CORNWALL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Minutes of the March 9, 2007 Meeting

 

 

 

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

 

Louise called the meeting to order at 3:00.

 

Approval of Minutes:  Upon a motion by Carla Bigelow, seconded by Ann Schillinger, the minutes of the February 9, 2007 meeting were accepted as presented.

 

TreasurerÕs Report:  John reported that expenses are running as expected.  We have $5,000.00 in the bank and $13,000.00 in a CD.  At present we have an additional $7,000.00 to go on the annual appeal, and have not yet used any of the budgeted income from the endowment of $16,000.00.  This, together with money soon coming in from  the childrenÕs book fair, will carry us until the end of the year.  Electricity is still running high, but all other expenses are running within the budget.

 

Library DirectorÕs Report:  Amy Cady reviewed the written report she had previously circulated.

 

Friends of the Library Report:  It was reported that Tom Levine will be stepping down from his position as President.  We do not know as yet who will replace him, but he will be missed!  It was suggested that a meeting with Tom and the Governance Committee would be a good idea.

 

Committee and Task Force Reports

 

Development Committee:  It was reported that the second letter for our annual appeal was recently sent out.  Our upcoming event Artworks is moving along.  We are 2/3 % set with our illustrators, but are still working to find more.  We need to get sponsorships for Artworks and will be selling ads for $40.00, $75.00, and $100.00.to place in the program.  Hopefully we will have this by the next meeting.

 

PR Committee:  Paul reviewed the written report he had previously circulated.

 

Cornwall Authors Task Force:  Ann reported that the suggestion to reissue E. C. StarrÕs A History of Cornwall, Connecticut would bring too small of a return for all the work it would take.  It was proposed that we might reprint and bind collections of other Cornwall authors, such as James Thurber.

Personnel Committee: 

 

The Committee recommended that the two provisions of the Cornwall Free Library Personnel Policy be amended as follows [the amended sections are shown in italic type]:

 

       III. Employee Benefits

 

       A. Vacations and Holidays [for full time and part time employees.

 

                    2.  Holidays:  The Cornwall Free Library is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

                    It normally observes the following holidays:  New YearÕs Day, MLK Day,

                    PresidentsÕ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Columbus

                    Day, VeteransÕ Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving,

                    Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve [evening only].  The Library

                    will close at 5 p.m. on the day before Thanksgiving.  Employees will not be

                    paid for holidays which fall on Sunday and Monday.  Full time and part time

                    employees will be paid for holidays which fall on their regularly scheduled

                    work days.  The Library Director will see that the schedule for holiday time

                    is equally distributed.

                   

 

       G. Personal Leave

                   Employees with unexpected personal needs may take up to two paid days per

       year to attend to these needs.  In non-emergency situations, employees should give

       advance notice to the supervisor, but need not disclose the reason for the leave. 

       Personal leave time may not be carried over into succeeding years.

 

Upon motion by Jim Sheffield, seconded by Barton Jones, the vote was unanimous.

 

 

Amy reported that she has managed to find a well qualified person to work for 5 hours on Saturdays, caused by Amy BuckÕs decision to reduce the time she works at the library. Margie Pettersen has an MA and MLS, and has had extensive experience with libraries and schools.  This will enable us to increase the hours on Saturdays from 10AM - 2PM to 10AM-3PM.

 

Other Business:

 

Non Profit Learning Center:  Amy Cady, Paul De Angelis, John Green, and Pam Jones attended the first meeting of the Berkshire Taconic Community FoundationÕs Seminars for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.  The seminar was also attended by others from non-profit organizations from the North West Corner.  Issues discussed where how to be a better board member and basic issues facing our organizations.  Also stressed was the distinction between the Library Director, Board members and volunteers.

 

Parking Lot: It was suggested that paving the parking lot or putting down gravel would be a much needed improvement.  Alec will look into this.

 

 

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned 3:40.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Pam Jones

Secretary

 

 

 

NEXT MEETING: FRIDAY, APRIL 13 AT 3:00