The Walpolean

Walpole Town Library

Board of Trustees Meeting

March 10, 2026

Present : Kathy Nerrie (Treasurer), Gail LaHaise, Bill Ranauro, Susan Johnson, Erin Bowen, Jean Kobeski (Recording Secretary), Jane Malmberg (Library Director)

Absent:  Amy Howard (Chair), Jana Sellarole, Sarah Mann

Susan called the meeting to order at 4:10 in the Community Room of the Main Library.

Approval of Minutes: Gail made a motion to accept the February minutes as written. Erin seconded and all voted to approve.  Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report:  Kathy sent her report to the board prior to the meeting. 

Bills:  Jane reported that we received a bill from the town attorney for reviewing the Circulation Policy.

Jean made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report and Bills;  Erin seconded and all voted to accept.  Motion carried.

Amy joined the meeting at at 4:20.

Old Business 

Long Range Planning:  Jane emailed copies of the long Range Plan prepared in September to board members prior to the meeting.  There was a brief discussion about the plan.  Gail suggested including something about the Ken Burns display, which needs to be updated.  Jane said she will make coordination with Florentine Films a performance goal for one of our staff members.

Jane will take out the goal of updating the phone system because that has been done.

Jane will also include a new goal of making the library website compliant for ADA which is due by next year. She said Julie is already working on that using an AI tool Jane believes is from Anthropic. Jane will also state in the plan that Chromebooks will be replaced as needed.

Amy suggested adding a goal of continuing to reevaluate services and resources in North Walpole.

Jane said we will add new library passes;  she suggested adding Fort at #4.

Jane said she would add the suggestions to the plan and bring it back to the board for approval.

Operations:  

Board Elections: At next month’s meeting in North Walpole we will conduct board leadership elections.

Programs:  Jane reported that the library collaboration with the Hooper Institute is going well. 

Upcoming programs include: 

• “Tales from the Spice Rack”, March 18, 6:30 p.m.  Main Library
• Ken Burns program on the The American Revolution (April)
• Poetry Reading (April) 

Friends of the Library:  The annual meeting will be in March.

Other Business:  Director Jane Malmberg announced to the board that she will retire at the end of February, 2027. At this meeting trustees discussed steps for finding Jane’s replacement. They agreed the first step is to assemble a search committee including board, staff, and community members. They decided the search should begin in August, six months prior to Jane’s leaving. 

Jane said she would have the library budget and staff performance reviews  finished before leaving.     

Adjournment: With no further business to discuss, Gail moved to adjourn to executive session;  Erin seconded and Amy adjourned the meeting at 5:02 p.m.

The next meeting will be April 14, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. in North Walpole

Respectfully Submitted,

Jean Kobeski, Recording Secretary

** These minutes are in draft form until approved at the April 14, 2026 meeting.