Minutes of the Meeting
Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees
9 August 2021
Present: Trustees Robin Marra, Beth Lorenz, Trish Toomey, Pam Troccia, Matt Buonomano and Kate Thomas, Library Director; Alternate Trustees Brian Doerpholz and Cathie Talbert.
Robin Marra called the meeting to order at 5:45 in the Quick Meeting Room of the Library, with Robin Marra, Pam Troccia, Beth Lorenz, Trish Toomey, Kate Thomas and Richard Marshall, a citizen participant and member of the Long Range Planning Committee, in attendance at the library. Cathie Talbert, Brian Doerpholz and Matt Buonomano were present via Zoom.
The minutes of the July 12, 2021 meeting were reviewed. Robin Marra made a motion to postpone approval of the minutes to the September 13, 2021 Trustees meeting, as additional edits will need to be made. Pam Troccia seconded that motion. The motion was approved by all Trustees, with Matt Buonomano abstaining. The minutes of the July 26, 2021 meeting were reviewed. It was determined that the word “Special” be removed from the heading. Pam Troccia made a motion, seconded by Beth Lorenz, to approve the minutes, with that correction. The motion was approved by all Trustees, with Matt Buonomano abstaining.
Chair Robin Marra presented his report to the Trustees. The nomination of Kate Thomas for the NHLTA 2021 Director of the Year award has been sent in and he has received notification that it was received. Robin discussed the Covid Policy that was voted on at the January 11, 2021 meeting of the Trustees, whereby the Chair of the Trustees, Robin Marra, and the Director will monitor the positivity/infection rate in the community and make decisions deemed necessary to keep patrons and staff of the Library safe, as it relates to Covid19 and any variants. A motion was made by Beth Lorenz, seconded by Trish Toomey that this Policy will remain in place going forward. The motion was approved by all Trustees. Robin asked Richard Marshall to go over the 2021 Fitzwilliam Library survey results that had previously been provided to the Trustees and Director for review. Sixty-six surveys were returned; two were blank, containing notification information for the prize drawing only. 82% of the respondents have a library card and 77% are over the age of 50. Discussion on how to reach the under 30 demographics included using social media or the Internet to try to receive additional responses. Kate mentioned that the second floor of the library can be utilized to address some of the responses to the Need in Town question. It was felt that the survey takers may have a more outward-looking view of the Library’s role in the community and identified a couple of areas wherein the Library could expand its role, its footprint and its importance. The Long Range Planning Committee will be meeting to discuss the survey results and how the library will be moving forward.
The Trustees reviewed and signed the Library Manifest and Spending-to-Date Expense Report.
Beth Lorenz gave an update on the work currently being done on the building and grounds. The Trustees present at the July 26th meeting walked the property, after the meeting had adjourned, to look at the work completed to date. Wade has discovered additional rot under the windowsills that will increase his estimate by approximately $1,000.00. He is also waiting for the railings to be delivered to complete the work on the front porch. Wade completed the installation of the bulkhead. He will be putting together a list of “needs” for work he believes will need to be done in the future. The estimate for painting received from Caleb Massin did not include the front porch but did include painting the fence. The painting of the fence railings was completed by Dan Baker before his passing. Completion of the fence posts and putting the fence back up will be postponed until next year as flowers and plants will need to be moved before the project can be completed. Caleb is currently finishing another job and will start the library project next. Beth Lorenz will be contacting Caleb to determine if he will be able to paint the porch. Beth will also be the point person for any questions regarding current projects to do with the buildings and grounds. In the event Beth is unavailable, Kate will fill that role.
Kate reviewed the Library Directors report. Circulation was up 19% from last year at this time and patron attendance was up 20% from last month. The library has been having computer issues, both with the public computers and the staff computers. The names of several skilled IT individuals were given to Kate and she will be following up with them for quotes to troubleshoot the issues.
News from the Friends of the Library was presented by Trish Toomey and Kate Thomas. The Friends have discussed having non-book related items be available for checkout at the Library. Cake pans, STEM backpacks, and board games were a few examples of things that patrons may be interested in. The Friends are also asking for help with sorting, setting up and working the day of Book Sale being held on 8/28/21.
Robin Marra presented the revised Telescope Policy for review. After discussion, Beth Lorenz made a motion to approve the revised Telescope Policy. The motion was seconded by Pam Troccia and approved by all Trustees.
The Internet Policy was reviewed by the Trustees. A motion made by Pam Troccia, seconded by Trish Toomey, was made to approve the Policy as written. The motion was approved by all Trustees.
The Social Media Policy was reviewed by the Trustees. It was discovered that the Policy currently on the library website is not the same as the policy previously approved by the Trustees on 5/1/2017. Trish Toomey made a motion to approve the Social Media Policy as it stands. That motion was seconded by Beth Lorenz and approved by all Trustees. The Policy currently on the website will be replaced as soon as possible.
The Circulation Policy was reviewed and a motion to approve the Policy as it stands was made by Pam Troccia. This motion was seconded by Trish Toomey and approved by all Trustees.
A second sub-grant round, as part of the ARPA passed by Congress earlier this year, will open in August. Robin Marra and Pam Troccia will research whether the needs of the Fitzwilliam library would qualify for this grant and report back.
The next meeting of the Trustees has been scheduled for September 13, 2021 at 5:45 p.m.
Beth Lorenz made a motion to the adjourn the meeting at 6:52 p.m. Trish Toomey seconded and the motion was approved by all Trustees.
Respectfully submitted,
Pam Troccia
Secretary