===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes January 16, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz (remote), Dick Mailloux, Donna Saiia, Laura Boussom, Maia Wentrup (remote, joined at 6:50 p.m.), Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Muir Haman – Director LPL The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by Acting Chairperson Dick Mailloux. Public Comment ● Harry let us know that he spoke with Michael-Ray Jeffreys before our meeting and that there is no update on the salary survey. Harry assured Muir that we are not ignoring his salary. Agenda Items ● Welcoming David Niose ○ David Niose was welcomed to his first meeting as a Trustee of the Lunenburg Public Library. ● Approval of Minutes of December 12, 2024 and January 7, 2025 ○ Jana made a motion to accept the minutes of December 12, 2024 as presented, seconded by Laura. The motion passed by roll call vote, with Donna and David abstaining. ○ Donna made a motion to accept the minutes of January 7, 2025 as presented, seconded by Jana. The motion passed by roll call vote, with Laura abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update The fiscal year calendar is 54% complete and the budget is 46% expended. Sewerage and water are on track to be over expended. Muir will move funds from other accounts to cover the overage, potentially from the electricity account, which has seen lower expenses than expected due to solar credits. Heating costs are down, probably due to HVAC repairs. Library materials is only 20% expended and office supplies is at 38%, but the majority of spending in these accounts tends to be at the end of the fiscal year. Postage is at 7%. The library staff have been trying to cut back on postage. Most postage has been from notices sent out for lost books. The current procedure is when a book is lost, the system creates a bill and the patron can no longer borrow items. The bill can be a PDF and emailed, or a hard copy and mailed USPS. The staff is trying to call when something is overdue to get items back before a bill is created, which reduces the amount of postage used. Muir discussed his FY26 budget requests. ○ Staff Update Muir met with Deb Goodsell, the new Director for the Council on Aging. They discussed collaborating on programming and grants and have discussed having regular meetings. The Library will hold training in Libby at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center. They will also apply for grants from the Emerson Hospital Community Grant and Fallon Health Care for memory kits. Muir trained Kaitee on common book repairs. Lydia is the only other person on staff who can do book repairs. Staff has been working to minimize the disruption from the Teen Room project. During after-school hours, teens will have a designated area with computers for their use. The library, the schools, and the Teen Center will be including updates in their newsletters. Maia suggested asking the Teen Center to include notifications in their texting group. School Resource Officer Munroe will offer staff training on de-escalating interactions and approaching patron interactions with respect. Muir is purchasing a training resource aimed at interacting with unhoused populations. The Salvation Army Angel Tree and the Food Pantry drive were both successful. ===PAGE 2=== Muir met with Deborah Bookis, Director of Teaching and Learning at LPS, about available research databases to see if there was any overlap in what was offered to the community. Muir thought she would be a good ally to support the library’s goal of working with the schools. The First Annual Primary School Holiday Book Swap was a success, with the library donating 100 books and two librarians attending the event. Muir spoke with Joeci Gilchrist, President of the Lunenburg Business Association, about collaboration. One suggestion was coordinating the LBA’s All Vendor Fair in May with the spring book sale. ○ Programs Update The Small Works@LPL had many visitors and two pieces sold. The Artisan Showcase and Holiday Concert will hopefully become an annual event. The vendors were pleased with their sales. The Friends raised money with a hot chocolate bar and a bake sale. Donations came in for the Food Pantry. More than 60 people attended the concert. Holiday craft programs were very successful. Board Game Brunch, a new program, had 6 attendees. The music clinics and puzzle races are attracting people to events. ○ Technology Update Muir let us know that there are four Microsoft Office licenses unaccounted for, and Suzor IT installed versions of Office that do not match the invoices we received. This corrects a previous statement that all licenses were accounted for. Security cameras have been received after a delay in shipping due to an overdue invoice. ○ Building & Maintenance Update See ARPA update. ● ARPA Update ○ The renovation project should start January 24 with the two new offices and then progress to the demolition and remodeling of the Teen Room. The area will be tented to minimize dust. The work is estimated to take two months. ○ Furniture has been ordered, but we will need an additional $13K in funding. ● Discussion of Funding Sources for Teen Room Furniture ○ We need to fund an additional $13K of furniture. Potential sources are State Aid, The Friends, and Main Street Bank. After discussion, Dick made a motion, seconded by Donna, to request $13K from the Friends’ Endowment for the purchase of furniture for the Teen Room. The motion passed unanimously. ● Library Invested Funds Update ○ We do not have the current statement. ● Director’s Contract Update/Discussion ○ See Harry’s public comment above. ● Brook’s House Update/Discussion ○ No update. ● Friends Update ○ The Friends discussed using their endowment to purchase furniture for the new Teen Room. ○ Preliminary plans for a native plant sale this spring were presented. ● Board Comments ○ Dick gave kudos to Debbie, Joslyn, and Lydia for keeping up with social media posts and all the programs they have worked on. ===PAGE 3=== ○ Maia suggested posting photos on social media to show the progress of the renovations and to plug the Friends’ involvement. ○ Muir said that adding library book deliveries to the Meals on Wheels program was discussed at his meeting with Deb Goodsell. ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Donna and seconded by David. Meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ January 2025 Director’s Report ○ January 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ January 2025 Young Adult Services Report ○ January 2025` Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update Staff Update I will meet with Deb Goodsell, the new Director for the COA, on Thursday afternoon. We plan to discuss coordinating and collaborating on programming and a potential joint grant opportunity. She and I have already discussed regular collaborative meetings. I trained Kaitee on book common book repairs, and she will help us moving forward to keep the volume of books trapped in “Damaged” status to a minimum. We have been working on coordinating the renovation project with staff to minimize disruption. Construction should start January 24th with the two new offices, then progress to the demolition and changes to the Teen Room space. At this point, we are estimating two months total for the work. Although there will not be dedicated room space for teens, the majority of the collection should still be accessible once it is setup in the Main Hall, and the rest will be in storage. Teen visitors will have a designated computer bank and area during afterschool hours, where Kaitee will be on duty to assist. We have asked the schools, and Boys and Girls Club to include informational details in their newsletters. We will send out a special newsletter message with details of the renovation plan, too. Announcements will also be made on social media, and requested to be made by the Select Board. Our Budget requests are due to the Town Manager by January 21, and I have prepared our list of requests. I will have School Resource Officer Munroe offer an informal staff training at our February staff meeting on de-escalating interactions and approaching patron interactions with respect. I am also FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 46,927$ 52% 54% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 32,494$ 51% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 127,694$ 53% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 634$ 63% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 5,371$ 24% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 2,810$ 15% WATER CHARGES 1,000$ 577$ 58% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 120$ 24% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 4,061$ 27% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 659$ 26% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 67$ 7% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 2,685$ 38% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 237$ 79% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 18,676$ 20% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ -$ 0% TOTALS 592,063$ 270,117$ 46% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT purchasing a staff training resource that is aimed at interacting with unhoused populations and has the same focus of approaching with respect and de-escalation. Our holiday donation drives were also successful: we hosted the Salvation Army Angel Tree that is usually at the Town Hall and a drive for the Food Pantry. Both benefited from the successful programs this month. More than 30 Angels gave gifts and the Food pantry bin needed to be emptied multiple times. What a generous community! I also met with the Director of Teaching and Learning for the Lunenburg Schools, Deborah Bookis January 3. She had inquired about research databases and was looking to see if there was any overlap in the resources we offer the community. The discussion stretched wider and Deborah seems like a good ally to support our goal of working with the schools to better serve our community. The First Annual Primary School Holiday Book Swap was a successful venture for us. We contributed over 100 books to the swap, had two Librarians attend the swap and generated some excitement in the kids who participated. The partnership did not translate into a huge number of library card signups, and only a handful of kids completed the accompanying scavenger hunt at the library. Programs A number of large and very successful programs this time of year, combined with tradition and perhaps new traditions. Our Small Works @ LPL was fantastic. Fewer sales than I hoped for, but many visitors and we sold two of the higher priced works. The Artisan Showcase and Holiday Concert had the makings of a new tradition for the community. Dozens visited the vendors and more than 60 attended that concert. Money raised for the Friends, food and donations made to the Food Pantry and Salvation Army Angel Tree. We have some ideas for next year, and will continue to work with Kate and her vendors. Our craft program 12/5 drew more than 70 registrants, and our Polar Express night was nice crowd of 27 kids. Our gingerbread house building and decorating programs were also popular, with a session for teens (18) and two for children and families (64). In the new year, Board Game Brunch, a new series, started Jan 11 at 10am. A half dozen attendees were very appreciative of the opportunity! The Music Clinics started again in December and two sessions each had 12 attendees. 24 puzzlers attended the puzzle race this month! And Craft and Chill continues to successfully bring in 13 or so, with many new faces. Coming up: Marc Berger returns for a Concert on January 18.. A number of teen and tween workshops this month: bullet journaling, job readiness, crafts, and TAB. Our Movie Nights return on January 31, when we will show Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! Outreach Moderate success with the Primary School Book Swap collaboration. Meeting with the Director of Teaching and Learning was a good connection for the potential partnership with schools. ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT In May, there will be an All Vendor Fair organized by Lunenburg Business Association. I discussed with Joeci future possibilities, perhaps coordinating the fair with our Spring Book Sale. Building & Maintenance ARPA furniture is ordered. We will need to fund about $13,000 more for these items. State Aid will be available including our FY25 award amount of approx. $34,000. The Friends Endowment is another potential funding source, if we were request it. Unofficially, Chris Ruth advised we likely will not use all the contingency funds. Technology I was incorrect on two items with technology in recent reports. Four Microsoft Office licenses are (currently) unaccounted for, and Suzor IT installed versions of Office that do not match the invoices we received. Furthermore, due an overdue invoice for these licenses (and other overdue invoices) our order for security cameras has been delayed. ===PAGE 7=== JANUARY 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report DECEMBER STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 3 109 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 3 58 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 9 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 13 FAMILY CRAFT NIGHT 1 82 SEWING 101/ 2 SESSIONS 2 30 FAMILY GINGERBREAD HOUSE BUILDING 1 64 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN 1 40 POLAR EXPRESS P J STORY TIME EVENT 1 27 FAMILY CHRISTMAS STORY TIME 1 10 LUNCH AND A MOVIE 1 21 LEGO CHALLENGE DAY 1 15 HOMESCHOOLERS CRAFT- Holiday Cards 1 19 STEM KITS STATISTICS: Top 3 Kits: • Flowers and Unicorns Coding • Three Little Pigs Problem Solving • Building and Design 27 KITS CIRCS: 80 Circs (as of 23 Dec24) MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/4bhd9dpu HIGHLIGHTS FOR DECEMBER: PATRON COMMENTS: Found on my desk- ===PAGE 8=== Family Craft Night: Great turn-out for this annual event! 80 kids and families stopped by the library after our Tree Lighting Event to make their “library” ornament. We also offered hot chocolate to help with warm up after this cold outdoor event! Sewing 101: The kids gathered in the Story Craft Room to sew Christmas stockings for their stuffies- these kids are getting really good at sewing! Lego Challenge Day: We set up the tables in the Story Craft Room with 4 different Lego challenges during the school break week after Christmas Drop-In Craft: Over 40 people met in the Story/Craft Room for our December Drop-In Craft and made Santas! This activity continues to be one of our most popular events- great job, Joslyn! Family Gingerbread House Building Event: Wow- very enthusiastic participation in this annual event! ===PAGE 9=== Many variations on a theme Polar Express Event- We hosted a wonderful event this year featuring our new Santa’s Helper. When our past helper was unable to make it, Chris Wiley stepped in and did a fabulous job reading this popular story. He made it a memorable time for the kids and families in attendance. And, as always, the kids were very excited, and creative, making candy trains! ===PAGE 10=== Lego Challenge Day: We set up the tables in the Story Craft Room with 4 different Lego challenges during the school break week after Christmas. Good turnout for this fun event. Lunch and a Movie: We hosted this fun event during the week after Christmas. 21 kids and families gathered in the Community Room to make mac and cheese, applesauce and brownies! They all participated in mixing, measuring and preparing this feast, then they got to enjoy their lunch while watching the Paddington movie. UPCOMING EVENTS FOR JANUARY: • January 1st- Magic Tree House Book Club and Kids Comic Club Kits available • January 6-27th - Little Listeners Storytime for 0-3's • January 4-18th - Preschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • January 2nd - LPL Kids Book Club • January 2nd - In-Betweeners Book Club • January 6th - Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • January 23rd- Mission: Earth and Space with the Ecotarium • January 27th- Homeschoolers Craft Corner • January 27th – Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • January 28th- Legos at the Library Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 11=== EXPENSES FOR CHILDRENS AREA FY 2025: ===PAGE 12=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services January 2024 Summary - Programs o Past programs: ▪ Take and Make kits, ~5 regular pickups ▪ In-betweeners book club, 4 ▪ Homeschool family meet-up, 19 ▪ Video Game Night. 4 ▪ Bullet Journaling Basics, no participants ▪ TAB Meeting, 4 ▪ Craft Club o Upcoming holiday teen programs: ▪ Job Readiness Workshop ▪ Homeschool Craft Corner ▪ Monthly movie Night Other news/updates - Teen Advisory Board Updates - Feb Food Fest Reading Challenge o Creating a food themed reading challenge with prizes left from the virtual cooking program. - Started learning how to repair books in order to help with our growing pile of damaged books. - LCC Grants were approved, and spring program planning is beginning. Plan to reach out to Hannafords at the end of the month to schedule more virtual cooking programs in the spring. ===PAGE 13=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department January 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ We restarted the Saturday morning music clinics on December 7th with Lunenburg music teacher Jason Graham. And it was a great success for the first session in the series with 12 attendees. ➢ The winter artisan showcase and December concert took place on Sunday December 8th throughout the library. We had over 30 vendors selling their crafts inside from 9 am to 1 pm, Santa took pictures from 9 am to noon, and Chris and Katie Laford entertained an audience of 62 people with their Celtic Christmas concert from 2 – 3:15 pm. It was a smashing success for the library and despite the amount of effort it took to coordinate, I think this is something we will definitely consider doing as a new annual tradition! ➢ 24 puzzle enthusiasts joined us for a special holiday puzzle race on December 17th from 6 – 7 pm. It was a very challenging 500-piece puzzle, but the teams had a wonderful time working together to finish what they could in the allotted time. We will host another puzzle race during the February school vacation week. ➢ Craft and Chill took place on a snowy evening on December 20th after the library closed at 6 pm. There were 13 people who braved the elements for cookie decorating, recipe sharing, and hot cocoa sipping. Of note were four women who each brought a teen son with them for a group mother-son outing. They all had a blast and appreciated that the library offers programs that support a multi- generational experience. ➢ I ran a totally new in-house created program for the first time: an all-ages holiday music bingo program the day before Christmas Eve. We had huge registration numbers, with over 40 people expressing interest in attending, so we prepared accordingly. However, only 23 people came for holiday music bingo that day, which ended up working out for the best as the rounds went by much quicker than anticipated. We gave out mini trophies to winners and were able to do a few extra rounds. Ages of attendees varied from toddlers to seniors, but all enjoyed the experience. We may attempt another music bingo program in the future. ➢ On December 30th the library held the introductory “Sew Simple” meeting for anyone interested in learning to sew to meet, discuss potential projects, materials that may be needed, and other details for our monthly meetings going forward. Only three people were in attendance, but I am optimistic we will have better success at the Sew Simple sessions this year. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ The next Saturday morning music clinic with Jason Graham will be on January 4th. ➢ We are hosting a new monthly Saturday program: board game brunch on January 11th for patrons to stop by for coffee and snacks while making new friends over the library’s stash of board games. ➢ I will be running a DIY workshop for household cleaners on Wednesday January 15th at 6:00 pm. ➢ The January Craft & Chill program will be held on Friday January 17th. Participants will make New Year wish bracelets with a design, color, or word to help them in their new year resolution. ➢ The January music concert will be on Saturday January 18th with a return performance from Marc Berger. He will play a mix of folk and Americana music for patrons that Saturday afternoon. ➢ Melanie will be leading a workshop to teach patrons about hoopla on the morning of Wednesday January 22nd. This is the first in a series of digital services workshops run with Melanie’s help. ===PAGE 14=== ➢ On Tuesday January 28th we will be hosting our first workshop in the Sew Simple sessions for patrons to work on projects together, troubleshoot sewing machines, learn to read patterns, and support each other in the process. ➢ We cap off the month with the return of Monthly Movie Nights on Friday January 31st. Joslyn has taken the lead with the program series and will be showing the recent release Beetlejuice Beetlejuice that evening after we close. Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are going well with attendance continuing to grow. o 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We averaged 9 attendees at each meeting last year, and we continue to get new members each month. o The Brighter Days book club meets every second Wednesday evening. There are 8 consistent members each month and we are building bonds of friendship after each book discussion. The books may miss the mark for “uplifting reads” but they generate deep and meaningful conversations among our readers. ➢ The Community Chat & Color program was initially somewhat successful but has fallen off the last two months. We will pull this program from the offerings in February to free up space for other ideas. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance has bloomed in recent months with some weekly meetings having nearly a dozen crafters! There are consistently at least 4-5 people here every Tuesday, but most weeks we will have 6-7 people with us for the drop-in program. Quite a hit! Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 1/9/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 53% 36% 11% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 42% 28% 30% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 54% 15% 31% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 45% 30% 25% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 49% 27% 24% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli