Monday, March 28, 2011

Kimberly Kersey Asbury to Exhibit in Daniels Room





LOOKING: Figurative Paintings by artist Kimberly Kersey Asbury

This exhibition in the Daniels Room at the Hancock Town Library will showcase Kimberly Kersey Asbury’s figurative work with highlights taken from various series. Subjects include safari-goers in Africa, recent portraits of her children and large-scale figurative examples from her Room Series. Kimberly Kersey Asbury is an artist with many interests, ranging from drawing and painting from life to working with mixed media, wax clay, book forms, installation, photography and printmaking. She is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH and is currently teaching painting and printmaking. Kersy Asbury received a BFA in Painting from the Kansas City Art Institute, an MFA in Painting, Boston University College of Fine Arts and attended The Graduate Institute at Saint John's College as well as the Vermont Studio Center. She received a Fulbright Research Grant for painting in Botswana in 1998. She has shown in New Hampshire, Boston, New York City, Morocco, Botswana and the Midwest. She resides in Greenfield, NH with her husband and two children.The show opens to the public (during library hours) Monday, April 4th running through Wednesday, May 12th. An artist reception will be held Saturday, April 30th, 11am-1pm. Please call the library at 525-4411 before coming to view the show as the Daniels Room is often booked with programs.

Library Events for April 2011

Monday April 4th at 7:00 pm
Keeping Backyard Chickens with Lily Plasse


Learn more about Keeping Backyard Chickens. Join Lily Plasse and a few of her chickens to learn more about keeping your own flock for eggs, meat, pets and show. Discussion will include getting started with chickens, choosing breeds, housing, feeding, costs & care, as well as recommended websites and reading. Lily Plasse of Othala Acres Heritage Poultry has been raising rare chickens and turkeys for almost 10 years for preservation, show, eggs & meat. Lily is a member of several poultry clubs, as well as the New Hampshire Youth Leader for the APA-ABA Youth Poultry Club. This program is free and open to the public.

Tuesday April 5th at 7:00 pm
First Tuesday Book Club


Join us as we discuss A Homemade Life – Stories & Recipes From My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg. All are welcome!

Thursday April 7th at 7:00 pm
A Night of Music with Two Old Friends
A NH Humanities Council Program

Over the centuries, immigrants from the British Isles have come to the Americas, bringing with them their musical styles, tastes, and instruments. Using the concertina, bodhran, mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar and banjo in their performances, Two Old Friends sing and play traditional Irish songs and tunes. They perform American country music the way it was conceived in the early 20th century and demonstrate how these tunes are often derived from the songs of the Irish, but have been influenced by other cultural and ethnic groups (particularly African American) to create an original American sound. Two Old Friends, Mac McHale and Emery Hutchins, are music preservationists and performers; founders of Irish folk band Northeast Winds; Mac later formed The Old Time Radio Gang and Emery was part of the Celtic group Angel Band. They have performed locally and internationally for 40 years. This program is free and open to the public and made possible by the NH Humanities Council. The NHHC nurtures the job of learning and inspires community engagement by bringing life-enhancing ideas from the humanities to the people of New Hampshire. This program is co-sponsored by the Hancock Historical Society.

Wednesday April 20th at 7:00 pm
Diving In –An In-Depth Peek into the Common Loon's Fascinating Behaviors


Learn about the life cycle of these magnificent waterbirds in this spectacular and entertaining multi-media nature slideshow. Featuring a very special and endearing young loon named GRAPENUT, who is the star of the show. John Rockwood, The Loon Man NH, is a Common Loon educator, author, naturalist, and professional nature photographer. He has been observing and studying loons for 26 years. Grapenut is a loon chick/juvenile who adopted John into his loon family and shared his growing stages for two seasons. Learning to fly, catching prey, playing hide and seek and riding on his parents’ backs are just some of the loon behaviors young Grapenut displayed to John from the time he was 4 days old until the time he fledged in late fall, as a juvenile. John Rockwood is dedicated to helping protect loons and collaborates closely with the staff at the Loon Preservation Committee as a volunteer to support their mission. Free and open to all.

Thursday April 28th at 7:00 pm
Twitter: What is it? Should you care?


Hancock's own social media expert, Christine Halvorson, will give an overview of how to use this social media tool that some people wish would just go away. It's often dismissed as a waste of time, yet "citizen journalists" are reporting breaking news on it and revolutions are being organized with it. Come find out if you can find something valuable in using this online tool that has some people all a-twitter. It's becoming today's version of the old news wire. Learn how it works, how to find people to "follow" and how to share your own news on it if you so choose. Free and open to all.

From the Children’s Room…

Tuesday April 5th from 3:15 – 4:00
LEGO CLUB!


Join us after school for some fun with LEGOs. This month we have a special presentation from a middle-school team who built a robot with LEGOs. Wapack Youth Robotics will demonstrate both LEGO robots and their mid size FTC robot. Wapack Youth Robotics is a local non-profit 4-H Club with a mission of making FIRST robotics more accessible to more area youth. FIRST 's mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. All are welcome.


Tuesday April 12th from 3:15 – 4:00
Poetry Illustrations for Students in Grades 1-5


To celebrate National Poetry Month, we'll explore a variety of poems from the library's collection and choose one to illustrate and display in the Children's Room. Space is limited; please call the library to sign up. 525-4411

Library Trustee Minutes 3.23.11

Hancock Library Board of Trustees
Minutes
March 23, 2011
Present: Laurie Bryan Amy Markus, Peter Ryner

The meeting began at 1:10 p.m.
The Minutes of February 22, 2011, as corrected, were approved.
The Financial Report was approved.

Director's Report At the February 22 meeting there had been a discussion of providing additional handicapped parking spaces. As requested by the Board, Amy had discussed this issue with the Public Works Director. Kurt had pointed out that the Library could not just install a handicapped parking sign; there needs to be an accessible pathway from the signed parking space(s) to the Library building, and then entranceways that comply with handicapped guidelines. Using the existing handicapped space is not only the best, but also the only option presently available. There was some discussion about providing stickers to Library customers who may not be handicapped but who , due to age or other issue should be allowed to use that signed parking space.

There was a review of upcoming Library events, and Amy reported that she has been notified that the Library will receive an unspecified amount of money from the estate of Ducky Gardner.
Amy stated that her family also very much wants to contribute a granite bench for the Library grounds. Amy suggested that the Board may wish to give some further thought to this issue. There are already several benches which have been donated to the Library. They are made of different materials and have different designs. There are no guidelines as to how many benches the Library will accept, what they should look like so as to be harmonious with the Library setting, and what they should be made of, taking into account maintenance and safety issues as well as visual scale and character. It was agreed that it is now necessary to give this issue further, formal attention. It was agreed that it is wonderful that several people appreciate the quiet beauty of the Library and its grounds, and this seems to be an important opportunity if it can be properly sorted out.

There was some discussion of the upcoming Library Trustees annual meeting and Amy and Peter indicated that they would attend.

It was agreed that if the Library's bank liaison wished to meet with the Board, that he should do so at the Board's regular April 27 meeting. The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Submitted by Peter Ryner

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Ebooks & Libraries...

Today's New York Times has an interesting article about ebooks in libraries. Read it here.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Cabin Fever Trivia Night - Saturday March 5th @ 7 pm

You don't have to be brilliant to join us for Cabin Fever Trivia Night here at the library! Charlie Ingalls is our affable emcee with some fun and funny questions for us all. Come alone or with a team. Hope to see you there!

Family Game Night March 4th at 6:30 pm

Family Game Night will be held this Friday March 4th at 6:30. Bring your favorite game and your favorite family members and have some fun!

Winners of Winter Reading Program

Winners of the first annual Winter Reading Program for Grown-ups are...

Diane Cherwin (dinner for two at the Hancock Inn)

Billy Horton (massage from New-Life Massage & Bodywork)

Beth GrosJean (gift certificate to Fiddleheads Cafe)

Congratulations to our winners!

There were 278 entries for the raffle from 70 participants. A total of 875 adult books and audios circulated during February - up from 753 during the same period last year.

Thanks so much to everyone for participating - we'll definitely do it again next year!

Catching up on Library Trustee Minutes

MINUTES
HANCOCK LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
FEBRUARY 22, 2011

Present: Mary Garland, Amy Marcus, Laurie Bryan, Peter Ryner

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm.
There was a brief discussion of the scope of work for the roof replacement project, and Amy was asked to prepare a new written scope.

The minutes of January 26 & 28, 2011 were approved.
The Financial report was approved.

Amy distributed a proposed 2011 budget, which was approved.

There was a discussion of whether or not to formally designate handicapped parking in the back lot in addition to the space provided by the side entrance. It was suggested that Amy consider providing some form of portable handicapped parking sign that could be located in the back lot for special occasions. It was felt that at present there was very little demand for more than the one existing space and that it was at this time not appropriate to encumber one of the heavily used back lot spaces on a permanent basis.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for March 23 at 1:00 pm

Submitted by Peter Ryner


Minutes of Special Meeting
Library Board of Trustees
January 28, 2011

Present: Laurie Bryan, Amy Markus, Mary Garland, Peter Ryner

The meeting began at 2:00 pm. Board members discussed each of the proposals. It was decided that some of the proposals failed to provide adequate information. It was also determined that additional information would be needed from at least one of the contractors.

Based on the various proposals, it appeared that the scope of work might need to be adjusted; that there should be clarification as to exactly when the work would be started and when it would be completed, and that Amy should investigate whether the Town's insurance policy would cover the repair of this new roof if it were to be damaged by high wind, ice, sleet or other natural hazards.

There was also further discussion regarding the other roof. Peter reported that as part of reviewing the proposals he had taken another look at the 1988 roof and noticed that the fascia on the slate roof were rotting in several locations and questioned whether that should be addressed as part of this project. After some discussion it was agreed that this should be treated as a separate project, and that while it needs to be addressed, it can wait for now.

Amy was asked to obtain some additional information and the Board agreed that they would attempt to make a decision within the next week or so, and would attempt to complete the review via e-mail.

The meeting ended at 3:00 pm.

Submitted by Peter Ryner


Minutes Hancock Library Board of Trustees
January 26, 2011

Present: Mary Garland, Laurie Bryan, Amy Markus, Peter Ryner

The minutes as amended, of the December 22, 2010 meeting were approved.
The Treasure's report was approved.

Director's Report
There was a discussion of the Board's Annual Report and Peter agreed to write a first draft which would then be reviewed and finalized by the other Board members.

Amy then reviewed upcoming events for February.

Opening of Proposals for Replacement of Roof
The Board of Trustees had previously determined that proposals rather than bids would be most appropriate for this project, since there might be issues that could not be specified by the Board in a bid package. At the Boards'
request, Amy had prepared a request for proposals (RFP). While price would be an important consideration the Board wanted to be sure that the selected contractor did in fact understand what was needed, that the new roof would last for approximately 30 years, and that the job would be done so as to not disrupt library operations. The RFP stated that “the contractor that meets all requirements and demonstrates the ability to perform and complete the task will be chosen. Past associations with the Hancock Town Library will be considered in evaluating the proposals.” The RFP further stated that “the Trustees of the Hancock Town Library reserve the right to reject any and all Proposals, to choose the proposal that best suits the needs of the Library, and to waive irregularities and informality in the submittal and evaluation process....Errors and omissions may be cause for disqualification.”

At 1:35 Proposals for the replacement of the roof of the 1988 addition were opened. There were five proposals from Neven Cassidy, John Norton, CK Landmark Construction, Cutter Construction, and Target New England. The proposed cost ranged from $18, 550 to $9,670.

After an initial review of the proposals it became evident that the Board would need time to properly evaluate the proposals, and a special meeting was set for Friday, January 28 at 2:00 pm in the Daniels room. The meeting adjourned at 2:00 pm and the next regular meeting of the Board was set for 1:00 pm on February 22.

Submitted by Peter Ryner