Village of Red Hook Red Hook Public Library Monthly Report December 2023
The Red Hook Public Library (RHPL) held their regular board meeting on Tuesday, December 19th at the Library in the third-floor conference room at 6:30pm.
Linda Keeling and I attended the meeting.
Library Board members in attendance: President Don O’Shea, Treasurer Amy Husten, Secretary Sarah DeVeer, Leigh Bahnatka, Martha Tepepa. Absent: Gareth Davies, Anna Greig
President’s Report
President O’Shea thanked the new members of the board for their interest and service. He spoke about a MidHudson Library article about the importance of libraries and the importance of “freedom of reading”.
Board Report
The September & October minutes were approved. The November minutes were tabled to next month.
Election of Officers – Don O’Shea said that he was not interested in continuing as President but would stay for a couple of months to make for a smooth transition. The Board approved Amy Husten to continue as Treasurer and Sarah Deveer to continue as Secretary. A motion was made to elect Martha Tepepa as Vice President. This motion was tabled – pending full board attendance.
Board Development Committee will review the by-laws. By-Laws state that if you miss three consecutive meetings that you are off the board.
Personnel
Patricia “Trish” Scully has been moved from Part Time to Full Time.
Finance/Treasurer’s Report
$429,943 cash at 11/30/23. Reserve fund is at $149k – goal to be a year’s worth of operations ($440k-$450k). The 259 funds ($208K) from the School arrived in December so current cash is $633,589.
Balance Sheet – Key Bank Accounts are actually closed. They just need to be reconciled in QuickBooks to reflect their closures. Double mortgage payments haven’t started yet.
Budget Review
2023 Budget vs Actual – all except programming is way under budget. 2023 was projected to be $7k under budget, actual is $54k under budget.
2024 Budget $482,799 total receipts/expenses was approved.
Director’s Report
Alex reviewed the programming. He reported that foot traffic is up 7.3% vs Last Month and Total Circulation is up – driven by e-circulation.
Programming for 2024 – looking to have all programs connected with a focus on sustainability, natural science, and the environment. Looking to not duplicate the efforts of Tivoli or Rhinebeck.
The Porch & Building stucco projects are projected to go out for bid in March with expected completion by end of August. They have received a design for the Teen Room from Rick East. These are cosmetic changes only.
Sally Dwyer-McNulty is relaunching Friends of the Red Hook Library. The Strategic Plan needs to be revised in 2024. They are developing a logo for the Library with Valeria Razheva. They will be working on Library Sustainability Certification which will start with a review of policies.
Alex suggested the board attend Advocacy Day in Albany on 2/7/24, confirm a calendar of committee meetings for 2024, and start planning for the February trivia fundraiser.
Fundraising
Directors sent out annual appeal letters. Sarah DeVeer has prepared templates for a social media campaign. An eblast was going out today. The receipts are “behind where we usually are” with $6,100 in to date. Past Annual Appeals have ranged from $7500 to as high as $21,000. The Board was encouraged to send out thank you notes to those who donated.
New Business
The board agreed to hold a board workshop on Saturday, January 20 for 3 hours to discuss Policy, Strategic Plan, and Board Development. The workshop will be from 10am to 1pm and will be held in the Village Hall 2[nd] floor conference room.
Public Comment
Linda Keeling commented that the library’s elevator is not ADA compliant – it’s too small and the bells are out of sync. She also suggested that the library needs a policy to address accommodation for people with disabilities.
I asked the Board to reconsider their target of a year’s worth of operations as a reserve given that the majority of their annual income is guaranteed through the Town’s 414 and the School’s 259 funding. Amy offered that this was recommended by the Mid-Hudson Library. I asked that they consider understanding what the purpose of the reserve is so that it’s clear to the taxpayers who are funding this reserve.
I also spoke about the change in the County Loop bus schedule – no longer servicing Red Hook. I encouraged the board and Alex to advocate for reinstating this service.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Smythe
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/Events
Next Board Meeting Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 at 6:30pm
Board Conference – Saturday, Jan 20 from 10am-1pm at Village Hall Conference Rm.
Library Trivia Event – February 4[th] from 1-4pm at Cancun’s. Karen Sipperly runs it. Get your teams ready as the event fills up quickly.