2026

LUV meeting minutes

DRAFT

2.02.2026

The meeting was held online. Judy Russell chaired.

Attendees: Sally Bernier, Newport; Brook Lewis, Fairlee, Vt.; Lucinda Walker, Norwich; Deanna Fitch, Cornish; Richard Tutweiler, New London; Michaela Lavelle, Quechee and Wilder, Dawn Huston, Grantham; Cory Smith, Sunapee; Glynis Hart, Wilmot; Deborah Dutcher (NHSL).

Previous meeting’s minutes (November 2025) reviewed and accepted.

Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was reviewed and accepted.

Roundtable

Judy R. said with Canaan and one other library they co-sponsor Art History programs that are quite popular.  Sally B.’s library is hosting Olympic watch parties. Brook said Fairlee library will be doing a float in the local 4th of July parade.

Speaker

Kathy Harvard was the speaker. She spoke about the Alzheimer’s Associaton and shared a Power Point presentation on dementia in our communities. Kathy’s husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his 50s; Kathy said the Association was a lifeline and she now does what she can to share the information that was shared with her. She has become an advocate for policy change since her husband’s passing.

“This is a public health crisis in every community,” she said. “It has a tremendous impact on caregivers as well.” There are economic, emotional and physical effects on families of people with this disease.

In New Hampshire and Vermont there are around 50,000 people with Alzheimer’s. Higher risk groups are:

1.       Women, who are 2/3rds of all Alzheimer’s patients

2.       African-American, who are twice as likely as whites to get Alzheimer’s

3.       Latinx people, 1.5x as likely

Dementia is an umbrella term that includes: Alzheimer’s, Vascular dementia, Lewy body, frontotemporal, and Other/Huntington’s. There is mixed dementia, with more than one cause.

Dementia affects memory, thinking, and behavior. There is no cure. However, in the last three years treatments have been developed that effectively slow the progress of the disease.

“If you see changes, take action,” said Kathy. Early diagnoses and treatment “can delay progression for quite a long time.”

Also, “People need to be willing to talk about their brain health,” she said. The Alzheimer’s Association website has handouts that advise you how to keep your brain healthy. You can reduce your risk by up to 40% by keeping healthy habits – exercise, good diet, brain stimulating activities. Also, it’s important for older folks to keep their balance. Bumps to the head are bad for your brain!

Alzheimer’s Association can also match you with clinical trials and research.

There is an annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s which helps to publicize this disease and help people connect to helpful resources.

Finally, the National Library Services for the Blind and Print-disabled can also be helpful for people with dementia. In New Hampshire, Deborah Dutcher is coordinator of the Talking Books for the Blind program.

Kathy encourages libraries to host Watch Parties of the Alzheimer’s Association videos. If you participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s they will provide free materials.

Lucinda W. said Norwich Library started a Memory Café four months ago. “We’ve realized we needed to stay responsive,” she said. “The caregivers enjoy getting together. Our participants are mostly in early stages of dementia.”

Glynis H. shared that library volunteers with cognitive decline has been a challenge at Wilmot library. Wilmot also has a Memory Café once a month, focused on music and singing.

Judy R. said that Lyme has a Memory Café program. “We went into it assuming what others offer would work. Almost immediately we understood that music is always a hit. But, the folks that were coming were highly educated. They never did crafts in their life and they were not going to start now. We had to pivot from our original plan to music and chatting and having a snack, giving caregivers opportunity to chat with each other.”

Lucinda W. noted that trying to help patrons with dementia is fraught with privacy issues. Libraries protect the confidentiality of their patrons, so if there’s concern with a patron showing signs of disease a third party would be more appropriate to intervene.

Kathy offered to help anyone who reaches out to her. “It’s important to get the conversations going.”

Old Business

Judy R. and Amy T. introduced new policies for the collections and posted them on the website. These clarify how much it costs to buy in, what are yearly fees, and what happens when a library drops out of a rotation. Buy-in fees for all collections were set at $350 and approved by unanimous vote.

New Business

Glynis H. said she would update the game collection rotation when she got the word from Dawn on which libraries paid for 2026. Judy said Sunapee/Abbott joined.  Tracy Library and Cornish Library dropped out. Glynis asked for a budget from Dawn and said we need another Switch so every collection has one.

Adjourned. Next meeting: March 16, online.