===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes January 15, 2026 Members Present: Harry Kubetz, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, Jana Balish, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Lydia Paolilli (Acting Director), Glenn McLeod (Select Board Representative) Members Absent: Maia Wentrup The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● None Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of December 22, 2025 ○ Robin made a motion to accept the minutes of December 22, 2025, as presented, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed with five votes, with Jana abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update None ○ FY2026 Budget Update None ○ Staff Update On Friday, January 16, Minna Scholten will start as our new Library Assistant in the Children’s Room. Sherri and Lydia are working on a system to track and manage loans through the Meals on Wheels book delivery program. Melanie King made a list of the memory care kits available in CWMARS. This list has been sent to Deb Goodsell to distribute to the appropriate Meals on Wheels clients and to share with the Memory Cafe group that meets at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center. Marabeth has almost completed another full inventory of the library’s collections, which helps to identify missing items. It has taken almost a year to complete, since it is done when she has extra time. The last one was done in 2020. Lydia attended a town department head meeting on January 8. FY27 budgets were discussed. Jennifer Warren, Town Manager, has asked all department heads to submit another budget with a 5% cut from their previously proposed budgets. Lydia has been communicating with Muir about this subject. ○ Programs Update January started slowly for program attendance, possibly due to the cold weather and level of winter illness in the area. Later in the month the new yoga program and the winter sowing program were both well-attended. A new art exhibit was installed on January 15, featuring artwork from students in the Lunenburg schools. ○ Outreach Update Melanie will hold another Library of Things petting zoo at Smokestack Roasters on January 18. Joslyn will be going with her to highlight our children’s STEM kits. Melanie will also be visiting Baker Brook/Tri-Town apartments to give a presentation to the residents about the Libby library app. ○ Technology Update The new color printer requires more oversight than anticipated. Melanie is working with it. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Building & Maintenance Update Lydia communicated with Chris Ruth about snow removal. On a snowy Saturday, the snow removal crew arrived in the afternoon, well past opening time. Library staff managed to clear the sidewalks before opening time, so it was not a problem for patrons. Snow removal should be done before staff arrives 9 a.m. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ We began our review of the Massachusetts Public Library Trustee Handbook. We covered Chapter One - Becoming a Trustee and Chapter Two - Board Organization. ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ None ● Policy Discussion(s) - Room Use, Gift, Investment ○ Room Use Policy - will review at a future meeting ○ Gift Policy - will review at a future meeting ○ Investment Policy - Robin reviewed her draft of this policy with us. She will edit and consolidate the policy and have it ready for a second review at our next meeting. ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ No update ● Friends Update ○ At their January meeting, Chris Harlow, Assistant Treasurer of the Friends, presented an analysis he did of online membership applications that would allow them to set up an electronic membership database and payment system. The Friends voted to use Donorbox. Chris will be working on this and hopes to be able to accept online payments for memberships and donations in a few months. ● Director’s Review Conclusion ○ Harry told us he presented the review to Muir remotely. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Jana, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 8:38 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ January 2026 Director’s Report 2 ===PAGE 3=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update Due to some extended delays at the town hall, our new hire for the Library Assistant – Children's Room will be starting on Friday, January 16th. She will assume the full schedule for the position during the week of January 26th while working the next couple Fridays to learn more about the front desk and basic library workflow. Sherri and I started discussing how to best manage homebound book deliveries through the COA Meals on Wheels program. She and I are working on creating a system to track and manage loans while still balancing the patron’s right to full borrowing privileges in network. We plan to have a system in place by next week at the latest. Marabeth has almost completed another full inventory of the library’s collections. She started last April and works in small batches when cataloging is slow, and she has some extra time. The inventory helps us identify missing or lost items in the collection and was last done during the closure for COVID in 2020. She’s made excellent progress in this important collection task! I attended a town department head meeting on January 8th and communicated the budget needs to Muir. Our Town Manager gave a brief overview of the anticipated state of the budget for FY27, and it will require Muir’s input as to how it affects the library. He and I have been in communication about what support I can offer him in this process during his leave, but all proposed changes will ultimately need to come from him at this time. Programs January got off to a slow start for adult programming, most likely due to a combination of cold weather and cold illnesses keeping patrons home instead of venturing out to the library. Our DIY “make it monthly” evening program was canceled due to the weather, with a rescheduled date TBD, and the morning session had low attendance but great feedback. However, our first yoga class and winter sowing program were big successes for the library. Thank you to Robin Venezia and her crew of volunteers for making another wonderful winter sowing program at the library! Joslyn has been booking some excellent new programs for the children’s room and is seeing a lot of interest in the toddler yoga sessions, in addition to the return of her drop-in crafts and the usual recurring events. We have been working on creating a more robust STEM offering for the spring, especially during the school vacation weeks, and booking more diverse programming in general. In partnership with art teacher Scott Barry-Grove from the middle high school, there will be a new art exhibit installed on January 15th running through February 12th showcasing work from all students in the Lunenburg schools. We are hosting a reception for artists and their families to see the exhibit on Thursday, February 5th. Coming up: 2/8 Colored Pencil Drawing class, 2/12 Copper Bookmark workshops for teens and adults, 2/13 Silent Film Night with Live Music, 2/18 Afrobeats kids dance class, 2/21 Winter Puzzle Swap. ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT ▪ Outreach Melanie is prepared for our second event at Smokestack Roasters on Sunday, January 18th to reprise the Library of Things petting zoo program during a more popular time. Joslyn will be going with her to highlight the children’s STEM kits and be an extra set of hands for library inquiries. The February visit to Baker Brook/Tri-Town apartment buildings is still on. Melanie has prepared a presentation on Libby to give to residents. ▪ Building & Maintenance I communicated with Chris in the facilities department to ensure the library receives adequate snow clearing on weekends. We had a snowy Saturday with facilities crews arriving in the afternoon, well past when we opened. Luckily, Marabeth and I were able to clear sidewalks for patrons by our 10:00 am opening, but I did stress to Chris the importance of having assistance prior to the 9:00 am arrival of staff. All should be fine for the remainder of the winter season, but it is something I will follow up on if needed. ▪ Technology Our new color printer is a bit more finicky than the last one and requires more oversight than anticipated, but it does help to have the added features and is overall a good addition.