Minutes
Library Board of Trustees - Minutes - Apr 22, 2026
Apr 22, 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 Regular Meeting3 April 22, 2026 – 2:00 P.M.4 Simsbury Public Library – Weatogue Room5 725 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, CT 060706 7 MINUTES8 9 I. CALL TO ORDER – Madam Chair McGrath called the meeting to order at 2:01 P.M.10 11 Present:12 Library Board of Trustees Members13 Present: Holly McGrath, Chair; Don Heymann, Co-Chair, and Mary Glassman, Secretary.14 Absent: Anne Erickson15 Simsbury Public Library Staff: Stephanie Prato, Head of Children’s Services.16 17 Other Attendees18 Present: President of the Friends of the Library, Greg Golinski, Davina Fogel, Jennifer19 Kirkland, Karen Cantelmo, Shawn McLaughlin, Dan Sommer, Board of Selectmen20 Member, Diana Yeisley.21 Absent: Lisa Miceli, Library Director22 23 II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES24 25 March 25, 2026—Special Meeting26 27 MOTION: Madam Chair McGrath made a motion, seconded by Ms. Cantelmo, to28 approve the Minutes of the March 25, 2026, Special Meeting. The motion carried29 unanimously.30 31 MOTION: Madam Chair McGrath made a motion, seconded by Ms. Cantelmo to amend32 the agenda point 5 to say “Discuss Plans for May 27th Meeting.”33 34 Note: Because the motion second to approve the minutes from the March 25, 2026 meeting35 was made by an individual who is not a member of the Committee, the minutes will be36 approved at the next regular meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee.37 38 III. SURVEY UPDATE/ACTIVITIES39 40 Library Board of Trustees’ Strategic Planning Subcommittee Special Meeting Minutes April 22, 2026 Page 2 of 3 a. Event Participation/Proxies41 42 Tuesday, April 28 @ 7:00 P.M. at Saint Mary’s – Interfaith Group43 Event will be attended by Ms. McGrath, Mr. Heymann, Ms. Fogel, Ms. Glassman, Ms.44 Miklus, and Ms. Prato.45 Ms. Miklus will serve as note taker.46 Attendance remains uncertain, and members emphasized the need for personal invitations47 and increased outreach to improve participation.48 49 Saturday, May 2 from 10 A.M. – 2 P.M. – Sustainability Fair50 Event Representation: Ms. Prato (10:00-2:00), Mr. Sommer (9:30-1:00), Mr. Golinksi51 (10:00-12:00), Ms. McGrath (12:00-1:00), Mr. Heymann (1:00-2:00).52 Display will be made to put on easel behind table.53 Paper surveys, QR Code Postcards, and Post-It notes will be available at table.54 55 Tuesday, May 5 @ 10 A.M. – Belden Forest Court56 Event will be attended by Ms. Kirkland, Mr. Heymann and Ms. McGrath.57 Donuts will be brought for refreshments. Belden Forest Court is providing coffee.58 59 Tuesday, May 5 from 3:30 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. – Cinco de Mayo Drop-In60 Event will be attended by Mr. Heymann, Ms. Kirkland, Ms. McGrath, Ms. Fogel, Ms.61 Miceli, and Ms. Glassman.62 Ms. Fogel will provide chips, salsa, and dip for refreshments.63 The Children’s Department will provide activities for children so parents can participate64 in survey and discussion.65 66 b. Survey Promotion – social media ads/posts (Discuss available funds)67 68 325 online surveys have been received.69 Approximately 25 paper surveys have been received.70 Thank you to Town for spotlighting the Survey on town website along with notification.71 Social media advertising would start at $400. The Committee decided it was not72 necessary.73 74 c. Committee Members circulating at Library, other events75 76 Committee Members were encouraged to look at library calendar to find events that they77 could come to 10 minutes early in order to promote survey and give brief presentation.78 79 d. Discuss possible raffle80 81 The Committee decided a raffle was not necessary and might interfere with donations82 that are currently being solicited to support the Summer Reading Program.83 84 e. Follow ups to initial outreach (gaps, new opportunities)85 86 Library Board of Trustees’ Strategic Planning Subcommittee Special Meeting Minutes April 22, 2026 Page 3 of 3 Committee members were encouraged to follow up with previously contacted individuals87 and organizations. Members were also reminded to remember those who are not digitally88 connected.89 Ms. Fogel offered to bring paper surveys to Virginia Connolly Housing Authority.90 Members were reminded not to leave surveys in mailboxes.91 Ms. Cantelmo offered to bring paper surveys to Powder Forest.92 93 Survey collection deadline is set for Memorial Day, May 25, 2026.94 IV. COMMITTEE MEMBER QUESTIONS, INSIGHTS, CONCERNS95 96 Concerns about inherent bias were discussed while picking out main points in surveys.97 The committee members decided that surveys will be inputted in to AI in order to pull out98 recurring themes and main points. The surveys will also be divided equally among99 members and will individually analyze surveys prior to meeting as a group to discuss.100 This approach will provide the best of both worlds and will allow human analysis and the101 AI analysis to be compared and synthesized.102 103 V. DISCUSS PLANS FOR MAY 27th MEETING – SURVEY ANALYSIS104 PROCESS/ASSIGNMENTS105 106 Ms. Fogel and Mr. McGlaughlin will work together to input survey data into AI.107 The rest of the members will divide surveys and analyze them independently to provide108 both approaches.109 110 VI. ADJOURNMENT111 112 Madam Chair McGrath adjourned the meeting at 2:47 P.M.113 114 Respectfully Submitted,115 116 Cameron DiSanto117 Administrative Secretary118