===PAGE 1=== Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes May 21, 2026 Sudolnik Conference Room, Lunenburg Public Library Members Present: Muir Haman (Director), Harry Kubetz, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Glenn McLeod (Select Board Representative) Members Remote: Maia Wentrup Members Absent: None The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● None Agenda Items ● Reorganization of the Board Nominations were made for board positions. Harry nominated Robin for Treasurer, and Jana-Lee seconded. Harry nominated Maia for Vice Chair, and Jana-Lee seconded. Harry nominated Laura for Secretary, and Jana-Lee seconded. Robin nominated Harry for Chair, and Stephanie seconded. The nominations passed unanimously by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Maia Wentrup Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ David Niose Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye We discussed subcommittees to see if anyone wanted to make any changes. Budget Subcommittee - Laura and Jana-Lee will stay on this committee. Friends Endowment Subcommittee - Harry and Robin will serve on this committee. Personnel Subcommittee - Harry, Maia, Jana-Lee, and Stephanie will stay on this committee. Policy Subcommittee - we will no longer have this subcommittee because we discuss policy issues in our regular monthly meetings. Trust Fund Investment Subcommittee - This subcommittee is not active and no one serves on it. Master Plan Steering Committee Representative - David will continue to serve on this committee as it wraps up. Robin made a motion to accept the subcommittee assignments as just agreed, and Jana-Lee seconded. The motion passed by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Maia Wentrup Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ David Niose Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ● Approval of Minutes of April 16 , 2026 Jana-Lee made a motion to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by Robin. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Maia Wentrup Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye 1 ===PAGE 2=== ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ David Niose Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ● Director’s Report ○ FY2027 Budget Update The library budget for FY27 is $598,960.20 per the balanced budget that passed at Town Meeting on May 2. This is approximately a 5% decrease from last year’s budget. Neither of the overrides passed at the Town Election. We will not be able to hire a Teen Librarian. ○ FY2026 Budget Update Muir is still planning on moving funds from Library Staff Salaries into Electricity. Digital databases will be renewed in June and will be expensed in Library Materials for around 40K. Muir will be using the funds in Contracted Services to have a landscaping company refresh the mulch on library grounds. ○ Staff Update All five 5th-grade classes visited the library this week. The last time these visits happened was in 2020. It is great to have these visits in place again. The students had a tour of the library and learned about the rules for the Teen Room. About two-thirds of the students filled out applications for library cards. The rest of the students already had them. Muir will meet with the new Turkey Hill Elementary School administration this summer to prepare and plan for a more comprehensive set of visits next school year. Main Street Bank notified Muir that they will be changing to an every-other-year award structure for their community support grants. This means they will not be supporting our summer lunch program this year. Muir let the Friends know about this development and at their May meeting they voted to fund the lunch program. Maia asked if there could be other grants available. Muir said he already met with an Assistant VP from Workers Credit Union to discuss potential corporate sponsorships. He will also check with Hannaford and look for other funding opportunities. Muir met with Deb Goodsell, Director of the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center, and with Krista Deveau, the new Recreation Director, to talk about coordinating programs. They discussed the possibility of partnering on an outdoor summer concert series, since funding for the town band concerts has been cut in the FY27 budget. Due to the loss of funding for a Teen Librarian, Muir and staff will work on a plan to cover the Teen Room in a more complete way for the next school year. ○ Programs Update The Summer Lunch Program will start June 22, and run until school starts in August. Meals will be served Monday through Thursday. Joslyn and Muir found volunteers to run a 3D-printing workshop and a crochet series, both for teens, this summer. The Friends set up and ran a successful puzzle swap. There were over 800 puzzles and almost 60 attendees. Earth Day and Mother’s Day events, and our ongoing concert series were successful and well attended. Muir is hoping to run a babysitter program, including a CPR class. He has volunteers willing to help. Harry asked if CORI checks should be done on volunteers, especially when they are working with minors. Muir will check with the Police Chief and Town Counsel. ○ Outreach Update The Earth Day Info Fair, organized by Herlin Jaime, Conservation Administrator, was a high point for outreach this month. Staff also attended the FSU Farmer’s Market and Info Fair on April 27, and the Seven Hills Transition to Adulthood Info Fair on May 18. Upcoming events include Cruise Night, the Vendor Fair, and the Artisan Market. 2 ===PAGE 3=== ○ Technology Update Lydia’s new laptop has arrived. Sherri is now using Lydia’s old workstation. ■ Cisco Umbrella Discussion Muir is still conducting a trial of the software. There have been a handful of websites blocked for adult content. The trial is not network wide. You cannot tell which computer is trying to access a website that is blocked. The software can be set to filter at the device level or the network level. Device level filtering would affect fewer users. Network level filtering would filter any device connected to our network. People can still use their own data connection on their personal device to avoid the filter. Muir is not certain if malicious use of AI would be blocked. Stephanie is concerned that allowing even a low level of filtering could eventually lead to increased censorship as our political climate changes. Laura asked if Muir could confirm that the sites labeled and blocked as adult content were actually adult content or if they were mislabeled by Umbrella. He said there was not a way to get confirmation that the labels were correct. Harry made a motion to move ahead with using Umbrella software at the lowest filtering level. Robin seconded. The motion passed, 5 to 2, by roll call vote. ● Harry Kubetz Aye ● Maia Wentrup Aye ● Laura Boussom Nay ● Robin Venezia Aye ● David Niose Aye ● Stephanie Trudel Nay ● Jana-Lee Balish Aye Harry made a motion that filtering be at the network level. Jana-Lee seconded. The motion passed, 5 to 2, by roll call vote. ● Harry Kubetz Aye ● Maia Wentrup Nay ● Laura Boussom Aye ● Robin Venezia Aye ● David Niose Aye ● Stephanie Trudel Nay ● Jana-Lee Balish Aye ○ Building & Maintenance Update New water fountains and bottle fillers are installed and working. The Bob Cole giraffe sculpture was damaged by two unsupervised young children who caused it to fall. Muir spoke with their parents and stressed that children need to be under constant supervision at the library. The sculpture is made of copper pipe and wire. Muir thinks it will be easy to fix and will be getting help from an art teacher from the Lunenburg schools. Maia asked if the parents will be paying for the repair. Muir did not think the damage was done maliciously and does not want to pursue payment. Six marsh marigold plants were taken from the rainwater garden behind the library. The person who took them was caught on video. Muir made a post on the library’s Facebook page requesting their return, but has had no response. Muir will follow up with Chief Thibodeau. Muir will also consider temporary signage letting people know that this area is a planned garden and the plants are there for a reason. ● Strategic Plan Discussion 3 ===PAGE 4=== ○ Having a strategic plan allows us to apply for grants administered by the MBLC. ○ Our current strategic plan was labeled as FY22 to FY27. Since it was a five-year plan, it should have been FY22 to FY26. Our plan technically expires at the end of this fiscal year. ○ Muir said if we start the process of developing a new plan, we should be fine. MBLC will allow us to apply for grants because our plan will have recently expired and we will be in the planning process for a new plan. ○ We will form a subcommittee at our next meeting. ○ Muir will put together a call for proposals for a consultant for us to review at our next meeting. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ We reviewed Chapter 6 - Personnel, in the MBLC Trustees Handbook. ○ Harry noted that we largely conform with this chapter’s recommendations. ○ The Trustees are responsible for hiring and supporting a director. We do not become involved in hiring or managing other library staff. ○ We do a yearly evaluation of the Director. Starting with his next review, Muir will provide a self-evaluation report which indicates how he has met his annual goals and objectives. He will also provide a list of training he has undertaken. ○ Laura asked if the Director’s job description can be put in the New Member file, and Muir said he would do that. ○ Robin suggested that Muir evaluate us on how we can better support him. He thought this was a good suggestion. ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ Muir will be picking out a rock from Lydia Henshaw’s yard this week to be picked up by Leominster Monument for engraving. ○ Muir suggested a ceremony around the anniversary of Bob’s death. He will check with the family to see if they agree with this. ● Policy Discussion(s) - Gift, Food & Drink, Acceptable Use, Collection Development, Room Use, Trust Funds ○ Gift Policy We are discussing this because we do not currently have a gift policy, and should have one. Muir answered the questions we posed to him last time we discussed this. Volunteer labor is not considered a gift. Small items such as candy or inexpensive toys used as rewards in the Summer Reading Program are an exception to this policy and will not be considered gifts. We should add a statement that states it is not the library’s responsibility to value gifts for tax purposes. Harry made a motion to accept the Gift Policy as amended. Robin seconded. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Maia Wentrup Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ David Niose Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ○ Food & Beverage Policy - This will be included in the Acceptable Library Use and Code of Conduct Policy going forward. ○ Acceptable Library Use and Code of Conduct Policy We are reviewing this policy so that we can combine it with the Food and Beverage Policy. Also, this policy was last reviewed almost seven years ago and is past due for review. One item listed under prohibited behavior is “carrying firearms or dangerous weapons of any type”. Maia said we may need to post a notice on the entry door stating this. David suggested checking with Town Counsel. 4 ===PAGE 5=== Harry made a motion to accept this policy as revised. Robin seconded. The vote passed unanimously by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Maia Wentrup Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ David Niose Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ○ Collection Development Town Counsel suggested changes to our last revision of this policy, so we are reviewing it again. We are making these two suggested changes. - We will change the word “librarians” to “Director” as the person responsible for selecting materials for the collection so that our policy agrees with Section 3-7 of the Town Charter. - We will remove Section V. Access to the Collection, from the policy. This should be a separate policy on access and displays. We have questions on two of their suggestions. - Counsel said to remove the section on censorship. Stephanie asked if there was an appropriate way to express the deleted section covering censorship in this policy. - Counsel said to remove the phrase that limits the number of challenges a complainant may submit in a year. Robin commented that last year when she attended a seminar presented by United for Libraries, which focused on intellectual freedom and related library policies, the lawyers there advised that you should limit the number of challenges one person can file. This was due to the increase in the number of challenges being filed across the country, with many libraries being overwhelmed with the volume of challenges. We would like clarification between these two legal opinions. Muir will send our questions back to Town Counsel for their opinion. ○ Room Use Discussion of this policy was deferred to a future meeting. ○ Trust Funds We approved this policy on March 19, 2026. Since then, Muir received feedback from Town Counsel. They suggested that we add liquidity as an objective of the policy. We decided not to add liquidity as a primary objective, as suggested, because liquidity is adequately addressed in the policy. ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ None ● Friends Update ○ The Friends voted against having St. Pauli place a used clothing collection shed on library grounds. ○ The Friends annual meeting is Saturday, August 8 at 9:00 a.m. All are welcome and a potluck breakfast will be served. ● Board Comments ○ Robin told us about the Massachusetts Community Biodiversity grant for which she and Muir were considering applying. This grant aims to support biodiversity conservation and bring nature to every neighborhood. Grant amounts are between $20 - $150K. One type of project that would be eligible is a food forest. Robin would like to plant a food forest on the west side of the library, where every plant would provide food. Maia volunteered to help write the grant. The grant application is due June 24, 2026. ● Other 5 ===PAGE 6=== ○ Harry started a conversation about how we could recover funding for a Teen Librarian. At the May 19th meeting of the Selectboard, it was stated that they have received requests from voters to hold a special town meeting. The Selectboard is going to wait to hear what the School Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Tri-Board think about this before discussing further. Although no topics were mentioned for this special town meeting, the assumption was that the budget would be discussed. Harry thought it would be prudent of us to send a letter to the Selectboard asking for the funding for a Teen Librarian to be reinstated in case this meeting happened. To support our request, we would point out that the town just spent $120K to enlarge the Teen Room, and now we have no librarian to support it and teen programs. Maia suggested that if we do this it may be helpful to get some teens to write about what the Teen Room means to them, or perhaps they could do a short video. Muir said his concern is that if funding is found for a librarian for FY27 using nonrecurring funds, we may be in a worse place in FY28. We may have to lay off a librarian we had for less than a year. We would also be at higher risk of losing our certification from the MBLC due to the way our budget affects their calculation. The other Trustees thought there was time to wait and hear from the other boards in town as to what their opinions were about calling a special town meeting. Harry made a motion to solicit additional funding from the Selectboard for a Teen Librarian. Stephanie seconded. The motion failed, 5 to 1, by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Maia Wentrup Remote connection lost. Did not vote. ■ Laura Boussom Nay ■ Robin Venezia Nay ■ David Niose Nay ■ Stephanie Trudel Nay ■ Jana-Lee Balish Nay ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Harry, seconded by Robin. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 10.55 p.m. We lost remote connection with Maia, so a roll call vote was not done. ● Attached Documents ○ May 2026 Director’s Report ○ May 2026 Youth Services Report ● Additional Documents Referenced ○ MBLC Trustees Handbook (2018 edition) ○ Draft Gift Policy ○ Food and Beverage Policy ○ Acceptable Use Policy with proposed changes ○ Collection Development Policy with proposed changes ○ Meeting Room Policy with proposed changes ○ Investment Policy with proposed changes ○ https://www.mass.gov/how-to/massachusetts-community-biodiversity-grants 6 ===PAGE 7=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT May 21, 2026 FY26 Budget Update FY27 Budget Update FY27 Library Budget will be $598,960.20. No overrides passed on the ballot and we will operate on the balanced budget that was passed at Annual Town Meeting. This is approximately a 5% decrease on FY26. We will not be able to hire a Young Adult Librarian. Staff Update This week will be the return of 5th grade visits on Tuesday and Thursday. This will be the first time since 2020 that we’ve been able to make these visits happen. We will meet with the new THES administration this summer to prepare and plan for a more comprehensive set of visits next school year. Recent weeks have certainly focused on the FY27 budget and preparations for Annual Town Meeting, which happened May 2. This year was an approximately 8 hour meeting. The Selectboard offered an informal info session on the Tuesday before. This novel format did bring out some visitors, perhaps three dozen. All who I spoke to were staunch Library supporters. Main Street Bank has moved to an every other year award structure for their community support grants, and they chose to not fund our summer Lunch Program this year. The Friends did vote to provide the funds. I also met with an Assistant Vice President from Worker’s Credit Union to discuss FY26 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 97,076$ 83,315$ 86% 88% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 69,627$ 61,396$ 88% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 272,757$ 213,371$ 78% LONGEVITY 850$ 850$ 100% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,300$ 793$ 61% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 20,030$ 89% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 12,219$ 66% WATER CHARGES 1,150$ 752$ 65% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 200$ 40% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 16,000$ 12,863$ 80% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 0% CWMARS NETWORK 20,571$ 20,571$ 100% POSTAGE -$ OFFICE SUPPLIES 8,000$ 4,007$ 50% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 294$ 98% LIBRARY MATERIAL 96,000$ 58,661$ 61% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 822$ 21% TOTALS 636,131$ 494,618$ 78% ===PAGE 8=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT potential corporate sponsorships. I focused that conversation on the lunch program, but also included a number of other projects. I met with the new Rec Director and Deb at COA to talk about coordinating programs. Discussed the possibility of partnering on summer concerts that could be held outdoors in conjunction with her Monday evening dinners, if the Town band concerts do not occur. Staff and I will work on a plan to cover the Teen Room in a more complete way for next school year. Programs Joslyn and I have found volunteers to help us offer two craft workshop series over the summer for Teens. We will have a 3d printing series and a crochet series led by volunteers. Similarly, our Friends volunteers helped us make our Spring puzzle swap successful. Over 800 puzzles and almost 60 attendees this time. Poetry month came to a lovely conclusion with Kate Chadbourne’s performance. We had success with Earth Day events, too: 19 for Incredible Earthworms, 24 for Terrific Terrariums, and 31 for our Mother’s Day Planting. All of our Three Sisters Seed Kits (about 80) were given out, too! The Social Security program was attended by a huge number of people, too. At least 75! LARPing for kids also had 24 attendees. Our recent Teen programs had solid attendance as well. 20 came to the Paint-a-pot event, and Video game night had 14 attendees. Our monthly concert series continues to be one of our larger adult events. 22 and 35 at the last two concerts. Coming up: 4/17 Spring Tinctures WKSP, Next is our April Vacation programming! 4/21 Spring Painting with Julie, 4/22 Seed Kits Take-Home and Terrific Terrariums, 4/22 Arthur James blues guitar, 4/23 LARPing for kids, 4/24 Video game night. 4/25 Toddler Yoga, 4/28 Uke Meetup, 4/29 Kate Chadbourne Poetry & Song, 4/30 Dashbots! 5/1 Sons of Blarney concert, 5/7 What’s Your Next Adventure with James Nehring. Outreach The Earth Day Info Fair was our high point for outreach this month, Herlin Jaime organized a fabulous event with some vendors traveling quite a distance, and the gym was very active with visitors. April 27 FSU Farmer’s Market and Info Fair and May 18 Seven Hills Transition to Adult Hood Info Fair. Both enabled us to gather some informal data on needs in our community. Upcoming Events: Cruise Night May 20, 5/30 Vendor Fair, Artisan Market on 5/24, 6/7, 6/21, 7/19, 8/2, 8/30. ▪ Building & Maintenance ===PAGE 9=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT New water bubblers and bottle filler are a huge hit. Many patrons have given us positive feedback and are excited about these new additions. Two unfortunate events this month, though. The Bob Cole giraffe sculpture was damaged. No one was hurt, but two young boys did get a bit scared as it fell because of their pulling on it. I anticipate that we will be able to repair it successfully, and have several potential sources of help. Second, six of our marsh marigold plants were taken from the rainwater garden in the rear of the library, next to the TCP driveway. I made a Facebook post requesting their return and will follow up with Chief Thibodeau on Friday, if no other developments occur. I am planning to purchase furniture to refresh the Story Craft Room with funds from State Aid to Libraries. ▪ Technology Lydia’s new laptop awaits her return, and Sherri has had zero issues with Lydia’s old workstation. These were setup last week. IT will order a monitor with integrated docking station to facilitate her work processes. ===PAGE 10=== MAY 2026 Youth Services Trustee Report Children’s Stats (Apr 10 – May 14) Activity Participants Sounds and Music Story Time (3 meetings) 104 The Beginners Book Club (2 meetings) 9 Around the World Story Time (4 meetings) 84 Floor Babies: A Postpartum Support Group 4 Spring Painting w/ Miss Julie 16 Terrific Terrariums 24 King Arthur's Quest: (K)nights at the Library (Kids' LARP) 22 Toddler Yoga 17 LEGO Club 2 Dashbots (Robot Soccer) 11 Kids Comic Club Kits 4 Sounds and Music Story Time - Craft Only 13 Mother's Day Planting 31 Bookworms Book Club 4 Tween/Teen Stats Activity Participants Drop-In Paint-Your-Own-Pot 20 After-Hours Video Game Night 14 Mindful Yoga for Teens 3 The In-Betweeners Book Club 4 Patron Quotes: “My daughter demanded that we stop at the library every day this week. I think it’s her new safe space.” Budget Stats: ===PAGE 11=== Child Highlights: APRIL BREAK: Julie Harrold returned on Tuesday to, once again, instruct a class full of focused faces and impressive pieces of art! Julie’s classes are always followed by demands for more. On Wednesday we have NEBG at Tower Hill for a filled-up terrarium program. I was surprised by just how cute every single terrarium turned out and heard only good things from kids and parents. On Thursday The Story School hosted a King Arthur inspired LARP adventure. Chris of The Story School is great with the kids and was able to force the kids to use their minds to solve puzzles as well as get out all their energy on the villainous Red Dragon with their foam swords. The kids were so enthused that a large group even stayed behind insisting on taking a group photo (featured below). Plus, I got to play a role in the story and was having just as much as all the kids. Overall, it was a very lively and happy April Break week! ===PAGE 12=== DASHBOTS: “Robot Soccer” was a big hit (a surprise to no one). There was shockingly good teamwork and tons of laughs as they attempted to program their robots to score goals. CATERPILLARS: While it’s quite possible that the person who enjoyed the caterpillars the most was me... I promise the kids enjoyed it too! While I was hoping they would last just a little longer so I could release them on our upcoming Caterpillar Day (that I believe at the time of this meeting has already happened...), they managed to grow and transform quite quickly. One child who visited the library two days in a row almost didn’t believe me when I insisted they were the same caterpillars from the day before. Luckily, I was able to release them at my final Sounds and Music storytime for the year. The toddlers were enthralled through all 10 releases! TWEEN/TEEN Highlights: TWEEN GAME NIGHT (AGAIN!): Another success! Opening this event up to the tweens has proved to be a worthwhile change. Good attendance, happy faces, and plenty of new folks! ===PAGE 13=== TEEN PAINT-YOUR-OWN-POT: Many after-school teens were pleasantly surprised by stumbling across this program. It didn't take much to convince them to participate! Thank you to Lydia P for the idea :) Upcoming Events: TEENS: Mindful Yoga for Teens 5/28/26 CHILDREN: Caterpillar Day 5/16/26 5th Grade Visits 5/19/26 & 5/21/26 Floor Babies: A Postpartum Support Group 5/21/26 Wacky Weather w/ Kosmic Kelly 5/23/26 Monthly LEGO Club Toddler Yoga 5/30/26 DIY Summer Reading Bags 6/11/26 Then Summer Reading begins... Joslyn Davis, Children’s Services Librarian Minna Scholten, Library Assistant (Children’s Room)