===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes November 20, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Jana Balish, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Muir Haman The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:50 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● None Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of October 16, 2025 ○ Maia made a motion to accept the minutes of October 16, 2025, as amended, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update Muir placed an order for $1,300 in FY25 with Baker & Taylor, a library materials supplier who has since gone out of business. The order did not ship. Muir will need to reorder these materials from another vendor and this expense will now come out of the FY2026 budget. When he spoke to Jennifer Warren, Town Manager, about this, he was told that going forward he can no longer encumber items ordered, but not received before the end of the fiscal year. He said he will need to change how he spends down accounts at the end of the year to make sure he does not lose any funds going forward. ○ FY2026 Budget Update The fiscal year calendar is 39% complete and library funds are 34% expended. ○ Staff Update Muir is interviewing for the open Children’s Room Library Assistant position. There is one interview this week, and potentially three next week. The Teen Librarian resigned and that position is now open. We already have applicants for that position. Staffing is at a critically low level, with two open positions and two upcoming parental leaves. For safety reasons the library needs three staff members on duty for the building to be open fully. We can also function with two staff if we close a section of the library. Muir and Harry discussed a plan with Jennifer Warren that would allow a Trustee or a Friend of the Library to volunteer to fill in when we are short-staffed. She approved of that plan. David asked if volunteers would need a CORI check. Muir will consider that. Muir is also considering temps and a recently retired employee to fill in as needed. During Muir’s parental leave, Julie Belliveau, Assistant Town Manager, will handle any firing, hiring or discipline duties for him. Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director, will cover the rest of Muir’s duties. Muir submitted two grant applications in November. One is for $1,000 from the Bemis Community Fund for five monthly sessions of music and movement storytime with Monument Square Community Music School. The other is for $1,700 from the Emerson Hospital Catherine Gallery Community Grant for memory kits to support the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center’s Memory Cafe program. These kits will be housed at the LAAC and catalogued by the library. ○ Programs Update Due to currently not having a Teen Librarian, we have had to cancel a number of teen programs. Joslyn will fill in to continue one of the teen book clubs. We also have a para-professional from the high school who has volunteered to get a board game club started and is also interested in running a Dungeons & Dragons program. The second annual Winter Artisan Showcase will be held on December 7, with 40 vendors participating. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Outreach Update Melanie held an outreach session at Baker Brook Apartments with 17 residents in attendance. The LBA’s Trunk or Treat event was very well attended, and will be a good event for us to attend in coming years. ○ Technology Update The staff color printer was replaced. The old printer is now in the Children’s Room office to make labels for cataloging. CWMARS has suggested that all libraries with a fiber line work towards CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) compliance. Discounts will be available for libraries that comply. Complying will require the use of filtering software. The Trustees had questions about what would be blocked, how this will affect access to information, and how much of a discount we would get. Muir will be gathering more information. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The furniture purchased by the Friends is now in our cafe. The old furniture is being offered to other town departments. HVAC settings are still being adjusted to get the temperature in a comfortable range. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Defer to next meeting. ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ Susan Conroy has a quote she would like included in the garden. Muir is checking on pricing for engraving the quote in brass, bronze or stone. ● Policy Discussions - Room Use, Gift, Investment (most likely not all) ○ Town Counsel is reviewing the Room Use Policy. ○ The Gift Policy will be reviewed at a future meeting. ○ We will wait for Robin to be in attendance before reviewing the Investment Policy. ● Brooks House Update ○ No update. ● Friends Update ○ The fall book sale brought in $2,340, and the bake sale brought in $1,119 for a total of $3,459. ○ Kate Ravelette, from the Lunenburg Artisan Market, attended the meeting to talk about the 2nd Annual Winter Artisan Showcase. She will be supplying baked goods for the Friends to sell, with all proceeds going to the Friends. She guaranteed a donation of 1K, regardless of how much is earned from the bake sale. ○ The Friends have seen an increase in active members participating and coming to the meetings. ● Discussion about Director’s review ○ The Trustees emailed their individual reviews to Harry. He will make a consolidated review for us to discuss and amend as needed at our December meeting. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Stephanie, seconded by David. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m. 2 ===PAGE 3=== ● Attached Documents ○ November 2025 Director’s Report ○ November 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ November 2025 Adult Services Department Report 3 ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update We are currently interviewing candidates for our open Library Assistant position in the Children’s Room. Our Teen Librarian Kaitee has resigned, and the job has been posted last Thursday. Although we are now at a critically low staffing level, with two parental leaves coming up, we can move to fill our open positions. Lydia and I have met and discussed with the Town Manager and the Assistant Town Manager/HR Director the duties Lydia will perform while I am on leave. They are in negotiations with the Union about a stipend to compensate Lydia for this additional responsibility. I submitted two grant applications in early November. One for $1000 from the Bemis Community Fund for five monthly sessions of music and movement storytime with Monument Square Community Music School. The other grant was from the Emerson Hospital Catherine Gallery Community Grant for materials to support the LAAC’s Memory Café program. There will be 10 memory kits that can circulated to Alzheimer sufferers and their caregivers. These will be housed at the LAAC and catalogued by the library. The Town’s Financial Department continues its transition. The Finance Director who was hired has decided not to stay, and payments will continue to be slow. Two consultants have been tasked to help, one with payroll and one with Accounts Payable. An Assistant Accountant has been hired. STM has a significant update to the SAP. Programs The biggest update in Programming is our Teen calendar. We have had to cancel a number of programs, though we are continuing what we can. One of the two book clubs will likely not continue, but we have serendipitously had a volunteer paraprofessional from the High School who will try to get a board game club off the ground on Thursday afternoons! She is learning about DM’img D&D campaigns and may be able to take over leading that series. Our Teen CPR program has a number of registrations despite being scheduled the weekend after Thanksgiving. Our Anniversary celebration was a big success and the Friends seemed very happy with the result. We have continued to offer the Library of Services fundraiser. Our Small Works 2025 exhibit in hanging and we had almost 30 attendees at the opening. The Wildcrafted Apothecary Event was also remarkably successful with 25 attendees. This year’s Fall Puzzle Swap had 56 attendees, but more than 760 puzzles were dropped off (a record high). Our bluegrass duo drew 51 attendees, and our weekly Stitchcraft group has create more than 50 hats to donate to the local Meaghan’s Hats charity! Holiday programs are about to hit. The Winter Artisan showcase will be December 7th. 40 vendors signed up within minutes of the registration being opened. 10 vendors will provide an indoor “Farmer’s Market” in the Teen Room during the event. “The Dirty Martinis” will perform afterward. They have inquired about continuing a regular market during the winter season, too. The First Thursday of December will be our annual craft to follow the tree lighting in the Town center. And December 13th will be the family gingerbread house event that has been popular the last few years. ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Coming up: 11/20 Board Game Club, 11/29 CPR for Teens, 11/22 The Dangerous Art of Chainsaw Sculpture, 12/4 DIY Ugly Sweaters, 12/7 Winter Showcase, 12/13 Gingerbread Houses. Outreach Our presentation at Baker Creek received very positive review and Melanie was invited back to talk to them again. She had 17 interested and curious residents in attendance on 10/28. Trunk or Treat was AMAZING. We saw several hundred children and families, and this event with the LBA is definitely something we should do every year. Similarly, Literacy Night was a great event to be a part of with about 50 interactions. Most were library users we know very well, we did sign up 8 people for library cards. ▪ Building & Maintenance The furniture purchased by the Friends for our Café has arrived and looks fantastic. On the whole, it brightens and opens up our café area. We are still tuning in the HVAC settings to get the temps in the range we want. ▪ Technology Our Staff Color printer was replaced and now resides in the Children’s Room Office to make labels for cataloging. The new printer is fantastic, so far. CWMARS has suggested that all libraries with a fiber line work towards CIPA compliance. With the developments over the years with filtering software, this seems like a reasonable course to enable some significant discounts. ===PAGE 6=== November 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report Stats (Oct 1- November 18th) Activity Participants Kids Comic Club Kits 10 Around the World Story Time (7 meetings) 103 Bookworms Book Club (2 meetings) 10 Creepy Crawlies w/ The Joys of Nature 28 Sounds and Music Story Time (5 meetings) 162 Beginners Book Club (2 meetings) 6 Halloween Painting w/ Julie 18 Halloween Costume Parade 60 LEGO Club 3 Wampanoag Pottery w/ Plimoth Patuxet Museums 33 Patron Quote: “I’ve brought my kids to many libraries, but this is the library that gave them a love of reading! They never used to read! And whenever we try to go to a new library they always ask to come back here instead.” Budget Stats: ===PAGE 7=== Highlights: LBA TRUNK OR TREAT: Muir and I (with the help of Sienne, Wren, Torben, and Maisie) were able to interact with hundreds of Lunenburg folks. While there were a lot of familiar faces, we also had plenty of new interests among families. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME: Despite losing the early learning center kids due to their relocation, there’s been a steady growth of attendees in our Around the World Preschool storytime. We started at 10 and are now getting around 22 each time! CREEPY CRAWLIES: The Joys of Nature returned for a spooky live animal program and brought some extra scary snakes (at least to me) and an adorable tarantula – much to the delight of the kids. BOOKWORMS BOOK CLUB: Five kids might not seem like a lot, but to have a steady kid’s book club of enthusiastic and friendly voices is truly a monthly delight. HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARADE: Our annual tradition was yet again a big hit! We had perfect weather, a generous police escort for safety, tons of cute costumes (from the kids and town helpers alike), and (of course) a LOT of candy. ===PAGE 8=== WAMPANOAG POTTERY: Well-attended, informative, and hands-on! Tim from Plimoth Patuxet Museums was great with the kids and made sure they would all go home with something they were proud of! We received many comments from parents praising the program – both for its execution and its uniqueness. Upcoming Events: • Nov 1 - 29: Kids Comic Club Kits Pickup • Nov 19: Around the World Storytime • Nov 24: Sounds and Music Storytime • Nov 25: LEGO Club • Dec 1: Sounds and Music Storytime • Dec 1-30: Kids Comic Club Kits Pickup • Dec 3: Around the World Storytime • Dec 4: Bookworms Book Club • Dec 4: Annual Ornament Night • Dec 8: Sounds and Music Storytime • Dec 8: Beginners Book Club • Dec 10: Around the World Storytime • Dec 13: Family Gingerbread Houses • Dec 15: Sounds and Music Storytime • Dec 15: Homeschool Family Craft • Dec 16: Drop-In Craft: Paper Roll Elves Joslyn Davis, Children’s Services Librarian ===PAGE 9=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department November 2025 Summary of Last Month ➢ The main highlight of October was a fantastic showing of support and engagement for our Library Building’s 20th Anniversary celebrations. Additionally, we had some great single programs to round out a successful month of events at the library! o On October 3rd we had a welcoming event for the month-long celebration of the library building being 20 years old. This event included remarks from committee members, Friends, and the Director, as well as a presentation by Bill Tyler of the historical society on the history of libraries in town. Donuts was donated by Hollis Hills Farm and cider was donated by Lanni Orchards. There were an estimated 50 people at this opening event. o Our monthly music concert was on October 9th by bluegrass duo Flynn Cohen and Laura Orshaw. This stop was part of their local tour for bluegrass concerts, and we drew an impressive 51 people for their show here. o Two authors of a true crime book based in Rockport came on October 22nd to discuss their book and sell copies. We had 8 very engaged attendees come for a cozy book talk that evening. o At the end of the month, we closed the anniversary celebrations with two events: a family-oriented “birthday party” for the library with a balloon twister, face painting and temporary tattoos; and a jazzukulele performance sponsored by the local community council. Both were major successes with a combined estimated 75 people at the library for the evening. Recurring Program Updates ➢ Each book club had 8 participants in October. o 100 Books Bucket List is discussing The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen at the next meeting on Tuesday December 2nd o Between the Bookends is discussing The Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher at the next meeting on Wednesday December 10th ➢ The Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group also remains steady. The group worked on making hats and winterwear for a charity group called Meaghan’s Hats that donates materials to schools, shelters and unhoused individuals in Central ===PAGE 10=== Massachusetts. ➢ Drop-in tech help with Melanie sees intermittent participation, as we expected, but many find it helpful to have a set time for their technology questions. This is an easy program to continue, and we hope to see patron engagement grow with time. Right now, this program runs bi-weekly on Saturday mornings when Melanie is scheduled to be in the library. ===PAGE 11=== November Programs ➢ The wildcrafted apothecary workshop with Grace Krupkowski was held on Saturday, November 1st. ➢ On Wednesday, November 5th, we held a fall puzzle race. ➢ We partnered with the Association of Financial Planners for a talk ➢ The annual fall puzzle swap followed the puzzle race on Saturday, November 15th. ➢ Our monthly music series concert for November will be on Wednesday, November 19th when the Asphodel Pagan Choir performs. ➢ Wrapping up the month will be a talk with a chainsaw artist on Saturday, November 22nd where he will explain his journey in the field of chainsaw artistry. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 11/1/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 27% 59% 14% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 36% 25% 39% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 10% 0% 90% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 30% 48% 22% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 26% 33% 41% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director