— Trustee Minutes – August 5, 2024

Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees

Minutes for August 5, 2024 Meeting

Members present: Chair Robin Marra, Richard Marshall, Nan Fey-Yensan, Alternates Pam Troccia and Amanda Blicharz, Director Kate Thomas and Assistant Director Cindi Beede  

  1. Call to Order – 5:30 pm
  1. Approval of minutes of the July 1, 2024 meeting- Motion to approve, Richard/Seconded Nan; unanimous approval by all present
  1. Approval of minutes of the July 11, 2024 meeting –Motion to approve, Pam/Seconded Richard; unanimous approval by all present
  1. Approval of the manifest – Approved by all present
  1. Chair’s Report
    1. Investment portfolio update (by guest Annmarie Deitrich of NBT Wealth Management)

Annmarie gave an overview of the current market indicating that expected growth rate of our investment remains at 2%; recession imminent (Japanese market fell/sell off as one indicator this week); consumers have been resilient given stimulus money but this is changing now that finds are not available; inflation is coming down (prices are not going up, nor are they going down); The Market itself has returns driven by a handful of companies related to AI, but there is a correction coming (normal, not much to worry the bank vis a vis a deep recession); The Fed will likely cut interest rates in September.

She shared our Account Portfolio and discussed the details of our investments with us. We continue to have about 51% in stocks/Real Assets (full report will be kept on file)

  1. Library Director’s Report
    1. ILL was not working for two weeks/system wide during the past month
    2. Circulation was the same as July 2023; I July there were 14 adult programs and 15 children’s programs with a total attendance of 413
    3. Space was provided for 6 meetings with 99 attendees and patron attendance in the building for the month was 1294
    4. A checking error was recently noted and adjustments were made to correct that error; Kate suggested that we may want to purchase Quick Books so that three people can simultaneously monitor Library accounting (versus Quicken which is what Kate inherited when hired); We also need to schedule a preliminary budget planning meeting soon where this transition can be further discussed
    5. Home book delivery – Nan will check with FDNA on any folks who have expressed interest; Veronika is doing some home-delivery and the Library is promoting this option via the weekly digital newsletter
    6. Carol has resigned her part-time position to take a full-time position; Veronika has taken on some of her duties and has many new programs planned
    7. We may need to find a new web manager for the Library
    8. After some discussion about issues with the electrician (Amer) selected to do the lighting improvements, it was moved to approach Tattersall to replace the current electrician – Moved by Nan/seconded by Richard; unanimously approved
    9. The August Town Newsletter did contain the Library logo, tag, line and design as submitted.  We are grateful that the newsletter editor understood the Trustee’s position on this issue and Robin will thank them
    10. The Friend’s Book Sale will be August 24th
    11. The parking adjacent book drop box still requires installation and the Town is requesting that the Library cover it with an historically appropriate shed.  They (the Selectmen) have offered to build it
    12. Library staff have been attending multiple professional trainings to improve skills
  1. Old Business
  2. Review/revision of Gifts policy
    1. Motion to amend gift policy to indicate that a minimum of a $1000 gift is required for a plaque installation; Motion to accept this change was made by Richard/ seconded by Pam/unanimously approved
  1. Annual withdrawal from gift funds at TD Bank
    1. Richard indicated that we have 2 accounts with TD bank that hold gift funds of undetermined origin; we annually withdraw $1500 per year around this time of year (which if done at this time would leave about $4000); Will exhaust soon, so will need to make an adjustment, likely through NBT accounts; or other option. Motion to approve the withdrawal was made my Richard/seconded by Pam/ unanimously approved
  1. Director’s Position Description
    1. There are three steps in moving toward an anticipated retirement of the Director of the Library: Update and finalize the Director’s position description, establish a search committee (including one community member), and promote/advertise. 
    2. Kate will re-send her current description to the Board for us to comment on before the next Trustees meeting; we might wish to convene a special meeting to finalize the position description and work on finalizing the search committee and process. We will meet the last week of August to finalize all three parts of the search (NH Library Job line, Sentinel, Town web site, etc.)
    3. Robin will contact the Town Selectmen at the appropriate time about a potential search
  1. New Business
  2. Review/revision of Circulation policy
    1. Language will be adjusted to state that the two week loan period is for everything loaned except DVDs (which are1 week); Also noted in new language is that there are separate policies for the metal detector and telescope; Motion to accept changes made by Richard/seconded by Pam/unanimously approved
  1. Ongoing Business (e.g., Friends of the Library; Buildings & Grounds) and/or announcements
    1. Cindi served as proxy for Friends Information in Carole’s absence; book sale is the biggest focus right now and is scheduled for Saturday, August 24th; Library Reading Finale set for next week
  1. Date/time for next meeting will be September 9, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m. as the Labor Day holiday falls on the first Monday of the month
  1. Adjournment at 6:31 pm; Nan moved to adjourn/Richard seconded; Unanimously approved

Respectfully submitted:

Nan Fey-Yensan, Secretary

August 9, 2024