Larchmont Public Library

Board of Trustee

Minutes of Meeting

December 11, 2013

The Larchmont Public Library Board of Trustees met on December 11, 2013 at 6:30 p.m., attended by Board Chair Pamela Dubitsky (PD), Trustees Jennifer Conley (JC), Lauren Gottfried (LG), Maureen LeBlanc (ML), Barbara Liptak (BL) and John McGarr (JM), Village Liaison Marlene Kolbert (MK), Friends of the Library Liaison Wendy Raso (WR), Library Director Laura Eckley (LE) and Assistant Director June Hesler (JH). New York State Senator George Latimer was also in attendance. Trustee Iven Taub was excused from attendance. Town Liaison Jaine Eney was unable to attend.
Board Chair PD called the meeting to order at 6:37 p.m.
The Board reviewed and unanimously approved the Minutes of the Board Meeting of November 13, 2013.
PD introduced NY State Senator George Latimer, who briefly addressed the Board, encouraging Board members to actively review the state budget in January 2014 and contact him with any concerns regarding funding to public libraries. He stated that there are currently no discretionary funds available for projects but should monies become available, he will notify the Library Board via LE. PD thanked him for the NYS Construction Grant recently awarded for the Roof Replacement and Renovation Project and he mentioned that he is always willing to write letters on the library’s behalf when applying for grants. The Board thanked him for attending and he then departed the meeting.

Friends of the Larchmont Public Library Liaison Report

WR reported LegoFest has been scheduled for the weekends of March 29 & 30 and April 5 & 6. MK reported that the Gasland II program was attended by over 100 people, including students from the Mamaroneck High School AP environmental class. On January 12 Jonathan Reider will discuss his book Gospel of Freedom. PD thanked the Friends for their programs.

Committee Reports

Finance and Budget Committee:

Schedule of Bills and Performance Report: The Board reviewed and unanimously approved the Schedule of Bills dated 12/5/13 and 12/11/13. The Board received the Performance Report dated 12/5/13.
Budget Process: Finance Committee members ML and JM opened a discussion of the proposed library budget for Fiscal Year 2013-14. ML stated that PD, LE and the Finance Committee held a preliminary meeting with representatives from the TOM and VOL to review the proposed budget and options for drawing down the library’s surplus fund. ML and JM reviewed a draft of the proposed FY13/14 budget based on the results of that meeting, and the Board discussed the budget extensively.
Fines: LE reported the self-check block has been dropped to $5. Staff is working on reviewing patrons with fines from 2005-2009. WLS is having custom programming written to allow for batch deletions of old fines. WR suggested an amnesty week and LE agreed to check with other libraries as to how they handled amnesties. LE reported she had spoken with a collection agency and they stated items older than three years are not worth pursuing.

Building and Grounds:

LE reported Precision Roofing completed the remainder of work last week and are now working on punch list items. LE thanked the Garden Club for the holiday wreaths and small trees with lights.

Director’s Report

Following some discussion, and upon the recommendation of LE, the Board unanimously approved (1) a minimum wage increase to $8.00 per hour for Library Pages Gabe Tugendstein and Christian Bunson as of January 1, 2014 and (2) closure of the library on Saturday, July 5. LE reported 30 people attended Frank Connelly’s Dickens program. LE also stated that she discussed holiday gift book suggestions on LMC-TV and will return to discuss books for Valentine’s Day in February, and that she met with Blythe Hamer to discuss future opportunities for coordinating programs with the Larchmont Mamaroneck Center for Continuing Education.

Additonal Items:

The Board voted to discard equipment with a value of $0.

Executive Session:

The Board voted unanimously to enter into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters at 8:10 p.m. The Board voted unanimously to exit the Executive Session at 8:45 p.m.
Board Chair Dubitsky adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board will be held on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 6:30pm.
Respectfully Submitted
June Hesler
Assistant Director