Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees
Minutes for April 1, 2024
Trustees Present: Robin Marra (via Zoom), Beth Lorenz, Carole Beckwith, Richard Marshall, Nan Fey-Yensan, Pam Troccia (alternate), Library Director Kate Thomas, Library Assistant Director Cindi Beede (a quorum was present)

1. Call to Order @ 5:42 pm
2. Election of Board Officers for 2024-2025 (nominations were put forward)

a. Chair – Robin Marra (motion to approve/elect Richard/seconded Beth; unanimous w/ one abstention
b. Treasurer – Richard Marshall (motion to approve/elect Nan/seconded Carole; unanimous
c. Secretary – Nan Fey-Yensan (motion to approve/elect Beth/seconded Carole; unanimous
d. Vice Chair – Carole Beckwith (motion to approve/elect Beth/seconded Richard; unanimous

3. Approval of minutes of the March 4, 2024 meeting; Motion to approve Carole/ seconded Nan; unanimously approved.
4. Approval of the manifest – unanimously approved by Trustees present
5. Chair’s Report – no report at this time
6. Library Director’s report
   • Circulation decreased by 14% this month from last year (current: 1757)
   • March programming- 14 adult programs; 13 children’s programs; total attendance of 323 (up from last month)
   • Patron attendance in the building was 1,023 (up from last month at 730)
   • Provided space for 8 non-programming meetings (53 attendees; up from last month at 43)
   • Still need to identify new cleaning staff (Cindi has been doing the work in addition to her job). It was agreed that an advertisement should go out at $20-25 an hour/part time
   • Veronika has been taking much initiative and is presenting some new ideas for the display of some of the Library’s historical holdings. This is also an opportunity to partner with the Historical Society. Veronika is a contestant in the Miss NH pageant coming this month and the Trustees wish her well in that endeavor.
   • Copper flashing on the roof has been installed and is a welcome upgrade; Library was unaware of installation schedule.
   • Lighting upgrades still need to be pursued and the wobbly railing is scheduled for repair this spring.
   • Candidate’s Night was a full house and successful in March
   • Theme for May Farmer’s Market kick-off day at Library will be Alice in Wonderland (May 18th); seeking volunteers to assist with the Alice in Wonderland Party
   • Several adult and children’s programs are planned for April
   • The Director and her staff are proposing an upgrade to an existing display case to support expanded exhibit of Library held artifacts (renovation estimated to be around $400 of existing display)
   • The Director also supplied the Trustees with the engineering assessment of the second floor (discussed in old business)
7. Old business
   a. Garden Club Picnic Table gift – a choice has been made for the table and has been shared with the Garden Club for their approval and purchase.
   b. Second floor RFP – The Trustees discussed the engineering report from Team Engineering PLLC that was received March 28th, 2024. There was agreement that given the results of the report within the context of our current financial holdings and competing priorities we would wait to take action on soliciting architectural firm proposals (next practical step).
   c. Related to this discussion, it was raised by Chairperson Marra that we should include fundraising/Library development on our agenda for next month (May)
8. New business
   a. The Library Trustee Code of Conduct was reviewed and discussed. It will remain intact save the change of font size on DO NOT to do not. A motion was made to accept by Carole/seconded by Beth; unanimous
   b. Recommendation on alternate Trustees: Pam has agreed to remain active as an alternate Trustee and a discussion of the need for additional alternates will occur during the May meeting.
9. Ongoing business (e.g., Friends of the Library; Buildings & Grounds) and/or announcements
   a. Buildings and grounds – see discussion of second floor of the Library (Old business and Director’s report, above)
   b. Kate and Nan are working on closing out the 2023/24 ALA Grant over the next two months
   c. Friends are working on plans for the coming year (Carole); expansion of the “Library of Things” through the purchase of lawn games for patrons; looking into offering seeds to patrons this spring as a way to raise awareness of gardening (there is a book display on the topic currently)
   d. There were no announcements
10. Setting date/time for next meeting May 6, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m.
11. Adjournment @ 6:42 Motion to adjourn Nan/ seconded Richard / unanimous