Library Board Picks Town HR Over Outsourcing

Library Board · Meeting of July 22, 2026

LONDONDERRY — The Leach Library Board of Trustees voted to hire its next director through the town's human resources process rather than an outside recruiting firm. Trustees also voted 5-0 to shift the library's computer data onto the town's license after cyber services staff reported a 300 percent cost increase on the library's existing VMware license, a jump a board member called "huge." The board forwarded two fiscal 2028 staffing requests to Town Manager Malholland, a full-time executive assistant estimated at $122,050 and a full-time library technician at $131,287, with staff noting the executive assistant role could help the library become a passport acceptance facility. Library staffer Donna told the board that cost-of-living and merit raises had been pulled from the draft FY28 budget's salary lines pending a union contract warrant article, warning "if that warrant article does not pass, those employees would not receive any increases for FY28." Trustees also accepted $2,200 in donations and approved $800 for the care of library cat Oscar, all by 5-0 votes.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,785 words

Source: the Library Board meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.

The Full Article

Consent agenda and minutes

Background and stakes: Routine business opened the meeting, but a procedural wrinkle surfaced when a trustee asked whether she needed to abstain from voting on non-public minutes from a session she had missed. The question of record-keeping for unanticipated funds also came up, after a trustee noted the consent agenda minutes should list specific dollar amounts accepted, not just reference the agenda.

The question before the body: Whether to approve the consent agenda as a block or break out the minutes individually.

Substantive content: After the abstention question, the original consent-agenda motion was withdrawn and the board voted on the July 9, 2026 regular and non-public minutes separately. The regular minutes passed without recorded opposition. The non-public minutes passed with one trustee abstaining because she had not attended that portion of the prior meeting. The board also approved its meeting calendar for the next six weeks: August 10, August 20, September 3 and September 15, all at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to accept consent agenda (Erica) withdrawn. Motion to accept July 9 regular minutes (Erica, second Beth) passed. Motion to accept July 9 non-public minutes (Beth, second Erica) passed with one abstention. Motion to accept the six-week meeting schedule (Erica, second Beth) passed.

Implications and what is next: No public comment was offered when the floor opened for it.

Maintenance trust fund and capital reserve planning

Background and stakes: The library has spent months dealing with water damage, mold remediation and carpet replacement, and the board indicated it wants to be better prepared financially for future building emergencies rather than relying on a single maintenance line item in its operating budget. Trustees invited Bob Slater, who described extensive experience managing capital reserve and maintenance trust accounts for the school district, to walk them through the options.

The question before the body: Whether and how to establish a maintenance trust fund and/or capital reserve account for the library building.

Substantive content: Slater explained that capital reserve accounts are typically used for large, infrequent expenditures, such as roof replacement, parking lot paving, or HVAC units, funded through annual warrant articles in the range of $50,000 to $100,000 to start, with money carrying over year to year and earning interest. He contrasted that with a maintenance trust fund, better suited to smaller recurring needs such as carpeting, painting, furniture and interior repairs, which also carries a balance and earns interest rather than reverting to taxpayers at year's end. He said the school district budgets between $400,000 and $700,000 a year for four or five major capital projects and roughly $125,000 a year for IT infrastructure replacement, and recommended the library start with a three- to five-year facilities assessment, potentially performed by a staffer he referred to by first name, Ricky, to identify needs before setting specific account targets.

Slater cautioned that account language needs to be written broadly enough to cover anticipated uses: "You can't unless it's in that, and it's got to be set up that way," he said, describing how the school district rewrote its own reserve-fund classifications after disputes over what qualified as an eligible expense. He recommended trustees consult Justin Campo in the town's finance department on the specific wording.

Trustee Miriam asked whether capital reserve money could later help fund a hypothetical children's room expansion; Slater said that would likely require separate voter-approved funding rather than draw from a reserve account earmarked for building maintenance. The board chair observed that a formal reserve structure "shows the taxpayers that we're going to classify everything," rather than leaving maintenance spending, in Slater's words, "vague."

Procedural steps and outcome: No vote was taken. The board indicated it intends to pursue setting up both a capital reserve account and a maintenance trust fund, starting with modest amounts, and to coordinate with the town manager and finance department on account structure ahead of the coming budget season.

Implications and what is next: Any capital reserve or maintenance trust fund would need voter approval through a warrant article, likely to be developed over the coming budget cycle.

Building update

Background and stakes: The library remains closed following water intrusion and mold issues; trustees have been tracking repair progress meeting to meeting.

The question before the body: Status update on repairs and reopening timeline.

Substantive content: Staff member Donna reported three toilets were replaced on the main floor, all ADA accessible height, with lines snaked at a trustee's prior request. Roof testing, which involved flooding the roof with several inches of water, identified vulnerabilities that were repaired immediately; some water came through the ceiling before carpet installation, causing no additional damage. A final envelope consultant report is still pending. Phase one carpet replacement, covering the front lobby through the rear emergency exit and renovated offices, is complete, as is the break room floor; movers began prepping for phase two carpet work. A carpenter was expected to reassemble built-in office furniture. Staff are disinfecting shelving before re-shelving materials. A cleaning contract remains pending, with Leach Library staff currently covering minor cleaning at the Londonderry Police Department under a separate arrangement; additional maintenance quotes, including boiler and rooftop unit repairs, are expected in August. Donna said she continues telling patrons the reopening is targeted for "early to mid-September" without committing to a firm date.

Procedural steps and outcome: No vote required; informational update.

Implications and what is next: A deep-cleaning quote and a new janitorial contract are expected at the August meeting, along with maintenance cost estimates for boiler and rooftop unit repairs.

Treasurer's report and financial ad hoc committee

Background and stakes: The board has been reconstructing its finances, including locating missing records tied to a prior treasurer and a 2025 bank transition, while building a more transparent budget process ahead of the next town budget season.

The question before the body: Acceptance of the treasurer's cash report and an update from the financial ad hoc subcommittee.

Substantive content: The book account ending cash balance for June 30 was $24.27; the trustee account, which includes interest, book sales and donations, ended at $48,700.09. The financial ad hoc committee, which includes trustees Erica and Beth Morocco, reported it is still trying to locate missing deposit slips and checkbook records from the prior board and treasurer, following the library's move from Citizens Bank, which it left in October 2025, to TD Bank. Donna said if the records cannot be located, the board may need to pursue additional steps, such as formal memos, to close out the issue. The committee also confirmed NHTLA membership will include all seven trustees plus the director and assistant director, with Donna serving as the interim membership "bundler" until a new director is hired.

Procedural steps and outcome: No formal vote on the treasurer's report itself was recorded in this segment; the Q4 financial report vote is covered separately below. No future financial ad hoc meeting dates were set, pending budget committee scheduling needs.

Implications and what is next: The board indicated it will pursue further steps, potentially including written memos, if missing financial records from the prior treasurer's tenure cannot be located.

Bylaws subcommittee report

Background and stakes: The bylaws subcommittee has been revising trustee bylaws, including provisions that intersect with a purchasing policy previously tabled at the board's June 4 meeting.

The question before the body: Status update on bylaws revisions ahead of formal board review.

Substantive content: Trustee Erica reported the subcommittee addressed application of Robert's Rules of Order on abstention votes, the process for reviewing and recommending applicants for board vacancies and alternate positions, rules around special meetings, and language on trustee attendance, conduct and remote participation during meetings. The subcommittee also updated bylaw language referencing the purchasing policy so it would not need revision each time purchasing limits change; a board member recommended the bylaws simply reference the purchasing policy "rather than necessarily delving into the specifics." Another bylaws subcommittee meeting was set for August 5 at 6 p.m., with the goal of presenting final bylaws language to the full board in August or September.

Procedural steps and outcome: No vote taken; informational report.

Implications and what is next: The bylaws subcommittee expects one more meeting before bringing final language to the full board for a vote.

Fiscal year 2026 fourth-quarter financial report

Background and stakes: State law and board policy require quarterly financial reports to be formally accepted.

The question before the body: Whether to accept the Q4 FY26 internal financial report.

Substantive content: Donna noted the board chair had omitted the required motion in the agenda order; the chair acknowledged the correction was needed.

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to accept the Q4 FY26 internal financial report (Erica, second Azra) passed without recorded opposition.

Implications and what is next: None beyond standard quarterly reporting.

Fiscal year 2028 department budget draft

Background and stakes: The library is drafting its fiscal 2028 budget while a custodial contract renewal and a library staff union contract remain unresolved, creating uncertainty in two major cost lines.

The question before the body: Whether to forward the FY28 budget draft, as a draft, to the town manager.

Substantive content: Donna said she used a 3 percent estimate for the custodial contract, pending a final figure. She flagged that the town's finance department removed merit and cost-of-living raises from the library's regular and part-time salary lines because those increases, for positions covered by the forthcoming union contract, would instead be set through a separate union contract warrant article; part-time salaries show no change and full-time salaries show a 2 percent decrease as a result. Donna said she had been told this was required procedure by Justin Campo and Town Manager Malholland but had not received a specific statute or legal citation, telling the board: "I even don't have, like I said, like a law or something to point to." Trustee Erica said that gap "doesn't sit right" with her. The board discussed whether a conditional warrant article structure, similar to one used previously for children's librarian staffing, could protect employees if the union contract warrant article fails; Donna said that question falls outside her expertise and would need legal input. Donna also noted that short-term and long-term disability, life insurance and workers' compensation figures remain unfinalized until the fall.

Procedural steps and outcome: Trustee Miriam recommended the motion language make clear the budget figures are preliminary and avoid stating finalized dollar totals, given the unresolved union and insurance figures. Motion to accept and move forward with the FY28 department draft budget for submission to the town manager (Erica, second Beth Morocco) passed without recorded opposition. Donna agreed to seek written clarification from the town manager and finance department this week on the legal basis for removing the raises, to share with library staff.

Implications and what is next: If the union contract warrant article fails at the ballot, affected employees would receive no raise for FY28 under the current budget structure; the board asked Donna to document the legal basis for that outcome before communicating it to staff.

Fiscal year 2028 staffing requests

Background and stakes: The board has previously discussed, without formal action, adding a full-time executive assistant and promoting a part-time library technician position to full-time; Donna prepared formal staffing justification memos using the town's template for town manager review.

The question before the body: Whether to forward both staffing requests to the town manager for consideration in the FY28 budget process.

Substantive content: For the executive assistant position, Donna proposed a start date of August 30, 2027, citing the difficulty of hiring during the library's busiest season, and recommended holding the starting salary flat rather than adding the standard 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment, noting the town's fire department recently hired a full-time executive assistant at a lower starting salary than the library's current range. The total estimated cost is $122,050, including $1,000 for equipment. Donna said the position could also serve as a notary and could help the library pursue becoming a state-authorized passport acceptance facility, generating new fee revenue, since Londonderry currently has no such facility and residents must travel to Derry or Manchester. For the library technician position, Donna budgeted at the maximum salary step plus a 3 percent cost-of-living increase, anticipating a current part-time staffer could be promoted into the role; the total estimated cost is $131,287. Neither estimate includes finalized FY28 health insurance rates, which are based on FY27 figures.

Trustee Miriam asked how raises would be calculated for both roles going forward; Donna said both positions would likely be eligible for union membership, making future increases dependent on union contract terms. The board confirmed both requests would appear as separate warrant articles if they advance to the ballot, distinct from a still-unfilled part-time children's librarian position approved by voters two years earlier.

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to forward both staffing requests to the town manager for consideration (Erica, second Miriam) passed without recorded opposition.

Implications and what is next: The town manager will weigh the requests against other departments' staffing needs before any warrant article reaches voters; the library's long-vacant children's librarian position is expected to be funded from the FY27 budget.

Tuition reimbursement request form

Background and stakes: The board previously discussed the procedural framework for staff tuition reimbursement; what remained was adopting a standard request form.

The question before the body: Whether to adopt the draft tuition reimbursement request form.

Substantive content: Donna presented the form; the board chair said it "looks appropriate and complete."

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to accept the draft tuition reimbursement request form (Beth Morocco, second Erica) passed without recorded opposition.

Implications and what is next: The form becomes the standard documentation for future tuition reimbursement requests.

Library director hiring process

Background and stakes: At a prior meeting, absent trustee Jan had argued the board should outsource the library director search to a third-party recruiting firm, prompting what the chair described as "spirited discussion"; the board had asked for comparative information from an outside firm, which was not obtained.

The question before the body: Whether to use the town's standard human resources recruitment and selection process, rather than an outside firm, to hire the next library director.

Substantive content: The chair said a lengthy conversation with the town manager clarified that the town's human resources department handles marketing, advertising, resume collection and initial review, and ensures compliance with applicable state statutes, contradicting what the chair described as an unclear earlier assumption that HR could not adequately staff the search. Trustee Erica said she was "glad that the town supports this."

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to follow the town's recruitment and selection process for hiring a new library director (Erica, second Beth Morocco) passed 5-0.

Implications and what is next: The search will proceed through the town's standard HR channel rather than an outside recruiter.

Library director posting

Background and stakes: With the hiring process settled, the board turned to the actual job posting language and an attached job description the board approved in October 2025.

The question before the body: Whether to approve the posting language and job description as drafted.

Substantive content: Donna said the posting needs updated language reflecting HR's application procedures and noted the board has historically waited until after selecting a candidate to have them complete the formal town employment application, a process HR may want handled differently. She proposed September 1 as the date applications begin review, which she said would still support the board's goal of having a director in place by interview season. When asked whether anything in the October 2025 job description seemed to restrict director discretion or seemed otherwise concerning, Donna declined to characterize specific language, saying only, "I would just vaguely say I do think it needs more work."

Procedural steps and outcome: The board agreed to form a subcommittee, trustees Rapalo and Beth Morocco working with Donna, to revise the job description before bringing it back. Action: Library director posting discussion tabled to the August 10, 2026 meeting.

Implications and what is next: The revised job description and posting language will return for a vote once the subcommittee completes its work.

Funding request for library cat Oscar

Background and stakes: The library maintains a resident cat, Oscar, whose incidental care costs are periodically reimbursed from the trustees account; prior detailed recordkeeping on past disbursements is currently inaccessible while the director's office is being reassembled.

The question before the body: Whether to approve $800 from the trustees account for Oscar's care and a pending staff reimbursement.

Substantive content: Donna said Oscar's food is typically covered by staff's own funds, and the requested $800 covers habitat needs, light bulbs and fixtures, plus a separate staff reimbursement that needs prompt processing.

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to grant $800 from the library trustees account for the care of Oscar (Beth Morocco, second Miriam) passed 5-0.

Implications and what is next: Donna said she can return for additional funds once exact prior spending records are located.

Consumer Reports database renewal

Background and stakes: The library's EBSCO-hosted Consumer Reports database subscription, used heavily at the reference desk, is up for annual renewal.

The question before the body: Whether to approve the $1,693.02 renewal cost.

Substantive content: Donna said the subscription year begins September 1 and the cost would be paid from the library's digital books and databases budget line.

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to spend $1,693.02 from the digital books and databases budget line for the EBSCO Consumer Reports database subscription (Erica, second Miriam) passed 5-0.

Implications and what is next: None beyond the routine annual renewal.

VMware license decision

Background and stakes: The library's Windows servers, purchased separately from the town's in 2019, run on a VMware license whose cost the town's cyber services director, Jeremy Spalding, said has increased 300 percent and is up for renewal in early August; historically the town's IT budget, not the library's, has covered this cost.

The question before the body: Whether to renew the license directly, or move the library's server data under the town's own VMware license to avoid the cost.

Substantive content: Donna relayed from her email exchange with Spalding that the library's server usage is at only 28.2 percent of capacity, that the 2019 hardware has no resale value given its age, and that old Quicken data stored on the server has exceeded the required seven-year retention period. Spalding told Donna that moving the library's data under the town's license would not create a security concern, since access permissions would remain limited to library staff, consistent with the statutory requirement that library user data be accessible only to library staff. The price tag under discussion for a direct library-paid renewal was $3,500. The board chair reacted strongly to the 300 percent cost increase, framing it against the board's broader effort to be fiscally cautious given current budget pressures from the town manager and town council.

Procedural steps and outcome: Two separate motions were required. Motion to not renew the VMware license (Erica, second Miriam) passed. Motion to allow the library's data to be moved under the town's license, with permissions limited to library staff (Erica, second Beth Morocco) passed 5-0.

Implications and what is next: The library avoids the direct cost of the 300 percent license increase by consolidating its server data with the town's system before the early August renewal deadline.

Acceptance of unanticipated funds

Background and stakes: State law requires formal board acceptance of unanticipated donations under RSA 202-A:4-c.

The question before the body: Whether to accept two recent donations.

Substantive content: Scott and Kimberly Hamilton donated $2,000, designated $1,000 for print materials and $1,000 for furniture. Deborah Donovan donated $200, designated $100 for teen area decor and $100 for the library's reopening celebration.

Procedural steps and outcome: Motion to accept the unanticipated funds under RSA 202-A:4-c (Beth Morocco, second Erica) passed 5-0.

Implications and what is next: The funds will be applied to the stated purposes, including the planned reopening celebration.

Adjournment

The board adjourned at 8:26 p.m. on a motion by Erica, seconded by Miriam, passing 5-0, after the chair reaffirmed the board's commitment to reopening the library and restoring trust with staff.

Board chair, presiding — name not stated in the transcript or supplied documents. Trustee Erica, present and active, moved multiple motions — surname not stated. Trustee Beth Morocco, present and active, moved and seconded multiple motions — surname confirmed in transcript. Trustee Miriam, present and active, seconded multiple motions — surname not stated. Trustee Azra, present, seconded one motion — surname not stated. Trustee Rapalo, present, agreed to join the director-posting subcommittee — first name not stated. Trustee Jan, absent — had previously advocated for outsourcing the director search; surname not stated. Donna, library staff, gave building, treasurer and budget updates, presented staffing requests — surname and precise title not stated. Bob Slater, guest presenter on maintenance trust funds and capital reserve accounts — appears to represent the school district's facilities/business operations; exact title not stated.

Public commenters: none; public comment period was opened and no one came forward.

Outside parties referenced but not present: Justin Campo, town finance department; Town Manager Malholland; Jeremy Spalding, town cyber services director; Ricky, town maintenance staff (surname not stated); Colleen, financial ad hoc committee (surname not stated); Aaron, former staff member whose Oscar-funding records are being sought (surname not stated); Megan, library staff (surname not stated); Kay, asked to correct meeting minutes (surname and role not stated); Scott and Kimberly Hamilton, donors; Deborah Donovan, donor.

Londonderry NH Government Access YouTube channel — hosts the recorded meeting. New Hampshire Library Trustees Association (NHTLA) — membership and dues bundling discussed under the treasurer's report. Citizens Bank — former library bank, left October 2025, cited in the missing-records discussion. TD Bank — library's current bank. RSA 202-A:4-c — statute cited as authority for accepting unanticipated donations. Town of Londonderry Recruitment and Selection Plan — process adopted for the library director search. Library director job description, approved by the board in October 2025 — cited in the posting discussion as needing revision. EBSCO Consumer Reports database — subscription renewed for $1,693.02. VMware — server software license at the center of the 300 percent cost dispute and license-transfer vote. Londonderry Police Department — cited as currently receiving minor cleaning service from the library's contracted cleaners while the library remains closed. Londonderry Fire Department — cited by Donna as a salary benchmark for the proposed executive assistant position. Capital Improvement Program (CIP) — referenced by Bob Slater regarding multi-year facility funding planning.