June 12, 2023 Library Report Prepared by Mayor Karen Smythe
The library has announced the hiring of a new Library Manager, Alex Geller. He is to start on June 5, 2023.
The request for an additional $12,000 was voted on at the same time as the School Board candidates and the School Budget Vote on May 16. The proposition passed. The budget collected by the School District for the Red Hook Public Library will now be $208,400.
The Red Hook Public Library Board met on May 18[th] at 6:30pm in the library conference room. Red Hook Village Resident Lorraine “Lolly” Humphrey and I attended the board meeting.
The board reported on their 5/10 personnel meeting and discussed the on-boarding of the new Manager. The board also continues to formalize various prior actions including hiring, terminations, and resignations.
Under the Treasurer’s report there was a discussion of the garbage tag sales and accounting thereof. I confirmed that the Village is receiving all the correct money owed to the Village for garbage tags. The monthly audit is working well for the Village. The Library treasurer indicated after discussion with their new bookkeeper that due to the timing of the deposits and month end closing, the income and expenses shown on the Library’s financial reports will not match. The library now has income and expense lines specifically for “Garbage Tags”.
The Policy Committee is working on some by-law changes. The current by-laws can be found on the library’s website.
The board will be drafting a Budget Line policy to have the board approve a change only when a line item has changed more than 10%.
The library has hired a new landscaper, Transformation Landscaping, to cut the grass and general grounds keeping.
The Interim Manager, Toby Tieger, gave his report including a program report that acknowledged a large drop in programs and attendees in April which is not surprising given the large turnover of staff around that time. May shows more activities and more attendees. Toby mentioned that the employees are writing processes and procedures to be used for training in the future.
The library has received a nice bequest from the estate of Catherine D’Anges and the Board continues to discuss how to best use the bequest based on the criteria given and the person who gave it.
The Board requested that I change the word “elects” to “appoints” for the Villages action regarding Library Board members. It’s a point well taken for future reference to our actions.
During Public Comment, Lolly Humphrey shared her long history as a resident of Red Hook and grateful user of the library. She is especially grateful for the Home Services and Renee Zhang in
particular, for her ongoing help in receiving these services. Lolly also mentioned her appreciation for the former Program Director, Amy Smith.
As part of the on-boarding of the new Library Manager, Alex was introduced to various members of the community on May 25, prior to his start date. I met with Library Trustee Amy Husten and Alex at Village Hall on that day and welcomed Alex to the Red Hook Community.
Respectfully submitted, Karen Smythe