan is to make a number of face-to-face solicitations of people who might commit to supporting the Annual Fund at a generous level for a number of years. There will be an effort to solicit such commitments from younger members of the Cornwall community. Louise is also working on a case statement for the Library and will circulate a draft.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:52 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Julie Schieffelin

Secretary