02-09-2022 Library Board Meeting

Board of Trustees Meeting

Fairlee Library

February 9, 2022

FINAL Minutes

In attendance: Cyrie Lange, Beth Reynolds, Charlotte Williams, Jen Johnson, and Joy Weale, Stacey Dunham, Casey Dennis

1) The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM by Cyrie Lange and Joy Weale.

2) Report by Casey Dennis: This was an introduction to “gifting” as a way to raise money. As a non-profit, we are entitled to receive gifts and certify this for donors to claim on taxes. A) People can avoid paying Capital Gains Tax on sales of stocks by giving appreciated securities to non-profits, up to 30% of annual adjusted gross income. B) RMD’s can be taken as “Qualified Charitable Distributions”, without taxation, up to the maximum RMD. C) Estate Planning: a lawyer will help set up a donation at the time of death. This can also be used as another way to sell stock, in the form of a Charitable Remainder Trust, before death. We should investigate the Vermont Community Foundation. Casey also suggested we might set up an investment account with Fidelity, Vanguard, or the like, which could be accessed from the web site. We will likely stay with using the Friends of the Library as a conduit. We also need to plan starting a Capital Campaign, which could be used to fund an endowment. Local CPAs and attorneys might be good leads for donors for something like this; we should include them on any mailing.

3) Librarian’s Report: See document included with these minutes.

Questions: Beth is considering placing the shelving across the current Biography/Vermont section to isolate the area a bit for small meetings. She explained more about the stamping activity, which is on-going. We can soon use a few more volunteers.

4) Treasurer’s Report:

Draft budget report for Town Meeting is available. We also have a January report.

5) Library Enhancement Project Report:

Landscaping ongoing: Stacey will ask her husband to stop by and look at the plans and give his opinion. A priority is to start working on a plan to get HVAC replacement, hopefully large enough to accommodate new plans. This may be achievable using relief funds.

Meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM. Next meeting will be March 9th at 7 PM, in the library, with masks and distancing.

Respectfully submitted,

Charlotte Williams, Recording Secretary