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Grafton Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting

Monday, September 28, 2026, 10:00am

Hybrid Format with John Saroff on Zoom

Present: Mary Beth Culver, Donna Alexander, Lucia Corwin, Galen Johnson, Michelle Dufort

Call to order: 10:05am

Public comment: none

Approve minutes from last meeting: Tabled until next meeting.

Treasurer’s Report: The September financial report was approved. Galen and Michelle have put together the draft Pro forma budget for FY28. We will be presenting the pro forma budget at the October 19th Select Board’s meeting.

There was a discussion about allocating funds to update the website.  However, it was determined that the website functions well and there are not time and resources to put towards changes in the website.

After board review and discussion of the pro-forma budget, the trustees requested that the current building fund of $20,484 be reinstated in both income and expense lines, to be consistent with the previous year’s pro-forma budget and resulting in a total budget of $118, 978. In addition, the trustees directed that the tax support increase for FY28 be corrected to $3000, rather than $2000. If approved, the total tax support for the library would be $15,000 per year.

Librarian’s Report: All library financial reports and reconciliations are up to date. We have received the Bodman Foundation annual donation for Vermont award books. They also helped our building fund with an additional gift. All paperwork and reports were submitted to the state auditors in August and have been reviewed and accepted. Michelle has submitted the Summer Performer Grant and expenditure form to the VT DOL. She will also complete the grant certification for last year’s courier grant. We will receive the same financial support as last year of $704.34.

The Watercolor Workshop with Melissa Hooke was another great success, as was the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Poetry Evening with Brattleboro poet Tim Mayo and Grafton poets Nancy Richardson and Bill Toomey. The next Neighbor-to-Neighbor is The Icing on the Cake: Beginner Cake Decorating with Tom McDermott on Wednesday, October 28. There is also the possibility of a cello demonstration with Nicky Patton. We will be open on Halloween for trick-or-treating.

New Business: The pro forma budget was reviewed as was our request to the Town for more support. Trustees were encouraged to attend the October 19th Selectboard meeting.

There was a discussion on the need to educate the community on all that the library does and has to offer in order to expand our fundraising appeal. Donna & Michelle will meet to draft materials and venues to improve awareness of library services.

Old Business: Lucia will call for the carpet cleaner to come and give us an estimate.

Next Meeting: Monday, October 26, 10:00am

Adjournment: 11:15am