Bill Library

718 Colonel Ledyard Highway

Ledyard, Connecticut 06339

TOWN OF LEDYARD

Library Commission

Meeting Minutes

Gales Ferry Library

18 Hurlbutt Road

Gales Ferry, Connecticut 06335

Chair

John Bolduc

Regular Meeting

7:00 PM

Monday, November 18, 2024

Bill Library

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Bolduc called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Bill Library.

II.

ROLL CALL

Chair John Bolduc

Present

Commissioner Barbara Candler

Commissioner Ralph Hightower

Commissioner Rolf Racich

Commissioner Peter Diette

Chair Cynthia Wright

Commissioner Ellin Grenger

Commissioner Elizabeth Rumery

Excused

In addition, the following were present:

Jennifer Smith - Library Director

Carmen Garcia-Irizarry - Town Council Liaison

III.

IV.

RESIDENTS & PROPERTY OWNERS COMMENTS

None

PRESENTATIONS / INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

None

MEMBER COMMENTS

None

VI.

REPORTS

Treasurer's Report

The Library Commission account had a $100 donation from Naomi Rodriguez. Spent $462.03

on books and media. There is a positive balance in the account.

Library Investment Account - Either Library: Spent $245.00 on a program called Learn to

Macramé.

Library Investment Account - Gales Ferry Library: no activity.

Director's Report

Ms. Smith presented the November Director's Report.

Budget News:

• Hoopla continues to be a very popular service and has been averaging around $1,500

per month. This is paid for mainly by the Friends of the Library (volunteers who support

the library through fundraising), but also supplemented by the Town book budget. If

interest in e-materials continues at this rate, we will need to think about a budgetary

solution for next year. Hoopla expenses most likely will keep going up.

Chair Bolduc asked if the number of books checked out through Hoopla, currently 4,

could be reduced to 3 to help limit the costs? Ms. Smith recommended capping how

much the library would spend per month on Hoopla rather than imposing on the number

of checkouts allowed per user. This could help to reduce the monthly spending.

Library News:

• We are back to being fully staffed! Lyndsey Robinson started on November 12 as our

new Assistant Librarian I - Adult Services. Thank you to library staff for covering and

filling in gaps in our schedule while we were without a FT position.

• The Toy Library opened on October 30 and is off to a great start! We have circulated

over 55 items total between the Gales Ferry Library and Bill Library in the past few

weeks since unveiling this new collection. Toys can be loaned for a period of three weeks

and can be renew once. Our website is updated with a page describing the new toy

collection and listing all the items available to check out at both library locations. Details

can be found here - https://ledyardlibrary.org/children/toy-library/

The library book budget is maintaining the collection, but it is not enough for innovative

initiatives such as the Read Along books or toys. These books were funded with a grant

because there isn't enough funding available for new collections with our current book

budget.

• We will be introducing Board Games as another new circulating collection in the next

month.

• I will be representing the library and presenting at the upcoming Community Relations

Committee for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion on November 20 at 6:30 p.m.

• New genre/author bookmarks created by Drue Chappelle are available at both library

locations. These bookmarks include recommendations of titles the library carries. Each

bookmark is focused on a specific popular author or genre.

Building News:

• Thanks to Public Works for installing our logo to the new front service desk at Bill

Library.

Investment Working Group

Nothing to report.

Consortium Working Group

The group met on November 12 with Justin Dube, MIS Director for the Town of Ledyard. The

town seems to be very willing to help out with the library's IT needs and also with hardware that

needs to be replaced.

Preliminary LION budget was shared and discussed. Ledyard can expect to see a 3.39% overall

increase for LION consortium services for 2025-2026. There is a 3% increase for both

Operational and online catalog costs. Plus a 5% increase for both Overdrive/Libby (e-material

collection) and delivery services. The challenging part about the Overdrive collection is that

e-books are metered and only owned for 2 years or 24 checkouts, whichever comes first, while

print books are owned by the library for the long term. Ms. Smith has asked LION for

clarification about their budget and how they come up with the fees as Ledyard seems to be

paying a lot compared with other libraries such as West Haven.

Friends of the Ledyard Library

One of the main fundraisers the Friends sponsor is the Snowflake Festival which is this

Saturday, November 23, 2024. Both library locations have baskets which are part of the silent

auction. The Friends will also have a craft and bake sale on the day of the fundraiser. All

proceeds go towards support of the library.

VII. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of the Library Commission meeting from

October 21, 2024.

APPROVED AND SO DECLARED

Ralph Hightower

RESULT:

MOVER:

Rolf Racich

SECONDER:

Bolduc Candler Hightower Racich Diette Wright

Grenger Rumery

AYE

EXCUSED

VIII. OLD BUSINESS

XI. NEW BUSINESS

Elections of Library Commission Leadership - December

Next month is election of the library commission leadership. Mr. Bolduc is willing to

continue as a Chair unless somebody else would like to take on the role. Mr. Hightower is

willing to stay as treasurer and Mr. Bolduc will consult with Ms. Rumery to see if she would

like to continue as the Vice-Chair.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Racich moved the meeting be adjourned, seconded by Mr. Hightower.