SCARBOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARY
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees
April 21, 2022
Video Conference
Attendees: Bill Donovan, Susan Powell, Jon Anderson, Dave Dittmer, Jim Kupel, Emily Ward, Anne Janak, Judy Johnson, Ellen Detlefsen, Lenore Rapkin, Nancy Crowell (Director). Guest Observer: Kim Corthell (interim Friends’ representative).
Absent: Allen Paul.
The meeting was called to order at 4:39 by the President, Bill Donovan.
Adoption of the Minutes of March 17, 2022: Motion to adopt by Ellen Detlefsen, seconded by Susan Powell, passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report: Basically no change in the past month, below budget in Personnel, above budget in Utilities.
Motion to accept report by Jim Kupel, seconded by Ellen Detlefsen, passed unanimously.
Library Director’s Report: Danuta Barnard has died and the Library has been named in her estate planning. She has left us her jewels, which we will have evaluated. The family has asked for donations to the Library in lieu of flowers.
Town Councilor’s Remarks: The first Finance Committee meeting to consider the new budget was held this week, and Nancy made a strong representation on behalf of the Library’s proposed expansion.
There will be a further meeting on May 10th to discuss the CIP portion of the budget. There will be a vote on the budget on May 16th and an opportunity for public comment before that on May 4th. Jon is optimistic that the Council will vote to send our request to referendum in November. Although the Town has several large facility planning projects in the offing, none has progressed to the planning stage to the degree that we have.
Nancy reminded us that there was going to be a Candidates’ Night on April 27th, three people running for the short-term seat. Kevin Freeman, who will be moderating, is also our Campaign Chair so it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to ask questions about the Library, but perhaps others could call in to do that and Nancy was sure those questions would be addressed.
Bill reported that Councilor Ken Johnson had been very impressed with the due diligence done by the Library and seemed inclined to at least publicly support the expansion.
Jon said that sending the Town Council a copy of the Library Newsletter was a good idea. Bill wondered if we should add Nancy’s Director’s Report to the Newsletter, or send it separately to the Town Council, and Jon countered by suggesting he might share his copy of the Report with the Councilors. Nancy said that her Report is written as an internal document but is a public document, as are all Trustee documents; but she thinks that the Newsletter is broader and really sufficient for the Council. Perhaps we might share excerpts from her Report.
Susan commented that we need to talk about consistent talking points, such as does the Library have to have meeting space, etc. Nancy reminded us that we need to go back to look at our Mission and Vision statements where much of what we do is spelled out.
President’s Remarks: Bill reported that a lot of his remarks have already been noted, so we will skip to the Consent Calendar.
Consent Calendar: A motion was made by Susan Powell to accept the Consent Calendar, seconded by Ellen Detlefsen, and passed unanimously.
Unfinished Business
Building Project Update: Susan reported that we are currently in a quiet phase. Kayla will advise whether the landscaping is included in the estimate. Assuming that our request does get on the ballot, we need to decide the amount we would request. We should look at the $13 million estimate carefully and try to cover some of the building costs with monies we raise during our capital campaign, but we need to discuss what costs we might be able to cover in that way. We will definitely cover costs such as rent and storage with money from our campaign. Demont has estimated that we should be able to raise between $2.25 million and $3 million, and Susan feels that if we achieve our goal of $450,000 by August, then Demont’s figure is probably right.
Open House, April 3rd: Susan reported that this was a great event, drawing about 75 people and a lot of enthusiasm. About 35 attendees signed up to help with fundraising or the Vote Yes campaign. Tom’s display was excellent. Nancy commented that several people turned into full supporters that day.
Fundraising Campaign: Bill felt that all the detail pertaining to this can be found in John Lanham’s document in the packet.
Jim asked if we were waiting for Nancy and Bill to prioritize the list of prospective donors that had been prepared some time ago. Nancy explained that the list has been added to more recently, and that there is work to be done on finding out who might know some of the prospects, who would be the best person to approach them, and what the right strategy might be. Nancy said that there could be a few Scarborough business owners on the list but it is mainly individual donors and family foundations. Jim commented that in order to stay on schedule we would need to have the list soon after we receive our training on April 27th. Nancy said we are a bit behind schedule but we will receive the materials as soon as they are available. For those of us unable to attend the training session on the 27th Nancy has offered to share the slide deck that has been prepared for the session, which will be live at the Library.
Citizen Campaign Committee: Nancy reported that we have three wonderful leadership volunteers, all with different connections (Kevin Freeman, Art Dillon, and Michelle Raber). After they meet with John Lanham tomorrow they will follow up with EveryLibrary. The first event is planned with the Chamber of Commerce on April 25th.
Update on FY2022-23 Budget Process: Nancy felt that the meeting went well, there were good questions from the councilors, she didn’t think there were any hidden agendas, and there was helpful interaction.
Motion to approve revised policy for the Director’s Performance Review: This motion from the PNG committee was tabled from the last meeting, but there are still some questions so it was suggested to table it to the May meeting. Nancy has done her evaluation, so there will be no delay in getting her response to trustees in time for us to complete our evaluations.
New Business
Board of Trustees Skills Assessment and Self-Assessment for FY2022: These reports from the PNG committee are tabled to the May meeting due to technical difficulties. It was noted that most trustees have not yet received the self-assessment questionnaire.
Report on Policy Review project: tabled to the next meeting due to Allen Paul’s absence. However, Ellen and Nancy both informed the trustees of the work Allen has done in his effort to clean up the website and make searching both easier and more logical.
Motion to Post the names of candidates for renewal of terms plus a prospective candidate to fill a vacant position: Ellen explained PNG’s process for interviewing prospective candidates for the Board, and then explained that this vote was simply to put forward the names before a vote to take place next month.
Motion to Post made by Jim Kupel, seconded by Susan Powell, passed unanimously.
Susan Powell – 2nd term (re-election)
Judy Johnson-1st term (re-election)
David Dittmer-1st term (re-election)
Kristen Verrico-1st full term (new member)
Ellen gave a nod to Kim Corthell, our guest observer, who is awaiting a vote from the Friends to be their next representative on the Board.
Items for the next agenda: The budget; Allen Paul’s report; Skills and Self-Assessments reports.
Trustee Comments: Bill thanked everyone for their hard work during this busy period and stressed how lucky we are to have Nancy at the helm.
Adjournment: Motion to adjourn made by Susan Powell, seconded by Ellen Detlefsen. The meeting was adjourned at 5:31 p.m.
Respectfully submitted.
Lenore Rapkin, Secretary