Fitzwilliam Town Library Board of Trustees
Minutes for March 4, 2024
Trustees Present: Robin Marra (via Zoom), Beth Lorenz, Carole Beckwith, Richard Marshall, Nan Fey-Yensan, Brian Doerpholz (alternate), Library Director Kate Thomas, Library Assistant Director Cindi Beede (a quorum was present)
- Call to Order @ 5:32 pm
- Approval of minutes of the February 5, 2024 meeting; Motion to approve Nan/ seconded Richard; unanimously approved by those present.
- Approval of the manifest – unanimously approved by Trustees present
- Chair’s Report – no report at this time
- Library Director’s report
- Circulation decreased by 9% this month from last year (current: 1588)
- February programming- 11 adult programs; 16 children’s programs; total attendance of 296 (up from last month)
- Patron attendance in the building was 730
- Provided space for 5 non-programming meetings (43 attendees)
- Still need to identify new cleaning staff (Cindi has been doing the work in addition to her job); Brian will explore
- DVD area is freshly painted; still need to pursue lighting upgrades; there is a need to repair the left-handed railing (very loose; Beth will explore)
- Candidate’s Night will again be hosted by the Library on Wednesday March 6
- Theme for May 21 Farmer’s Market kick-off day at Library will be Alice in Wonderland
- Old business
- Garden Club Picnic Table gift – decision about the exact table is still under consideration; Kate will re-send purchase options to the Trustees for their input; decision will be made at the April meeting
- 3-D printer policy (proposed) – the proposed policy, drafted by Cindi Beede, was discussed with minor suggestions/amendments proposed; approval will be pending those changes (Cindi and Kate will work on those); Motion to approve making proposed changes Richard/seconded Brian/unanimous in affirmative
- Second floor RFP Next Steps – Kate reported that the engineer is waiting to hear comments by the Trustees for the intended uses of the space. Trustees discussed and indicated that the following would capture the multi-purpose use of the space:
- Expand existing meeting space in the Library (for both Library and the Town)
- Expand Library programming space
- Provide space for permanent exhibits (i.e. Locke Collection pieces)
- Provide space for temporary exhibits (art, textiles, etc.) and special collections
- Tutoring space
- Storage (for collections, special book collections, programming material and equipment, etc.)
- There would be a need for a kitchen-sized sink and countertop (similar to downstairs)
- New business
- Town Meeting March 12 – Richard will be present to represent the Library Trustees
- Ongoing business (e.g., Friends of the Library; Buildings & Grounds) and/or announcements
- Buildings and grounds – Kate will share the intended use of the second floor with the engineers we are working with (using the text found above); we will need an RFP for potential architects to work on plan for the upstairs space; Richard shared a Sample Request for Proposals sourced from the AIA to help guide us in moving this forward.
- Friends are working on plans for the coming year (Carole)
- Beth will look into repair of the railing (as noted in the Director’s Report)
- Setting date/time for next meeting April 1, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m.
- Adjournment @ 6:19 Motion to adjourn Nan/ seconded Carole / unanimous