CORINTH FREE LIBRARY
Minutes of the Board of Trustees
Jan. 5, 2026
President Franklin Bennek called the meeting to order at 7:12 PM.
Members present: Franklin Bennek, Cathy Lozier, Mo Kelly, Brittney Campbell, Kari Turcotte, and Librarian Rebecca Fasulo.
Minutes of the previous meeting: Minutes from the Oct. 6 meeting were read. A motion was made by Franklin and seconded by Cathy to accept the minutes. The motion was carried with all in favor.
Treasurer’s Report: The treasurer’s report was read and discussed. It was noted that payroll came up short at year end. A CD was cashed to cover budget gap due to rising costs as was approved at the Oct. 6 meeting.
- $4,000 was added to library funds from the closing of the Friends account.
- A suggestion was made by Mo for her and President Rose to go to the Village Board to ask for money to pay for a Security System and a $5,000 increase in funding from the village for 2026. Town will need to be asked for an increase in September.
- Tax Cap Override: Whereas, the adoption of the 2026 budget for the Corinth Free Library may require a tax levy increase that exceeds the tax cap imposed by state law as outlined in General Municipal Law Section 3-c adopted in 2011; and Whereas, General Municipal Law Section 3-c expressly permits the library board to override the tax levy limit by a resolution approved by a vote of sixty percent of qualified board members; now therefore be it Resolved, that the Board of Trustees of the Corinth Free Library voted and approved to exceed the tax levy limit for 2026 by at least the sixty percent of the board of trustees as required by state law on January 5, 2026.
Motion is made by: Mo and seconded by Cathy
Those in favor: Franklin, Cathy, Mo, Brittney, Kari
Those against: None
Motion carried with all in favor
A motion was made by Kari and seconded by Franklin to approve all paid bills. The motion was carried with all in favor. A motion was made by Franklin and seconded by Kari to accept the treasurer’s report. The motion was carried with all in favor.
Librarian’s Report: The Librarian’s report was presented with highlights as follows:
- Library won $200 from WMHT for the American Revolution display set up to coincide with the Ken Burns documentary.
- Big Read Creative Writing starts Jan. 22
It was noted that we need to better publicize library events. Announcements at the schools have given way to a school newsletter. Maybe we could try to be included in that. Becky also shared that there was an accident report recorded in compliance with CFL procedures concerning a girl who fell down a couple of stairs with no apparent injuries. Becky also reported that there was an incident where a strange phone call was received a couple of months ago from someone who would not give their name or information but was upset with libraries.
A motion was made by Cathy and seconded by Brittney to accept the librarian’s report. The motion was carried with all in favor.
Old Business:
- Trustee Training: Reminder to board members to check the SALS website for training opportunities. Give information to Becky as soon as training is completed. 2 hours of training are required each year.
- Library’s 100th: Reminder that the library will turn 100 March 31, 2027. Kari and Mo will work on planning when and how to celebrate this milestone to make ourselves visible in the community. Becky suggested a slogan along the lines of “Feeding Your Imagination Since 1927”.
- Alarm System: The Board voted to go with the proposal to install a security system with Mahoney Alarms. They will need 25% down. Option 1 includes doors and keyed entry.
- Treasurer: Reminder that Cathy would like help
New Business:
- Overdrive: 2026 cost will be $401.92, rounding up to $500. Saved community $239,000 on books!
- Policies to update: Rules of Conduct, more to come
- Policy to add: Security Policy. Need to add before adding an alarm system. More to come.
Adjournment: The motion was made by Brittney and seconded by Kari with all in favor to adjourn the meeting at 8:19 PM.
Next two meetings: February date to be determined for statistics report, April 6