Guilford Free Library Trustees Minutes 07.20.26

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Guilford Free Library

Trustees In Person & Online Meeting

Guilford, Vermont

Monday, July 20th 2026 – 6:30 PM

Trustees present: John Shaw, Meghan Ohrstrom, Emma Hallowell, Jeannette Tokarz, Laura Lawson Tucker

Trustees absent: Josh Nelson

Others present: Amber Hunt (Librarian)

Meeting began at 6:34 PM.

The minutes from the June 2026 meeting were approved.

Chair’s Report – John

  • Amber’s trustee evaluation went beautifully & she did a self evaluation as well, highlighting her professional goals for the next year.
  • We will make a point to check in on Amber’s goals so they stay on track with the Strategic Plan.
  • Working with the town treasurer is going well.

Librarian’s Report – Amber

  • The library’s summer camp is underway & in its second week. Thank you Emma & all staff!
  • Our summer kickoff party went amazing. Thank you Sandglass Theater!
  • 50+ patrons are participating in the summer reading challenge. More than last year!
  • Leah is working with the book group “Talk About Books” to acquire Peter Gould’s new adult book series for 8/19. It will be our first book set that we lend out to other libraries!
  • The bathroom sink’s leak has been repaired & the highway dept. trimmed one of the trees in the outdoor space to avoid summer camp tent troubles.
  • Library visits went up in June as well as our program offerings!

Treasurer’s Report – Jeannette

  • The new reporting & categorization of expenses is still underway with the town treasurer.
  • Being in our first month of the new fiscal year, there’s nothing new to report for July. Stay tuned!

Old Business

  • We discussed what the next steps & major reflections are moving forward after our strategic planning/SOAR meeting last month with Joy Worland.
  • We focused on discussing survey outreach, the possibility of recruiting community members for a focus group & if we need to add some community meetings to our calendar. 

New Business

  • Jeanette presented an investment strategy put forth by Spencer Adams at Edward Jones for the funds given to us by the Friends of the Library as they move from a foundation to a nonprofit. We voted to move forward with her well researched plan.
  • We also decided on picking a timeline for hearing investment reports from Spencer with Jeannette at the wheel.
  • We went into Executive Session at 7:55 PM to discuss the vacant trustee position after Judith’s departure from the board. 
  • We exited the Executive Session at 8:09 PM.
  • We voted to elect Peter Hetzel as the new trustee, but we will need to report that to the Selectboard to elect him officially at 7/27 meeting.
  • We also greenlit a discussion between Amber & John to explore needs for further library staffing.
  • A building inspector will be volunteering tomorrow 7/21 to survey the grounds.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:19 PM.

Meeting minutes by secretary, 

Meghan Ohrstrom