The board of the Hill County museum Monday discussed, among several issues, setting a firm policy on what constitutes an excused versus an unexcused absence for its members.
Board member Raela Hulett had raised the issue at the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum Board’s March meeting, noting that board members lose their position after three unexcused absences but no policy was in place defining an excused absence.
Board member Judi Dritshulas said it is important to have a policy in place — with a small board, if several members miss a meeting it could fail to have a quorum and be unable to take any action.
The board agreed to come up with ideas on how to define excused absences, to be discussed at future meetings.
In other business, museum manager John Gilbert said March was an excellent month for the museum. Attendance was far above average, with 455 people coming into the museum. He reported the highest March attendance ever at 510 visitors in 2007, with an average for March at 385 visitors.
The higher attendance was reflected in the museum having its highest sales for March since moving to the Holiday Village Mall in 2004, Gilbert said. The sales last month totaled $302.30, compared to an average for March at $211.60.
The board also discussed the Hands on History event, set to run Saturday at the mall from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. More than 30 activities will be presented during the fundraiser to demonstrate what life was like for pioneers and early Montanans.
Anna Brumley, manager of the Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump, said school tours have begun at the archaeological site, with one held last weekend and another scheduled for Wednesday.
The board also continued to discuss setting regulations and fees for making copies of documents at the museum.
Board member Valerie Hickman, director of archives and technical services at Montana State University-Northern’s Vande Bogart Library, said there are several issues that must be considered in making copies of documents.
One is restrictions on how much of a book still under copyright legally may be copied, another is the chance of damaging historical books or documents, she said.
Hickman said she was suggesting charging 75 cents a copy, which helps pay for the time the museum’s staff would spend making copies as well as the cost of the copies themselves.
Whether an item should be copied would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis, she said.
The board passed the proposed rules on copying.
