Minutes of the Meeting
Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees
4 April, 2021
Present: Robin Marra, Beth Lorenz, Trish Toomey, Pam Troccia, Brian Doerpholz, Matt Buonomano, Richard Marshall, citizen participant, and Kate Thomas, Library Director.
Robin Marra called the meeting to order at 5:46 PM in the Quick Meeting Room of the Library, with Robin Marra, Pam Troccia, Matt Buonomano, Beth Lorenz and Kate Thomas in attendance at the library and Brian Doerpholz, Trish Toomey and Richard Marshall present via Zoom.
The election of the Officers of the Board of Trustees for 2021-22 was held with the results as follows:
Chair – Pam Troccia made a motion to nominate Robin Marra. Motion seconded by Beth Lorenz and approved by all.
Vice Chair – Pam Troccia made a motion to nominate Beth Lorenz. Motion seconded by Matt Buonomano and approved by all.
Secretary – Beth Lorenze made a motion to nominate Pam Troccia. Motion seconded by Matt Buonomano and approved by all.
Treasurer – Beth Lorenz made a motion to nominate Matt Buonomano. Motion seconded by Pam Troccia and approved by all.
The minutes of the March 1, 2021 meeting were reviewed and discussed. Robin Marra made a motion to accept the minutes. The motion was seconded by Beth Lorenz and approved by all Trustees.
The Trustees reviewed the Library Manifest and Spending-to-Date Expense Report. Kate noted that the payroll information has not been updated due to the crash of the Quicken program at Town Hall. The Trustees not physically present will stop at the library to sign the report.
Robin Mara updated the Trustees on the painting of the Library building. He spoke to Caleb Massin who will begin the work in July. Caleb will be waiving any type of deposit and will require half of the total cost of the project upon starting the work. Dennis Wright will be painting the fence.
Kate discussed the Mutual Aid Contact form she had received from the Town. Gene Comeau, who has turned the library key back in, was the primary contact on the list. It was decided that Kate would contact the Fire Chief of Fitzwilliam for approval to use him as the first contact on the list and making Kate the second and Richard Mays the third.
Kate reviewed the Library Directors report. Circulation was down 12% from last year, with 13 adult programs and 17 children’s programs being held, that had a total number of 305 in attendance. An Escape Room competition will be offered soon and mystery poems are now at the checkout desk for patrons to guess. The sensor for the heating system has been added and the elevator has been inspected.
The committee to serve on the next long-range (5 year) planning process was discussed. Robin Marra had proposed that the committee be made up of two trustees, a community member and the library director: Pam Troccia and Beth Lorenz volunteered to be on the committee along with Richard Marshall, as the community member. A motion was made by Robin Marra to approve the committee be comprised of Pam Troccia, Bethe Lorenz, Richard Marshall and Kate Thomas. The motion was seconded by Matt Buonomamno and approved by all Trustees.
The need for Alternate Trustees was discussed. Robin Marra made a motion to nominate Brian Doerpholz and Catherine Talbot. This motion was seconded by Pam Troccia and approved by all Trustees.
The Trustees reviewed the Library Trustee Code of Conduct. Revisions to the Code were brought forth by the Chair. After discussion of these revisions, a motion was made by Matt Buonomano to approve the Library Trustee Code of Conduct as revised. The motion was seconded by Pam Troccia and approved by all Trustees.
Assignment of individuals to various committees was discussed. The Budget and Finance Committee will be chaired by the Treasurer and will include the Chair of the Trustees and the Library Director. The committee for Building and Grounds will consist of Matt Buonomano and Richard Mays, as a non-Trustee. Trish Toomey has volunteered to head the Outreach Committee and Robin Marra has volunteered to participate on the Lock Collection Committee, as well as Cathy Talbot and the Executive Director.
The Internet/Social Media Policy will be reviewed at the May 3rd meeting of the Trustees along with a brief review of the Investment Policy for a possible update.
The next meeting of the Trustees has been scheduled for May 3rdth at 5:45 p.m.
Beth Lorenz made a motion to the adjourn the meeting at 6:50 p.m. Robin Marra seconded and the motion was approved by all Trustees.
Respectfully submitted,
Pam Troccia
Secretary