BOARD OF TRUSTEES MONTHLY MEETING AGENDA
Draft minutes
Monday, August 11, 2025 from 6:30pm – 7:30pm
WELCOME/CALL TO ORDER – Chris Johnson
ROLL CALL – Joyce Morse
Trustees in attendance: Chris Johnson, Lisa Ultan,Justin Carroll, Emily Blumenthal, Kathleen Manikowski, Paul Thomas, Jeff Branzburg; Library Director Carol Bancroft; Town board liaison Marion Auspitz.
MINUTES – Chris Johnson
PUBLIC COMMENT
- Clinton Town Board Liaison - Councilperson Marion Auspitz
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Finance – Justin Carroll
- Minutes - 8/8/25
- CDs/savings yielding ~$1500/month. Final grant money ($25000) from HVCF due in August.
- Expense side: programming jump in July; personnel and accounting as expected.
- Vote to approve June 2025 & July 2025 Financials
- Motion to approve: Justin Carroll; seconded by Lisa Ultan; approved unanimously.
Governance – Jeff Branzburg
- Vote on New Policy: Credit Card Policy
- Motion to approve new credit card policy: Jeff Branzburg; seconded by Paul Thomas;, approved unanimously.
- New Policy: Friends Policy - DRAFT. Discussion of general overview of what the Friends group does.
- New Policy: Friends of the Clinton Community Library MOU - DRAFT. Agreement between the Library board and the Friends group defining rules and responsibilities/expectations. Discussion re: the Director’s overseeing and approval of expenses incurred by the Friends group.
- Trustee terms ending Dec. 2025; Jeff Branzburg, , Justin Carroll, Chris Johnson.
- Trustee training session 9/25/25 at the Beekman Library, 6-8 pm. Topic: Board development, recruitment, orientation, education, evaluation.
- Response to Director’s self assessment
The board unanimously agrees that Carol’s professional goals are on target, and she is commended for her excellent leadership.
Ad Hoc Budget Vote Committee - Lisa Ultan
- Updates:All signatures for the 414 vote are in order. Currently in the process of finalizing the FAQ document.
Fundraising – Lisa Ultan
- Updates: Annual appeal is approaching,we may focus on our connection to the larger community of library users. Timeline for letters will approximate last year’s.
- Giving Tuesday is December 2nd.
- Cookie sale December 13.
- Explore grant opportunities; future discussion with architect Paul Mays.
Friends Updates - Lisa Ultan
- Updates: Thank you notes will be sent to the Friends group for the Garden Tour event.
Long Range Planning – Joyce Morse
- Zoom Meeting with Paul Mays, architect.
- Committee felt the meeting was quite helpful. Paul emphasized early engagement with the public. He recommended conducting a workshop with the board and a daytime site visit including a tour of the library, meeting with the director and staff and committee members. The committee agreed to hold the workshop; his fee is $700 for the day (~8 or 9 hours total).
- Board visit with Paul Mays will occur on 10/22/25 at 5:30 pm. (“The Workshop”) will include a power point presentation, discussion of trends for rural libraries and case studies that relate to this library, Q and A period including funding, grant and fundraising questions.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT - Carol Bancroft
- August Report
- The garden tour was a resounding success, raising over $10,000 for the library.
- We did not receive the Arts Mid Hudson Grant, however the silent movie and organ performance will still take place, thanks to Craig Marshall and John Vanderlee, on Sept 28th.
- The Mid Hudson road Trip and library tour has been successful and will continue through October.
- Final concert at Fran Mark Park will be this Friday, August .
- Library Statistics: Circulation in July increased 46% over June. E- circ up 13% from June.
OLD BUSINESS
- Trustee Recruitment for vacancy
NEW BUSINESS
None to report
NEXT MEETING: September 8, 2025
ADJOURNMENT: 7:19 p.m.
Motion to adjourn: Lisa Ultan ; seconded by; Justin Carroll; approved unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Joyce Morse