Guilford Free Library Trustee Minutes 08.17.26
Guilford Free Library
Trustees In Person & Online Meeting
Guilford, Vermont
Monday, August 17th 2026 – 6:30 PM
Trustees present: John Shaw, Josh Nelson, Meghan Ohrstrom, Emma Hallowell, Jeannette Tokarz, Peter Hetzel
Trustees absent: Laura Lawson Tucker
Others absent: Amber Hunt (Librarian)
Meeting began at 6:38 PM.
The minutes from the July 2026 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report – John
- Welcome Peter Hetzel warmly to the library trustee board!
- The Friends of the Library received new 501(c)(3) status from the IRS! Their new official name is Guilford Free Library Friends Group.
Librarian’s Report – John presenting in Amber’s absence
- Local author Peter Gould will read his new adult book “Part for the Hole” & speak with the “Talk About Books” group at the BBCC for a special book group on 8/19 at 7 PM. All are welcome!
- Vermont Humanities council visited during summer camp & had nothing but great things to say!
- Emma is working on planning an after school program called “Guilford Explorers” along with Sandra Cortez & Matt Valentine to encourage kids to walk to & explore the library’s offerings.
- The Friends will have a booth representing the library at the Guilford Fair again this year.
- A builder came out to explore the grounds & said the library building is in great shape & that we should be proud of all our upkeep!
Treasurer’s Report – Jeannette
- Explained the new reporting & categorization of expenses. We all have the chance to review it in our emails as well.
- Thank you to Elly, Amber & Jeannette for their tireless efforts in getting this new system set up!
Old Business
- In order to inform our new strategic plan, we want to gather input from the community in 3 different ways with a focus group, survey & open meeting.
- Jeannette emphasizes that we need to build the “why” with the town, as trust is the currency & engagement is how we build the trust. Perhaps we ask “What should we be solving at the library TOGETHER?”
- Josh suggests we put the survey at the top of the list moving forward with community engagement strategies as well as offers amazing insight into surveys generally speaking.
- We discussed in depth our own views towards gathering community feedback & the time/attention to detail that requires.
- We all agreed we trust Josh to lead us with survey specific needs.
- We will revisit the old strategic plan at our next meeting & define goals moving forward.
New Business
- At our next meeting on 9/21, we will brainstorm our appeal letter as well as review our donor list.
- Meghan brought up being on vacation for the next meeting, so the trustees will split secretarial duties as they see fit.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:08 PM.
Meeting minutes by secretary,
Meghan Ohrstrom
Recorded Minutes 08.17.26