===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes May 15, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Dick Mailloux (remote), Donna Saiia, Laura Boussom, Maia Wentrup, Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Muir Haman The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:54 p.m. by Chairperson Harry Kubetz. Reception for Dick & Donna who are departing the Board of Trustees after the May election ● Postponed until next month because Dick needed to attend the meeting remotely. Public Comment ● No public comment. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of April 17, 2025 ○ Maia made a motion to accept the minutes of April 17, 2025, as amended, seconded by Jana. The motion passed by roll call vote, with Dick and Donna abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update The fiscal year is 82% completed. Sewer will be an additional $600 for the year. The bill has not been entered yet. Excess funds will be moved to Library Materials to make purchases for the Library of Things, books, etc., and to Office Supplies. ○ FY2026 Budget Update Most of the increase in the FY2026 budget is in salaries. ○ Staff Update Muir attended the Town Meeting on May 3. Muir met with Deb Bookis, Director of Teaching and Learning at the schools, about STEM kits. He is hoping to continue the discussion with her and with Tara, 6th grade science teacher and STEM Club leader. Kaitee is working on developing a partnership with Pam Vallee, Librarian at Lunenburg Middle-High School. Staff has started to collect data for the Staffing Workflow Study. For one week, all staff will log their tasks throughout the day. Lydia and Muir will compile and analyze the data. This will be repeated another week during the summer. The goal of this study is to document data that will support requests for additional staff positions or adjustments to our current organizational hierarchy. Staff are working on their individual projects according to our staffing plan. Muir will complete staff evaluations during the summer. He is considering creating a rolling schedule for evaluations that would happen around hiring anniversaries to spread this large task out over the year, instead of doing it all in the summer, the busiest time of year for the library. Melanie will be going to the MLA conference on the Cape. Muir will be attending a Mental Health First Aid training through the Nashoba Board of Health on May 20. This training helps you to recognize when someone is in a crisis and how to get them appropriate resources. Muir is planning on meeting with library directors from Leominster and Fitchburg to share ideas. Ongoing Zoom calls between directors on the topic of the current funding situation continue. Debbie Lafond, Children’s Librarian, will be retiring in September. ○ Programs Update The Summer Reading Program is finalized. Hot lunches will be served again this year, Monday through Thursday, from June 23 to July 31. We are using the same vendor as last year. Muir is still waiting for confirmation from Main Street Bank that they will fund ===PAGE 2=== this, but he has another source of funds in case they can not support this program this year. Maia asked about serving lunch in August too, until school opens. Muir is open to this and thinks he can find a way to make this happen. Open Mic Poetry Night did not have good attendance. Muir and Jana have been discussing how to plan for poetry programs that are better attended. Jana spoke to Jacie at Smokestack Roasters about their poetry/open mic nights. They make it about more than just poetry. Kate Chadbourne’s concert was a success. Kate is also interested in volunteering to do a workshop for students who are preparing their college essays. Jason Graham’s music clinic continues to draw a nice crowd. Craft and Chill and a grief support group were both well attended. Virtual programming has low engagement. Children’s programming has been popular this month, especially during school vacation week. ○ Outreach Staff has contacted potential partners for outreach services, including Arrive Lunenburg and Tri-Town apartments, and Smokestack Coffee Roasters. Staff is creating a Welcome to Lunenburg and the Library packet of resources. Outreach events through September will include the All Vendor Fair, Lunenburg Cruise Night, Lunenburg Artisan Market, and the Lunenburg Farmers’ Market. ○ Technology Update Another of the new computers broke in mid-April. It has been sent to the manufacturer for repairs. A security monitor was installed in Muir’s office, and he can watch the feeds from the new security cameras. ○ Building & Maintenance Update Town Meeting approved a capital plan that included HVAC design for the library. This is scheduled for the early part of FY26. Muir asked Chris Ruth to attend a Trustee’s meeting to discuss. HVAC replacement is expected in FY27. The HVAC system needed some repair in early May, but seems to be operating efficiently again. A new cleaning crew is being trained and is improving. We are still waiting for Lakeview Landscaping to have time to get the Proctor Memorial Garden water feature running again. Muir and Robin Venezia met with Bill Bernard to discuss the latest draft of the design for the rainwater garden. ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ The Friends approved money for the Conroy Memorial Garden. ○ Muir met with Kevin Boussom, the artist who will be creating a sculpture for the garden. ○ Robin Venezia is planning on a bed prep and planting day on May 24. ● Room Use Policy Discussion ○ We should differentiate between conference rooms and private study rooms in the policy. ○ Policy should state how to handle tutors who reserve rooms on a regular basis, sometimes preventing others from using them. ○ Policy should state how to notify groups that have reserved rooms at a time the library needs to close due to weather or an emergency. ○ Policy should have a section about groups that reserve conference rooms outside regular library hours. ○ Muir will edit the policy for us to review. ● Library Invested Funds update ○ The investments have a value of approximately $99K. ===PAGE 3=== ● Friends Update ○ Discussed the Book & Bake Sale to be held June 6 & 7. ○ Discussed the Native Plant Sale to be held June 14. ○ Discussed ongoing planning for the 20th anniversary of the library building. ○ Jane Crook, President of the Friends, met with the North Central Mass Friends’ Consortium. She learned that Lunenburg has the largest number of members in the area. ● Board Comments ○ Dick spoke about his time on the board, and the accomplishments and changes during his time serving as a trustee. ○ Harry thanked Dick and Donna for the time they have given to the library. ○ Harry suggested that we have the reception for Dick and Donna at our next meeting. ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Donna, seconded by Dick. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ May 2025 Director’s Report ○ May 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ May 2025 Young Adult Services Report ○ May 2025 Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update FY26 Budget Update Annual Town Meeting approved the previously proposed Library budget: Staff Update FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 78,212$ 86% 82% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 54,835$ 86% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 214,535$ 88% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 634$ 63% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 13,340$ 59% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,294$ 11,517$ 63% WATER CHARGES 1,200$ 1,125$ 94% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 200$ 40% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 13,166$ 88% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 732$ 29% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 622$ 69% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 4,087$ 58% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 237$ 79% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 45,279$ 48% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 1,299$ 32% TOTALS 592,057$ 466,924$ 79% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Annual Town Meeting on May 3 was the big event in the last three weeks since we met. It was a long meeting, running until about %:30, but a positive one for the library (See preceeding Budget update), and approval of a capital plan that include HVAC design and planning for the library. The two large debt exclusions failed to achieve 2/3 majorities on the Town Meeting floor, but are on the ballot this Saturday, while the Citizen’s Petition Override of Prop 2 ½ to raise funds to give the schools $2.1M passed and is not on the ballot. The Friends approved money for the Conroy Memorial Garden, and I met with the artist I would like to work with to discuss the project. Kevin Boussom, son of Laura, is excited to work on the project and anticipates completing his work before the fall. Robin was able to source the remaining plants she needs from Central Mass Gardens, and we are likely to have a bed prep and planting day in the next few weeks (likely May 24). I met with Deb Bookis on 4/16 and hoping to meet with her and Tara (STEM club leader) to continue that conversation. Kaitee has returned from FMLA and is working on developing a partnership with Pam Vallee. Our SRP is finalized (save one day where we will have a program but have had one presenter unable to come through, leaving us scrambling). We will be serving meals again, M-Th at 12 noon from June 23 to July 31. We will be working the same vendor as last year. We have started gathering data for our Staffing Workflow Study. This week all staff will log their tasks throughout the day and Lydia and I will compile and analyze afterward. Likely we will repeat the log during the SRP to deepen our data. Lydia and I have identified a few areas already that require some attention in our staff hierarchy to help clarify roles and assignments. The goal for this study is to document data that will support our requests for funding additional staff positions or adjustments to our current organizational hierarchy. All staff are working on their individual projects according to our staffing plan. I have put copies of the staff evaluation in our meeting folder for your review. I plan to complete individual evaluations and reviews during the summer for all staff. I am considering creating an rolling schedule for evaluations that would happen around hiring anniversaries to spread out the rather large task of reviews. Next week is the annual MLA conference on the Cape. Melanie and Joslyn are slated to go. I will attend a Mental Health First Aid training on May 20. I am also planning to get together with Library Directors from Leominster and Fitchburg to share ideas and progress. Ongoing Zoom calls between Directors on the topic of our current funding situations continue. Programs Although our Open Mic Poetry Night did not bring crowds, Kate Chadbourne’s concert had excellent turn out and was an impressive performance as always. Kate is also interested in volunteering a workshop for students who are preparing the college essays. Jason Graham’s music clinic continues to draw a nice crown, which was up to 19 in March and 20 in April. Craft and Chill last in April had great turn out, too, with 27 signed up and 23 attendees. Monday’s grief support group was well attended and received positive feedback from the facilitator. She loved ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT our library. This group was formerly meeting at LAAC. Tuesday night we hosted an Intro to Homeschooling program at the request of a local resident. Virtual Programming has offered a variety of topics, with low engagement. Most registrations seem to be people hoping to receive the recording to watch at a later date. Children’s Programming this month has been spectacular, especially for school vacation week. Art with Julie, and STEM programming with Chris Rodrigues, Japanese Folktales and Origami, Animal Adventures, the ongoing Tween cooking class. Excellent experiences for attendees. Coming up: Puzzle swap (5/17), Floral Design Workshop (5/13), Woman in Jazz (Virtual, 5/21), Creeque Alley returns for Monthly Music Series (5/29), and Captain America: Brave New World (5/30). Outreach ▪ Outreach We have been reaching out to potential partners for outreach services, including Arrive Lunenburg and Tri-Town Apartments, and Smokestack Coffee Roasters. We are assembling a Welcome to Lunenburg and the Library packet of resources. • All Vendor Fair at the T.C. Passios building - Saturday, May 10th, 11:00-6:00 o Weather started rainy, and ended windy, but this was a positive event with solid attendance. Robin manned the booth with Melody from the Friends and were joined by Melanie and Joslyn from the staff. Chatted with about 15 people, about half were not regular library users. • Lunenburg Cruise Night at T.C Passios Wednesday May 21 • Lunenburg Artisan Market at 186 Massachusetts Ave: o Sunday, June 8, 9:00-12:00 o Sunday, July 20, 9:00-12:00 o Sunday, August 31, 9:00-12:00 • Lunenburg Farmers Market at T.C. Passios: o Friday, June 13, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, July 11, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, August 8, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, September 12, 4:00-7:00 ▪ Building & Maintenance ===PAGE 7=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Our HVAC system needed attention early in May. THE board that had been repaired two years ago, needed some tweaks to programming and an electrical repair. The system seems to be operating efficiently again. The new cleaning crew seems to have learned how to enter the building without setting off the alarm. They are tasked with cleaning everything. So, we expect them to do so. Most departments in town reported having repeated issues at our last department head meeting. Still waiting for Lakeview to have time in their schedule to get the Proctor Memorial Garden water feature running again. Test pits for the rainwater garden happened last month, and Robin and I met with the design firm and Bill Bernard to discuss specifics of the latest draft design. The test pit results dictate that the garden function more as filter than as an aid to infiltration, and we have tempered the maintenance needs of the plantings with a focal point, so that our volunteer labor can effectively help establish the native plants that will be going in. The landscaping crew will be able to mow around the filter beds without disturbing the native plants. ▪ Technology Another of the new batch of Dell public access computers broke mid-April. It has been sent to the manufacturer for repairs. Mason helped to install a security monitor in the Director’s Office mid-April. Melanie and I have begun to gather data for our ongoing digital resource assessment. ===PAGE 8=== MAY 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report APRIL STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 3 97 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 4 96 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 6 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 12 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN 1 55 LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 6 HOMESCHOOLERS MEETING- ECOTARIUM VISIT 1 51 S T E M WITH CHRIS- INTRO TO ROBOTICS 1 10 ANIMAL ADVENTURES 1 64 ART CLASS WITH MISS JULIE 1 22 JAPANESE FOLKTALES AND ORIGAME 1 12 STEM KITS STATISTICS: Top 3 Kits: • Ozobot • Flowers and Unicorns Coding • Three Little Pigs Problem Solving 32 KITS 10 Ci MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/2jbc9nuh ===PAGE 9=== PATRON QUOTE FOR APRIL: PATRON CHECKING OUT BOOKS FROM ADULT COLLECTION: “I love your books that you put out. I find it so easy to pick something new to read just by looking at the books on display!” HIGHLIGHTS FOR APRIL: STORY TIME WITH LOCAL AUTHOR , JESSICA MCPHERSON Jessica came to story time today to share the story she wrote about the horses of Chincoteague Island entitled Where the Wild Ponies Swim. The kids really enjoyed the story and made some adorable ponies inspired by the story! . ART CLASS WITH MISS JULIE- Another successful painting class with Miss Julie. The subject was “birds”. ===PAGE 10=== Animal Adventures: An educational show from the Animal Adventures Family Zoo & Rescue Center - featuring live animals to pet! We got to see, up close and personal, Brazilian Three Banded Armadillo, Alligator, Snake, Chinchilla, Ferret, Hedgehog, Rats, Bunnies, Geckos, Bearded Dragons, Spiny Tailed Lizards, Blue Tongue Skink, and Turtles. DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN Fifty-five kids and families showed up today to make easter themed houses for their peeps! They had a blast! From Facebook post: ===PAGE 11=== UPCOMING EVENTS FOR MAY: • May 1st - Magic Tree House Book Club and Kids Comic Club Kits available • May 3rd- Author Story Time visit • May 5th & 12th -Little Listeners Storytime for 0-3'sPreschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • May 7th & 14th -Preschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • May 1st - In-Betweeners Book Club and LPL Kids Book Club • May 5th– Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • May 8th- Mother's Day Planting • May 12th – Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • May 19th - Homeschoolers Craft Corner • May 20th - Legos at the Library Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 12=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services May 2025 Summary - Programs o Past programs: ▪ Needle Felting for Teens ▪ Art on the Wing – 3 participants ▪ TAB meeting – cancelled due to illness ▪ Video Game Night – cancelled due to no participation ▪ Virtual Cooking Class – 7 participants o Upcoming teen programs: ▪ TAB Meeting ▪ Homeschool Craft Corner ▪ Drippy Sky Painting ▪ End of School Henna Other news/updates - Art on the Wing was a very successful program. One of the teens in the program is interested in animal rehabilitation like the program presenters and got the opportunity to discuss animal rehab with them as a career field. - Video Game Nights: We only have one video game night left for the school year. I am thinking that next year we will only have video game nights quarterly instead of monthly since this year’s attendance has been so low. - Virtual Cooking classes continue to be the most popular teen program. It's also a good family program as younger siblings and parents get involved as well. - TAB: Currently we have 4 regular TAB members. I would like to see a couple more and I am hoping that as some of the active library tweens age up this summer, they will join TAB. Since June of last year TAB has collectively volunteered 47hours 15min in the library. They are planning to volunteer in the children’s room this summer to assist Debbie and Joslyn with summer reading. - The Hot Pepper Garden has moved from the Teen Room to the garden outside. I created lots of signage to hopefully get people interested as they walk by. We had a patron give us a ton more pepper plants so now we have 12 varieties of peppers in the garden. ===PAGE 13=== - The SHAPIRO group teens will be joining us again this summer with daily visits. I have a meeting scheduled with the director to work out how these visits will look. - Teen Summer Reading: o Doing a mix of crafting, take & makes, and D&D this summer. Last summer attendance was very low despite the high number of teen readers, so I didn’t want to book anybody beyond the Henna program. o I have high hopes for the Take & Makes series as they were popular over the winter. The gardening take & make also did really well. o Continuing the strategy of high value prizes for summer reading that I think won over a lot of teens last year. This year’s big ticket items include a record player and polaroid camera. o I am in touch with the High School librarian, Pam Valle, to see how we can promote summer reading before school lets out. She passed on all the info for the program to the 8th grade ELA teachers. ===PAGE 14=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department May 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ On Saturday April 5th we had 20 people join us for another session of the music clinic series. ➢ Janet Winer, Abigal Perrine, and I have launched community information sessions about the upcoming 20th anniversary of the library building. We held one on April 8th that was not well attended but the morning session on April 28th had two volunteers attend. ➢ Our craft & chill program for April was an LCC funded paint night on April 11th. We had 20 people join us for a fun family night out that was a huge hit! ➢ Monthly Music Series: Irish Poetry & Song with Kate Chadbourne was on Sunday April 13th and drew 35 attendees for another stellar performance by Kate! ➢ A homeschooling advocacy group gave an introductory information session on Tuesday April 15th to 14 people with varying interests in homeschooling. ➢ On Wednesday April 16th we hosted Jay DiPrima for a return program with Henry David Thoreau. This time he read Thoreau’s work “Economy” in period costume to 16 people. ➢ We had a return visit from Cathy Karp for another Visible Mending Workshop on Friday April 18th. There were 8 people at this workshop. ➢ During the school vacation week, we had five teams with a total of 18 participants join us for another Puzzle Race on Wednesday April 23rd. ➢ To cap off poetry month, we attempted to host an Open Mic Poetry Night on Wednesday April 30th for anyone to come and share their favorite poem with the community. However, only one brave local poet came to recite his favorite work. Instead of holding the program, he and I had an in-depth conversation on poetry for a few minutes during which he shared some insights to help us next time. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ On Saturday May 1st we had 12 people join us for the final session of the music clinic series. Due to their success, we will negotiate continuing the series in the fall of this year. ➢ There was a Floral Design Workshop on Tuesday May 13th. ➢ The annual Spring Puzzle Swap will take place on Saturday May 17th. ➢ Wednesday May 21st we will host the first of our Monthly Music Series programs with jazz flutist Galen Abdur-Razzaq joining us on Zoom for a tribute to women in jazz performance. ➢ On Friday May 23rd, we will host an opening reception for the new art exhibit: Lunenburg High School AP & Honors Art Thesis Show. There will be a live jazz performance by two students at the reception that Friday from 4-6 pm. The exhibit will run May 17th-31st ➢ The library will be hosting author Varla Ventura for a unique talk on botanical folklore based on information from her book Enchanted Plants on Wednesday May 28th. ➢ May will have two music concerts as part of the Monthly Music Series, with the second event booked for Thursday May 29th when the folk-rock duo Creeque Alley return to perform. One of our most popular, well received, and enthusiastic performers, we are very excited to welcome them back! Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are doing well with excellent discussions at our monthly meetings. ===PAGE 15=== o The 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We average 9 attendees at each meeting. o The Brighter Days book club meets every second Wednesday evening. There are now 10 consistent members of that discussion group. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance remains steady at 5-6 per week. ➢ The monthly Board Game Brunch programs have been moderately successful. There were no participants in April, but 3 new people for May’s meeting. ➢ Monthly Movie Nights have been hit or miss. The April program had 3 people in the audience, and one person left early dissatisfied with the selection, but we continue to learn and make better choices as the series goes on. There is more optimism for the next film on Friday May 30th. ➢ After many conversations and interest surveys with our Weight Strengthening class participants, Niki Holtzman and I have decided to try a new format for the summer: Tuesday Tune-Up Sessions. These are bi-weekly mini exercise classes for former attendees and new patrons. This is a compromise between the weekly meetings we usually do for a six-week series in fall and winter, and the break we normally take in the busy summer months. We had 11 people at our first class on Tuesday May 6th. Virtual Program Update ➢ These are events sponsored and managed by other libraries. By partnering with them we receive a dedicated link to track viewership and engagement from our patrons. There are no virtual programs booked in May or June, but there are several on deck for July and August that we will promote soon. o “Local Farms, MA - Produce, Meats, Dairy, Oh My!” was on April 7th. We had 4 people register and 2 attend the event live. o “The Intersection of Climate Action and Romance Novels: A Panel Discussion” was on April 10th. We had 1 register but did not attend the program live. o “Tudor Queens and Ladies in Waiting: A Discussion with Authors Nicola Clark and Jade Scott” was on April 12th. We had 2 people register, and no one attended live. o “The Two Nerdy History Girls Ride Again!” on April 14th had no registrations. o “No More Curse! A History of the Red Sox with David Kruh” on April 28th also had no registrations. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 5/13/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 93% 4% 3% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 69% 27% 4% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 90% 0% 10% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 70% 23% 7% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 81% 13% 6% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli