FAQs
Who is the Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation (MVLCF)?
Who are the Mont Vernon Library Trustees (Library Trustees)?
Can we build the new library in stages, adding on as we need more space?
What is the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant and how does it affect the project?
Won’t a new larger building cost more to manage and maintain?
Who is the Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation (MVLCF)?
MVLCF is a public charity, founded to create a safe, tax-exempt vehicle to raise funds for a new library for Mont Vernon and recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization in 2015. Contributions to the MVLCF may be tax-deductible and can only be used “for the enhancement and capital improvement of the public library of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire”. As a public charity, MVLCF must derive its support from the general public, meaning that a significant amount of our revenue must come from small donors, other public charities or the government. The MVLCF Board of Directors (Board) consists entirely of unpaid volunteers, dedicated to making this project a reality for Mont Vernon with the lowest possible tax impact.
The current MVLCF Board members are:
● President - Cindy Raspiller
● Treasurer - Spencer Lovette
● Secretary - Jane King
● Director - Bonnie Angulas
● Director - Larry Breckenridge
● Director - Lorri Hayes
● Director - Sheila Sturm
The Board has been active for several years but 2022 brought it to a whole new level. During much of the year the board met weekly, often for several hours. During 2022 alone they brought in the $655K National Endowment for the Humanities Infrastructure Challenge Grant, delivered record-setting results in the annual NH Gives one day giving challenge, launched a unique summer neighborhood challenge that raised over $50K and added over 100 donors to the project and worked with major project supporters to bring in more than $500K to the project in Naming Rights commitments. MVLCF donors are helping make the library for Mont Vernon’s next 100 years a reality by focusing every day on how to minimize the cost to the taxpayers for this outstanding project. In 2023, the Board was expanded to add two new Directors to enhance the Board’s ability to continue to raise funds to reduce the tax impact of the project.
Who are the Mont Vernon Library Trustees (Library Trustees)?
The Library Trustees are elected by Mont Vernon voters. Each Library Trustee serves a three-year term. They are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the library, including managing personnel, managing the budget, and setting library policy.
They should not be confused with trustees appointed by the probate court to administer the Sophia G. Daland Trust (See “Who is the Sophia G. Daland Trust”).
The current Library Trustees are:
Chair – Cindy Raspiller (term expires 2025)
Treasurer – Jane King (term expires 2026)
Secretary – Amy White (term expires 2024)
Who is the Sophia G. Daland Trust (Daland Trust)?
The Daland Trust is a private testamentary trust established by Sophia G. Daland’s will. Five Trustees, appointed by the Probate Court, administer the Trust.
They should not be confused with Mont Vernon Library Trustees elected by the voters of Mont Vernon (See “Who are the Library Trustees”).
Under the terms of Sophia Daland’s will, the Trust provides significant resources to the Town of Mont Vernon every year by paying for all library building maintenance and utilities. Mont Vernon is one of only two NH towns with no town appropriation for library maintenance or utilities.
The current Trustees of the Daland Trust are:
Anne Dodd
Scott Foster
Peter King
Jill Weber
Jane-Holly Weintraub
Who is the Library Building Committee (LBC)?
During earlier design phases, John Quinlan was asked by the Mont Vernon Library Trustees (Library Trustees) to chair the LBC. He was joined by Bill McKinney. In 2022, to recognize John’s return to the Mont Vernon Select Board and to support the added workload on the committee during final design, the LBC was expanded to include new voting members Christine Hamilton and Charlie York. Christine and Charlie both brought a wealth of experience and expertise as well as a fresh perspective to the project. Bill moved into the role of the LBC Chair and John remained involved in the project in his new role as the Select Board’s representative to the Library Trustees. In addition to the three voting members, five advisors supported the LBC throughout the final design and proposal process. If you are interested in the LBC’s work, you can find their meeting minutes online. The LBC has put in countless hours of work between August 2022 and the 2023 Town Meeting to finalize the design and conduct the proposal process while studying every detail to assure the project delivers at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers.
The current members of the Library Building Committee are:
Voting Members
Bill McKinney - Chair
Christine Hamilton
Charlie York
Nonvoting Advisors
Anne Dodd - Daland Trust
Jill Weber - Daland Trust
John Quinlan - Select Board
Adrienne Penkacik - Conservation Commission
Cindy Raspiller - Library Trustees
Bonnie Angulas - Library Director
Why do we need a new library?
Although no one can deny the charm of the existing Daland Memorial Library building, it is also hard to deny that the building’s small size and its inaccessibility to so many residents significantly limit its functionality.
The Summer Reading Program, one of the library’s most popular annual initiatives, must be conducted outdoors to accommodate the 200+ children who consistently participate. The library’s popular April school vacation week program, “Wizarding Week”, must be held at the school to accommodate the 64 participants and the associated library staff and volunteers. Although the library is also a popular meeting space for smaller groups, many of the programs the library sponsors can only accommodate limited audiences unless the program is moved to another venue.
One of the most compelling reasons we need a new library is to make the library safe and accessible to all Mont Vernon residents. The existing building is inaccessible to both residents who use wheelchairs and to stroller traffic. It features only one real entrance/exit. The building’s only restroom, carved out of a stairway access in 1975, is not accessible. Grant-funded library programs must be held elsewhere whenever the grants stipulate that the programs must be accessible to all who would like to attend.
Aren’t libraries obsolete in the digital age?
Libraries are changing but they are far from obsolete. Recent studies show that rather than avoiding libraries, Millennials are embracing them. Even with its challenges, the existing library is one of the busiest places in town.
Although some statistics haven’t fully rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, we have more library card holders than ever and the building is hopping. In 2022, the library:
Was open 1,924 hours
Welcomed 13,902 visitors
Provided 4,435 downloads of e-Content. This contributed to a total checkout of 14,399 materials including books, eBooks, audiobooks, movies, magazines, museum passes, reference materials and interlibrary loans.
Lent 512 items from our collection to other libraries and brought in 1,006 items our patrons requested from other libraries.
Offered 205 programs to children and adults with 3,749 attendees.
Hosted 61 in-person meetings and 85 Zoom meetings.
Had a collection of 12,515 materials.
Had 1,692 library card holders.
Not obsolete, but always evolving.
Haven’t we tried this before?
Mont Vernon has been planning and saving for a new library for more than 35 years!
The first Capital Reserve Fund to expand the library was started in 1988. Since then, there have been several attempts to either expand or replace the library.
In 1997, a warrant article was approved to purchase land for a new library.
Prior to the proposal that was narrowly defeated at the 2023 Town Meeting, garnering 56% of the vote rather than the required 60%. Several warrant articles that would have relocated the existing building and constructed an addition or constructed an entirely new library were put forth between 1999 and 2006. Each failed by just a few votes.
A common thread mentioned by those who voted against each of these earlier plans was concern about the fate of the existing building.
That question was answered in 2018 when residents voted to purchase the building for town administrative use once the new library is occupied.
The Library Building Committee and the Library Trustees are hard at work addressing each of the concerns that was raised at the 2023 Town Meeting.
Why can’t we just add on to the old one?
Based on the professional, 3rd party Library Needs Assessment completed in 2018, the new library will be significantly larger than the existing building, which was built for a town of just 400 people.
The Assessment determined that a library properly designed to support today’s 2,800 residents must be proportionally larger than the current structure - or 7,600 square feet.
The current site is only 1/3 of an acre – far too small to support an addition of the appropriate size. Even if such a large addition were possible, it would dwarf the existing structure and ruin its beauty.
Can we build the new library in stages, adding on as we need more space?
The footprint of the new library was determined by the 2018 Library Needs Assessment. It is based on the services the 2017 Community-wide Survey identified as high priorities and considered both the current population of the town (~2,800) and the projected build-out population of 5,000.
Adding more space after the building is built would be more expensive and less effective. Since it wouldn’t be possible to expand each space by a certain percentage, the building would become fragmented and inefficient without doing costly and significant renovations to the existing space in addition to the cost of adding on.
Where will the new library be?
The new library will be built on land purchased by the Town in 1997 to serve as the site for both the new library and the new cemetery. The parcel abuts Grand Hill Road between the Post Office and Carleton Pond and continues up the hill behind both. The cemetery will be at the top of the hill and the library building will be above the Post Office. Although there had been discussion of a library location closer to Grand Hill Road, near Carleton Pond, discovery of significant areas of wetlands on the parcel make that location infeasible. (See “Who picked the Site?” for additional information)
Where are we in the project right now?
The Mont Vernon Library Trustees (Library Trustees) have completed the all three phases of design - schematic design, design development, and construction documents. In 2022, the Library Trustees worked with the Library Building Committee (LBC) to develop a Request for Proposals (RFP) and solicit project bids. The LBC evaluated the four bids that were received and invited three firms to interview. The Library Trustees accepted the LBC’s recommendation to name Turnstone Corporation of Milford NH as the project’s construction management firm. Using cost information from the bids, the Library Trustees presented a warrant article for the new library at the 2023 Town Meeting with a total project cost of $5.95M.
The warrant article was amended on the floor at Town Meeting to limit the cost to the town to a maximum of $2.36M. The Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation (MVLCF) was formed specifically to provide a safe, tax-exempt fundraising vehicle for the project. MVLCF has raised more than $2.3M to support the project to date. This MVLCF contribution is supplemented by funds held in the Library Capital Reserve and funds pledged by the Sophia G. Daland Trust (Daland Trust) and the Friends of the Daland Memorial Library. The Library Capital Reserve was created in 1988 and has a current balance of more than $93K in funds raised from taxes and more than $223K in generous matching contributions by the Daland Trust.
In early 2020, the Library Trustees received several key site permits, allowing for site development within five years.
When will the project come before Town Meeting?
A warrant article for the New Library Building Project was considered in 2023 and fell short by a few votes. A new warrant article is expected to be developed late this year and submitted for consideration at the 2024 Town Meeting.
It is absolutely essential that the project be approved in 2024 in order to avoid jeopardizing site permits, the $1M Conyers gift and the National Endowment for the Humanities $655K grant.
The Library Trustees and Library Building Committee are working with both the designer and construction management firm to continue to reduce the project cost while the Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation continues to raise money for the project. The total project cost in 2024 is expected to be less than the $5.95M proposed in 2023. With added fundraising, this means that even less than the 2023 estimate of $2.36M (40%) will need to be raised through taxes. The remainder of the project will be paid for from several sources including:
Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation (MVLCF) Donations, Pledges & Grants – $2.1m+
Daland Trust Matches & Pledge – $1.02m
Town Library Capital Reserve – $93K
Friends of Daland Memorial Library Pledge – $42K
Why is the access road a separate project?
The road will serve as the access road to the new town cemetery at the top of the hill. All NH towns are required (with certain exceptions) by statute to have cemeteries and this road to the cemetery is a future town road. The new cemetery will be needed when the current Greenlawn Cemetery on Main Street is full. According to the Cemetery Trustees, they expect to need the road to begin laying out the new cemetery by 2027.
The chosen library site allows the town to use land allocated to the library project to provide a single access road for both projects. Building the road now obviously supports both projects.
Because the library project has significant private funding and the National Endowment for the Humanities grant scope is limited to the library building project, the road is a separate project.
Why doesn’t the current design include a sprinkler system?
The building architects, Dewing Schmid Kearns (DSK), designed the building in accordance with the fire and building codes. Due to the type of construction, the small size of the building and its intended use, they determined that an automated sprinkler system is not required by code. To enhance the building’s safety, DSK’s design requires fire-rated lumber, includes a fire detection and alarm system and has many different exit routes.
During the design process, the Library Building Committee (LBC) shared the design with the Mont Vernon Fire Department for their review. MVFD indicated that their interpretation of the code is that an automated sprinkler system is required.
The matter is still under discussion and is expected to be resolved in time to adjust the design if warranted.
How will this affect my taxes?
We are fortunate to have more than 60% of the funding for the project fully committed.
This includes:
A total commitment of $1.02M from the Sophia G. Daland Trust
$93K remaining in the Town Library Capital Reserve after completion of the design work
$42K in funding approved by the Friends of the Daland Memorial Library to sponsor the circulation desk area, and
More than $2.1M raised by the Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation (MVLCF) to date
In 2023, based on information from the NH Municipal Bond Bank (NH MBB), the tax impact of the project was expected to be about $.54 per $1K of valuation or about $161 per year on a house appraised at $300K. This number assumed a 30-year level debt bond at an interest rate of 6%. The actual tax impact in 2024 is expected to be lower if the overall project cost is reduced and if MVLCF is able to secure additional grants, pledges and gifts before the 2024 Town Meeting. The tax impact will also be affected by the rates set by the NH MBB in early 2024.
What is the NEH Grant and how does it affect the project?
In early 2022, the Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation was awarded a matching grant worth up to $655,000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). This Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant will directly support the new library building project. The award was the result of an extensive application submitted by the MVLCF Board of Directors, with support from many other town organizations.
The grant provides a 25% match on all qualifying contributions. To date, MVLCF can qualify $380K or 58% of the grant funding. MVLCF expects to qualify for the entire grant award, meaning that $655,000 will be available to the project. There are some restrictions on how the grant funding may be used and because it is a federal grant there are several requirements that MVLCF must fulfill. The project must successfully complete NEH’s Historic Preservation and Environmental Reviews and allow for public comment. We expect to complete these requirements later this year.
Our project is the only 2022 recipient in NH and one of only 23 projects nationwide. It is the largest NEH grant ever awarded in NH. Congresswoman Annie Kuster visited the library in April of 2022 to congratulate the team and has continued to partner with Mont Vernon leaders to identify additional sources of funding to support the project.
Won’t a new, larger building cost more to manage and maintain?
Mont Vernon is very fortunate that, thanks to the vision and generosity of Sophia Daland, the Sophia G. Daland Trust (Daland Trust) bears these costs for the townspeople of Mont Vernon. Not only did her will specify that her bequest should provide the town with a library building, but also that the Daland Trust must maintain the library “in perpetuity”.
Although some costs will be higher for the new, larger building, there will be fewer required major repairs. Thanks to the Daland Trust, the Daland Memorial Library is one of only two NH town libraries with no town appropriation for library maintenance or utilities.
The building has been designed with energy efficiency in mind; the bottom line is that there will be no impact on the library budget as appropriated by the town.
When would the new library open?
If the Mont Vernon Library Trustees warrant article for the new library construction is approved at the 2024 Town Meeting, construction can begin as soon after as the weather allows.
The new library will open upon completion of construction, likely by summer 2025.
It is very important that construction begin soon.
Because Sherri Conyers wanted to assure that the project would move forward quickly, her will requires that MVLCF return her $1M gift if construction doesn’t begin by October 2024.
Because the site permits also expire in 2024, there is significant incentive for the town to move forward this year. Because of changes in the NH Wetlands regulations, new permits would require “wetlands mitigation”. This is essentially a large payment to the general fund of the State of NH.
The “No” vote in 2023 also complicated the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) $655K in grant funding. NEH is working to assure that we continue to qualify for a waiver from the potentially costly requirements of the Build America, Buy America Act.
All unused Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation gifts must be returned to the original donors if the project does not ultimately proceed. The funds held by the foundation are not available for any other uses.
Who picked the site?
The Town used funds from the Library Capital Reserve and the Cemetery Trust to purchase the land in 1997. Following approval of a warrant article at Town Meeting in 2018, the library project team and the architect selected the specific location for the library building.
Several potential locations were evaluated. The team’s first choice would have been above the pond, but the location was rejected due to concerns raised by the Conservation Commission and the significantly higher construction costs estimated for that location. A second site closer to Grand Hill Road was eliminated due to size constraints caused by the wetlands. The site above the Post Office was recommended by Dewing Schmid Kearns (DSK), the project architect, to minimize cost, maximize visibility of the building from Grand Hill Road, facilitate views from the library’s front porch and minimize wetlands disturbances. Meridian Land Services, who completed the state-required wetlands permitting also supported this site selection. The Cemetery Trustees have been very supportive partners in developing the overall site. They do not support a recent suggestion to redraw the internal site boundaries and clear the land above the pond to shift the library building and the access road(s) for both the library and cemetery projects into the wooded area. Similarly, the Conservation Commission opposed siting the building above the pond when it was considered in 2018.
The project team included a Selectmen’s representative, Mont Vernon Library Trustees, Trustees of the Sophia G. Daland Trust and key members of the library staff. The Cemetery Trustees and Conservation Commission were also consulted.
Who designed the new building?
The new building was designed by Dewing Schmid Kearns (DSK) of Concord, MA. They were selected in July of 2018, following approval of a warrant article to allow use of funding from the Library Capital Reserve to complete a conceptual design and cost estimate for the project.
In late June, a team, which included a Selectmen’s representative, Mont Vernon Library Trustees, Trustees of the Sophia G. Daland Trust and key members of the library staff, asked eleven firms to submit proposals for the project.
The team interviewed four of the seven firms who provided responses to the request for proposals. DSK was selected based on their creative vision for the project, their extensive library design background, and the strength of the team they brought to the table.
Will it still be called the Daland Memorial Library?
There are no plans to change the name of the library. Sophia Daland made the current library possible, and her Trust has supported and maintained it for more than 100 years. The Sophia G. Daland Trust (Daland Trust) is providing significant additional support for the library building project. The Daland Trust will continue to support the new building “in perpetuity” by paying for building maintenance and utilities. Thanks to the Daland Trust, the Daland Memorial Library is one of only two NH town libraries with no town appropriation for library maintenance or utilities.
What will happen to the existing library building?
At Town Meeting in 2018, the voters of Mont Vernon approved a warrant article authorizing the Selectmen to purchase the building from the Sophia G. Daland Trust for town use. This decision followed the 2-year building study of the Library, McCollom Building and Town Hall. Although the final specific use of the existing library building hasn’t been determined, it is expected to be used to house various town departments over several years to facilitate renovations of Town Hall and the McCollom Building. One often mentioned possibility is using the existing building as a meeting space available for use by groups in town.
Will the new library have the same hours and staffing?
The building has been designed with the current staffing in mind. Once the library moves to its new home, voters can evaluate whether longer hours or additional staffing add value to the town.
How can I help?
There are lots of ways to get involved:
Join the Friends of the Daland Memorial Library (Friends of the Library): The Friends of the Library don’t just support library programs; they’ve also been raising funds to provide the circulation desk in the new library.
Consider joining or working with the Mont Vernon Library Charitable Foundation (MVLCF) Board of Directors. MVLCF is also looking for anyone with grant writing experience who may be willing and able to help.
Does your employer match charitable donations? If yes, ask them to add MVLCF to the list of charities they support.
Interested in donating? Visit the MVLCF website. Talk to one of the MVLCF Board Members or send us an email. We have many levels and types of giving available – including some exciting naming opportunities.