MEETING MINUTES
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SCARBOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARY
January 21, 2021
4:30 PM - Video Conference
Meeting called to order at 4:32 PM by Bill Donovan.
Attendees:
Nancy Crowell, Director of Scarborough Library, Catherine Morrison, Assistant Library Director, Jon Anderson, Town Council Liaison, Bill Donovan, Board of Trustees President, Peter Hatem, Audra Sinclair, Emily Ward, Joyce Clark, Friends of the Library Liaison, Jim Kupel, Bill Onorato, Susan Powell, Lenore Rapkin, Anne Janak, Judy Johnson
Adoption of Minutes of December 17, 2020
Motion to adopt minutes made by Lenore Rapkin and seconded by Anne Janak. Motion passed unanimously.
Meeting minutes were updated to revise this line: “We may not be able to ask the town for funds to repay the loan without their approval of the project.”
Motion to Revise Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes made by Lenore Rapkin and Susan Powell voted it in an all voted unanimously
Consent Calendar:
- Building Expansion Committee Minutes, 1/4/2021
- Community Relations/Development Committee Minutes, 1/4/2021
- Personnel, Nominating, Governance Committee, no meeting
- FOSL Board Notes, no meeting
Motion to adopt consent calendar made by Susan Powell and seconded by Jim Kupel. Motion passed unanimously.
Update to the CRD minutes:
- Update meeting minutes to reflect presentation for Town Council will be put together by Bill and Nancy
Library Directors Report
- Jon Anderson asked for clarification on the COLA notes in Nancy’s report, and she was able to provide an explanation
Town Councilors Reports
- Town council has set a limit to Capital Expenses of 5M for the budget season.
- This could impact the library expansion timeline.
- We have a plan to present to the Town Council, which will be a bit more urgent.
Presidents Report
- Held for the fundraising feasibility update
Unfinished Business
Fundraising Feasibility Study-Status report -Bill Donovan
- Demont has conducted 12 of 50 proposed interviews with a variety of people – library board members, library users, and fundraising committee members
- They gave the interview process a favorable review
- 100% of the interviewees were reporting an excellent perception of the image and an agreement on the expansion and the plan itself
- 100% of people interviewed planned to make a gift
- A high percentage of people who were willing to work as volunteers
- General BOT member concerns about being able to raise the money that is needed, but everyone was happy to learn there was going to be training involved
- The next round will be on library users and regular donors
- Nancy and Bill shared with Demont the 5M limit for capital expenditures, and Demont feels this will be ok – having more time in a COVID environment will help us
- Demont sees 2022 as the next target for being on the referendum
Report from Finance and Investment Committee online of credit application -Bill Onorato
- Terms of the LOC with Biddeford Savings have been agreed upon.
- Nancy had completed the application, and typically a two-week turnaround – before the Payroll Protection Program opened up again.
Discussion on formation of Citizen Campaign Committee and PAC (Political Action Committee)
- Nancy has information from Tody Justice
- Given the potential new timeline, we may not have to put it in place yet. Regardless, we should be thinking of who we want to add to it
New Business
Review of financial health to-date and FY2021 budget cycle - Nancy Crowell, board discussion
- Town Department Heads have been notified we will undergo a regular budget cycle, so Nancy will have her budget ready for the town by the end of February
- Nancy and staff will use the fiscal year 2018-2019 for projections on operating costs, income, and projections
- Below is a summary of numbers based on the first six months in this strange budget season
- Projecting a balanced budget at the end of the year due to careful budgeting
- There is a part-time role they have not filled, and that has helped.
- The staff has rarely needed substitute time, and that has saved some dollars.
- We had some increase in expenditures, which increased our communications person from 32 to 40 hours, and the increase in the COLA resulted in a 2.5% adjustment.
- No increase in medical insurance this year has helped.
- Annual Appeal is at 40K out of our 52K goal.
- The revenue line is projected to be way down.
- The board was vocal about making sure that Nancy takes her COLA and other appropriate salary increases given the work she has done for the library. It is well deserved.
Discussion on Anti-racism initiatives, including discussion on drafting a land acknowledgment
- The Library and the BOT have pledged to be anti-racist; having this on the agenda was a reminder to all of the resources available and our commitment
- Land Acknowledgement – An initiative for institutions and organizations that acknowledges the Native American’s land ownership originally.
- It’s a few sentences usually said at the beginning of a program or included in printed material.
- A few local libraries, such as Bangor, have this already, and there is helpful guidance available to do this.
- Nancy thinks it would be appropriate to have it on the website and is looking for volunteers who want to pursue how we might begin this process.
Trustee Comments
- Emily Ward has assumed chairmanship of the PNG committee
Motion made to adjourn made by Emily Ward and seconded by Susan Powell. Motion passed unanimously.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned by Bill Donovan at 5:57 PM.