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Greater Hartford Gives Foundation pitches partnership, signage and occasional meetings at Simsbury library
Summary
Representatives from the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation told the Simsbury Library Board they want a more visible regional presence, proposing entrance signage, occasional use of meeting rooms for donor and nonprofit meetings, and a potential annual grant or maintenance payment; trustees asked staff to define the relationship before any signage decision.
Brad Pas, vice president for communications and marketing at the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation, told the Simsbury Library Board of Trustees on April 20 that the foundation — which updated its public name from Hartford Foundation for Public Giving on Jan. 1 — wants a more visible partnership with towns across its 29-town region.
Pas said the foundation’s outreach would include volunteer community funds committees in each town and occasional, local meetings of staff and volunteers. “We set up these individual funds in each of the 29 towns,” he said, explaining that the Simsbury committee already makes local grant recommendations.
Trustees and Pas discussed practical details. Pas said the foundation was not seeking a permanently dedicated room; staff would reserve space when needed for one-on-one donor meetings or small gatherings and, rarely, for a board meeting that could draw up to about 30 people. He proposed placing a sign at the library entrance to signal the partnership and said the foundation could consider an accompanying grant to cover common-area maintenance or other library needs.
Trustees cautioned that a permanent sign might imply an ongoing monetary exchange or a funding relationship; Pas acknowledged that perception and said the foundation would work with library staff to define any grant or maintenance arrangement so the town and library were comfortable. He indicated a spring timeline for further discussion and said he would return if the board wanted a formal vote on specific signage or grant language.
Next steps: trustees asked library staff to continue conversations with Pas and the foundation, define what the proposed partnership would look like (possible restrictions on signage and whether partners from other nearby towns would use the space), and return to a future meeting with recommended terms for any sign or grant. The board did not vote on a signage policy or a grant at the April 20 meeting.
Quotes in this article are from the transcript of the April 20, 2026 Simsbury Library Board of Trustees meeting.
