Village of Red Hook Red Hook Public Library Monthly Report November 2023
The Red Hook Public Library (RHPL) held their regular board meeting on Wednesday, November 15th at the Library in the third-floor conference room. The meeting was called to order at 6:32pm.
Village Resident Lorraine Humphrey joined me in attending the meeting.
Library Board members in attendance: President Don O’Shea, Treasurer Amy Husten, Gareth Davies, Leigh Bahnatka. Absent: Secretary Sarah DeVeer, Anna Greig, Martha Tepepa
Board Report
Amy Husten attended a Mid-Hudson Library System meeting at the Wallace Center at the FDR National Historic Site in Hyde Park, NY. Rebecca Smith Aldrich, Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Library System, presented at the meeting a summary, awards, and a speech about the importance of libraries. Rebecca is co-founder of the Sustainable Library Initiative which she discussed in her presentation.
Fundraising
The Fundraising committee met Oct 24. Details of the Dec. 1 celebration were discussed: at the VFW Post 7765 from 4:30-6:30pm. This is a staff event. Food will be purchased.
The annual appeal tasks remaining were reviewed. An email is scheduled for the second week of December – no physical mail. It will be included in the newsletter, on a poster at the Front Desk, and pushed on social media.
Buildings and Grounds
Teen Room update: Rick East, a local interior designer, has offered his design services pro bono.
Back-room 3[rd] Floor will likely become an art gallery.
Stucco update.
Other issues to review include a generator, paving the parking lot, and the HVAC system.
Holiday Closures
The Library will close at 1pm the day before Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years Holidays.
Finance Report
Accountant contract for 2024 included in the budget.
Cash balance at end of October was $441,261.29
Balance Sheet – showing Key Bank accounts still open. President Don O’Shea may need to close them.
Reserves: Operations Savings - $223,000, Stabilization - $149,000. Total Current Assets: $441,261.29 Fixed Assets: $847,055.96
Double mortgage payments were supposed to have started – but have not. Alex to send an email to confirm.
Profit & Loss Statement – They expect to be @ $73,000 better than budget at year end due primarily to lower than budgeted payroll and higher than expected bequests.
Budget Review
Balanced budget with $482,799 revenue & expenses. Decided against joining the NYS Retirement System. They are going with a simple IRA instead.
Kanopy – a video viewing program – costs being split 50/50 with Tivoli library. Patrons get 4 tickets per person. All communicated on the website.
Director’s Report
Alex shared information about the October programs. He stated that they are not offering many teen programs – teens are not coming. Will be trying a new program next year called Teen Zine (‘zeen” – like maga-zine) which is a collaboration with teens and a Bard student for a publication that will highlight Red Hook businesses. Teen take-over will not be offered in 2024 – the Community Center is now doing this.
2024 outreach includes the immigrant population, seniors, and school age children. The library is attending the school book sale to offer signups for library cards.
Circulation is up 5% vs year ago driven by e-circulation. Physical circulation is down. Specific programs were reported on. Staff evaluations have begun.
Red Hook Library has paid $300 to get started with Library Sustainability Certification.
It was also mentioned that Library Trustees are required to do 2 hours of training each year.
Public Comment
Lorraine Humphreys asked how programs are advertised. The answer was: online calendar/website, online newsletter, social media, flyers, and the Daily Catch.
I asked about their experience with ReciteMe on their website, which is funded through a Dutchess County MIG grant with the Village. ReciteMe offers both audio for website content and translation into many different languages. The answer was not many hits.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:36pm.
Board documents can be accessed on the Library Website: www.redhooklibrary.org/board-of-trustees/. The link to the board packet is imbedded in the text toward the bottom of the page.
Upcoming Meetings
Next Board Meeting Thursday, Dec. 21 at 6:30pm
Respectfully submitted, Karen Smythe