Library Trustees Meeting Minutes 3.16.26

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Guilford Free Library

Trustees In Person & Online Meeting

Guilford, Vermont

Monday, March 16th 2026 – 6:30 PM

Trustees present: Judith Serkin, Laura Lawson Tucker, John Shaw, Meghan Ohrstrom, Jeannette Tokarz, Emma Hallowell & Josh Nelson 

Others present: Amber Hunt (Librarian)

Meeting began at 6:31 PM.

The minutes from the February 2026 meeting were approved.

Librarian’s Report – Amber

  • Annual statistic report has been submitted
  • New session of poetry & sound is starting up again soon
  • Pleased with groups using the library now that we have sorted out our building use policy

Co-Chair Report – Laura

  • Welcome new trustees! Meghan & Emma are now officially on the library trustee board after town meeting. Roles need to be redefined now.
  • John has accepted to become chair
  • Jeanette has accepted to become treasurer
  • Meghan has accepted to become secretary

Treasurer’s Report – John

  • We continue to be on track with spending against budget
  • New library fund with the town continues to be underway. Hoping to be operational by April.
  • Thank you to Elly & Erika for their help with sorting out the fund with us
  • One more seat on the finance committee to fill now that Josh has stepped down. Emma fills it!

Strategic Plan Reflection – Facilitated by Richard Wizansky

  • Previous trustee Richard Wizansky joins us to review our 2023-2026 strategic plan before we create our new plan this summer
  • Encourages trustees to be specific & aspirational with the new plan. Let’s dream big!
  • SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threats) analysis for each part of the plan. Perhaps Joy from the library department attending our strategic plan meeting in the summer can facilitate this exercise for us.
  • Budget linking is very important as we identify our plan. How will we pay for these goals?
  • When creating goals, use data to keep us informed & keep them SMART (strategic, measurable, achievable, relevant & time-bound)
  • Amber & the trustees all raised ideas, voiced opinions & limitations for the library which we will continue to brainstorm before we get into strategic plan creation.
  • We are considering ways to engage with the community to keep energy high, identify goals to incorporate in new strategic plan & support as many people’s dreams for the library as we can.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 PM.

Meeting minutes by secretary, 

Meghan Ohrstrom

Meeting recording: https://guilfordvt.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-16-Library-Trustees-audio-recording.mp3