South Londonderry Free Library Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes
September 17, 2025

Present: Sunny Wright, Diana Pagnucco, Faye Mack, James Case, David Shade, Madeline Helser

Meeting called to order: 4:50
Vote to approve minutes from Aug 18, 2025: Sunny/1, Dave/2. All approved.

Director’s Report

• Madeline uploaded the July/August Director’s Report into the google doc. 
• Madeline consolidated all the wifi networks down to just one: South Londonderry Library
• Story time: will try different days and go back to mornings
• Will share in the newsletter that we have the full Adobe suite
• Reilly will start the graphic novel camp again in November - details TBD
• Big book move coming up soon - little books up, nonfiction down 
• Madeline will post Casey’s map on the website
• Three binders full of old library card applications will be shredded (all agreed that’s okay)

Sunny and Dave: Report on Grant work

• Carol attending 2-day workshop on grants this week 
• Sunny and Dave meeting with Carol on Friday 9/19 to discuss
• Efficiency grant work on new light fixtures - waiting on Gary’s reply
• Creative aging grant ideas - Sunny will pursue
• Historic preservation grant - Carol is attending
• Madeline will look into Common Good Vermont at Faye’s suggestion
• Cultural Facilities Application: what we need to do for next time we apply
• Madeline: can we consider a push button open to the back door

Building and Grounds

• New sign installed and paid for
• Dennis Dawley: will send an invoice for work completed. We still want him to:
• Install gates and railing upstairs
• Install knee wall doors for storage area
• Replace upstairs window in “cafe” - he’ll give an estimate
• Next Spring: power wash the back of the building porch 
• Replace a few porch floor boards 

Liv Olsen’s interest in becoming a board member. 
Sunny will invite her to attend the Oct meeting to get to know us better.  

Arts Exhibit Coordinator beginning in November

• Carl Eric Westburg are exhibiting in October
• Trystan Bates and Bev Foster are interested in sharing the job - Sunny following up
• Let’s leave the exhibits up for longer than a month. 2 or 3?

Recap of Fall Festival

• Very positive event, went well
• Musicians loved playing on the porch and may continue to do so on their own
• Activities used most by families with kids, music and snacks great for older people
• Keep a slower start to activities and be aware not to overschedule the day
• Let’s do a raffle next time, promote/sell tickets ahead, draw the winner at the event
• Scavenger hunt was a success
• Stats: attendance and new patron sign ups, donations (venmo) was hard to track
• Faye and Madeline: thank yous to volunteers, businesses, and musicians with photos - card (snail mail), email, social media, newsletter
• Costs: $500 or so total

The board (Faye) and Madeline will exchange performance review letters on Friday just before 5:00.

Financial Report: Dave
We’re exactly where we were last year at this time

​Next meeting:
Plan/Set for budget work
Courier budget
Timing/Process for our Fall Appeal 

Meeting adjourned at 6:08
Next meeting: Friday Oct 24th at 10:00
Minutes recorded and submitted by Diana Pagnucco on 9/19/25

South Londonderry Free Library Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes
August 18, 2025

Present: Sunny Wright, Diana Pagnucco, Faye Mack, James Case, Madeline Helser, Reilly Hadden
Absent: Dave Shade

Meeting called to order: 4:35
Vote to approve minutes from July 23, 2025: Sunny/1, Faye/2

Reilly update on graphic novel camp (was 3 hours/day for 5 days)

• Had 10 kids, went to 9 (one had to drop out) - kids worked hard and had a great time
• Collecting the work into a book to share with the families - parents were thrilled
• Has ideas to do more in the future (something in November)

Madeline: 

• Director’s report is not finished 
• Courier budget - let’s look at it in Sept regarding the grant
• Artists gallery: does Virginia still want to schedule exhibits? Madeline will ask her and let us know. If not, we’ll look for a person who’d like to
• There was some misunderstanding with Paul Meyers and his art display. Sunny will work to clear up any confusion, as we all will if we hear any buzz about it.
• BBA kids coming on Sept 10 for work day
• Please include Reilly in emails separately from Madeline: [email protected]

Financial: *no report as Dave was absent*

• Looking into setting up Countryside Alarm
• Will call a meeting with Madeline and Paulina to finalize the budget
• Faye: Peru donation was low because we flipped the request with Landgrove - Landgrove did $1200 and Peru did $600. Increase is not listed in our budget draft. Next year, let’s leave the increase in Landgrove and increase back for Peru
• Len Bugle passed away a year or two ago and his brother brought in a $1000 donation 
• We did not get the big grant for the ADA bathroom

Faye: fall fest next meeting is Sept 2 at 4:00

Building and Grounds: 

• Dennis Dawley will be taking over mowing as Lancaster has closed out account
• Email summarizing progress and next steps on job list we gave him
• Diana: sign install - Dennis will reach out for exact placement ahead
• Town sign at 4way stop - straighten/move - Sunny’s working with Tina
• Discussion re: Library trail ~  ongoing with Dennis and Sunny
• Move the sign for the trailhead for better visibility
• Make a shorter loop with signs
• Add sign at the library for Fall Fest pointing to it

The board agreed to pause the strategic planning process, including the Sept 15 meeting, in order to focus on the fall fest, Director’s performance review, and final annual budget approval.

Next meeting: September 17th at 4:30
Executive Session [performance review process] entered at 5:25, ended at 6:05
Meeting adjourned at 6:05. 
Minutes recorded and submitted by Diana Pagnucco on 8.18.25

Items for future meetings + ongoing items:
Town Wastewater sign up - we’ve done what we needed to do so far
Efficiency VT grant (Dave is working on)
Adobe Creative Suite is on the desktop mac - we should publicise that to our patrons
Get an estimate on replacing the window in “cafe” so we can put in an a/c
Question re cash donations: Should they be deposited so we can track how this category is doing? Is there a reason not to use the credit card for all purchases? 
Updates on how the library’s been used in the past month (no director’s report last meeting or this one)

South Londonderry Free Library Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes
May 28, 2025


Present: Michelle Christensen, Gale Kuhlberg, Diana Pagnucco, Faye Mack, Madeline Helser
Absent: Sunny Wright, David Shade

Meeting called to order: 4:30

1. Welcome Faye!

2. Approve minutes: Michelle/1, Gayle/2. Motion passed.

3. Madeline: Director’s report [written report coming at the end of the week/month] 

• Still planning to look into changing Nat’l Geo physical to digital subscription; maybe giveaway our collection? Dare we recycle it?
  
• 1,000 Books - TLS Director shared the flier, still pending at Wilder (new librarian)
  
• Dell desktop crashed and is out for diagnosis, moved the front room iMac into the office and it’s working fine
  
• Finished summer events flier - June, July, Aug
  
  • Graphic novel camp will be Aug 11-15
    
  • Color Your Garden and Casey’s programs happening too
    
• Partners for Success Grant (Collaborative) has extra funding and Madeline asked them to consider funding us purchasing more graphic novels
  
• The water cooler is here - we’ll refill from home rather than buy water
  
• Reilly is picking up on things very quickly
  
• Staying open Mem Day seemed like it went well - Reilly got lots done, too
  
• May 16 Smith Haven visit went really well - 7 attendees at the talk, also went door to door to ask residents what they need. We can spruce up and freshen their bookshelf collection, possibly monthly. Maybe do a van ride so they can come here (NC support). Will look into a grant for senior programming/classes - Wardsboro is doing some
  

4. Treasurer’s report

• No concerns at this time
  
• ADA Bathroom grant submitted. Thank you David and Carol!
  
• Need to schedule a meeting to review Madeline’s budget draft - David, Sunny, Michelle, Faye and Diana are all willing to work on this, and will find a mutual time to meet soon (Sunny or David will send an email out to start that process) 
  

5. Building and Grounds 

• Lancaster first mowed May 21 after reminder. Dennis will grade out the mess to the left of the stairs. 
  
• Great meeting with Dennis Dawley: He will send estimates for various jobs we need done ~ with the first priority being the safety railing upstairs. Sunny or Madeline will forward a copy of his estimate to the Board once we receive it. Among other things, Dennis said he could make a shorter loop on our Library Trail ~ which would be great to get done before our open house.
  
• Sunny left a message for Tina at the town Office about the former owner offering the green space across from the library for parking.
  
• Discussion of possible replacement of septic tank - depending on when Library would be hooked up to town wastewater system. *(See Addendum below) Fay’s husband is on the wastewater committee and there’s a meeting tonight w selectboard to discuss
  
• Gates will be here on saturday for the stairs
  
• New sign - ask town for bylaws as to size/location 
  

6. Strategic plan

• Michelle and Faye are happy to be a part of the group to narrow down and plan actions. Diana will send out an email to find a mutual time, including Sunny, too
  

7. Summer Event *see addendum below

• Date - still need to pick one: 
  
  • July 26 is also the Whale of a Sale and the big 3 Library art event in Winhall (an hour long midday) 
    
  • August 2 is open for all
    
• Involvement of the Friends Group 
  
• Everyone liked the name Midsummer Day’s Dream and would like to be on the committee - she’ll send an email inviting others to the group, Diana to Friends list
  

8. Branding

• Michelle is working with Madeline on logo design, website, branding, including the design of our new sign
  
• Madeline will continue to post events on L’Derry forum on FB, but we thought that’s enough social media - we stick to our website, newsletter, and maybe tags on social media from others if we can ask for those
  

9. Historical documents

• Michelle transcribed the three old documents - maybe we can include them on the website as a history back to 1902 - she’ll share them with the board
  

Next meeting: Wednesday June 25 (Michelle is away) or July 9 at 4:30 

• Sunny and David, please let us know what you’d prefer. If we’re meeting in smaller groups on items, perhaps we can extend to 6 weeks?
  

Meeting adjourned: 5:30
Minutes recorded and submitted by Diana Pagnucco on 4.28.25

*Addendum  
1) Septic situation: 
Sunny wrote to Christina Haskins at the Dufresne group which is advising the Wastewater Committee and asked for her thoughts on whether we should replace the tank now.
Here is an excerpt from that email to her:
Report from Best Septic: "the tank cover is broken, both baffles are heavily  
deteriorated and the sides of the tank are collapsing. The tank needs to be replaced  as it is ready to cave in.
That said, we use very little wastewater : we have a utility sink downstairs for cleaning twice a month.and a tiny bathroom upstairs that is rarely used.
Meanwhile, according to their team, "We ran the camera down the outlet about 10ft to  find a dry well. The outlet line is pvc and in  good condition. The dry well is functioning  properly at this time."
We look forward to hearing your advice.

2) Midsummer Day’s Dream Open House 

• Music on the porch (Kim and Bob Ray and/or others)
  
• Art show from Casey’s Art Classes at the Library. Some art activity ~ i.e. making hats
  
• Story walk and Scavenger Hunt on shortened Trail loop
  
• Steve Swinburne reading from his book(s)or others
  
• Plant swap
  
• Food /Drink table(s)
  
• Comic Drawing workshop with Reilly
  
• Post design drawings for ADA Bathroom
  
• Raffle Tickets for some kind of prize(s)?
  

​

South Londonderry Free Library Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes

April 30, 2025

Present: Michelle Christensen, Jinhwa Jo, Gale Kuhlberg, David Shade, Sunny Wright; Madeline
Helser
Absent: Diana Pagnucco
Guests: Reilly Hadden

Welcome Reilly! He and Sunny signed his contract.
Meeting called to order:
1. Approve minutes:

2. Madeline: Director’s report with update on hours for ass’t librarian
● Little School for 1000 Books program
● Ass’t librarian hours

3. David: Treasurer’s report [link below]
● Annual budget discussion

4. ADA bathroom grant
● Going through questions related to Carol’s applications : building maintenances, cultural
programs for the grants : travel pictures exhibitions, monthly local artists opening, music
programs (summer reading program kick offs), Diversity in community -
● Branding the library (Social media accounts in future with Michelle and Madeline)

5. Building and grounds
● Lancaster will continue mowing , but in the future, it would be better to pivot to one person servicing everything from mowing to plowing for consistency.
● Dennis Dawley offered to do small carpentry jobs in the future - this could be related to building wall for upstairs space around stairway.
● Copy of engineer's report needed
● Board member to meet Best Septic May 12 at 9AM - Michelle will be there to meet them and David can remove the board beforehand. Re: outside space, we can have Fairy houses (like VINS), Story Walk could be discussed by Madeline and Reilly.
● Front stairs and handrail need to be updated. Dennis Dawley could be the contact.
● For newly emptied upstairs cafe, room dividers (could be on the wheel) can be an option to
close off one section to the left side. Dennis Dawley could be the contact.
● Little lawn in front of the library (next to mailboxes) could be extra parking.

6. Jin: Strategic plan next steps
● Focus Group was a success.
● Survey results will be turned into graphic info. Michelle will do.

7. Check with Carol re Peru fair spot : Gale talked to Peru Fair people.

8. Decide on a date (and leadership) for a May Street Fair

9. Vote on changing bylaws to remove Nat’l Geo collection to make room for children’s space :Instead of keeping physical collections, we start digital access collection. $39 yearly. The whole collection could be auctioned off on the street fair day. Each copy could be donated to patrons. Madeline will look into options. The board voted yes to change the bylaw to remove Nat’l Geo collection.

10. Next meeting: Wednesday at May 28th 4:30pm

​Meeting adjourned: 6:00 pm
Minutes recorded by Michelle Christensen on 4.30.25

South Londonderry Free Library Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes

April 2, 2025

Meeting called to order: 4:33
Present: Michelle Christensen, Jinhwa Jo, Gale Kuhlberg, Diana Pagnucco, David Shade, Sunny
Wright; Madeline Helser, Librarian

​1. Approve minutes: David/1; Gayle/2. Motion passed

2. Madeline: Director’s report [included below]
● Will present data in a grid over time going forward so we can compare and see trends
● Will reach out to Little School for 100 Books program-Michelle will make the connection
● Vera will make an estimate for upstairs storage closet and stair rails
● Dave will screw down the ramps
● FBUS middle school kids visited for research support
● There’s been one application for Ass’t - Merry Kujovsky
● M will narrow down to favorite two to interview with a board member or two
● Let’s move forward by the end of next week - M will keep the board posted on applicants
● Annual Reports have been weeded for duplicates
● Michelle will digitize the Library History document

3. David: Treasurer’s report [included below]
● Normal month - nothing of note to report

4. David: Update on Grant for ADA bathroom
● Today’s call with Carol and Michele Bailey from the Vermont Arts Council - this is the type of project they’d consider. We should highlight community events that might increase the need and use of an accessible bathroom - maybe in combo with Smith Haven, Neighborhood
Connections van to bring people here. Gayle mentioned Gordon Searles as an optional
contractor to give an estimate.

5. Building upkeep (or move to ongoing)
● Dennis Dawley plows for us - Suny will ask him if he’d be willing to mow for us also
● If Dennis says yes, Michelle will talk to Lancaster to let them know we won’t need them
● Drainage Project:first need to locate engineer’s report in records

6. Jin: Quick update on strategic plan
● At Casey’s event, parents said that timing is the most important - in Nov and March it’s
between sports, so a great time for programming

7. We’ve applied to do Peru Fair again - Jin will follow up with Carol, who’s helping

8. Ideas for recognizing outstanding service and support of the library
● Cindie’s gifts of time and her personal financial donation as well as that of her company
● Mimi Wright’s multi decade service on the Board
● Let’s do a gathering in May for Mimi and invite Cindie to honor her, too

9. Old business/New business:
● May event here - street fair maybe...

8. Executive Session: beginning at 5:23 out at 6:10
Next meeting: Wednesday Apr 30 at 4:30
Meeting adjourned: 6:10
Minutes recorded and submitted by Diana Pagnucco on 4.2.25

South Londonderry Free Library Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes

March 5, 2025

Meeting called to order:
Present: Jinhwa Jo, Gale Kuhlberg, Diana Pagnucco, David Shade, Sunny Wright; Madeline Helser,
Librarian
Absent: Michelle Christensen
Meeting called to order at 4:43

1. Approve minutes: Sunny/1; Dave/2. Motion passed

2. Madeline: director’s report [included below]
● New way to pay for audiobooks is going well - we only pay when patrons listen
● Junior chapter books have been weeded out and refreshed, some replacements will be ordered
● Dave shared a link to a 5’ ramp, M will order plus safety tape
● Holidays closed in the remainder of 2025 Mem day, July 4, Labor day

3. David: treasurer’s report [included below]
● Is accepted in Vanguard
● M’s retirement account is now correctly invested with Edward Jones

​4. Diana: former used book room/space refresh
● Madeline sketched out her vision for a collection reorg. Mark Wright’s helper Dustin will assist as needed
● We need to get the staircase and railing taken care of first, as well as moving the bookcases out of the way for now

5. Carol Bowen: update on Grant
● Participated in a video call at Vt Arts Council on 2/20
● It’s a matching grant from $1 to $50K, we receive approval of funds, then we finance the work up front and receive reimbursement after completion
● ADA bathrooms defnitely fall under the scope of this grant
● We need to give them two estimates and design/layouts from contractors that can allow a
contingency for up to 10% overrun (we have one estimate and will ask David Forbes)
● They want to see a full entry into the building for accessibility to get to the bathroom
● 30% of consideration that this project serves our mission and 70% that it’s a quality project that will increase our use to more people
● We can refer to the list of priorities from VCIL (Vt Center for Independent Living)
● We have a UEI: Unique Entity Identifier
● They need all the application materials by May 15 - Carol has the list
● Carol will be happy, with Dave’s help, to lead this application process
● They want a P&L statement for the last year, evidence of cultural activities, letters of support from the community (Tom at NC, Regina with home health, etc) Carol will write a
draft/example letter for Sunny to show
● There are also grants, in alternating years, grants available for historical preservation
● Sunny will ask Michelle if she’d be willing to schedule a call with Carol and Dave to get started

6. Jin: Strategic Plan update
● Let’s continue one-on-one conversations to invite participation in the survey and/or informal
feedback

9. Old business/New business:
● Carol isn’t ready to join our board right now, but would like to stay close to us
● Peru Fair application is already available to apply for 2025 space - all agreed to go ahead
8. Executive Session: in at 5:49; out at 6:04. Let’s meet thursday at 10:15 at the library
Next meeting: TBD
Meeting adjourned: 6:06
Minutes recorded and submitted by Diana Pagnucco on 3.5.25

South Londonderry Free Library Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes

February 12, 2025

Meeting called to order: 5:03
Present: Sunny Wright, Mimi Wright, Gale Kuhlberg, Jinhwa Jo, Dave Shade, Diana Pagnucco,
Librarian Madeline Helser, guest Michelle Christensen
Absent: none

​1. Approve minutes: Diana/1; Gayle/2. Motion passed.

2. Madeline: director’s report [included below]
● Comic book grant/program is being planned - need to think about transportation, also M
going on location where the kids are
● M will think about a gift for Anna. Sunny will give Cindie a SLFL glass and bottle of wine.
● CLiF grant is getting set up and M will begin outreach to area preschools
● Dave will pick out a ramp and high vis tape for M to order
● M is trying a new ebook practice to save money; she will also begin recording ebook usage
● Pysanky egg program is on April 5 (sat) - let’s gauge interest before we promise Kim the money
● M will add a lost and found feature on the newsletter

3. Q&A with Michelle Christensen as a potential board member
● Sunny moved to invite her/Mimi seconded. All approved, motion happily passed. Sunny will
let her know. Welcome Michelle! We’re so grateful for your energy and talents!

4. Dave: treasurer’s report [links to ‘24 and ‘25 PDFs below]
● D is almost approved to access our Vanguard account
● D and Paulina are continuing to clarify the bookkeeping practices
● Madeline has begun drafting an annual budget using data from the past two years - has emailed a rough first draft

5. Jin: Strategic Plan update
● There have been 13 replies to the survey, hopefully more when the newsletter goes out
● J will consider leaving a sheet with the link at town meetings

6. Town Meetings:
● Would be great if Madeline wanted to go say hello and thanks in L’Derry, Peru, L’Grove - up to her comfort and scheduling with her attending Jamaica’s
● Diana will replace Mimi as the town liaison for SLFL in Londonderry

7. Visions for the upstairs room (formerly used books)
● Madeline: would love to have all kids books upstairs and make the stairs safer
● * recorded from an earlier email: Jin - host Night at the Library nights for kids; Diana - bring up coffee, tea, get a watercooler, have a cafe space to sit/work/visit, and event space for talks, workshops, gatherings

9. Old business/New business:
● Spring street fair/block party?
● Grants with Carol Bowen - is there a board member who will work with her and Cindy Logan? There’s a grantee call on Feb 20th it would be great to attend (zoom)
● Follow up with Carol’s interest in joining the board

8. Executive Session: in at 6:28; out at 6:46

Next meeting: March 5 at 5:00
Meeting adjourned: 6:47

Minutes recorded and submitted by Diana Pagnucco on 2.12.25