===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes June 12, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Robin Venezia, Stephanie Trudel, Muir Haman, Glenn McLeod The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 7:21 p.m. by Chairperson Harry Kubetz. Reception for Donna Saiia & Dick Mailloux ● The reception to recognize Dick’s and Donna’s service to the library and town was held on the back patio at the library before our meeting. Public Comment ● No public comment. Agenda Items ● Welcome to new trustees Robin Venezia & Stephanie Trudel ○ The board welcomed the new members. ● Thanks to David Niose for returning for his 1st full term. ○ Harry thanked David for staying for another 3 years ● Board Reorganization ○ Chair - Jana nominated Harry, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Vice Chair - Harry nominated David, Jana seconded, David declined. Jana nominated Maia, Harry seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Secretary - Robin nominated Laura, Harry seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Treasurer - Harry nominated Robin, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Budget Subcommittee - Harry nominated Laura and Jana, Robin seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Friends Endowment Subcommittee - Harry nominated Jana, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Personnel Subcommittee - Maia nominated Jana, Harry seconded. Maia nominated Harry, Jana seconded.Harry nominated Stephanie, Robin seconded. Harry nominated Maia, Jana seconded. Vote for all was unanimous in favor. ○ Policy Subcommittee - Maia nominated David, Harry seconded, Harry nominated Laura, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Trust Fund Investment Subcommittee - we no longer need this subcommittee since we have a treasurer. ○ Master Plan Steering Committee Representative - Harry nominated David, Laura seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ● Approval of Minutes of May 15, 2025 ○ Robin made a motion to accept the minutes of May 15, 2025, as amended, seconded by Harry. The motion passed, with Robin and Stephanie abstaining. ● Acceptance of Women’s Club Gift ○ Passed over. Will do at our next meeting. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update The fiscal year is 94% completed. Yearly subscriptions will be paid this month from the Library Materials budget. ○ FY2026 Budget Update No update on the town’s FY2026 budget. ===PAGE 2=== The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) historically has provided funding to the states for library services. Due to funding cuts at the federal level, it is likely we will see a $3.5 million shortfall at the state level. This means the MBLC will need to cut support for research databases that, in the past, have been made available to libraries across the state. Starting 7/1/25, statewide research database offerings will be significantly reduced due to this cut in federal funding. We have been able to get a discount on some databases and will be paying for them directly from library funds. MBLC staff is also supported by IMLS funds, and there could be some cuts there. ○ Staff Update Melanie attended the annual MLA conference in May. She attended sessions that covered book challenges and legal frameworks, civic literacy post-election, and updates on current challenges around IMLS funding and cuts. Muir was certified as a Mental Health First Aid respondent. The skills learned will be valuable in referring those in need to resources that will help them. Muir has been meeting with Deb Bookis (Director of Teaching and Learning) and Tara Bastien (STEM teacher) to discuss ongoing collaborations with the schools, and to hopefully resume 5th grade visits to the library. They plan on sharing resources and support around STEM topics, including our circulating STEM kits with the Primary School. Muir will be presenting on the library’s anticipated FY27 needs to the new town Tri-Board in August. This means Muir and Lydia will need to complete the staffing study earlier than they originally planned. A sample for the staffing study was done to track an average week in May and June. Another sample will be done during July to capture our busiest time of year during the Summer Reading Program. Debbie Laffond, our Children’s Librarian, will be retiring this fall. ○ Programs Update The Summer Reading program registration is ongoing. Events are starting 6/23 and will again include a free lunch program. Main Street Bank has donated $9,225 to support the lunch program in June and July. Muir is exploring options to continue the program through August until the start of school. There were a few program cancellations in the past month due to low registration numbers. North End Subaru has committed to another year of support for the monthly music program.. ○ Outreach The staff is assembling a Welcome to Lunenburg and the Library packet of resources. Recent outreach events have included the All Vendor Fair at TCP and Lunenburg Cruise Night. Future events are planned for the Arrive Lunenburg Monthly Event, the Lunenburg Artisan Market, and the Lunenburg Farmers’ Market. ○ Technology Update One Verkada camera failed and has been replaced under warranty. 3D printing as a public service should be ready in the next few months. We are waiting to get more than one person trained on the machines and software. We have purchased some Raspberry Pi devices to support a coding club that is planned for the fall. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The projector screen in the Community Room may be damaged and we are waiting on an assessment from an expert. Facilities protected the pump in the water feature from accidental damage, and it has been running for two weeks. But the pump stopped working today for some reason that is not yet known. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Muir suggested we have a review of the MBLC Trustee Handbook at our upcoming meetings for the new trustees. ===PAGE 3=== ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ Robin Venezia, Lydia Henshaw, and family and friends of Bob Conroy gathered in May to begin planting the garden. It is now about half planted. Kevin Boussom will be delivering the sculpture before fall, and the planting can then be finished. ● Room Use Policy Discussion ○ We reviewed the updated Room Use Policy. Harry made a motion to accept the policy as amended. David seconded. The vote was unanimous to accept the policy. ● Library Invested Funds update ○ We do not have the June statement yet. It was at 99K last month. ○ There is approximately 4K in a money market account, 36K in a CD, and 56K in a managed balanced fund. ○ Nicole Groskreutz of Edward Jones will be at our September meeting to review our investments with us. ● Brooks House Update ○ No update. ● Friends Update ○ Update on the 20th anniversary of the library building celebration. ○ The Friends’ annual meeting is 7/26/25 at 9 a.m. There will be a breakfast buffet. ○ The spring book sale made $2,610.50, and the bake sale made $1,011.00. ● Discussion about having a LPL Board of Trustees meeting in August ○ It will be difficult to plan a meeting to work around everyone’s summer plans. ● Board Comments ○ Jana will not be able to attend our September meeting. ○ Glenn forwarded us an article, SJC Decision Guides Open Meeting Law Compliance, and said it would help us understand the latest rulings about how to complete Muir’s review without violating the open meeting law. ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Harry, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:29 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ June 2025 Director’s Report ○ June 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ June 2025 Young Adult Services Report ○ June 2025 Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update *Accounts Payable warrant submitted today in the amount of $18,272.90, I will update this spreadsheet Thursday to reflect. FY26 Budget Update No update from last meeting. Town Meeting approved the following Library budget: FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 81,688$ 90% 94% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 57,286$ 89% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 224,125$ 92% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,268$ 1,268$ 100% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 13,897$ 62% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,026$ 11,517$ 64% WATER CHARGES 1,200$ 1,125$ 94% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 29$ 6% 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$ 642$ 71% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 4,213$ 60% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 306$ 102% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 45,366$ 48% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 1,299$ 32% TOTALS 592,057$ 483,765$ 82% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update May 19th, Melanie attended the annual MLA conference. Some valuable sessions included discussion of book challenges and legal frameworks, civic literacy post-election, and updates on the current challenges around IMLS funding and cuts. I was certified as a Mental Health First Aid responded at a workshop on May 20, and the skills learned should prove valuable in referring those in need to resources that will help them and in reducing stigma around mental health challenges. I met with Deb Bookis and Tara Bastien of the schools to discuss ongoing parterships and collaborations. It seems as if these efforts may result in resumption of 5th grade visits! We plan to share resources and support around STEM topics as well. Town Administration will be initiating “Tri-Board” (Select Board, FinComm, and School Board) meetings starting this month. Their charge will be to advise on a comprehensive fiscal plan for the town’s future. This group will ask for more information, earlier about FY27 needs. I will be presenting in August about the library’s anticipated needs. This puts a little more pressure on Lydia and I to complete our staffing study earlier than we thought we might. The Conroy Memorial Garden is about half planted. Around 20 people gathered on May 24, including Robin, Lydia, Susan Conroy, and family and friends. Kevin Boussom is working on the sculpture and anticipates delivery before the fall. North End Subaru has expressed their commitment to another year of support for the Month Music Series, and their intention to support us long-term. Both Library and Jason from North End are appreciative of the partnership. Programs Mother’s Day Planting 2.0 had 38 attendees! Our Enchanted Plants program brought 16, despite competition with the rescheduled Cruise Night. Niki’s Weight Strengthening sessions has seen a dip in attendance. A few program cancellations happened this past month due to low registration numbers, like the Women in Jazz performance, Sew Simple Sessions, movie night, and video game night. You may not have realized it but our magnificent Children’s Librarian Debbie Laffond held her final storytime in May. Her retirement will come in the Fall, and she will not deliver the Fall storytime sessions. Coming up: Summer Reading! Registration is ongoing, events start 6/23, including free summer lunches! 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 ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT 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 POSTPONED • Lunenburg Cruise Night at T.C Passios Wednesday May 28 ~137 interactions, many library users, lots of families and children • Arrive Lunenburg Monthly Event BBQ Afternoon June 13 12-3pm • Lunenburg Artisan Market at 186 Massachusetts Ave: o Sunday, June 8, 9:00-12:00 Quiet day with fewer than 20 interactions, fewer than usual vendors, GRADUATION PARTY competition? 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 Our HVAC system has been blasting cold air lately. Seems ready for summer! Facilities helped protect the water feature pump from accidental damage, and the water has been running for two weeks now! The projector screen may be damaged, we are waiting on an assessment from an expert. ▪ Technology One Verkada camera failed, and it has been replaced. 3D printing as a public service should be ready at some point soon in the next few months. We are really just waiting for an opportunity to get more than one person trained on the machines and software. We have purchased a number of Raspberry Pi devices to support a coding club that is planned for the Fall. ===PAGE 7=== JUNE 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report MAY STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 2 59 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 2 55 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 6 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 10 LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 11 AUTHOR STORY TIME 1 15 MOTHER’S DAY PLANTING 1 38 MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/ydrjvra8 HIGHLIGHTS FOR MAY: Story times, book clubs, Legos at the Library,& drop-in crafts all are put on pause by mid-May. We use the last few weeks to gear up for Summer Reading 2025 “20,00 Reads under the Sea” making sure we have everything ready and organized for all our wonderful upcoming events! STORY TIME WITH LOCAL AUTHOR STEPHANIE LUCIER Local, beloved elementary teacher Stephanie Lucier came by to share her story based on her cat Binx: Lucky believes that he is the unluckiest cat in the world. He has tried every good luck charm he can think of and still he finds himself involved in silly mishap after mishap. But with the help of his mom and positive thinking, Lucky perseveres and learns that luck is something you get to make for yourself! Ms. Lucier teaches at the Lunenburg Primary School and has a passion for writing. She currently resides in Massachusetts, with her family and her own little "Lucky" named Binx. The children were very excited to have their teacher as a guest reader and really enjoyed the story and accompanying craft. ===PAGE 8=== MOTHER’S DAY PLANTING The kids who had planted seeds in April came back to the library to repot them into larger containers, after decorating them for someone special, to give away for Mother’s Day. They were quite impressed to see how the seeds had grown into small plants! We all worked diligently to make sure the seedlings survived and were happy to send them on to their new homes! CRUISE NIGHT By delaying this event for 1 week, we were able to enjoy a beautiful evening outside on the green space at T C Passios for Cruise Night 2025. The library sponsored a nature scavenger hunt- with bubbles and lollipops as prizes and shared lots of information about our upcoming Summer Reading Program. I also assisted at the Scout table where we offered the kids a chance to make a wind powered balloon car- a very popular craft! All of this was accompanied by millions of bubbles produced by the library's bubble machine! ===PAGE 9=== SENSORY STORY TIME WITH MISS PAM Pam Wockenfuss presented another of her delightful sensory story time programs with the kids and families. This month's story was Sam’s Sandwich by David Pelham. After reading this fun book, Pam gave the children time to experience the story with all of their senses as each was presented with a plastic box, which they were allowed to keep, containing many elements from the story. UPCOMING EVENTS FOR JUNE: • June 2nd- Registration for Summer Reading begins! • June 11th- Author Story Time visit ===PAGE 10=== • June 16th – Last Day of School • June 23rd- programming begins for SRP- “Make it Monday” • June 24th- First week of Lego Bucket Challenges • June 25th- Whimsical Wednesday Lunch and Story Time • June 26th- SRP Kick-Off with Davis Bates Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 11=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services June 2025 Summary - Programs o Past programs: ▪ TAB Meeting – 3 participants ▪ Homeschool Craft Corner – no participants ▪ Drippy Sky Painting – 4 participants ▪ End-of-School Henna – 18 participants ▪ Video Game Night – Cancelled due to low attendance ▪ TAB volunteer day – 2 participants o Upcoming teen programs: ▪ TAB Meeting ▪ Summer Take & Make Kits ▪ Dungeons and Dragons one-shot ▪ Sewing for Teens Other news/updates - School Visits: I visited two 6th grade classes at the school library in order to promote summer reading. Both visits went well, and I was also able to promote some of the summer events as well. Pam (the school librarian) also passed along Summer Reading info to the ELA teachers for the 7th & 8th grade classes. - Teen Summer Reading: We currently have 13 teens signed up on beanstack (as of 6/9). The first of the summer reading events was the end of school henna and that was a successful program with 18 total participants. Mandy from WickedGoodHenna is great and always draws a crowd. - SHAPIRO group: I met with the director of the SHAPIRO group to discuss the teen summer visits. They will come four days a week, Mon-Thurs, at 1pm. I will have activities for them to participate in throughout the week, including lego challenges, coloring, board games, and a craft activity one day a week. The young adult group might come as well for some classes such as how to apply and interview for jobs etc. - Homeschool Craft Corner/Meet-Up: These events are over for the summer but will be back in the fall. Overall they were regularly attended by 15 – 20 individuals ===PAGE 12=== consistently, which was about 6 families. Attendance did drop off in the late spring once the weather turned nice. - Professional Development: I attended a three-week course on Youth Engagement that was hosted by the Library Journal. It was a thorough course with lots of good ideas and suggestions. o I also took a short course on how to successfully support coworkers during conflicts with patrons. - The TAB group met on Saturday, June 7th in order to put together the Summer take and make kits. At our last meeting we decided to change our meeting times to a little earlier since three of our members are also pages at the library in order to better accommodate their work schedules. We will also be meeting through out the summer. ===PAGE 13=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department June 2025 Summary of Last 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. ➢ We hosted a fabulous Floral Design Workshop on Tuesday, May 13th. There were 15 people in attendance, and it was a very engaging group that made the workshop a huge success! ➢ The annual Spring Puzzle Swap that took place on Saturday, May 17th was another successful swap event. We had 52 people visit to exchange 472 tickets for selections from the 656 donated puzzles. ➢ Wednesday May 21st we postponed our Monthly Music Series program with jazz flutist Galen Abdur- Razzaq on Zoom for a tribute to women in jazz performance. We will most likely reschedule in late winter or early spring when virtual programs may be more appealing. ➢ On Friday May 23rd, we hosted an opening reception for the art exhibit: Lunenburg High School AP & Honors Art Thesis Show. That was very well attended, with an estimated 58 people visiting the reception. The exhibit ran May 17th-31st and is something we will continue to do with the school in the coming years. ➢ The library sponsored author Varla Ventura for a unique talk on botanical folklore based on information from her book Enchanted Plants on Wednesday May 28th. There were 16 people at this informative and engaging talk, despite the draw of Cruise Night happening concurrently outside. ➢ On Thursday May 29th the folk-rock duo Creeque Alley returned to perform. One of our most popular, well-received, and enthusiastic performers, we were very excited to welcome them back! There were 25 people enjoying the music and singing along that evening. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ Local Lunenburg resident and personal crisis coach Pamela Dussault visited on June 4th for a talk on managing caregiver burnout. There were 11 people here for the program and it was very well received, with calls for more support groups and workshops to be held at the library in the future. ➢ On Thursday June 12th we will host a return visit with Mark & Raianne for a folk duo concert as part of the Monthly Music Series. ➢ There will be a summer puzzle race on June 17th. ➢ For a creative workshop, the library will be holding a fused glass pendant making class on June 18th. ➢ And as part of summer reading, on June 25th there will be a “bad art” night for patrons of all ages to come to the library and make creative artwork using odds and ends pieces from the craft supply. It should be a fun event to mark the beginning of summer! ===PAGE 14=== Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are doing well with excellent discussions at our monthly meetings. 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 met every second Wednesday evening. It is being rebranded as Between the Bookends book club, where we will read through suggestions from our regular readers instead of working on a set theme for the year. 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 dragging with the weather change for spring. The May program had no one attend. We may take a break for the summertime and bring it back for the cooler weather. ➢ The Tuesday Tune-Up Sessions with Niki Holtzman started strong but have already tapered off. 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 in our first class on Tuesday May 6th, canceled the May 20th session, and only had 3 at our June 3rd meeting. Virtual Program Update ➢ 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. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 6/9/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 95% 0% 5% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 84% 12% 4% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 90% 0% 10% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 76% 9% 15% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 86% 5% 9% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli