2023 Annual Meeting
January 15, 2024 7:00 p.m.
In attendance: Rebekah, Deb, Pat, Stacey, Cristi, Sara
Not in attendance: Doug, Jan
Director’s Report:
- Libraries matter for many reasons–among them creativity, democracy, community, connection, and literacy.
- 2023 patron visits increased 8 of 12 months from 2022.
- 109 programs
- 2023 circ=4614; 2022 circ=4633
- Stats shared of popular books
Treasurer’s Report:
- BFTL income was a bit above expenses with income at $74,994.36 and expenses at $70,057.92.
Finance Report:
- 12/31 RBC balance=$270,664
Fundraising:
- Annual Appeal=$5205; Brownie à la Mode and See’s Candies=$385.15
Programs:
- Mocktails and Murder; Photography; many others director driven
Public Relations:
- Eastwick, Facebook, Instagram, etc. used to promote programs.
House and Grounds:
- over $5000 of work donated; construction grant awarded for heat pumps; furnace cleaned in Aug/Sept; discussion of chimney, sidewalk, and window
Personnel:
- Whole library run with two employees (seeking another staff member); revised collection development section of job description; director eval and staff evals done; sending out 2023 director eval form
Nominations for trustees:
- Motion 2401 by Deb and second by Stacey to nominate (accepted) and elect Rebekah for five-year term: passed by voice consensus.
- Motion 2402 by Deb and second by Rebekah to nominate (accepted) and elect Jan Firszt for five-year term: passed by voice consensus.
Nominations for slate of officers:
- Motion 2403 by Deb and second by Rebekah to accept the slate of 2024 officers–Doug North as president, Deb Topetta as vice president, Pat Haywood as treasurer, Cristi Lamontagne as secretary–passed by voice consensus.
Adjournment:
- Motion 2404 to adjourn meeting at 7:44 by Deb and second by Rebekah: passed by voice consensus.
Next annual meeting: January 6, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
2022 Annual Meeting
JANUARY 16, 2023
Meeting called to order at 7:01 by President Rebekah Lamphere.
Roll Call: Rebekah, Doug, Pat, Cristi, Asa (abs), Debra, Sarah Dearie (abs), Sara Rogers, Stacey Hills
Members of public: Nancy Vincent
- Motion 2300 to elect Interim Trustee Stacey Hills to the term ending January 2026 by Deb and second by Cristi passed by voice consensus.
- Motion 2301 to elect Debra Toppeta to the term ending January 2028 by Cristi and second by Stacey passes by voice consensus.
- Motion 2302 to elect Sarah Dearie to the term ending January 2028 by Deb and second by Doug passed with five in favor and one opposed.
Director’s Report
- Collection LY 9329 books; TY 8913.
- Circ up 1195 from LY overall.
- Programs for 2022: 82
- Will write e-blast about 2022 about top books.
Treasurer’s Report
- 2022 came in under budget
Finance Committee
- 2022 portofolio at about 280K
- Very close to breaking even for year with realized income and not touching principal
- RBC fees about 1.5%
Fundraising Committee
- Annual Appeal
- See’s Candies
Public Relations Committee
- Updated website
- Started e-blasts
- Nancy will look into putting BFTL on Instagram.
House and Grounds Committee
- 2022 building expenses–
- Electric Expenses: $1425.60
- Fuel Oil Expenses: $3199.20
- Water Expenses: $250
- Building Maintenance Total: $2834.56
Personnel Committee
- (Process for hiring new director straddled 2021-2022)
- Hired Sara
- Wrote appointment letter
- Completed six-month probationary evaluation
Motion 2303 to adjourn by Deb and second by Pat at 7:30.
Next annual meeting: January 8, 2024
Minutes submitted by Cristi Lamontagne
2021 Annual Meeting
Minutes – January 24, 2022
The annual meeting of the Berlin Free Town Library was called to order at 7:05 PM by President Lamphere with roll call. The meeting was conducted at the library and remotely by Zoom.
Trustees in attendance: Rebekah Lamphere – President, Pat Haywood – Treasurer, David Theriault – Secretary, Cristi Lamontagne, Asa Riccardi , Connected by Zoom: Doug North – V. President , Demetria Cavallari, Isaac Coffie Sarah Rogers – Director.
Also in attendance: Nancy Vincent, Trustee nominees Debra Toppeta and Sarah Dearie.
Directors Report: Former Director Sharon Vogel sent her report via email (see attached). Circulation for December shows a total of 507 borrowed items – 197 of which were loaned locally and 185 of which were loaned to member libraries. E-Downloads totaled 125. Average Wi-Fi monthly usage totaled 210.
Treasurer’s Report: Pat presented the Profit & Loss/Balance Sheet for fiscal 2021 (see attachments).
Long Range Plan Committee: Rebekah presented the committee report for 2021 (see attached)
Finance: Doug stated that the Canfield and Income accounts have a combined value of approximately $306,000.
Fundraising: Discussion of the Annual Appeal.
Programming: Discussion of 2021 Summer reading program.
Public Relations: Pat presented the Board with her scrapbook of library news items and events for 2021.
House & Grounds: Rebekah and Dave submitted a joint report on the activities of the committee for 2021 (see attached).
Personnel: Cristi presented the committee report for 2021 along with the minutes of the January 13, 2022, special meeting concerning the hiring of the new Director (see attachments).
Trustee Nominations:
Trustee nominees Sarah Dearie and Debra Toppeta submitted written statements of introduction to the Board. Dave stated he would abstain from any voting. He submitted a verbal resignation to the Board.
Motion #2204 to elect Sarah Dearie made by Rebekah, 2nd by Cristi, all in favor.
Motion #2205 to elect Debra Toppeta made by Rebekah, 2nd by Isaac, all in favor.
Motion #2206 to elect Doug North made by Rebekah, 2nd by Pat, all in favor.
Motion #2207 to elect Asa Riccardi made by Rebekah, 2nd by Isaac, all in favor.
Motion #2208 to elect Isaac Coffie made by Rebekah, 2nd by Asa, all in favor.
President Lamphere read a letter of appreciation in honor of Dave’s many years’ service as a Trustee.
Rebekah introduced a Slate of Officers for 2022:
Rebekah Lamphere – President
Doug North – Vice President
Cristi Lamontagne – Secretary
Pat Haywood – Treasurer
The Slate of Officers was approved by consensus.
Motion #2209 to adjourn Annual Meeting at 8:05 PM made by Pat, 2nd by Cristi, all in favor.
The next Annual meeting will be held on Monday, January 02, 2023 @ 7 PM, followed by the regular meeting.
Respectfully submitted by Dave Theriault