Pittsfield's Roger Clark Memorial Library

Special Trustees Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
7:00pm- 8:45 pm

Present: Susie Martin, Marion Abrams, Sharon Mayer, Traci Templeton, Karen Waterworth and Angelique Lee

Topic: Proposed Library (and Town Office) Building

Each Trustee was asked to share thoughts regarding the space designated to the RCML in the proposed building plans as presented in the Town Office Building Survey.  Sharon strongly felt that the basement in the current  building would be inappropriate and uninviting.  Karen voiced some ambivalence, citing sensitivity to various factions'  concerns re: Plan B, C or other.  Susie indicated she would be okay with either plan and provided some history regarding the current arrangement of town clerk's office and library.  Angelique encouraged the trustees to be strong advocates for the library's present and futrue needs.  Traci noted  the library's importance in promoting a sense of community in Pittsfield, seconded the need of the trustees to be strong advocates and suggested that we are at something of a crossroads in the library's developement.  She also  noted that a basement location would be less than encouraging.  Marion noted that the vitality and needs of the RCML in 2009 are much different than they were seven years ago when the Building Committe first started exploring the options of relocating the Town Office and Library.  She also  shared a letter from Rob Geizler of the VT DOL in which he opined that a proposed basement location would be  inappropriate for the library. 

After much discussion, most present voiced an intent to make any space alloted "work", but a majority agreed that the basement location in Plan C  wold be less than ideal and that such a location might dampen the community's  enthusiasm for the library which has made marked progress  in updating its collection,  profile  and services over the last several years.  Concern was raised over housing the Historical Society's collection in the library; questions of available space and responsibility.  The Library Trustee role of protecting  and advocating for the RCML in the best interests of Pittfield residents  was a recurrent theme of discussion.

It was decided that all on the current RCML email list would receive a message encouraging them to consider the welfare of the library when completing and returning the Buidling Survey.  It was also decided that the Trustees, in order to better advocate for the library's needs, ought to have representatives present at Select Board and Building Committee Meetings .  To that end, Sharon, Karen and Marion were drafted to attend the next Select Board Meeting on Tuesday December 1st at 6:30.

Regarding other business:  Traci suggested sending a New Year's Greeting from RCMLto Pittsfield residents highlighting this past year's acheivements and future aspirations.  All present encouraged Traci to compose a draft.  $30  donation allocated for Therapy Dogs of Vermont in appreciation of recent programming at RCML.

Next Trustee Meeting Thursday, December 5, 2009

Submitted by Karen Waterwo

The RCML trustees will have a special meeting Tuesday November 24th at 7pm to discuss the future of the Library (and Town Office) building.

Thanks to all who participated in what proved to be a very fruitful work day at the Roger Clark Memorial Library on Sunday, November 15th.  Seven adult volunteers, five young adults and even a second grader spent the day, cataloging, cleaning and organizing.
 
Thanks to Del'rae and Madison Merrill for spending hours alphabetizing the card catalog; Wyatt Merrill for dusting and putting stickers on the catalog cards; Nancy Blessing for butterscotch brownies and taking her data input job very seriously.  Special thanks to Traci Templeton for the Herculean task of  organizing the shelves containing art supplies and many other unidentifiable objects; Angelique Lee for fudgy chocolate brownies and organizing the day, assigning tasks so that no one was without a job to do; Cassie and Dejah Lee along with Eliana Ruben for cataloging, cataloging, cataloging ….
 
Many thanks, as always to Susie Martin, for her bottomless knowledge and unflagging volunteerism.
 
Thank you to Tom and Julie at The Original General Store for donating the tasty pizzas to nourish us all and to Marion Abrams for delivering them to the work crew.
 
Many new books were put on the shelves, stop by and check them out!!!

~submitted by Sharon Mayer

Please join us for a work day at Pittsfield's Roger Clark Memorial Library on Sunday November 15th from 10 to 2.  Pizza will be served, bring drinks and snacks to share.
There is lots of work to be done, and no skills or experience needed.  Jobs range from carrying boxes, to typing cards, and making displays to vacuuming.  Remember we are a 100% volunteer library, without your help we don't exist!

We have a special need for good typists and their laptops during our next work day. We have come up with a way to speed up the book cataloging process using laptops and Microsoft Word (or most other word processing software). If we all work together we should be able to catalog a hundred or more books! I promise it will be easy and incredibly rewarding to get some great books out onto the shelves. If you think you'll be there, shoot us an email and I will send you the MS Word templates we'll be using (we don't have WifFi in the library so you'll need them in advance). I'll give everyone a quick tutorial on Sunday.

Thank you to Pittsfield's General Store for donating Pizza.

Please spread the word.  Saturday's music program has been postponed.  Susie Smollen's music for kids "Dinosaurs" program will now be held Saturday November 21st  at 10am at the Roger Clark Memorial Library in Pittsfield.

Thank you Joanne McDonnell and Max for spending two days at our library encouraging young kids developing their reading skills. Max is a perfect gentleman (with the spiffiest dog coat this writer has ever seen) and always gentle, sweet, and attentive to his young readers. Joanne's obvious joy and interest in the children was spirited and wonderful, we are so fortunate to have their team as a resource in our valley.

If you missed Max, LET US KNOW. Max and Joanne would love to come back we just need two or three kids available to keep them entertained!

Pittsfield was alive with kids and costumes!  And all of them made their way to the Library for some trick-or-treating.  Once again, the volunteers at the library were excited to give books to the kids for their 'treat'.  And I think we all would agree the serious down pour of rain that evening was the 'trick' of the night.  Traci tried to light the pumpkins but the wind and the rain made it almost impossible.  Alas, one pumpkin stayed lit all night!
 
Inside the library, spooky music played and a table filled with books was the center of attention. It was fantastic to see all the kids take the time to look through the books and choose one that really interested them.  There were a lot of great comments about the library and it's growing selection of books and programs. All in all, it was a SPOOKtacular community event!   
 
A big thank you to Odle for carving our great RCML pumpkin sign and to Joyce Putnam for all the scary decorations! See you next year.
 

We had a great turn out for our annual carving of the pumpkins.  The weather was a little brisk but we were able to carve our pumpkins outside this year.  The kids picked out their pumpkins and began the big task of cleaning them out.  We had pumpkin guts galore!  In the end, we had scary pumpkins, sweet pumpkins, Twilight pumpkins and many creative designs.  Thank you to Jane Aiken, Mrs. Johnstone, and Steve Nissemblat for lending a helping hand.  We can't wait to light them outside the Library on Halloween!
 
An important reminder to parents: Children in 2nd grade and younger must be accompanied by an adult.  Also, our programs typically end a bit before 5:00 and the Library closes at 5pm.  Remember, we're all volunteers, so please be prompt in picking up your child. 
 

A big thank you to Alison Hans of Sangha Yoga.  Alison helped kick off our Fall After School Program with some Kripalu Yoga.  Kids and parents enjoyed the afternoon of relaxation.
 
Kelly O'brien led a group of enthusiastic kids into the backwoods of Pittsfield where they gathered natural material to be used for building fairy and elf houses.  It was such a beautiful afternoon the kids decided to build their houses outside on the Pittsfield Green.  It was great to see the kids collaborate, use the material they collected, and construct some awesome houses the elves and fairies are sure to enjoy!  Some are hidden, some are not, stop by and check them out.  Thanks Kelly!

CLICK HERE to see more of Traci's great photos.

On October 13th our weekly after school program gets under way, organized by one of our super volunteers Traci Templeton.  To find the full  5 week schedule go to our programs page.

Saturday October 24th we have two great programs.  Make appointments in the morning to meet with Max the reading dog (first Max session will be the 17th.)  Then at 11am come enjoy an interactive music program for young children with Susie Smollen.  Details on both programs, organized by two more of our volunteers - Angelique Lee and Eunice Rice, are also on the programs page.

And of course on Halloween night we'll be handing out free books to trick-or-treaters for the third year.