Minutes of the Meeting
Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees
7 June, 2021
Present: Trustees Robin Marra, Beth Lorenz, Trish Toomey, Pam Troccia and Matt Buonomano; Alternate Trustees Brian Doerpholz and Cathie Talbert; and Kate Thomas, Library Director.
Robin Marra called the meeting to order at 5:50 in the Quick Meeting Room of the Library, with Robin Marra, Pam Troccia, Beth Lorenz, Brian Doerpholz, Trish Toomey, Matt Buonomano and Kate Thomas in attendance at the library and Cathie Talbert present via Zoom.
Robin Marra took a moment to acknowledge the recent loss of Dan Baker and Emily Noyes, both members of the Fitzwilliam community for many years. Dan had been very involved in the town as a Selectman and many of the Trustees had the opportunity to work with him on various projects. Emily was the wife of former Trustee Nick Noyes and was also involved in many community activities. These individuals will be sorely missed in our community,
The minutes of the May 3, 2021 meeting were reviewed and no changes were made. Matt Buonomano made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Beth Lorenz and approved by all Trustees.
The Trustees reviewed and signed the Library Manifest and Spending-to-Date Expense Report.
The Treasurer’s report was given by Matt Buonomano. The investment service, Monadonock Capital Group, will no longer be handling investments for the Library Memorial Fund. These funds will be deposited into a new savings account at TD Bank until a new investment firm can be hired. The investment account at Fidelity has been having servicing issues; any individual accounts held at Fidelity by the signers for the Library have been linked to the Library’s investment account. This means that any individual can make changes and/or do transactions on all accounts. A motion to close the Fidelity account and open two separate savings accounts at TD Bank, one for the Library Memorial Fund and one for the Fidelity Investment monies, was made by Matt Buonomano and seconded by Beth Lorenz. The motion was approved by all Trustees.
Matt also discussed a letter he received the Trustees of the Trust Funds of Fitzwilliam asking for the Library Trustees to approve the disbursement of funds designated to purchase books. Matt will reach out to Dick Goettle for more information.
The Buildings and Grounds report stated that the railings for the porch, as well as the trim, has been paid for but the work has not been completed. Kate and Beth will confirm the time frame for finishing the work. Dennis Rice will be painting the fence and Charlie Kennison will be contacted to determine the status of putting up the fence after it is painted. A “Tom Sawyer Day” was discussed to ask for volunteers to help put up the fence when ready. The caping of the trees has been completed.
Kate reviewed the Library Directors report. Circulation was up 70% from last year at this time, as the library was closed due to Covid19 during that time period in 2020. There were 11 adult programs and 16 kids’ programs with total attendance of 163. Patron attendance in the building was 673 for April. One part-time staff member will be leaving this week and the other staff members will be taking over those hours. Kate has asked for assistance from the Trustees on working on the ARPA Grant. This is a one-time grant offered by the state to libraries impacted by Covid 19. Robin Marra will explore the guidelines for this grant.
News from the Friends of the Library was presented by Trish Toomey. The Friends will be working on the annual Book Sale and will need the help of the Trustees for sorting, setting up and working the day of the event.
The review of the Investment Policy has been deferred to the July meeting of the Trustees.
The Long-Range Planning Committee will be meeting once the surveys have been returned and reviewed.
Kate will be talking with John Greer of the VFW to determine what size bulletin boards they have available that the library may be able to use.
The NHLTA 2021 Annual Awards are coming up and Robin Marra discussed the nomination of Kate as Library Director of the Year. The Trustees agreed that Kate is well deserving of this award and Robin will bring the official nomination language to the July meeting for review and approval.
The review/revision of the Internet, Social Media, Telescope, and Circulation Policies, as well as the review/revision of the Bylaws, was tabled as Robin Marra will provide a revised schedule for the review of all policies going forward.
No other business or announcements were brought forth for discussion.
The next meeting of the Trustees has been scheduled for July 12th at 5:45 p.m.
Matt Buonomano made a motion to the adjourn the meeting at 7:25 p.m. Pam Troccia seconded and the motion was approved by all Trustees.
Respectfully submitted,
Pam Troccia
Secretary