2021 Minutes

LUV minutes 11.15.2021

Meeting at Carpenter & Main, Norwich, Vt.

Present:

Cory Smith, Abbott Pomfret; Betsy Kane, Bradford; Amy Thurber, Canaan; Dawn Huston, Dunbar Free Grantham; Jeff Metzler, Etna; Stephanie Mcandrew, Cornish/George Stowell; Katelyn Coolley, Grafton; , Rubi Simon , Howe/Hanover; Emily Zollo, Latham Mem/Thetford; Mary King, Plainfield Libraries; Tina Fava, Miner Mem Lempster; Lucinda Walker, Norwich; Laurel Fulford, Orford Free; Laina Warsavage, Orford Social; Sue Martin, Piermont; Justine Fafara, Richards Free/Newport; (Jen Haynes didn’t attend, came late and got lunch), Crystal Schimpf, Tracy Mem/New London; Glynis Hart, Wilmot. Beth/Fairlee and Jen Haynes came late and picked up video bags.

The meeting started at 11:52, Co-chair Amy Thurber, Canaan, presiding.

Minutes:

Lucinda moved to accept the July ’21 minutes, Cory 2nd, motion passed

Dawn read the non-session planning (business) section of the Annual meeting minutes of ’19 (to demonstrate the motion and passing to raise the annual dues to $20 among other things), Tina moved to accept, Rubi 2nd, motion passed.

Dawn/Dunbar presented the Treasurer’s report:

Last year’s balance $3,129.51.

Current balance $8,232.51

Income $5,230. Very few expenditures: a small refund to a library that overpaid, and CD supplies total $127, however there is the possibility there was a Blackstone Audio bill that hasn’t been paid, and today’s lunch bill is $420.

Cory moved to accept the treasurer’s report, Laurel 2nd, motion passed.

Vote for Officers: 

No-one offered any other nominees for co-ordinator, treasurer, or secretary. As the current slate, Judy/Converse and Amy/Canaan, co-co-ordinators; Dawn/Dunbar, Treasurer; and Glynis/Wilmot all showed willingness to continue in their respective roles, Justine moved to re-elect the slate. Rubi 2nd, motion passed

Amy discussed the dates and programs for next year’s meetings:

January 24, March 21, May 16, July 18, September 19, November 21, and times. In this time of virtual meeting, ALL the meeting times were moved to 10 a.m., so the plan is to continue with that and if there comes a midwinter meeting where things look messy, even if we had moved to live meetings we could revert to virtual or hybrid, with the exception still having the annual meeting at noon.

Program suggestions had included fund raising, hybrid programming, virtual programming, non-book item circulation, basic genealogy. Crystal/Tracy asked about community partnerships: either a group exchange, or an outside speaker. Amy/Canaan said there WOULD be a presentation or video on the website, explaining email, and the rotations, particularly as there are many new members: so this one will probably be January.

New Business 

Bag rotations are in process, Betsy Kane of Bradford expressed concern with how to handle Vermont rotations getting to places far away when the nearest NH library doesn’t necessarily have the capacity to protect bags from the weather for NH van pick up. Amy will be adjusting the rotations because of adds and drops and will try to see if there are acceptable solutions when meetings aren’t in person.

Laurel/Orford Free : Another concern is the bags being over-filled for van transport, risking titles falling out and getting lost or damaged. Amy said there was thinking under way to pursue bags with zippers, like the Reads-to-Go bags are in. Those were made by Janway, and Judy may have a link with Janway so we are awaiting information on pricing. No DVDs were purchased in 2020, so there is, as demonstrated above, a surplus.

Old business:

Looking in the archives, old versions of by-laws were found (possibly 2003, possibly 2013)…. New By-laws will be presented in January.

Betsy (?) asked where do damaged Videos and CDs go? There was discussion of DVD repair machines; whether the video committee should purchase its own.

Judy is collecting extra and damaged DVDs: send to Converse Free Library/Lyme

Meanwhile the video committee has lost two members and is now a committee of one – Laina Warsavage of Orford Social. Amy T./Canaan noted the larger issue of the future of DVDs, since new movies are coming out via streaming services. Three libraries have dropped out of the video/audio rotation. Members are urged to contact Laina W. about serving on the committee and what it entails.

Ruby Simon/Howe brought up the 3D printer, which circulates on the NH side (being funded by NH state). As the coordinator for the rotation she would like to have a way to replenish the spools, which cost in the neighborhood of $50 apiece. (Was this issue resolved?)

Mary King said there is also a rotating Lego collection.

Meeting adjourned ~12:30 p.m. 

Librarians of the Upper Valley 

Meeting Jan. 25 2021

Via Zoom. 10 a.m.

Attendees: Amy Thurber (Co-chair -- Canaan NH), Dawn Huston (Dunbar; Grantham NH), Glynis Hart (Wilmot NH), Barbara Prince (Etna NH), Melissa Hutson (Enfield), Cory Smith (Pomfret VT), Sharon Duffy (Grafton), Barbara Ball (Windsor Vt.), Sarah (Etna), Tina Fava (Lempster NH), Miranda Miller (E. Corinth), Judith G. Russell (Co-chair -- Converse/Lyme), Andrea Thorpe (Newport NH), Stephanie McAndrew (Cornish), Laura Pauling (Springfield NH), Melissa Strayton (Strafford), Betsy Kane (Bradford Vt.), Lucinda Walker (Norwich Vt.) , Gail Trede (Bradford Vt.) and guest Caroline Wren of the Upper Valley Climate Change Leadership Academy.

Meeting called to order ~10:00 a.m.

Amy Thurber introduced the business meeting first.

Minutes. Dawn Hudson noted it was her last meeting to present minutes (Glynis is new LUV secretary).

Minutes of Nov.16 were accepted.

A.Thorpe asked about updated bylaws. She had found them in September 2017 as updated by M. Carr and A. Thurber. A. Thurber asked her to send the records on the van. A. Thorpe is retiring and will be sending documents to Glynis at Wilmot. Glynis will report on the contents of the bins at the next meeting.

Treasurer’s Report. Peter was absent but A. Thurber passed on his report. All but 2 members have paid their dues. There is $7,000+ in the bank account. Accordingly, the DVD and Audio committees will be purchasing new materials. Send purchasing requests to Peter Blodgett: pwblodgett@gmail.com. Peter also sent a “gentle reminder” that he is retiring in July and a new treasurer should be found.

The Treasurer’s report was accepted.

A.Thurber asked for a show of hands to see who is doing curbside pickup. Most are. No library is completely closed; all present are doing some combination of curbside pickups and appointments. Lempster is completely open. More people are coming in to use technology.

Lucinda Walker mentioned helping patrons sign up for the Covid vaccine, as the process can be complicated. A. Thurber said Bobbi Slossar of the NH State Library system has shared a step-by-step process and she will pass it on. L. Walker said the Vt. Public Health video was confusing.

Speaker: Caroline Wren, who is interning with Vital Communities, asked the libraries to help promote its program to address climate change. Vital Communities will select 25 Upper Valley residents for six weeks of training and support through the Leadership for Climate Change program. The grantees will study climate change and create programs to address it in their communities. There is a $30 fee but scholarships are available. Anyone can apply; the application process closes Feb. 14.

“It’s like a class for individuals to design their projects,” Wren said.

Topic: Librarians shared some of their creative programming to stay connected with patrons despite the pandemic.

Barbara Prince described the Etna Library’s Nature Poetry Walk. She shared flyers and photographs. This was sponsored by Etna Library and the Hanover Conservancy at Hayes Farm Park, adjacent to the library. Gail McPeek got together the poems and made the signs. Participants walked around reading the poems and were encouraged to write their own nature poems; the library put participants’ poems on its website. B. Prince called the poets whose work they used and made sure the library had permission.

Miranda Miller of E. Corinth, Vt. Described using an app called Book Creator. The library’s activity incorporated a Flower Fairy Story Hour, a Flower Fairy Craft Kit and a Fairy House building event in which participants went on a hike and made fairy houses. Some kids dressed up as fairies.

E. Corinth library has also held Movie Nights, an Ice Cream Social for the Grand Finale of the Summer Reading Program, a Halloween event, and a Day of the Dead celebration in which people brought photos of loved ones who had died and lit a candle for them.

They have also held a book discussion series on the immigrant experience; a Systemic Racism Discussion group; a photo contest; and monthly Craft Kits. Miller said she created one link through Bitly for all library events: Blake Memorial Library Events. The title stays the same and the link provides a portal for all the events. She recommended using Book Creator.

In response to a question about attendance, Miller said, “We’re a very small library, so if we get more than 5 it’s a win.” Her events have averaged 10-20 attendees.

Judith Russell reported that she has been having success with Adult Virtual Book Groups. The kids are less interested in getting on Zoom now. Russell has tried some different approaches with book groups: she has a weekly and a biweekly meeting, both of which read the same book. This provides social time and connection for people who are feeling isolated (they can join every week) but allows other people to participate who don’t want to meet that often. Reading the same book saves the library director’s sanity. Russell also uses MailChimp questionnaires to have participants vote on their favorite books.

“All in all, it’s been a ton of fun,” said Russell. She said her sense is that curbside pickup will continue after the pandemic ends, as will the virtual meetings. The virtual meetings allow get-togethers for people geographically distant.

Sarah from Etna: Story Time has really evolved. She is doing online storytime; they also did outdoor storytimes and wondered why they hadn’t before! “We are now doing a 4:30 story time. It’s a nice calming time before dinner.” Duffy said she, too, predicts Zoom use will continue after the pandemic. She does craft kits weekly, with a bigger kit once a month.

Gail Trede in Bradford said she made large craft kits to start and in subsequent weeks kids can add more to make their projects.

A.Thurber said she felt encouraged to give online storytimes a try. Also: Screencastify is a free program that you can use to videotape yourself.

Miranda Miller: You can also hold a Zoom meeting without invitees and record yourself.

Gail Trede said they have created a virtual tour of the library. She’s excited about a new program, which is a monthly Spice Event. Local chefs from around the Upper Valley will each focus on a spice and come up with a cooking presentation around it.

Cory Smith reminded everyone to share suggestions for new audio books.

The next meeting will be March 15 at 10 a.m.

Librarians of the Upper Valley

Meeting March 15 2021 minutes

Via Zoom. 10 a.m.

Attendees: Amy Thurber (Co-chair -- Canaan NH), Glynis Hart (Wilmot NH), Barbara Prince (Etna NH), Melissa Hutson (Enfield), Barbara Ball (Windsor Vt.), Sarah (Etna), Tina Fava (Lempster NH), Miranda Miller (E. Corinth), Judith G. Russell (Co-chair -- Converse/Lyme), Justine Farara (Newport NH), Melissa Strayton (Strafford), Lucinda Walker (Norwich Vt.), Gail Trede (Bradford Vt.), Soos Martin (Pierpont), Mary King (Plainfield), Nancy Tusinski (Hartland), Ruby Simon (Howe),  Sam Hickman (Fairless), Laina Warsavage (Orford), Marianna McKim (KUA) and Lori Fisher and Michael York of the NH State Library.

Meeting called to order ~10:00 a.m.

LUV meeting minutes 3/15/2021

Jan. 25 Minutes approved.  Motion by Amy Thurber, 2nd by Lucinda Walker. 

No treasurer's report. 

Michael York from the State Library report.  State Library open for appointments only, is beginning to plan reopening.  Interlibrary Loan volume is increasing, almost back up to pre-Covid levels.  State budget presentations are on-going and going well.  Encourages everyone to look at House Bill 2. 

Lori Fisher, NH State Library reported that teachers are getting vaccinated in pods and teachers not in pods will begin Wednesday.  State Scheduling portal begins this week -- moving over from VAMS (federal scheduling portal).  Human Resources series with Primex.  Next program will be on April 8 and is about protected leave.  All are invited, but each attendee must register.  The next director's call will be April 1 at 10am.  Send any questions or topics to Lori Fisher.

GH joined 10:18 am.

As the guest speaker was unavailable, Judith Russell spoke about MHEC; Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium. MHEC is a buying consortium for academic institutions and libraries, which began in Massachusetts but now serves all of New England. MHEC offers members discounts.

JR asked for feedback from members who use it. LW: “Have tried to use it but the website beats me down every time;” MM: “Found site cumbersome;” JF: “We do use it at Richards Free Library;” several others said they hadn’t heard of it.

JR: The site allows you to find your vendor – she used Demco as an example – and apply for the discount through the vendor. Inform them you’re a member of MHEC to get the discount. “Almost every vendor you currently use you will find on that website.”

Members of MHEC can share the discounts with individuals; for example, if you work at the library you can purchase things for yourself with MHEC. Questions about MHEC can be directed to Bobbi Slossar, 271-2143, bobbi.l.slossar@dncr.nh.gov

Where Are We Now? (pandemic/reopening update)

Ruby S (Howe): We are still closed. Outbreak at Dartmouth College prompted the town to re-enter stricter lockdown. We are hoping most staff will be vaccinated by summer.

Glynis H (Wilmot): We are open. Noted ECHO webinar on reducing virus transmission; questioned necessity of 72-hour quarantine of ILL materials.

Lori F: Responded that the virus has a longer lifespan on plastic (think: DVDs) and noted that the administration at the state level is having weekly conversations about safe reopening. Please continue to observe ILL’s 72-hour quarantine before and after books are picked up by the van.

Ruby S: Related incident of maskless patron pawing through the return books; also said 72 hour quarantine is necessary. Went to ECHO webinar as well.

Lori F: There’s still a lot we don’t know; We’re all doing the best we can; We don’t want to make you do any more work than you need to do (to contain the pandemic). The governor would like the state of NH fully open by Memorial Day but we need a lot more vaccines and until we have that herd immunity (it may not be safe).

Lucinda W: (library not open) Noted there’s a psychological piece to this as well. “After being closed for a year you don’t know how to act around people.” Said people have been traumatized and may need help to readjust to having patrons in their libraries.

Judy R: Noted “one good thing has been the team building” that has happened facing the pandemic.

Amy T: “I have a different outlook. My staff has been torn apart by this.” Thurber said she has staff who are terrified to work with other staff who refuse the vaccine. And that some staff feel picked-on because they don’t believe in the severity of the pandemic. “I caution folks not to assume everyone who works in the library agrees with how it’s going.”

LF: Re requiring staff to get vaccinated. It will not be legal to do so.

JR: There is, however, still a mask mandate.

GH: Libraries are in the business of providing accurate, up to date information. Urged people to post information as much as possible.

JR: Described getting graphics from the CDC, WHO, MaskUp New Hampshire.

The discussion went to how to deal with non-compliant patrons. LF: It’s best to have a conversation with your patron. You can ask them to leave (if they refuse to comply).

Ruby: Advised avoiding the politics and keeping the discussion focused on how to continue providing services with the least amount of disruption. “Focus on services rather than the politics.”

Miranda M: We’ve been open since September. Volunteers went through CDC training; patrons and staff get their temperatures scanned; disinfecting procedures in place; anyone traveling has to quarantine.

Lori F: About volunteers. Reminded everyone to make sure the work they do is relevant. “If you’re going to bring volunteers back you need to revisit policies and you need to communicate.”

Amy T: March is the video exchange month.

Old business: Andrea Thorpe retired from Richards Free Library and was going to send “LUV ephemera” to Glynis at Wilmot. GH said it didn’t arrive.

Judy R said she would look into it; maybe it was sent to her?

May 17 is the next meeting. Speaker may be Suzanne Brown on Running a Successful Book Group. July meeting speaker will be on Implicit Bias Training.

Miranda M said she is an interim director and a new director will be taking her place at Blake.

Soos Martin – brand new library director.

S. Hickman at Fairless said she is leaving her job in July; it will be posted in April.

Motion to adjourn 11:35.

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Librarians of the Upper Valley

Meeting May 17 2021 – approved minutes

Via Zoom. 10 a.m.

Attendees: Amy Thurber (Co-chair -- Canaan NH), Glynis Hart (Wilmot NH), Barbara Prince (Etna NH), Melissa Hutson (Enfield), Tina Fava (Lempster NH), Judith G. Russell (Co-chair -- Converse/Lyme), Melissa Strayton (Strafford), Gail Trede (Bradford Vt.), Mary King (Plainfield), Nancy Tusinski (Hartland), Laina Warsavage (Orford), Melissa Strayton, Dawn Huston, Stephanie McAndrew, Laura Pauling, Peter Blodgett (Latham/Peabody), Katelyn Coolley (Grafton) Mariah Lawrence, and Michael York of the NH State Library, Joy Worland of Vt. State Library.

Meeting called to order ~10:00 a.m.

Judy Russell – Agenda. Approval of minutes was delayed as they had not been sent to the entire group. While this was being done Judy announced that the scheduled speaker, Suzanne Brown, was unable to make the meeting.

Peter B.  – Treasurer’s Report. The balance is $8,217.51. It’s high because the expenditures on new DVDs and audiobooks haven’t been subtracted yet. Peter reminded everyone he is retiring at the end of June and a new treasurer is needed. The job involves preparing the bills annually, making deposits 2 or 3 times a year, and writing about one check a month.

Dawn Huston offered to become the new Treasurer. She was voted in unanimously. Everyone thanked Peter for his service.

Dawn said not many DVDs are available, since fewer movies were made/released while theaters were closed. Judy R. explained that movies released by streaming services like Netflix will keep streaming them to make as much money as they can; new movies will remain streaming for the first year.

Peter B. said suggestions for new DVDs are welcome. He passes them to the DVD subcommittee, which vets them and makes recommendations for the yearly purchase of new items.

Minutes

The minutes for the March meeting were accepted.

ARPA grants

Joy Worland – Said the state library associations are working furiously on organizing ARPA grants. Also: VT Library Association Conference is next week, free to all Vermont Library Association members. Emily Bernard is the keynote speaker. Worland was proud to announce 29 people graduated with a Certificate of Librarianship this year.

Michael York: The application form for ARPA was posted on the state library website Friday. All libraries in the state are eligible to apply in Phase One. “IMLS has gone to Congress and said this money is important; It’s critical that every library in the state apply so we can demonstrate that this is true. We have to get this spent before the end of September.” Phase Two will include Leadership grants; libraries are asked to come up with innovative programs “so we can see what works and what doesn’t.”

York urged everyone to apply for grants and call the state library for assistance or with questions. “When we say we need money we have to demonstrate we need it by taking it. Don’t hesitate to call us; there are no stupid questions.”

Quarantining of ILL books will continue for the time being, for the protection of the van drivers.

Amy Thurber asked if there was a list available of ideas libraries could use ARPA funds for. Michael Y. said he’d check on that.

Amy T. – Perhaps co-ops could start working together? A group of us could do something to benefit the co-op--?

Melissa H. – expressed interest in doing a group thing. Her library desperately needs building funds; they’ll be open by appointment June 1 but they’re having problems getting the windows open.

Covid update

Everyone stated their name and library, and gave a Covid update: Very few problems were reported with patrons – only two said they’d had patrons remove their masks, and they were able to persuade them to put them back on. Many libraries are open by appointment and report this is working well. Several said they would open fully in June. The size of the library, indoor configuration, number of staff and building capacity are all factors in decisions to admit patrons.

Many reported that curbside pickup is very popular and predicted that patrons will not want it to go away.

LUV website

Amy T. gave everyone a tour of the new LUV website (see address at bottom of page). It includes the audio and video calendars and master lists, LUV meeting minutes (that could be found). Peter B. said he is working on the new video master list, which will be updated through the end of 2020 by the time he steps down.

Amy T. asked about bylaws, which seem to be missing. Barbara Prince offered a written version, which she will send to Amy.

In addition to videos and audios, LUV owns a 3D printer, which can be borrowed by member libraries in New Hampshire. It is restricted to NH because it was bought with that state’s funds.

Summer Reading programs

Amy T. – My staff has decided we’re going to follow the same format as last summer: Take and Make craft kits were a great success. We did two take and makes a month through July and August.

Amy T. said she’s been doing online storytime videos using screencastify. She’s sharing them with the elementary school.

Judy R. asked everyone about Sunday hours, but no one seemed to be open on Sunday.

Gail T. – Bradford has 2 audio bags that belong in Wilmot. Judy R. recommended getting them to Piermont, where the librarian could put them on the van.

Judy R. – What is a good way to express appreciation to the ILL van drivers?

Michael Y. – “We have to be careful about ethics. State employees are not entitled to gratuities… A card would be nice.”

Old business

Amy T. – If libraries want to drop out of the video/ audio rotation, this is a good time to do it as she is adding new videos/audios to the bags.

Next Meeting: July 19, 10 a.m. - Running a Successful Book Group, Suzanne Brown, Dartmouth College (Yay!) - Zoom vs. in-person TBA

LUV website: https://sites.google.com/view/librariansoftheuppervalley