===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting minutes March 21, 2024 Attending: Harry Kubetz (remote), Dick Mailloux, Donna Saiia, Muir Haman – Director LPL, Laura Boussom, Maia Wentrup (remote), Jana-Lee Balish Absent: Bob Conroy The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:46 p.m. by Acting Chairperson Dick Mailloux. Public Comment ● No public comment. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes o Donna made a motion to accept the minutes of February 15, 2024 as amended, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. ● Director’s Report o March is month 9 out of 12. We are 75% through the year and the budget is 61% expended. o The Town Manager's preliminary budget for the library is $589,100. There will most likely be an override vote for the school s at town meeting and at the town election. Muir has been working with Heather Lemieux to identify items that could be cut from th e library’s budget. The hearing loop for the Community Room (tech to assist those with hearing aids) and extra hours for the T een Librarian may be cut if the override fails. The cut could be 15k-20k. o The two new librarians, Kaitee and Melanie, have hit the ground running. Melanie is preparing a feedback survey to go out to our newsletter subscribers, to gather data on the effectiveness of our communications. o Muir and Sherri are reviewing billing procedures and gathering data on lost items in order to revise the procedures to minim ize postage. We no longer will be buying stamps since the town now has a postage machine. o Debbie and Joslyn set up a meeting with Chris of Renaissance Kids for the staff to learn about our circulating STEM kits. o Muir and Cheryl are working to select a number of new magazine titles to offer. They are also reviewing a potential new vend or, WT Cox, to help make the periodicals process more efficient. o Lydia is working with Melanie to formalize our outreach plan. o The transition to Aspen Discover has been very smooth. Muir has not received much feedback from users, however all comments have been positive. o Muir will meet with Jean Proctor in the next two weeks to finalize plans for the Memorial Garden. Granite seating will be add ed. A weed barrier may be placed under the patio rocks. Muir will check with Chris about how to handle an almost dead maple that ha s become a safety issue. He anticipates the project will be completed this spring. o Muir discussed the building security plan with Michael-Ray Jeffreys and with his help was able to solidify a plan to upgrade to Verkada equipment contingent on Capital Plan funding in FY25. o The library received a public records request from a resident regarding security footage around an incident on March 4. A por tion of the requested footage was provided to the resident. However, Chief Gammel suggested that releasing all requested footage undermines the security of the library, and also said that releasing images of minors would be exempted, since we have no way of obscuring their identities. Town officials recommended that we follow an exemption to the public records laws pertaining to surveillance footage and not release all requested footage. The requesting resident has appealed this decision to the state Publ ic Records Division. Donna asked Muir to check to see if the footage should be saved pending appeal. ● Green Communities Update o Muir attended the Green Communities Committee meeting on March 6. The Committee is prioritizing a sewer project for 2024, so applying for grants for the HVAC system will have to wait until 2025. o The committee gave Muir information about the Ready2Charge Infrastructure Program through Unitil, which provides grants to pay for the installation of public EV chargers. The cost of the charging stations would need to be covered by the library or town, but the cost of the infrastructure would be covered by Unitil. Users would need to pay to charge their cars. Muir will be following up on this to let us know the financial impact of installing chargers. ● Library Invested Funds Update o No update ● Library Sign Update o Muir shared images from Add-A-Sign with different fonts and colors. ===PAGE 2=== ● ARPA Update o The architect is incorporating feedback from the trustees into the plans for the Teen Room, and Muir will be meeting with Chr is in a week on the next step. Harry expressed concern about the timeline for completing the renovations and urged Muir to be aggressive about pushing the plan through. ● Town Caucus Update o Bob and Donna are attending the Town Caucus on March 25 at 7 PM. o Terms are up for Bob, Laura, and Maia. ● Friends of LPL Update o A young person in town donated their birthday money (approximately $100) to the Friends of LPL. o A CD was not opened this month due to a change in terms. The Friends voted to approve with the new info, and a CD will be opened this month. o 19 of 40 native plant sets have been sold. The plant sale is on May 4. ● Board Comments o No comments ● Adjourn o Motion to adjourn by Jana. Seconded by Donna. Meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m ● Attached Documents o March 21, 2024 Agenda o March Director’s Report o March 2024 Youth Services Report o March 2024 Young Adult Services Report o March (and February) 2024 Adult Services Report ===PAGE 3=== ===PAGE 4=== FY24 Budget Report February is 9/12 = 75% FY24 Budget Report The town manager’s preliminary budget for the library is $589,100. It seems assured there will be an Override vote at Town Meeting and on the ballot. Staff It has been a very promising first month for both our new hires. Kaitee and Melanie have hit the ground running. Kaitee is scheduling programs, selecting books, and showing a confident facility with teen behavior. Melanie continue to ask excellent questions and drive forward learning our library’s technology and services, and joined Debbie at a meeting with local daycare provides for her first official outreach engagement. Melanie is also preparing a feedback survey. It has been several years since we’ve put one together, and we are hoping to gather data on effectiveness of our communications. Sherri and I are reviewing our billing procedures, gathering data for borrowing habits re: lost items, and revising our procedures to minimize postage. Debbie and Joslyn have arranged for a “petting zoo” with Chris of Renaissance Kids (who consulted on the selection of kits) for the staff to learn with all of our circulating stem kits. This will be happening concurrently with our Trustee meeting. Marabeth is as selfless as ever. She helped me review and revise our Annual Report for town meeting. Cheryl’s work on newsletter and digital display “slides” has been fantastic. She is also assisting with the selection of a number of new magazine titles to offer. She and I are reviewing a potential alternative vendor, WT Cox, to help with some of the inefficiencies of workflow that our current vendor creates. Lydia has been an excellent collaborator on training the new hires and ensuring they are prepared for their roles. She is also working on gathering research with Melanie for us to formalize our outreach plan. Our transition to Aspen Discovery has been very smooth. I’ve heard very little feedback, and what I have heard has been positive. Although this project was much smaller, it went very smoothly. Compare to the Evergreen transition about 10 years ago. User’s Council lauded this fact on March 19. I’ll be meeting Jean Proctor to finalize schedules for the Memorial Garden in the next two weeks when she has time. We anticipate completing the work this Spring and expending the money at the same time. Michael-Ray contributed some of his personal time to discuss our security plan for the building, and his expertise help solidify a vast improvement for our “Phase 1” of upgrades to Verkada (contingent on Capital Plan funding in FY25). We’ve had some public records requests regarding security footage around an incident on March 4. We did provide some footage as part of this request, and were also informed that town officials recommend following an exemption (n) to public records law when it comes to surveillance footage. Chief Gammel suggests that releasing such footage undermines the security FY24 Budget Budget Expended % Expended LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 85,590$ 60,901$ 71% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 60,486$ 42,197$ 70% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 218,674$ 129,539$ 59% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 683$ 68% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 8,114$ 36% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 10,129$ 55% WATER CHARGES 1,000$ 687$ 69% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 160$ 32% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 3,294$ 73% PROGRAMS 11,000$ 5,753$ 52% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ -$ 0% CWMARS NETWORK 19,880$ 19,880$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 289$ 32% OFFICE SUPPLIES 6,000$ 4,138$ 69% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ -$ 0% LIBRARY MATERIAL 85,500$ 44,357$ 52% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 900$ 83$ 9% TOTALS 539,730$ 330,205$ 61% ===PAGE 5=== of the facility. He also suggested that releasing footage of minors would also be exempted, since we have no way to blur faces/obscure identity of those minors. Programs Carlos Odria was a fantastic performance for 35 people, and the ensuring two concerts brought in mid -20s for attendance. North End Subaru has committed to another year of funding for this concert series. The puzzle swap brought in 73 people and hundreds of puzzles found new homes. February vacation was a very successful time for programming with multiple sessions of STEM -related programs, like Reptiles in Winter, and Battlebots. The Weight Strengthening series continues to signal strong interest in exercise programs for adults. Summer Reading Plans continue to fill out. Our kick-off event should be very entertaining with last year’s favorite Toe Jam Band giving us performance. We will be building in more outreach activities around town with Melanie on board, visiting parks, Farmer’s Market, and more. Coming up, Creative Drawing with Jill Pottle will be in demand. Our Letarte Poetry program should be entertaining, too: JT Turner will perform some of Robert Frost’s poetry in character. We are planning library wide collaborations for the April 8th solar eclipse. Building & Maintenance The architect is incorporating our feedback and I expect to meet with Chris next week on the next step. An initial inspection as part of the town wide energy audit was completed March 8. I attended the Green Communities Committee meeting on March 6. EV charging grant information is in our meeting folder. Other potential grant projects (HVAC, heat pumps, solar panels, etc.) will wait until the April 2025 round, as the committee is prioritizing a sewer project for 2024. Add-a-Sign has been very responsive and shared a large number of images. Ideas, mockups, possible fonts and colors. The materials are like to work with seem to be non-metallic, but can have a very similar appearance. Technology Although we have missed the last two of our regular IT update meetings, Casey and I did an initial draft of a Technology Plan for the library on March 5. She anticipates completing an initial “budget plan” for the regular replacement of hardware within the week. Melanie has verified that the Rally Bar is functioning and will be finishing the set up (permanent) this week, so that meetings can rely on this technology again. The BEAM has complete software updates, and we are working on software updates for the public access PCs. ===PAGE 6=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services March 2024 March Summary - Programs o Video Game Night, March 1st ▪ Attendance: 12 ▪ Bought pizza, which was a hit, planning to continue for future game nights - Circulation o Analyzed the items with lost/missing item status and planned out what to replace or remove from the system o Anime Boston is offering a free panel for librarians on developing Manga collections on March 29th. I will be attending along with Joslyn. Upcoming Scheduled Programs - Drop-In craft night: Solar Eclipse Viewer o Planning for this to be the first of many drop-in craft nights. - Grow Your Own Salsa, planting program o A program to let teens plant seeds and take home to grow their own plants (tomatoes, green onion, jalapeno, and cilantro). There will be a set of plants growing in the teen room so that everyone can track the plants’ progress. Planning for a Salsa Party night at the end of the summer where everyone can bring their ingredients from their plants and make and enjoy salsa. - Succulent Night Lights with WickedGoodHenna o Program rescheduled for May due to low registration. I think the low numbers were due to lack of promotion. Tentative/In-progress Program plans - DnD summer series o Creating a series of programs that teach teens how to play DnD, including one craft night to paint miniatures. o Five total programs (including the craft night) - Make-Up Tutorial Night with professional make-up artist Ann Marie Laurendeau of Anemone Makeup o Reaching out to Laurendeau soon to see about scheduling, prices, etc o Laurendeau is relatively new to library programing and working to build sessions for both adults and teens. ===PAGE 7=== March 2024 Youth Services Area Trustee Report FEBRUARY STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS BOOK IN A BAG KITS 1 12 POPCORN AND A BOOK KITS 1 14 LPL KIDS BOOK CLUB 1 7/1 A NEW CHAPTER BOOK CLUB FOR ‘TWEENS AND TEENS 1 4 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 3 79/67 MUSIC AND MOVEMENT CLASS WITH MONUMENT SQUARE MUSIC SCHOOL 1 30/27 PRE-K STORY TIME 3 51/37 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN-LOVE BUGS 1 33 LPL KIDS LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 14 JOYS OF NATURE- REPTILES IN NATURE 2 59 FAMILY CRAFTERNOON- SHAVE CREAM PRINTING 1 33 BATTLEBOTS 2 31 S T E M WITH CHRIS- ROBOTIC CREATION 1 13 ===PAGE 8=== S T E M WITH CHRIS- CRASH TEST 1 12 ‘TWEEN DRUMMING CIRCLE WITH MATT 1 10 HIGHLIGHTS FOR FEBRUARY This month was jam packed with lots of interesting, creative things for kids of all ages to do! Here are some of the highlights- Other highlights: • STEM PROGRAMS- We hosted 2 S T E M programs with Chris Rodrigues this month. In the first program kids got to create a Wheelie-Bot while learning about electronics, engineering, and the basic principles of robotics! In the second program the kids built rubber band race cars, learning about the engineering and design process! They also learned about potential and kinetic energy. After they created their cars, they tried to stop inertia by building a protective container for their passengers. • We held our first in a series of 4 monthly Music and Movement classes with Monument Square Music School of Leominster. With this program, which is supported by an LCC grant, young children can get their first taste of music through songs, games, and dance. Future most popular prom date! ;) • February School Break Week: o Reptiles in Winter with Joys of Nature- well done program that taught the kids how animals survive freezing temperatures, floods or other winter challenges in different parts of the world. Who is active and outside? Who is sleeping or hiding? Who is freezing? They learned about what some of our local animals, and others around the world, do to survive their winter seasons. And then they got to meet a few! ===PAGE 9=== o o Battlebots with Mobile Quest- In this epic workshop participants used their coding skills to the Mobile Quest Arena to battle for robot supremacy. Participants worked in small teams to modify a Dash robot with balloons, skewers, plastic straws, and more as they prepared for battle. Ultimate goal? -Who would have the last Bot standing?! o o ‘Tween Drumming Circle with Matt- Professional drummer and educator, Matt Steinberg started his 6-week course of drum circle instruction here in the Wallace Room at the library. Through participation in this class, the kids will learn to play rhythmic patterns in a group setting, play drumming games, and express themselves through an instrument • Jen Morris Story Time- We ended the month on a high note with a visit from one of our favorite local authors Jen Morris who shared a couple of her latest books in her very popular Flubby series. Jen is a wonderful writer and illustrator, but she is also so good with her young audiences! She held the kids ===PAGE 10=== enthralled as she shared Flubby’s latest escapades and then taught the kids how to draw their own Flubby! o UPCOMING EVENTS FOR MARCH: • March 1st- Miss Debbie guest reader at Lunenburg Primary School for Read Across America Day • March 4th - Book in a Bag & Popcorn and a Book Kits available • March 4-25th - Preschool Storytime • March 6-27th - Pre-K Storytime: ELC, et al • March 11th- Music and Movement Class with Monument Music School • March 4-25th -’Tween Drumming Circle classes • March 16th - S T E M with Chris- “Creative Chemistry” • March 14th -Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • March 13th- LPL Kids Book Club • March 13th - New Chapter Book Club with Miss Joslyn • March 15th- Miss Debbie and Melanie presentation for day care providers at Childrens' Aid and Family Services, an affiliate of Seven Hills Foundation • March 26th - Food Explorers Program • March 28th-Legos at the Library • March 30th- Planting/Seed Starting Program with Robin • March 30th- S T E M with Chris- “Flight Test Respectfully submitted, Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant ===PAGE 11=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department March (and February) 2024 A few outstanding programs we hosted in late January, February and March include: ➢ Three successful music concerts as part of our Monthly Music Series. o Carlos Odria was here on January 25th and entertained 35 patrons playing Latin jazz guitar o Scott Sanchez performed classical guitar on March 2nd to an audience of 20 people o David Polansky brought his show “Songs of Ireland” to 24 library visitors for a St. Patrick’s Day concert on the evening of March 11th ➢ The winter series of weight strengthening classes with Niki Holtzman has remained popular, with most classes filled to the 20-person capacity for the duration of the six-week series that started on January 23rd. We have another series booked in March and will consider adding more in 2024. ➢ The winter puzzle swap on February 17th was another big hit. 73 patrons visited us during the Saturday swap event and exchanged 366 voucher tickets for new puzzles selected from the 510 puzzles out on display. This continues to be a major draw for the library each quarter. ➢ One Up Games ran a retro game night on March 15th that was a great intergenerational program. There were a variety of gaming consoles from the 1980s to today for parents, tweens and teens. All 25 attendees enjoyed the evening and look forward to more opportunities like this in the future. Some disappointing program surprises include: ➢ Our two fused glass workshops on February 11th for teens and adults had lower attendance than expected. We only had 17 participants show up to make pendants. This could be due to the Sunday morning timing, but it was a disappointing turnout for what was a unique and creative workshop. ➢ The talk on the Academy Awards that we held on February 28th was a fascinating presentation given by a dynamic speaker during awards season, and thus was anticipated to be a great event for the library. However, there were only 4 people in attendance for the evening’s program. I am determining which variables may have led to the low turnout, but it was disappointing to see a lack of engagement in what I had expected to be a big hit for our programming calendar. Looking ahead, here are the upcoming March and April events at the library: ➢ Creative Drawing workshops with Jill Pottle on Sunday March 24th and April 7th ➢ Weight Strengthening series with Niki Holtzman starting on March 26th and running through April 30th ➢ Rachel Goclawski will visit to talk about Foraging 101 on March 28th ➢ A new monthly Baking Book Club partnership with the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center starts April 1st ➢ J.T. Turner will be at the library as Robert Frost for a poetry month performance on April 4th ➢ A new art exhibit will be installed for the month of April by photographer Liz Carduso titled “Portugal Unveiled: Through the Doors of Time” with an artist reception planned on April 13th ➢ An all-ages solar eclipse viewing party will be at the library in the afternoon of April 8th with eclipse glasses, crafts, snacks, and lawn games Respectfully submitted, Lydia Gravell