# library-board-of-trustees — 11 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 : 2026-01-15-agenda-7594.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-01-15 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-01-15-agenda-7594.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01152026-7594 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of January 15, 2026 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, January 15, 2026 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of December 22, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update (will probably not be discussed) • FY 2026 Budget Update (will probably not be discussed) • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Trustee Handbook Discussion – Chapters 1 & 2 · Conroy Memorial Garden Update (will probably not be discussed) · Policy Discussion(s) – Room Use, Gift, Investment (may not be discussed) · Brooks House Update / Discussion (will probably not be discussed) · Friends Update · Director’s Review Conclusion • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-01-15-minutes-7594.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-01-15 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-01-15-minutes-7594.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01152026-7594 ======================================================================================== ===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. ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-02-19-agenda-7650.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-02-19 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-02-19-agenda-7650.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02192026-7650 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of February 19, 2026 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, February 19, 2026 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of January 15, 2026 · Director’s Report • FY 2027 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · CIPA Presentation · Trustee Handbook Discussion – Chapter 3 · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussion(s) – Gift & Investment · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-02-19-minutes-7650.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-02-19 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-02-19-minutes-7650.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_02192026-7650 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes February 19, 2026 Sudolnik Conference Room, Lunenburg Public Library Members Present: Muir Haman (Director), Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, Jana Balish, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Glenn McLeod (Select Board Representative) Members Absent: None The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:51 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● Muir thanked us for completing his performance evaluation and for our ongoing support. He will continue to strive to keep up with our expectations, and will work towards completing the new goals for FY2027. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of January 15, 2026 ○ Robin made a motion to accept the minutes of January 15, 2026, as amended, seconded by Jana. The motion passed with six votes, with Maia abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2027 Budget Update The Town Manager has asked department heads to prepare a level service budget. Muir will be presenting the library’s budget to the Finance Committee on March 5. A level service budget is anticipated to need an override at Town Meeting. ○ FY2026 Budget Update Longevity is a bonus for 10 years of service and is a contractual obligation. 15K of invoices were submitted today, and an Ingram invoice for about 12K was just received. ○ Staff Update Muir said he appreciated the help Lydia Paolilli and Debbie Lafond gave during his parental leave. Debbie will be back again once Lydia takes her parental leave. Minna Scholten, the new Library Assistant, is learning circulation desk duties and helping with small projects in the Children’s room. We received a $700 grant from the Emerson Hospital Christine Gallery Community Benefit Program. This will be used to purchase memory kits for people with dementia and their caregivers. The kits will be housed at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center and catalogued by the library. Muir finished the FY25 Annual Report for the Trustees. ○ Programs Update Joslyn has been going above and beyond organizing and scheduling teen and tween programs while we have a vacancy in the Teen Librarian position. A paraprofessional from the school is continuing to volunteer to run a game group and a Dungeons & Dragons group. Toddler yoga and children’s crafts have been popular. ○ Outreach Update Muir is working on building a list of volunteers who could help us offer a Repair Clinic event. Melanie is preparing a second event at Baker Brook, and will also be attending a meeting ot the Lunenburg Women’s Club to talk about library services. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Technology Update The new color printer has been using a lot of toner. Staff have changed the settings to a lower quality print to test and see if this will produce a good print and use less toner. The old printer, which Maribeth was using to make labels, is no longer working. Sherri’s workstation is on the list to be replaced. It was scheduled to be replaced last year, but was delayed. The Friends have purchased replacement early literacy stations for the Children’s Room with a gift in honor of Anne L. Rivard and Charlene M. Wagner, supplemented with other funds from the Friends. ○ Building & Maintenance Update Bill Tyler has been helping with some extra cleaning and maintenance around the library. We are still waiting on the final steps of the electronic lock system. ● CIPA Presentation ○ The Children’s and Internet Protection Act (CIPA), is a federal law which permits the government to require entities receiving certain kinds of federal funding to filter internet content. ○ CWMARS recently upgraded a fiber-optic switch for our internet. There is federal funding available through the FCC’s E-Rate program to subsidize the cost of this line. In order to get this subsidy, the library would need to agree to install filtering software in order to be in compliance with CIPA. Compliance requires the use of filtering software for internet access. ○ We do not currently have a filter. It is against library policy for people to access pornography in the building or on our network. ○ Muir has submitted forms to CWMARS expressing our intent to be in compliance with CIPA so that we can apply for the grants to subsidize the cost of the line. However, this does not bind us. We can change our mind before June 30, 2026. ○ The Trustees need to decide if we want to install a filter and censor information so that we can receive a discount, or do we want to forgo the discount and decline to censor information. The discount would be about $1,500. ○ Questions we have are: ■ What information will be censored? ■ Who determines what will be censored? ■ Will we get a list of websites and information that is being censored? ■ Can we create a whitelist to prevent certain websites from being censored? ■ Do we have liability if we don’t censor? ■ Are there any unexpected expenses connected with this software that will negate the value of the discount we receive on the fiber line? ○ Muir will meet with a representative from Cisco, who will be providing the software, to get answers to our questions. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ We reviewed Chapter 3 from the MBLC Trustee Handbook, Legal Responsibilities ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ Muir has been working on getting quotes for a plaque for the garden. He is looking at etched brass, cast brass, or engraved granite. Bob’s family would like the phrase, “Every day is an adventure”, on the plaque. ● Policy Discussion(s) - Gift & Investment ○ Gift Policy - will review at a future meeting. ○ Investment Policy - Robin presented us with an edited version based on our discussion last month. Muir will be meeting with Town Counsel to get their feedback on this policy. ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ None 2 ===PAGE 3=== ● Friends Update ○ Chris Harlow has set up Donor Box and it is ready to use. It should be released for public use soon. ● Board Comments ○ Harry let Muir know that the drinking fountains in the library were not working. ○ Robin mentioned a March 2, 2026 email from Kara McCarthy, Lunenburg’s Communications & IT Manager, about federal requirements concerning website accessibility. Robin asked if the library’s website would need to meet these requirements. Muir said he would check. ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Stephanie, seconded by Maia. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ February 2026 Director’s Report ○ February 2026 Youth Services Report ○ February 2026 Adult Services Report ● Additional Documents Referenced ○ MBLC Trustee Handbook ○ Lunenburg Public Library FY25 Annual Report ○ Gift Policy (Draft) ○ Investment Policy (Draft) ○ CIPA PowerPoint presentation 3 ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY26 Budget Update *updated to reflect this week’s warrant. FY27 Budget Update March 5 will be the Library’s presentation to the Finance Committee. The Town Manager is anticipated to be delivering her preliminary budget this week, a level service budget. A level service budget for the town is anticipated to need an override. Staff Update Lydia performed to rave reviews while I was on leave. She efficiently took care of business and was acknowledged at last week’s Selectboard meeting by the Town Manager. She effectively monitored and mentored staff while I was unavailable. Debbie Laffond is helping as a temporary employee. She will take some time away during March and then return to help us during Lydia’s leave. Minna Scholten is our new Library Assistant, and we are excited to see how she can contribute. She seems to have picked up familiarity with circulation duties quickly, and is helping us with small projects in the Children’s Room. Lydia and I are continuing regular checkins with Joslyn and Melanie to maintain our availability for them as they work on their projects. We were awarded a grant from the Emerson hospital Christine Gallery Community Benefit Grant and will purchase memory kits that can circulated to Alzheimer sufferers and their caregivers. These will be housed at the LAAC and catalogued by the library. FY26 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 97,076$ 60,998$ 63% 64% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 69,627$ 45,186$ 65% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 272,757$ 158,620$ 58% LONGEVITY 850$ 850$ 100% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,300$ 476$ 37% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 15,443$ 69% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 8,330$ 45% WATER CHARGES 1,150$ 574$ 50% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 140$ 28% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 16,000$ 8,244$ 52% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 0% CWMARS NETWORK 20,571$ 20,571$ 100% POSTAGE -$ OFFICE SUPPLIES 8,000$ 4,007$ 50% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 233$ 78% LIBRARY MATERIAL 96,000$ 21,314$ 22% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 278$ 7% TOTALS 636,131$ 349,738$ 55% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Karen Barret is the new Town Finance Director, the Assistant Accountant continues. I have a meeting with Karen and the Town Manager on Friday of this week to discuss the preliminary budget for the Library. Programs Joslyn has really gone above and beyond to organize and schedule a steady stream of teen/tween programs while we have had the vacancy in the Teen Room. We have also been lucky to have a volunteer interested in leading a weekly board game club and a Dungeons and Dragon group. We continue to hope that the numbers for those events will increase. Our Minecraft Tournament drew 20 excited participants on Feb 14th. Children’s crafts have seen a positive response with 32 attendees for Sock Snowmen and 38 for Love Bugs. Toddler Yoga has been another positive note with 19 little guys in attendance this past month. Adult programs have seen some weather impacts, though many programs are seeing steady numbers. 15 attended the treasure journaling workshop, and 15 attended the sock hop concert. An interesting note: attendance at virtual programs this month climbed to 15 at the 5 events we advertised, a significant increase over recent months. Our Valentines Day movie showing brought in a small crowd who were thoroughly entertained last Friday night. Coming up: 2/18 Afrobeats Dance class for Kids, 2/18 Scottish Music concert, 2/19 STEM Olympics, 2/20 Winter Salve workshop, 2/21 Winter Puzzle Swap, 2/27 Video Game Night, 2/28 next session of Toddler Yoga, 3/2 Bridie Wolejko art exhibit “Harmony and Discord,” 3/7 Music Clinic, 3/14 Candle Making sessions for kids and for teens. Outreach Currently working on building a list of volunteers who might help us offer a Repair Clinic Outreach event. Melanie is working on scheduling a second presentation at Baker Brook, and will be visiting the Lunenburg Women’s Club to talk about library services at one of their two next meetings. We are have begun filling out our calendar for late Spring and summer. If you notice any potential visits, let me know. Right now, Cruise Night, May Vendor Fair, Artisan Markets, and several visits to local recreation spots (beach, pickleball courts, etc.) are what we are planning. ▪ Building & Maintenance Bill Tyler has been helping out us with a some extra cleaning and maintenance around the library. He’s always a reliable and hard-working helper. We are still waiting for the final steps on the electronic lock system. ▪ Technology We are monitoring the toner usage in the new color printer, trialing a lower “quality” setting. The old machine had been dialed in and used only a moderate amount of color toner, and this machine needs to be tuned in. The old machine also finally gave out (it limped along just long enough!) As the town ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT continue to try to minimize extra printers, we have identified at least two that we feel very strongly that we need to keep for our operations: the color machine and the staff black-and-white. Sherri’ workstation is on the list the be replaced as soon as we can make it happen. Nothing catastrophic, but we delayed that replacement last year. The Friends have purchased replacement Early Literacy Stations in the Children’s Room with a gift in honor Anne L Rivard and Charlene M Wagner, supplemented with other funds from the Friends. ===PAGE 7=== February 2026 Youth Services Trustee Report Children’s Stats (Jan 13 – Feb 9) Activity Participants Drop-In Craft Sock Snowmen 32 Around the World Story Time 13 Around the World Story Time 15 Toddler Yoga 19 Sounds and Music Story Time 16 Kids Comic Club Kits 6 Drop-In Craft: Love Bugs 38 Around the World Story Time 4 Bookworms Book Club 4 Kiddie Music Time 38 Beginners Book Club 4 Tween/Teen Stats Activity Participants Nautical Crafting w/ Pop-Up Art School 5 Tween/Teen Dungeons and Dragons 2 Budget Stats: ===PAGE 8=== Highlights: TODDLER YOGA: The first of our Monthly Toddler Yoga was an adorable success! Ava from 2 Mindful Girls was incredible at engaging the kiddos in a Frozen-themed yoga class both toddlers and their grownups seemed to really enjoy! The February session is already full - with a full waitlist too! DROP-IN CRAFT – LOVE BUGS: Seems like Drop-In Crafts are back in full swing! Plenty of adorable little bugs and proud kids! KIDDIE MUSIC TIME: Monument Square Music is always delightful. The kids that dance, dance the whole time. The kids that are too scared to dance, still watch the whole “show” in awe. Lots of smiles and giggles as always. ===PAGE 9=== Upcoming Events: • Feb 11: Around the World Storytime • Feb 11: Teen Board Game Club • Feb 11: In-Betweeners Book Club • Feb 12: Teen Metalsmithing Workshop • Feb 13: Tween/Teen D&D Club • Feb 14: Tween Minecraft Tournament • Feb 17: Winter Painting w/ Miss Julie • Feb 18: Afrobeats Dance Class • Feb 19: STEM Olympics • Feb 23: Sounds and Music Storytime • Feb 23: Homeschool Craft Corner • Feb 25: Around the World Storytime • Feb 25: Teen Board Game Club • Feb 27: Tween/Teen D&D Club • Feb 27: Tween/Teen After-Hours Video Game Night • Feb 28: Toddler Yoga • Mar 2: Sounds and Music Storytime • Mar 4: Around the World Storytime • Mar 4: Teen Board Game Club • Mar 5: The Bookworms Book Club • Mar 6: Tween/Teen D&D Club • Mar 9: Kiddie Music Time • Mar 9: The Beginners Book Club • Mar 10: Teen Cupcake Decorating • Mar 11: Around the World Storytime • Mar 11: Teen Board Game Club • Mar 12: In-Betweeners Book Club • Mar 13: Tween/Teen D&D Club • Mar 14: Colorful Candle Making for Kids • Mar 14: Tween Spring Candle Making Joslyn Davis, Children’s Services Librarian ===PAGE 10=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department February 2026 Summary of Last Month ➢ The yoga and breathwork classes showed a lot of initial interest with full classes and long waitlists for the January sessions. However, we had nearly 50% no-show rates for each program. We will adjust class sizes to absorb some of these absences, and an email was sent to all February and March registrants to be considerate of their registration. Hopefully we will see improvement for the remainder of the classes. ➢ The treasure journaling workshop on Friday, January 16th went really well. We had 15 enthusiastic crafters attend and create unique hand-sewn journals out of recycled materials. It was highly reviewed and these presenters will be on my list of programmers to ask back in the future for more crafting events. ➢ On January 24th we held our Sock Hop Golden Oldies party despite the frigid temperatures outside. There were 15 people in the audience for this very fun and engaging concert. Denis Cormier brought costumes and great energy to make this an unforgettable show at the library. ➢ For our virtual program offerings, there were 16 total registrations across the five programs held this month. Some were more popular than others, but it is encouraging to see the engagement rising. There are six virtual events planned for February, so we will see if the trend continues or starts to dip as the year progresses. Recurring Program Updates ➢ Book clubs went well in January. We had steady attendance at both meetings – and a few new members joined us! o 100 Books Bucket List is discussing The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame at the next meeting on Tuesday March 3rd o Between the Bookends is discussing Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer at the next meeting on Wednesday March 11th ➢ No significant changes to our drop-in tech help sessions with Melanie. There have been more patron requests for tech help appointments during other work hours, but ===PAGE 11=== the workload seems manageable for Melanie for now. We will continue to monitor and adjust if needed. February Programs ➢ Adults Only Make It Monthly for February are string art hearts on Wednesday, February 4th and Thursday, February 5th. This will be the last of the series before my maternity leave, but based on how well this class goes, we may resume when I return in the summer. ➢ The biweekly yoga and breathwork classes continue for February on Thursday, February 5th and 19th. ➢ A popular program, Jason Graham’s Saturday music clinic, will be on February 7th. ➢ Jill Pottle is returning to teach colored pencil drawing on Sunday, February 8th. ➢ In conjunction with a teen session earlier in the day, adults can make their own copper bookmark with Heather Beck on Thursday, February 12th. ➢ To celebrate Valentine’s Day, on Friday, February 13th we will host Jeff Rapsis for live music accompaniment to silent film “Girl Shy” starring Harold Llyod. ➢ The Monthly Music Series for February will take place on Wednesday, February 18th with an evening of Scottish music. ➢ Grace Krupkowski with Trilogy Herbalism rescheduled her winter salve making workshop from January 30th to February 20th. ➢ Our annual winter puzzle swap will take place on Saturday, February 21st and we already have quite a few collected! ➢ Following the puzzle swap will be a puzzle race on Wednesday, February 25th. ➢ We also have several virtual programs running in conjunction with the Ashland Library on February 2nd, 7th, 9th, 12th, 23rd, and 26th. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 2/1/2026 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 51% 41% 8% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 67% 29% 4% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $1,000 23% 0% 77% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 52% 27% 21% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 48% 24% 28% ===PAGE 12=== Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-03-19-agenda-7714.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-03-19 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-03-19-agenda-7714.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03192026-7714 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees March 19, 2026 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, March 19, 2026 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of February 19, 2026 · Director’s Report • FY 2027 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update o Cisco Umbrella (filtering) discussion • Building & Maintenance Update · Trustee Handbook Discussion – Chapter 4 · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussion(s) – Gift & Investment · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update · Lunenburg Town Caucus Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-03-19-minutes-7714.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-03-19 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-03-19-minutes-7714.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03192026-7714 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes March 19, 2026 Sudolnik Conference Room, Lunenburg Public Library Members Present: Muir Haman (Director), Harry Kubetz, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, Stephanie Trudel, Glenn McLeod (Select Board Representative) Members Present Remotely: Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose Members Absent: Maia Wentrup The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:50 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● Robin said Representative Margaret Scarsdale secured $75,000 for Lunenburg to help with the cost to complete the bridge replacement project on Flat Hill Road. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of February 19, 2026 ○ Robin made a motion to accept the minutes of February 19, 2026, as amended. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ■ David Niose Aye ● Director’s Report ○ FY2027 Budget Update At the Town Manager’s request, Muir will be preparing a balanced budget. This will be a 5% cut from our FY26 budget, putting us just above the library funding requirements stipulated by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The cut in the budget of 43K will come from staff salaries. Muir has decided to put hiring a Young Adult Librarian on hold so that he does not need to cut the hours of our current staff. Muir presented a level services budget to the Finance Committee on March 5. He received questions about sources and uses of the outside funding the library receives. He is preparing a detailed handout to answer these questions. The outside funding we receive includes: ● State Aid to Libraries - received about $34,000 for FY26 ● Revolving Fund - lost book replacement fees and printer usage fees ● Gifts received - was about $200 for FY26 ● Grants ● Library Trust Funds ● Friends of the Library from their operating budget ● Friends of the Library from their Endowment - received about $66,000 for FY26 Most of the funds received from these sources have restrictions placed on them by the donors and can only be used in accordance with those restrictions. They are not available to the library or the town to cover operational expenses. ○ FY2026 Budget Update The numbers in the FY26 report do not include the latest batch of bills and one period of payroll. The Finance Department has changed the schedule of when paperwork needs to be submitted for payment. This lag in reporting will work itself out in the next few weeks. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Staff Update Joslyn and Muir each visited a school classroom to read to a class as part of Read Across America. Muir met with Herlin Jaime, Lunenburg Conservation Agent, to discuss Earth Day partnerships. The library will set up a table at her Information Fair on April 22, and were requested to purchase a license for “The Amazing Caterpillar” documentary film which we will show in May. Joslyn and Muir met with Kim Sarfde, the new Director of Teaching and Learning at the Lunenburg Public Schools, to discuss partnerships. Currently we are running a Minute Madness challenge for the 5th grade to incentivize reading. In May, we will once again have 5th grade visits to the library. In July, they plan to meet with the incoming principal of Turkey Hill Elementary School to plan a full year of 5th grade visits going forward. Library and school staff have also created a “One Community, Many Voices” poetry recitation event for the 8th grade ELA classes that will be held on April 3 at the library and will include guest readers. Muir will be meeting with Victoria Leger, a videographer with Lunenburg Public Access. She will be making a video featuring the library to help people learn about what we offer. ○ Programs Update Children’s programs during school vacation week were very well attended. We held another puzzle race and a music clinic, both for adults, and they were well-attended. Book groups also continue to have steady attendance. ○ Outreach Update Melanie will be making a presentation to the Lunenburg Women’s Club. Other upcoming events include an Earth Day Information Fair, Fitchburg State University farmer and food security fair, Seven Hills Info Fair in Devens, Cruise Night, Lunenburg Business Association Vendor Fair, and the Artisan Markets this spring and summer. Muir and staff are still working on how to track books for Meals on Wheels delivery. ○ Technology Update Sherri’s workstation will be replaced with Lydia’s all-in-one, and Lydia will get a new laptop. The IT department will do a scheduled replacement of the two older literacy stations. ○ Cisco Umbrella (filtering) discussion Muir will be meeting with a representative from Cisco for a demo of their Umbrella software. He has received answers to most of our questions from last month. Umbrella labels websites according to the type of content they contain. Cisco Talos judges the content of websites and assigns the labels. Umbrella can be set for a high, medium, or low level of filtering. A white list can be created, and library staff can control this list. We do not have an answer as to whether or not we have liability if we choose not to censor. The Umbrella software costs $2,100/year. Muir will have more information for us after the demo and further discussion with the Cisco rep. ○ Building & Maintenance Update Work on the card entry system has started again. Passes will need to be distributed to employees. The walls in the Children’s Room near the chapter books have been repaired and painted. Jean Proctor gave approval for a bench in memory of Regina McGee to be installed in the Proctor Memorial Garden on the library grounds. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ We reviewed Chapter Four, Policy Making. We are considering reviewing policies on a continually rotating basis, but need to come to agreement on how frequently this should be done. ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ Muir has chosen engraved stone as the medium for the memorial plaque. Leominster Monument will be doing the work. The gift Susan Conray and family gave to the Friends will be used to pay for the stone. 2 ===PAGE 3=== ● Policy Discussion(s) - Gift & Investment ○ Gift Policy We do not currently have a gift policy. After reviewing the proposed policy, we questioned whether every gift would need a written communication from the donor, especially for small gifts. We also questioned whether all monetary gifts should be turned over to the town for accounting purposes, or if some gifts could be deposited into our Edward Jones account. Discussion will continue at a future meeting. ○ Investment Policy This policy was last updated on December 15, 2022. It is outdated and no longer accurate. It was also repetitive and too specific in some sections. Robin presented us with a version updated with changes from our last meeting. Robin made a motion to approve the Investment Policy as amended, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ■ David Niose Aye ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ No update. ● Friends Update ○ The Donor Box application is working to accept membership payments. The Friends discussed how they will get the word out about this new digital way to join and renew your membership. Facebook and newsletters will be used to spread the word. ○ The Book and Bake Sale is scheduled for June 5 and 6. ● Lunenburg Town Caucus Update ○ Harry and Jana-Lee are the Caucus nominees for the two open trustee positions and will be on the ballot for the May election. ● Board Comments ○ Jana-Lee will be at a writing conference next month and will not be able to attend our meeting. ● Other ○ Harry let Muir know the water fountains outside the Sudolnik Conference Room are still not working. ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Stephanie, seconded by Robin. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote and the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ■ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ■ David Niose Aye ● Attached Documents ○ March 2026 Director’s Report ○ March 2026 Youth Services Report ○ March 2026 Adult Services Report 3 ===PAGE 4=== ● Additional Documents Referenced ○ MBLC Trustee Handbook (2018 edition) ○ Draft Gift Policy ○ Select Board Gift Policy (Adopted September 2, 2025) ○ Draft Trust Funds Policy 4 ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT March 19, 2026 FY26 Budget Update FY27 Budget Update This topic is near the top of the list for a number of boards and committees in town. Nothing specifically new to the library at the moment, but TriBoard, Selectboard, Fin. Com., and School Board are all discussing. Staff Update We have performed two rounds of interviews of candidates for our YA Librarian job. With the budget uncertainty, the decision is more complicated than usual. Joslyn and I both visited a school classroom to read to a class as part of Read Across America. I met with Herlin Jaime, Conservation Agetn, to discuss Earth Day partnerships and programs. We plan to have a table set up at her Information Fair on April 22, and were requested to purchase a performance license for “The Amazing Caterpillar” documentary film, which we will show in May. Joslyn and I also met with Kim Sarfde the new Director of Teaching and Learning at the Lunenburg Schools to discuss partnerships, especially the 5th grade visits. We are currently running a Minute Madness challenge to incentivize reading for the 5th grade. Our current plan is to offer a preliminary visit for 5th graders before the end of the school year, then to meet in July with the incoming THES principal to further plan for next year and full launch of 5th grade visits. Out of this initial contact, we FY26 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 97,076$ 64,718$ 67% 71% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 69,627$ 47,887$ 69% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 272,757$ 167,768$ 62% LONGEVITY 850$ 850$ 100% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,300$ 793$ 61% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 15,443$ 69% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 8,330$ 45% WATER CHARGES 1,150$ 574$ 50% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 140$ 28% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 16,000$ 8,244$ 52% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 0% CWMARS NETWORK 20,571$ 20,571$ 100% POSTAGE -$ OFFICE SUPPLIES 8,000$ 4,007$ 50% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 233$ 78% LIBRARY MATERIAL 96,000$ 48,317$ 50% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 278$ 7% TOTALS 636,131$ 392,627$ 62% ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT have also created a “One Community, Many Voices” Reading Event for 8th ELA classes that will be help on April 3 at the Library. I will be meeting with a videographer from LPACC to discuss a short film featuring the Library. We’ve been seeing even higher numbers of teens many days after school. Last Monday and Tuesday it was between 30 and 40 kids. A handful of students have also been staying longer than we usually see into the evening, sometimes until around 5pm. Programs February Vacation turned out to be very successful for out Children’s programs. Winter Painting with Julie was full, 21 attended the Afrobeats dance class, and 28 the STEM Olympics. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with our rescheduled Winter Salve workshop. Adult programs that have been noteworthy include the Puzzle Race, which brought in 17 participants, the Music Clinic with 15, and the Virtual Women in Jazz talk with 16 attendees, though we shared this opportunity to other libraries and many attendees were from other communities. Book Groups continue their steady engagement. Our Community Read Brunch was 3/16 and there was a nice discussion, though attendance numbers were low. Coming up: 3/20 Financial Planning with Edward Jones, 3/21 Final session of Bride W’s Mixed Media WKSP, 3/24 Green Screen Movie Making for Teens, 3/26 Minecraft Madnes Show for Kids, 4/6 Tween Beadmaking, 4/7 Social Security and Retirement Planning, 4/9 Incredible Worms!, 4/17 Spring Tincture, 4/14 Ukulele Meet-Up, 4/14 Teen Paint-your-pot, 4/15 Women of 76 Outreach Upcoming Events: 4/4 Lunenburg Women’s Club presentation, 4/22 Earth Day Info Booth, 4/27 FSU Farmer’s Fair booth, 5/18 Seven Hills Info Fair at Devens, Cruise Night in May, 5/23 Vendor Fair, Artisan Market on 5/24, 6/7, 6/21, 7/19, 8/2, 8/30. ▪ Building & Maintenance This week the card entry system work has started again. Al has also been working on repairing and painting the walls of the Children’s Room near the Chapter Books. ▪ Technology Comcast network upgrading affected the town for two days last week. Sherri’s workstation will be replaced with Lydia’s current all-in-one and Lydia will get a new laptop. The IT department will also perform scheduled replacement of the older two AWE literacy stations. ===PAGE 7=== March 2026 Youth Services Trustee Report Children’s Stats (Feb 10 - Mar 12) Activity Participants Around the World Story Time (3 meetings) 54 Winter Painting w/ Julie 16 Afrobeats Dance Class 21 STEM Olympics 28 LEGO Club 3 Toddler Yoga 30 Kids Comic Club Kits 2 Sounds and Music Story Time 27 Bookworms Book Club 5 Kiddie Music Time w/ Monument Square Music 56 Beginners Book Club 4 Tween/Teen Stats Activity Participants In-Betweeners Book Club (2 meetings) 11 Metalsmithing Bookmarks 11 Tween Minecraft Tournament 20 Teen Cupcake Decorating 16 Patron Quotes: Budget Stats: ===PAGE 8=== Children’s Highlights: FEBRUARY BREAK: Winter Painting, Afrobeats Dance Class, and the STEM Olympics were all a big hit! Tons of adorable winter bears (and proud faces), dance moves, and gummy bear ingenuity :) TODDLER & PRESCHOOL FUN: Toddler Yoga and Kiddie Music Time continue to be highly attended and loved. Many returning faces and many new faces for both! I’ve now got a core group of kiddos for Around the World Preschool Storytime that come pretty much every week (even in the snow!) and are always a riot! Plus, last week’s meeting had a bunch of new faces so maybe it will grow even more... ===PAGE 9=== Tween/Teen Highlights: TWEEN MINECRAFT TOURNAMENT: HUGE success! I had about half of the attendees (or their parents) ask me to do it again soon! Despite it being 3 hours, hardly any of the kids were restless and probably could have kept playing for a couple more hours... TEEN METALSMITHING AND CUPCAKE DECORATING: A good size group showed up for both programs, with only a bit of overlap in attendees. The metalsmithing bookmarks involved a lot of concentration and creativity, and they all left with smiles on their faces. It doesn’t take much to get teens to like cupcakes (or anyone really), but every single one looked both adorable and tasty and sparked some happy munching. We also had a lot of new faces for cupcakes, including some older teens! Upcoming Events: Candle Making for Kids 3/14/26 Sounds and Music Story Time 3/16/26 Drop-In Craft: Leprechaun Traps 3/17/26 Around the World Story Time 3/18/26 Sounds and Music Story Time 3/23/26 Green Screen Movie Making 3/24/26 Around the World Story Time 3/25/26 Minecraft Madness Show 3/26/26 Toddler Yoga 3/28/26 Sounds and Music Story Time 3/30/26 ===PAGE 10=== LEGO Club 3/31/26 Candle Making for Tweens 3/14/26 Homeschool Family Craft 3/16/26 Joslyn Davis, Children’s Services Librarian Minna Scholten, Library Assistant (Children’s Room) ===PAGE 11=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department March 2026 Summary of Last Month ➢ The yoga and breathwork classes really took off in February! We had two full classes and lots of positive feedback from participants. ➢ Our final Adults Only Make It Monthly crafting sessions were also big hits this month, drawing a total of 29 people to the library between the two events. ➢ On February 13th we held a silent film screening of “Girl Shy” with live piano accompaniment. There were nine people in attendance, but the program was fantastic and something I would highly consider booking here again! Though it wasn’t a huge draw, the audience was engaged and the presenter was talented. ➢ February’s Monthly Music Series concert was on February 18th featuring an evening of Scottish music, which was another big hit, and saw 44 people join us. ➢ We finished the month with two puzzle events: the winter swap on February 21st and the puzzle race on February 25th. Both are popular annual programs that drew 55 and 17 people respectively. Our next puzzling programs are scheduled for May. ➢ For our virtual program offerings, there were 22 total registrations across the six programs held this month. Some were more popular than others, but it is encouraging to see the engagement rising. There are eight virtual events planned for March, so we will see if the trend continues or starts to dip as the year progresses. Recurring Program Updates ➢ Book clubs went well in February. I informed both groups that March may be the last meetings I can attend before maternity leave, and we made plans for how to proceed until I return in June/July. o 100 Books Bucket List is discussing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll at the next meeting on Tuesday April 7th o Between the Bookends is discussing The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict at the next meeting on Wednesday April 8th ➢ No significant changes to our drop-in tech help sessions with Melanie, though her tech-help appointments at other times of the week seem to be increasing. ➢ The Saturday morning music clinics with Jason Graham have also been growing in size lately. We routinely see between 15-20 people drop-in to this program that is part instruction and part open jam session for players of all skill levels to improve. ===PAGE 12=== March Programs ➢ A Lunenburg Cultural Council funded series will be hosted at the library this March: Community Mixed Media Art Workshops taught by Bridie Wolejko! There will be three sessions: Sunday, March 1st, Friday March 13th, and Saturday March 21st, open to artists of all skills to create mixed media artwork as a group. Selected pieces will go in an art exhibit for the month of April. Currently, Bridie has chosen some of her personal pieces to be displayed in the Wallace Room for March in an exhibit titled: “Harmony and Discord: Nature’s Beauty, Humanity’s Impact” ➢ For the Monthly Music Series this month, we have a virtual concert “Women in Jazz” by Flutejuice Productions on the evening of March 5th ➢ The biweekly yoga and breathwork classes will come to an end this month on Thursday, March 5th and 19th ➢ The annual Community Read partnership with Deb Goodsell at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center continues with a book club discussion and brunch on Monday, March 16th. The title selected this year is Food Inc, 2 edited by Karl Weber – a series of essays that are companion pieces to the segments of the documentary by the same name ➢ John Hedly will visit on Wednesday, March 18th to give a presentation on beekeeping 101 ➢ We also have several virtual programs running in conjunction with the Ashland Library on March 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, and 31st Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 3/1/2026 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 68% 30% 2% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 84% 16% 0% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $1,000 23% 19% 58% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 59% 22% 19% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 58% 22% 20% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-04-16-agenda-7764.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-04-16 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-04-16-agenda-7764.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162026-7764 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees April 16, 2026 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, April 16, 2026 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of March 19, 2026 · Director’s Report • FY 2027 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update o Cisco Umbrella (filtering) discussion • Building & Maintenance Update · Trustee Handbook Discussion – Chapter 5 · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussion(s) – Gift & Food & Drink · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-04-16-minutes-7764.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-04-16 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-04-16-minutes-7764.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04162026-7764 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes April 16, 2026 Sudolnik Conference Room, Lunenburg Public Library Members Present: Muir Haman (Director), Harry Kubetz, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel Members Present Remotely: Maia Wentrup Members Absent: Jana-Lee Balish, Glenn McLeod (Select Board Representative) The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:48 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● None Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of March 19, 2026 ○ Robin made a motion to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by David. 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 ● Director’s Report ○ FY2027 Budget Update Town Meeting is May 2nd. The budget will be voted on and we will have the results for our May meeting. Like us, many libraries across the state are facing cuts. ○ FY2026 Budget Update Digital subscription renewals are coming up and there will be approximately 40K charged to Library Materials. Muir will be placing orders so that they can be received before the end of the year. This will ensure that they will be paid for with FY26 funds. Muir is having $7,500 transferred from Staff Salaries and from Heating to Electricity Charges. There will be unspent funds in these accounts because we have been without a Teen Librarian. The HVAC repair has caused us to use more electricity since the system is working properly and moving more air. Actual cost of electricity will most likely be higher next year than what is budgeted. Robin suggested that Muir let the Town Manager know his concerns, and he said he would. ○ Staff Update The poetry recitation event with the 8th grade ELA classes was a spectacular success, with almost 60 people in attendance including Worcester’s former Poet Laureate Juan Matos and Library Trustee Jana-Lee Balish, who did a reading. More than 20 students signed up for library cards. Muir has expressed interest to the school about repeating this event next year. Victoria Leger of Lunenburg Public Access interviewed Muir and filmed at the library for the next episode of her “Welcome to Lunenburg” series. Muir has registered for an online workshop on invisible labor. He is hoping to get guidance on how to study the unreported/uncaptured data from last year’s staffing study. He is also planning a follow-up study for the end of this year. Volunteer hours were not captured in the previous study, and need to be. A team from the library and the Friends will compete in The Club’s annual “Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader?” event. 1 ===PAGE 2=== Muir attended a talk by the Mass Higher Education Consortium and found a new vendor for furniture, STEM tools, and library materials that seems promising. The company is Mackin. Cheryl Stillman is on leave and will be back by June. She has been doing some remote work from home.Harry asked about the town’s remote work policy. Muir said the work must be pre-approved by the employee’s manager. Marabeth Balboni will be out in early June. Lydia Paolilli is still out on parental leave. St. Pauli Textile has asked the library if they would be interested in being a drop-off site for donations of used clothing. St. Pauli would place a shed on the library grounds where people can leave donations. St. Pauli would make pickups at least once a week and would make a monetary donation to the Friends based on the amount of clothing collected. The Friends could earn $50 to $200 per month. Muir has discussed this with the Friends. He is also checking with the Town Manager as to whether this would be allowed. Shirley has this program running at their library. Muir will be discussing this further with the Friends. ○ Programs Update Volunteers from the Friends will help set up and run our May puzzle swap, which is usually done by staff that will be on leave. Joslyn’s storytimes have been very popular. The first ukulele meetup, Minecraft Madness, drop-in crafts, and a social security program were all very popular. ○ Outreach Update Muir raised the topic of merchandise fundraiser sales at the Artisan Market with the Friends. This will be an ongoing discussion. Upcoming events include Earth Day, FSU Farmer’s Fair, Seven Hills Info Fair in Devens, Cruise Night, and the Artisan Markets. Laura made the first delivery of books to a Meals on Wheels client in our collaboration with the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center. In talking with this person she found that they were more comfortable returning the books to the library themselves instead of handing them over to their Meals on Wheels driver for return. Harry said he understood that Meals on Wheels clients were housebound and were not able to get to the library. Laura said they are not all housebound. David suggested giving the clients a receipt for returns. Laura said we would need to rely on the drivers always having receipts in their vehicles. ○ Technology Update Cisco Umbrella - Shortly after our last meeting, Muir sent us a link to a list of the categories Cisco Talos uses to classify website content. Muir is in the midst of a trial of the software and will report back to us at our next meeting. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The entry card system is functioning. We are waiting for the entry cards that will be printed by the Facilities Department. The water fountains are still not fixed. The access panel is in the storage room where the Friends store boxes of books for their book sale. Muir and Wade from the Friends had to move all the boxes out of the way to get access for facilities to attempt the repair. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ We reviewed chapter five of the MBLC Trustees Handbook - Planning. ○ We should have a disaster plan. Muir will pull together information for us to review. ○ We should have a facilities plan. The town’s capital plan covers a lot of this and the facilities department has responsibility for the building. ○ We should have a strategic plan. We have a five-year strategic plan and will be working on updating it in the coming months. ○ We should have a technology plan. Working with Muir, the IT department handles technology planning. 2 ===PAGE 3=== ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ Lydia Henshaw is donating a stone for the garden. It needs to be moved to Leominster Monument for engraving. ● Policy Discussion(s) - Gift & Food and Drink ○ Gift Policy - defer until next month. ○ Food & Drink Policy - A Food & Drink policy is on the Library website, but has never been approved by the Trustees. It is actually more of a procedure, than a policy. Questions we had about it were: ■ Beverages are mentioned as allowed, but alcohol is not specified. Alcohol is prohibited under the Acceptable Use policy. ■ Should alcohol be allowed for special events? ■ Could this policy be combined with the Acceptable Use policy? ■ We will discuss further at our next meeting. ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ None ● Friends Update ○ Donorbox is working for new memberships and renewals. Chris has received feedback that you cannot opt out of automatic renewals. He is working with Donor Box to correct this. ○ There are fees when you pay online. The Friends’ treasurer is able to track these fees so they can determine the cost of using this new method. ○ Teddy Doucette donated a Terra Cycle electronic recycling box to the Friends. His donation includes the cost of the box and shipping to send it back to Terra Cycle, for a total of $300. The Friends are going to have it out on June 5th during the book sale. ○ The spring book and bake sale is June 5 and 6. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Maia and seconded by David. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote and the meeting was adjourned at 8:57 p.m. ■ Harry Kubetz Aye ■ Maia Wentrup Aye ■ Laura Boussom Aye ■ Robin Venezia Aye ■ David Niose Aye ■ Stephanie Trudel Aye ● Attached Documents ○ April 2026 Director’s Report ○ April 2026 Youth Services Report ● Additional Documents Referenced ○ MBLC Trustees Handbook (2018 edition) ○ Draft Food & Drink Policy ○ Draft Gift Policy ○ https://talosintelligence.com/categories (Cisco Umbrella categories) 3 ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT April 16, 2026 FY26 Budget Update FY27 Budget Update Some sharing of information amongst Library Directors in CWMARS around budget situations. Not everyone is in dire straits but many libraries are facing cuts, some will be filing waivers, and many are preparing for multiple years of challenging budget context. Staff Update Our April 3 partnership with 8th Grade ELA classes was spectacular. Two Trustees in attendance and almost 60 people, many more parents than I expected. I’ve already expressed interest in repeating the program next year. More than 20 students signed up for library cards as part of the opportunity. April 10th Public Access Cable interviewed me and filmed for their next installment of “Welcome to…” series. Glad to have the additional effort of spreading word about the library from their team. I’ve been considering additional means of studying the unreported/uncaptured data from our staffing study last year. I have registered for an online workshop on “Invisible Labor” in hopes that there will be some guidance in this context. I’ve also started planning a follow-up supplementary study that I would pencil into the schedule for next fall/winter. FY26 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 97,076$ 72,156$ 74% 78% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 69,627$ 53,291$ 77% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 272,757$ 185,087$ 68% LONGEVITY 850$ 850$ 100% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,300$ 793$ 61% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 17,676$ 79% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 11,138$ 60% WATER CHARGES 1,150$ 752$ 65% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 180$ 36% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 16,000$ 11,497$ 72% 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$ 49,632$ 52% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 822$ 21% TOTALS 636,131$ 433,220$ 68% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Tomorrow night a staff team will compete in the teen Club’s annual “Are You Smarter than a Sixth Grader?” I did also attend a talk from Mass Higher Education Consortium that turned up a new vendor for furniture and library materials that I was unaware of, called Mackin that seems promising. One topic of discussion at the Friends meeting was the possibility of a donated clothing shed on the property. I am awaiting feedback from the Town Manager on whether this would be permitted or prohibited. I submitted payroll and bills last week, and no obvious errors made. This was the first payroll I’ve completed without Lydia since before the pandemic! Scheduling: Marabeth will be out in early June with a surgery that she needs. Cheryl should be back from her leave by that point, though, able to cover some of those gaps. Programs Volunteers from the Friends will help set up and run our May puzzle swap (5/9) with Lydia and Cheryl both out on leave during that month. We’ve had a number of remarkable programs this past month. Joslyn’s storytimes are really knocking it out of the park. Monday of this week had an attendance of 43! Our April 3 8th grade poetry recitation was a big crowd, and created a lot of excitement for poetry. We also showed Come See Me in the Good Light, the documentary about poet Andrea Gibson. Small crowd but a great format for a poetry event. I have a few more fantastic documentaries about poets that we could show in the future. The first Ukulele meetup turned out 12 strummers! 31 attendees at the Minecraft Madness show, 45 came for the drop-in Axolotl Craft, 19 for Incredible Earthworms. The Social Security program was attended by a huge number of people, too. At least 75! 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 We broached the subject of merchandise fund raiser sales at the Artisan Market with the Friends. We will continue that discussion next month. Seems like an opportunity to raise funds and awareness to have people wearing or carrying LPL swag around town. Upcoming Events: 4/22 Earth Day Info Booth, 4/27 FSU Farmer’s Fair booth, 5/18 Seven Hills Info Fair at Devens, Cruise Night in May, 5/23 Vendor Fair, Artisan Market on 5/24, 6/7, 6/21, 7/19, 8/2, 8/30. ▪ Building & Maintenance Entry card system is functioning. We await entry cards that will be printed by the Facilities department. ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT The access panels for the water fountains are in the Community Room storage closet, so Wade and I moved boxes out of the way for the Facilities team to access. They need to get in there to finish their work. It remains to be seen whether the water bubblers will be able to be repaired or if we will need to replace both units. Almost all new units are the bottle filler type, though we have a large number of children who will not have water bottles, so we might choose to maintain at least one of these “old” style bubblers. ▪ Technology Met with Kara and Mason to discuss near future hardware replacement plans for the Library. As we mentioned in past meetings, Lydia’s All-in-one will go to Sherri, and Lydia will receive a new laptop. Instead of replacing another pair of early literacy stations, I suggested we replace a few of the ancient chromeboxes. Although our last Teen Librarian had expressed strong resistance to the idea of replacing the devices with new chromeboxes, I see too many reasons that we should stay with this format. The three stations in the Teen Room, and three chromebox stations just inside the entry to the Children’s Room are almost always in use during the afternoon and evenings when young patrons are visiting the library. ===PAGE 7=== APRIL 2026 Youth Services Trustee Report Children’s Stats (Mar 13 – Apr 9) Activity Participants Candle Making for Kids 28 Sounds and Music Story Time (4 Meetings) 109 Drop-In Craft: Leprechaun Traps 34 Around the World Story Time (4 Meetings) 85 Green Screen Movie Making 8 Minecraft Madness Show 31 LEGO Club 4 Kids Comic Club Kits 4 Bookworms Book Club 3 Homeschool Family Craft 7 Drop-In Craft: Axolotls 45 Incredible Earthworms 19 Tween/Teen Stats Activity Participants Candle Making for Tweens 7 Tween Bead Therapy 9 The In-Betweeners Book Club 6 Mindful Yoga for Teens 8 Patron Quotes: “We homeschool and it’s so hard to do stuff like this at home, so thank you for having it at the library” (Candle Making) “We go to so many storytimes and she [child] only talks about yours all week” (Around the World Storytime) “My kids love this library because the graphic novel section is so much better than our home library” Budget Stats: ===PAGE 8=== Highlights: CANDLE MAKING: A fun Saturday of back-to-back candle making! We started off strong with a crowd of excited kids making colorful candles (with excellent family feedback)! Then we had a small but mighty group of tweens who enjoyed the calmer, more meditative process of melting wax and adding spring fragrances. All the kids left happy, and all the tweens came back to pick up their settled candles within a couple of days – eager to try them out. DROP-IN CRAFTS: Leprechaun Traps and Paper Roll Axolotls were both a hit. While I haven’t heard from any of the kids on whether they successfully trapped a leprechaun (despite me specifically requesting updates...), they still left in good spirits (maybe because of the sugar in the Lucky Charms but I like to think it was because the craft was so fun). Unsurprisingly, we had many eager faces show up to make axolotls: an animal that is currently all the rage with the kiddos. Only one person burned themselves with the hot glue gun (me), so it was a success! ===PAGE 9=== MINECRAFT MADNESS MAGIC SHOW: Jungle Jim was amazing! He had excellent magic tricks (as you can see by the kid’s reactions below), tons of humor, and a natural talent for working with kids. I have NEVER seen the kids laugh this much at any program. Even the adults had huge smiles and laughs during the grand finale (Jim basically becoming a giant balloon himself). IN-BETWEENERS BOOK CLUB: I had 3 new attendees for April’s book club meeting! Which worked out perfectly considering 3 of my regulars had sport conflicts that day... They joined in with the rest of the group seamlessly, were visibly disappointed to learn that we only have one meeting left this year, and demanded (along with the others) that we bring the book club back in the fall... So, I already have some September plans it seems! Upcoming Events: TEENS: Drop-In Paint-Your-Own-Pot 4/14/26 Mindful Yoga for Teens 4/23/26 After-Hours Video Game Night 4/24/26 Exploring the Procreate App 4/28/26 Mindful Yoga for Teens 5/7/26 The In-Betweeners Book Club 5/14/26 Mindful Yoga for Teens 5/21/26 CHILDREN: Sounds and Music Story Time 4/13/26 The Beginners Book Club 4/13/26 Around the World Story Time 4/15/26 Floor Babies: A Postpartum Support Group 4/16/26 ===PAGE 10=== Spring Painting w/ Miss Julie 4/21/26 Terrific Terrariums 4/22/26 King Arthur's Quest: (K)nights at the Library (Kids' LARP) 4/23/26 Toddler Yoga 4/25/26 Sounds and Music Story Time 4/27/26 LEGO Club 4/28/26 Around the World Story Time 4/29/26 Dashbots (Robot Soccer) 4/30/26 Kids Comic Club Kits 5/4/26 Sounds and Music Story Time 5/4/26 Mother's Day Planting 5/4/26 Around the World Story Time 5/6/26 Bookworms Book Club 5/7/26 Sounds and Music Story Time 5/11/26 Beginners Book Club 5/11/26 Around the World Story Time 5/13/26 Homeschool Family Craft 5/18/26 Wacky Weather w/ Kosmic Kelly 5/23/26 Toddler Yoga 5/30/26 Joslyn Davis, Children’s Services Librarian Minna Scholten, Library Assistant (Children’s Room) ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-05-21-agenda-7809.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-05-21 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-05-21-agenda-7809.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05212026-7809 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees May 21, 2026 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, May 21, 2026 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Reorganization of the Board · Approval of Minutes of April 16, 2026 · Director’s Report • FY 2027 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update o Cisco Umbrella (filtering) discussion • Building & Maintenance Update · Strategic Plan Discussion · Trustee Handbook Discussion – Chapter 6 · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussion(s) – Gift, Food & Drink, Acceptable Use, Collection Development, Room Use, Trust Funds · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update / Mention of Main Street Bank’s Lunch Program Funding Decision • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-05-21-minutes-7809.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-05-21 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-05-21-minutes-7809.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05212026-7809 ======================================================================================== ===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) ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-06-18-agenda-7852.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-06-18 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-06-18-agenda-7852.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06182026-7852 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees June 18, 2026 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, June 18, 2026 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of May 21, 2026 · Director’s Report • FY 2027 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update o Library Director Job Description • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Discussion about amending Director’s contract Reflecting new Town of Lunenburg employee vacation system · Trustee Handbook Discussion – Chapter 7 · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Strategic Plan FY 22 – 27 report RFP review & schedule for new five year plan · Policy Discussions Collection Development Policy Room Use Policy · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn