Report to the Board of Sherman Free Library
October, 2025
Prepared by Kris Jarrett, Library Director
Social Numbers Snapshot
Facebook Reach, Last 28 days:
Views: 1730 (The number of times your content was played or displayed.)
Content Interactions: 17 (The number of likes or reactions, saves, comments, shares and replies on your content)
Total Followers: 563
Facilities
We have been asked by the State via CEFLS to fill out paperwork requesting a variance for our restroom situation. Apparently an ADA accessible restroom open to the public is now a requirement to receive state funding. I assume that, given this, they will be very receptive to a construction grant request.
The front steps should be repointed before snow by Adirondack Clean Sweep Chimneys.
Collections
Shannon has been entering new books into the collection during quiet Saturday time. We are slowly catching up on that backlog thanks to her work.
A few new local history books have been added:
Nature of the Place: On the Flora and Fauna of the Adirondacks by Edward Kanze
History and Legends of the Northern Adirondacks by John Sasso
Events & Programs
Past Events
Basket Raffle Recap: Thanks to everyone's hard work I am happy to report a final deposit amount of $2040 from the Basket Raffle with another $215 in book sales. Thank you!
Fall Garden Program Recap: Thursday, Sept 11 2025, 5 pm: This event was very well attended! We had a dozen folks and two great presenters from Cornell Extension Service. It seems that spring and fall garden events are well received.
Fraud Prevention Talk Recap: October 10, 1 pm: Unfortunately this event was not well attended, but we did have a great conversation which will help library staff assist patrons with fraud related prevention. We also have a stack of good collateral to hand out.
Current Events
“A Cozy Fall Library Crawl”, October 1-31, 2025: Ongoing through October! Forms for both the Crawl and the Scavenger Hunt are available at the desk. We have had decent turnout compared to the prior two years
Halloween: October 31st: We are becoming a destination for Halloween, along with a few other Main Street businesses and the firehouse.
Staffing
New volunteers; we have had requests from a number of local youth to volunteer for their Honor Society credits. I am considering opening a set of hours for youth volunteering: Fridays from Noon-3, when both Shannon and I are here to direct.
Financial
990EZ: Our 990EZ form was completed by Dulac Bookkeeping and submitted on paper since there was no option available in their software to file electronically. About a month ago we received the return back from IRS with a letter stating they are unable to process our return on paper and assessing fines for each day “late”. This letter arrived well after the deadline for the implementation of fines. This situation has been turned over to Dulac’s for rectification. The return has now been submitted electronically. They are now appealing the fines with the IRS; bearing in mind they are all but shut down. The fallback is for Dulac’s to file with their insurance. As of this time we have only received letters from IRS informing us that they need more time to review our return.
Miscellanea
Secretary: The Board will need to find a Secretary in order to remain in compliance with state and federal law. I would request that one be found prior to our state report which lists all officers and a missing officer may be noted.
It’s that time of year again when I remind all trustees that “each member, elected or appointed, of a board of trustees shall be required to complete a minimum of two hours of trustee education annually. (Education Law §260-d).”
Applicable classes may be found at the link below. After watching a video, please complete a Self-Declaration Form which I can provide via email.
https://cefls.org/stafftrustees/continuing-education-2/cefls-webinar-archive/
In addition, each trustee, volunteer, and staff member must complete annual Sexual Harassment Prevention Training, available as a ~40 minute online class. Please email me the certificate from this course or a certificate from any other state approved Sexual Harassment Prevention Training you may have completed this calendar year for another organization. This training does NOT count towards board member’s required annual training. To make this process more “fun” we will once again host a group training at the library on Thursday, November 6th at 4 pm.
If you wish to do the training on your own, please visit:
https://www.nyc.gov/site/cchr/law/sexual-harassment-training.page