Minutes of the Meeting
Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees
1 September 2020
Present via electronic meeting: Dick Goettle, Beth Lorenz, Pam Troccia, Robin Marra, Brian Doerpholz and Library Director, Kate Thomas.
The Chair of the Board of Trustees has concluded that an emergency has necessitated the meeting be held electronically. The emergency has been determined to exist due to the risk of exposure to COVID-19 by the physical attendance of the Trustees. An electronic notice of the meeting was posted on the Fitzwilliam Library website as well as the Facebook page, with instructions for the public to join the meeting, if interested.
Robin Marra called the meeting to order at 5:52 p.m.
The minutes of the August 3rd meeting were reviewed. A title correction from Co-Chair to Vice Chair was needed. Pam Troccia made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected and Beth Lorenz seconded that motion. The motion was approved by voice roll call from Robin Marra, Beth Lorenz, Pam Troccia, Brian Doerpholz and Dick Goettle.
The Trustees reviewed the Library Manifest and Spending-to-Date Expense Report and will arrange with Kate to go to the Library to sign them. Dick Goettle will be reaching out to Debbie at Town Hall to confirm which entity should be paying the bill for mowing the lawn at the Library.
Kate Thomas presented her monthly report. Circulation for August was 1856, down 15% from last year, which is the smallest decrease since March. Five live and seven virtual programs were held with total attendance of 89. Coni has finished the design on the website and the information is currently being filled in before it goes live. Storytime is set to begin on September 16th and afterschool programs are currently scheduled to possibly begin in October. This possibility brought up questions regarding procedures to be followed due to the Covid 19 virus situation. The Trustees will be having a special meeting on September 15th to finalize the procedure to be followed.
The Investment Policy was reviewed by all. Dick Goettle suggested a change in the Asset Allocation in the Library Memorial Fund be made. After discussion, Dick Goettle made a motion, seconded by Pam Troccia to approve the Investment Policy as presented with the change. The motion was approved by voice roll call from Robin Marra, Pam Troccia, Brian Doerpholz and Dick Goettle. Beth Lorenz abstained from the vote. Dick will also contact our representative from Monadnock Capital Group to confirm they will be present at the October 5th meeting of the Trustees to provide their annual report of the funds.
The work surrounding the Library Buildings and Grounds project was discussed. Dick Goettle has approved Richard May to continue working on light repairs and has placed a call into the Historical Commission to discuss changing the bulkhead from the current wood to metal. The Trustees decided to remove the drainage portion of the proposal by Wade Leventry and have an expert review the situation next Spring for consideration. The Library had previously received three proposals to have work done to canopy some trees to prevent any damage to the building. Dick Goettle will be contacting those bidders to confirm the proposal amounts as it is felt that this work should be done this fall. Those bids will be reviewed at the October 5th meeting of the Trustees. The Trustees of the Library have received verbal confirmation that the Board of Selectmen have approved and accepted the one bid proposal from Wade Leventry to complete the Library Buildings and Grounds project.
The timeframe for assessing the current 5-year plan and preparing for next (2022-26) has been tabled for discussion at the October 5th meeting of the Trustees. Kate will continue to reach out to patrons/residents to become a member of the Board of Trustees.
The Behavior Policy was reviewed by the Trustees. Brian Doerpholz made a motion, seconded by Beth Lorenz to accept the policy as presented. The motion was approved by voice roll call from Robin Marra, Beth Lorenz, Pam Troccia, Brian Doerpholz and Dick Goettle.
The Collection Development Policy was reviewed by the Trustees. Paragraph B on page one and the information on the physical items of the library referred to on page two will be removed. A motion to approve the Policy with the revisions was made by Pam Troccia and seconded by Brian Doerpholz. The motion was approved by voice roll call from Robin Marra, Beth Lorenz, Pam Troccia, Brian Doerpholz and Dick Goettle.
Robin Marra will continue to explore grant possibilities going into 2021. The Gifts Policy of the Fitzwilliam Library will be reviewed at the October 5th meeting.
The next meeting of the Trustees of the Library will be held October 5,2020 at 5:45 pm. The Chair will determine whether that meeting will be held electronically if the virus situation warrants.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dick Goettle at 6:58 p.m. and seconded by Beth Lorenz. The motion was approved by voice roll call from Robin Marra, Beth Lorenz, Pam Troccia, Brian Doerpholz and Dick Goettle.
Respectfully submitted
Pam Troccia
Secretary