Minutes
Library Board of Trustees - Minutes - Jan 27, 2026
Jan 27, 2026
A public record published by the Town of Simsbury (simsbury-ct.gov). mySimsbury indexes it and makes it readable; it is not the official copy. View the original file.
Page 1 of 3 Library Board of Trustees’ Strategic Planning Subcommittee1 Town of Simsbury, CT2 Special Meeting3 January 27, 2026 – 2:00 P.M.4 Simsbury Public Library – Tariffville Room5 725 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, CT 060706 7 MINUTES8 9 I. CALL TO ORDER: Madam Chair McGrath called the meeting to order at 2:02 P.M.10 11 Present: Chair of Library Board of Trustees, Holly McGrath; Co-Chair and Board of12 Trustees Member, Don Heymann; Simsbury Public Library Director, Lisa Miceli;13 Secretary of the Library Board of Trustees, Mary Glassman; President of the Friends of the14 Library, Greg Golinksi; and Subcommittee Members: Jamie Sepa, Davina Fogel, Jennifer15 Kirkland, Karen Cantelmo, Shawn McGlaughlin, Dan Sommer, Stephanie Prato, Kathleen16 Miklus.17 18 II. COMMITTEE INTRODUCTIONS19 20 All in attendance introduced themselves and shared their ties to the community.21 22 III. STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS OVERVIEW23 24 Co-Chairman Don Heymann provided an overview of the Strategic Planning Process.25 • Kickoff Meeting26 • Data Collection (Community surveys, focus groups, interviews)27 • Development of strategic framework28 • Refinement into a formal plan29 • Final Edits & Committee Approval30 • Library Board Adoption31 • Public launch and implementation32 Discussed as a group the Community Aspirations Survey, including some suggested edits33 to the survey. The purpose of the survey is to collect feedback from our residents to34 identify what the community values and envisions for a better Simsbury. The35 committee will then incorporate the findings into a five-year plan outlining how the36 Library can help Simsbury fulfill these aspirations.37 38 Library Board of Trustees’ Strategic Planning Subcommittee Special Meeting Minutes January 27, 2026 Page 2 of 3 39 40 41 IV. REVIEW OF 2021-2026 STRATEGIC PLAN42 43 Members reviewed 2021-2026 Strategic Plan.44 45 V. DATA COLLECTION46 47 Focus Groups48 49 Held at different locations in the community with the goal of reaching as many individual50 residents as possible.51 Each committee member should identify personal connections, so we can strategize and52 identify who will reach out to what groups (ie: if some is part of a PTO or faith53 organization, etc.)54 55 We will also ask committee members to attend community meetings so that the Library’s56 strategic planning can become a line item or part of the agenda at meetings that are57 already happening around Town.58 59 Individual Interviews60 61 Committee members will work to conduct individual interviews with community leaders.62 63 Survey – Online & Print64 65 Members discussed the importance of reaching as many people in the community as66 possible. Everyone is welcome to fill out the survey to maximize our data. This includes,67 but is not limited to:68 • Long-term residents69 • New residents70 • Families with children71 • Older adults72 • Non-library users73 A shared Google document will be created to track community connections and outreach74 opportunities.75 A link to the survey will be publicly posted on social media, throughout the Town and76 on the Library’s website. Survey responses will be anonymous.77 Members discussed the possibility of using digital tools and AI-assisted summarization to78 identify themes in large volumes of survey responses, while still maintaining human79 reviews for accuracy and context.80 Library Board of Trustees’ Strategic Planning Subcommittee Special Meeting Minutes January 27, 2026 Page 3 of 3 81 VI. 2026 MEETING DATES82 83 All meetings to be held at 2:00 P.M. in various Library Rooms.84 • February 2585 • March 2586 • April 2287 • May 2788 • June 2489 • July 2290 • August 2691 • September 2392 • October 2893 • November 1894 • December 1695 96 VII. ADJOURNMENT97 98 Madam Chair McGrath adjourned the meeting at 2:59 P.M.99 100 Respectfully Submitted,101 102 Cameron DiSanto103 Administrative Secretary104 105