# library-board-of-trustees — 1 documents, concatenated for reading and search # # This is a CONVENIENCE BUNDLE, not a source. Every document below is # published separately and byte-identically; cite the individual file, # whose path is given in each header, rather than this bundle. # Index of all boards: https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/minutes/INDEX.txt # The town's own scanned original is linked per document. ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-12-22-minutes-7566.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-12-22 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-12-22-minutes-7566.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12222025-7566 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes December 22, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Lydia Paolilli (Acting Director), Glenn McLeod The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:49 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● Laura reported that some Trustee minutes and agendas from previous years are missing from the town website. This was brought to her attention by Robin, who was doing research and could not find some of the minutes she needed. Laura is working to find the missing documents and have them reposted. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of November 20, 2025 ○ Maia made a motion to accept the minutes of November 20, 2025, as presented, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed with five votes, with Robin abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update None ○ FY2026 Budget Update None ○ Staff Update Muir is on parental leave for six to eight weeks. In his absence, Lydia Paolilli is the Acting Director. The Teen Librarian search has been put on hold during Muir’s absence, since Lydia does not have authority to fill in for the hiring decision process. Minna Scholten has been hired to fill the Library Assistant position in the Children’s Room. A starting date is being negotiated. Debbie Lafond, recently retired Children’s Librarian, will be rehired as a Staff Librarian to help provide coverage during the current staffing shortage. ○ Programs Update The 2nd Annual Winter Artisan Showcase was held on Sunday, December 7, with over 40 vendors attending. The vendors were pleased with the success of the event. Kate Ravellette, the organizer of the event, provided baked goods for the Friends to sell and also made a monetary donation to them. Thanks to Kate, the Friends received $1,061.50 in donations. The annual Small Works Art Exhibit was held in December. We held another puzzle swap, which was very popular. Due to the Teen Librarian vacancy, there have not been many teen events. We do have two community volunteers helping out. One is running a board game club and a Dungeons & Dragons club. The other is helping Joslyn with the homeschool craft programs. Joslyn has also taken over a tween book club to keep it running. Maia offered to help with the Teen Room and the teen book clubs. ○ Outreach Update There were no outreach events in November, but plans are being discussed for the future. Melanie will be having another petting zoo for the Library of Things to be held at Smokestack Roasters in January. Melanie is also planning a follow-up event at TriTown in February. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Technology Update We have switched over to a fiber line, as CWMARS has suggested for libraries. ○ Building & Maintenance Update Nothing to report.. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Defer to the next meeting. ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ No update ● Policy Discussion(s) - Room Use, Gift, Investment ○ Room Use Policy - no update ○ Gift Policy - no update ○ Investment Policy - Robin is still working on this ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ No update ● Friends Update ○ The Rivard family donated $2,500 to the Friends to be used in the Children’s Room. An employer match increased the donation to $5,000 total. ○ An anonymous donor gave $35,000 to the Friends to be used for informational resources and to enhance STEM information and activities. ● Discussion and Finalization of Director’s review ○ Harry compiled our individual performance reviews of Muir into one. We discussed it and made some minor changes. Harry will be presenting the review to Muir at a future date. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Robin, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 8:44 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ December 2025 Director’s Report 2 ===PAGE 3=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update Muir and Sienne welcomed a baby boy on Thursday, December 18th. I have not received official notice of his leave starting yet, but it is understood by myself and the Town Manager, Jen Warren-Dyment, to be underway in his continued absence. An offer letter has been extended to Minna Scholten for the Library Assistant – Children's Room position. She has accepted and start dates are being negotiated. Minna may work some Fridays in January for initial training but is anticipating availability to accept the full schedule for the position during the week of January 26th. We are excited to welcome her to our team! A second offer letter for temporary employment has also been extended to Debra Laffond to start immediately. She will work less than 20 hours per week as a regular schedule, and will be hired as a SAP (salary admin plan) Staff Librarian. Her assistance will be invaluable in covering desk shifts and providing much needed coverage. The Teen Librarian search has been suspended during Muir’s leave. I anticipate that we will need to repost the position upon his return, as I cannot fill in for the hiring decision process during the interim. In the meantime, staff are prepared to address teen behavior as needed, and we have two community volunteers to assist with some much-needed programming. One is running a board game club on Wednesday afternoons and a Dungeons and Dragons club on Friday afternoons. The other volunteer will assist Joslyn with the homeschool craft programs. Programs A major success for us recently was the 2nd annual Winter Artisan Showcase on Sunday, December 7th. We hosted over 40 vendors and were consistently busy during the market hours of 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Many vendors reported record sales, and our Friends group received $1061.50 in donations from the bake sale and the organizer Kate Ravellette. This is sure to be an annual tradition that will continue to grow and improve with time! For adults, we held another very popular puzzle swap on November 15th with a record number of 765 puzzles available to attendees. That same day was also our Small Works art exhibit reception, which kicked off the annual exhibit for 2025. There have been a few sales so far, but many more compliments on the beautiful artwork in the Wallace room. This is another successful exhibit for the library and the local artist community. This winter we are also partnering with the Ashland Public Library to host 11 virtual programs via Zoom in January and February. These are promoted through a special brochure available at the desk and will be included in the newsletter to gain traction with our digital audiences. Teen events continue to be sparse with the absence of staff in that department; however, we did offer a successful felting program on November 18th and a CPR training class run by a member of the Lunenburg Fire Department/EMS on November 29th. Joslyn has taken over one of the tween book clubs to keep it running in the interim, while the older teen book club is unfortunately canceled. ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT In addition to the extra book club, Joslyn has been providing excellent programs for kids and families in the children’s department. Story time attendance remains steady for both sessions, and the two main programs for December were substantial hits for the library. The Family Ornament Craft on December 4th took place after the town tree lighting, and 76 people stopped by in the cold weather to warm up with hot chocolate and make their annual ornament. A few weeks later we hosted the family Gingerbread House program to much success, as usual. These popular programs are staples of holiday programming, and it’s encouraging to see the engagement continue through the years. Coming up: 1/6 Magical Winter Lights (a magic show for families), 1/8 & 1/22 Yoga and Breathwork Class, 1/10 Winter Sowing Workshops, 1/20 Teen Nautical Crafting, 1/24 Golden Oldies Sock Hop Party, 1/30 Winter Salve Workshop, 1/31 Toddler Yoga. Outreach We did not attend or participate in any outreach events in November; however, we did spend a good deal of time discussing our plans moving forward. Melanie has planned a second event at Smokestack Roasters on Sunday, January 18th to reprise the Library of Things petting zoo program during a more popular time. Jaci Nicoll, one of the co-owners, is supportive of libraries and assisting us in outreach. Developing this partnership is a goal for 2026. A follow-up event at Tri Town in February 2026 is also in the works. We want to capitalize on the interest we saw in October by delving deeper into some digital resources accessible with a library card. Melanie is preparing a presentation on Libby that should find some success with this demographic. ▪ Building & Maintenance No changes that I am aware of to report. ▪ Technology 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. This work was completed on Thursday, December 4th.