# library-board-of-trustees — 36 documents, concatenated for reading and search # # This is a CONVENIENCE BUNDLE, not a source. Every document below is # published separately and byte-identically; cite the individual file, # whose path is given in each header, rather than this bundle. # Index of all boards: https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/minutes/INDEX.txt # The town's own scanned original is linked per document. ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-01-07-agenda-6938.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-01-07 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-01-07-agenda-6938.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01072025-6938 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of January 7, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Tuesday, January 7, 2025 7:15 p.m. Lunenburg Town Hall Bilotta Room • Agenda Items · Joint meeting with Select Board RE: Appointment of D. Niose – Member term to expire May, 2025. • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-01-07-minutes-6938.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-01-07 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-01-07-minutes-6938.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01072025-6938 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public LibraryTrustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes January 7, 2025Attending: Harry Kubetz (remote), Dick Mailloux, Donna Saiia, Maia Wentrup (remote),Jana-Lee Balish (remote), Muir Haman – Director LPLThe LPLBT meeting was called to order at 7:16 p.m. by Acting Chairperson Dick Mailloux.Agenda Items●Joint meeting with Select Board RE: Appointment of D. Noise - Member term to expire May 2025The Library Trustees met with David Niose at their last board meeting and voted in favor of asking him to become amember of the board. The Select Board asked questions of the candidate and then Dick made a motion to appoint DavidNiose to the Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees, seconded by Tom Alonzo. The two boards voted unanimously toappoint David Niose to the Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees.Adjourn●A motion to adjourn was made by Dick and seconded by Donna. Meeting was adjourned. ===PAGE 2=== ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-01-16-agenda-6955.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-01-16 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-01-16-agenda-6955.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01162025-6955 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of January 16, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, January 16, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Welcoming David Niose · Approval of Minutes of December 12, 2024 and January 7, 2025. · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • Staff Update (including postage/mailing update) • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · ARPA Update · Discussion of funding source for Teen Room furniture · Library Invested Funds Update · Director’s Contract update/discussion · Brooks House update/discussion · Friends Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-01-16-minutes-6955.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-01-16 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-01-16-minutes-6955.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01162025-6955 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes January 16, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz (remote), Dick Mailloux, Donna Saiia, Laura Boussom, Maia Wentrup (remote, joined at 6:50 p.m.), Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Muir Haman – Director LPL The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by Acting Chairperson Dick Mailloux. Public Comment ● Harry let us know that he spoke with Michael-Ray Jeffreys before our meeting and that there is no update on the salary survey. Harry assured Muir that we are not ignoring his salary. Agenda Items ● Welcoming David Niose ○ David Niose was welcomed to his first meeting as a Trustee of the Lunenburg Public Library. ● Approval of Minutes of December 12, 2024 and January 7, 2025 ○ Jana made a motion to accept the minutes of December 12, 2024 as presented, seconded by Laura. The motion passed by roll call vote, with Donna and David abstaining. ○ Donna made a motion to accept the minutes of January 7, 2025 as presented, seconded by Jana. The motion passed by roll call vote, with Laura abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update The fiscal year calendar is 54% complete and the budget is 46% expended. Sewerage and water are on track to be over expended. Muir will move funds from other accounts to cover the overage, potentially from the electricity account, which has seen lower expenses than expected due to solar credits. Heating costs are down, probably due to HVAC repairs. Library materials is only 20% expended and office supplies is at 38%, but the majority of spending in these accounts tends to be at the end of the fiscal year. Postage is at 7%. The library staff have been trying to cut back on postage. Most postage has been from notices sent out for lost books. The current procedure is when a book is lost, the system creates a bill and the patron can no longer borrow items. The bill can be a PDF and emailed, or a hard copy and mailed USPS. The staff is trying to call when something is overdue to get items back before a bill is created, which reduces the amount of postage used. Muir discussed his FY26 budget requests. ○ Staff Update Muir met with Deb Goodsell, the new Director for the Council on Aging. They discussed collaborating on programming and grants and have discussed having regular meetings. The Library will hold training in Libby at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center. They will also apply for grants from the Emerson Hospital Community Grant and Fallon Health Care for memory kits. Muir trained Kaitee on common book repairs. Lydia is the only other person on staff who can do book repairs. Staff has been working to minimize the disruption from the Teen Room project. During after-school hours, teens will have a designated area with computers for their use. The library, the schools, and the Teen Center will be including updates in their newsletters. Maia suggested asking the Teen Center to include notifications in their texting group. School Resource Officer Munroe will offer staff training on de-escalating interactions and approaching patron interactions with respect. Muir is purchasing a training resource aimed at interacting with unhoused populations. The Salvation Army Angel Tree and the Food Pantry drive were both successful. ===PAGE 2=== Muir met with Deborah Bookis, Director of Teaching and Learning at LPS, about available research databases to see if there was any overlap in what was offered to the community. Muir thought she would be a good ally to support the library’s goal of working with the schools. The First Annual Primary School Holiday Book Swap was a success, with the library donating 100 books and two librarians attending the event. Muir spoke with Joeci Gilchrist, President of the Lunenburg Business Association, about collaboration. One suggestion was coordinating the LBA’s All Vendor Fair in May with the spring book sale. ○ Programs Update The Small Works@LPL had many visitors and two pieces sold. The Artisan Showcase and Holiday Concert will hopefully become an annual event. The vendors were pleased with their sales. The Friends raised money with a hot chocolate bar and a bake sale. Donations came in for the Food Pantry. More than 60 people attended the concert. Holiday craft programs were very successful. Board Game Brunch, a new program, had 6 attendees. The music clinics and puzzle races are attracting people to events. ○ Technology Update Muir let us know that there are four Microsoft Office licenses unaccounted for, and Suzor IT installed versions of Office that do not match the invoices we received. This corrects a previous statement that all licenses were accounted for. Security cameras have been received after a delay in shipping due to an overdue invoice. ○ Building & Maintenance Update See ARPA update. ● ARPA Update ○ The renovation project should start January 24 with the two new offices and then progress to the demolition and remodeling of the Teen Room. The area will be tented to minimize dust. The work is estimated to take two months. ○ Furniture has been ordered, but we will need an additional $13K in funding. ● Discussion of Funding Sources for Teen Room Furniture ○ We need to fund an additional $13K of furniture. Potential sources are State Aid, The Friends, and Main Street Bank. After discussion, Dick made a motion, seconded by Donna, to request $13K from the Friends’ Endowment for the purchase of furniture for the Teen Room. The motion passed unanimously. ● Library Invested Funds Update ○ We do not have the current statement. ● Director’s Contract Update/Discussion ○ See Harry’s public comment above. ● Brook’s House Update/Discussion ○ No update. ● Friends Update ○ The Friends discussed using their endowment to purchase furniture for the new Teen Room. ○ Preliminary plans for a native plant sale this spring were presented. ● Board Comments ○ Dick gave kudos to Debbie, Joslyn, and Lydia for keeping up with social media posts and all the programs they have worked on. ===PAGE 3=== ○ Maia suggested posting photos on social media to show the progress of the renovations and to plug the Friends’ involvement. ○ Muir said that adding library book deliveries to the Meals on Wheels program was discussed at his meeting with Deb Goodsell. ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Donna and seconded by David. Meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ January 2025 Director’s Report ○ January 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ January 2025 Young Adult Services Report ○ January 2025` Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update Staff Update I will meet with Deb Goodsell, the new Director for the COA, on Thursday afternoon. We plan to discuss coordinating and collaborating on programming and a potential joint grant opportunity. She and I have already discussed regular collaborative meetings. I trained Kaitee on book common book repairs, and she will help us moving forward to keep the volume of books trapped in “Damaged” status to a minimum. We have been working on coordinating the renovation project with staff to minimize disruption. Construction should start January 24th with the two new offices, then progress to the demolition and changes to the Teen Room space. At this point, we are estimating two months total for the work. Although there will not be dedicated room space for teens, the majority of the collection should still be accessible once it is setup in the Main Hall, and the rest will be in storage. Teen visitors will have a designated computer bank and area during afterschool hours, where Kaitee will be on duty to assist. We have asked the schools, and Boys and Girls Club to include informational details in their newsletters. We will send out a special newsletter message with details of the renovation plan, too. Announcements will also be made on social media, and requested to be made by the Select Board. Our Budget requests are due to the Town Manager by January 21, and I have prepared our list of requests. I will have School Resource Officer Munroe offer an informal staff training at our February staff meeting on de-escalating interactions and approaching patron interactions with respect. I am also FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 46,927$ 52% 54% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 32,494$ 51% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 127,694$ 53% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 634$ 63% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 5,371$ 24% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 2,810$ 15% WATER CHARGES 1,000$ 577$ 58% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 120$ 24% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 4,061$ 27% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 659$ 26% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 67$ 7% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 2,685$ 38% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 237$ 79% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 18,676$ 20% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ -$ 0% TOTALS 592,063$ 270,117$ 46% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT purchasing a staff training resource that is aimed at interacting with unhoused populations and has the same focus of approaching with respect and de-escalation. Our holiday donation drives were also successful: we hosted the Salvation Army Angel Tree that is usually at the Town Hall and a drive for the Food Pantry. Both benefited from the successful programs this month. More than 30 Angels gave gifts and the Food pantry bin needed to be emptied multiple times. What a generous community! I also met with the Director of Teaching and Learning for the Lunenburg Schools, Deborah Bookis January 3. She had inquired about research databases and was looking to see if there was any overlap in the resources we offer the community. The discussion stretched wider and Deborah seems like a good ally to support our goal of working with the schools to better serve our community. The First Annual Primary School Holiday Book Swap was a successful venture for us. We contributed over 100 books to the swap, had two Librarians attend the swap and generated some excitement in the kids who participated. The partnership did not translate into a huge number of library card signups, and only a handful of kids completed the accompanying scavenger hunt at the library. Programs A number of large and very successful programs this time of year, combined with tradition and perhaps new traditions. Our Small Works @ LPL was fantastic. Fewer sales than I hoped for, but many visitors and we sold two of the higher priced works. The Artisan Showcase and Holiday Concert had the makings of a new tradition for the community. Dozens visited the vendors and more than 60 attended that concert. Money raised for the Friends, food and donations made to the Food Pantry and Salvation Army Angel Tree. We have some ideas for next year, and will continue to work with Kate and her vendors. Our craft program 12/5 drew more than 70 registrants, and our Polar Express night was nice crowd of 27 kids. Our gingerbread house building and decorating programs were also popular, with a session for teens (18) and two for children and families (64). In the new year, Board Game Brunch, a new series, started Jan 11 at 10am. A half dozen attendees were very appreciative of the opportunity! The Music Clinics started again in December and two sessions each had 12 attendees. 24 puzzlers attended the puzzle race this month! And Craft and Chill continues to successfully bring in 13 or so, with many new faces. Coming up: Marc Berger returns for a Concert on January 18.. A number of teen and tween workshops this month: bullet journaling, job readiness, crafts, and TAB. Our Movie Nights return on January 31, when we will show Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! Outreach Moderate success with the Primary School Book Swap collaboration. Meeting with the Director of Teaching and Learning was a good connection for the potential partnership with schools. ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT In May, there will be an All Vendor Fair organized by Lunenburg Business Association. I discussed with Joeci future possibilities, perhaps coordinating the fair with our Spring Book Sale. Building & Maintenance ARPA furniture is ordered. We will need to fund about $13,000 more for these items. State Aid will be available including our FY25 award amount of approx. $34,000. The Friends Endowment is another potential funding source, if we were request it. Unofficially, Chris Ruth advised we likely will not use all the contingency funds. Technology I was incorrect on two items with technology in recent reports. Four Microsoft Office licenses are (currently) unaccounted for, and Suzor IT installed versions of Office that do not match the invoices we received. Furthermore, due an overdue invoice for these licenses (and other overdue invoices) our order for security cameras has been delayed. ===PAGE 7=== JANUARY 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report DECEMBER STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 3 109 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 3 58 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 9 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 13 FAMILY CRAFT NIGHT 1 82 SEWING 101/ 2 SESSIONS 2 30 FAMILY GINGERBREAD HOUSE BUILDING 1 64 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN 1 40 POLAR EXPRESS P J STORY TIME EVENT 1 27 FAMILY CHRISTMAS STORY TIME 1 10 LUNCH AND A MOVIE 1 21 LEGO CHALLENGE DAY 1 15 HOMESCHOOLERS CRAFT- Holiday Cards 1 19 STEM KITS STATISTICS: Top 3 Kits: • Flowers and Unicorns Coding • Three Little Pigs Problem Solving • Building and Design 27 KITS CIRCS: 80 Circs (as of 23 Dec24) MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/4bhd9dpu HIGHLIGHTS FOR DECEMBER: PATRON COMMENTS: Found on my desk- ===PAGE 8=== Family Craft Night: Great turn-out for this annual event! 80 kids and families stopped by the library after our Tree Lighting Event to make their “library” ornament. We also offered hot chocolate to help with warm up after this cold outdoor event! Sewing 101: The kids gathered in the Story Craft Room to sew Christmas stockings for their stuffies- these kids are getting really good at sewing! Lego Challenge Day: We set up the tables in the Story Craft Room with 4 different Lego challenges during the school break week after Christmas Drop-In Craft: Over 40 people met in the Story/Craft Room for our December Drop-In Craft and made Santas! This activity continues to be one of our most popular events- great job, Joslyn! Family Gingerbread House Building Event: Wow- very enthusiastic participation in this annual event! ===PAGE 9=== Many variations on a theme Polar Express Event- We hosted a wonderful event this year featuring our new Santa’s Helper. When our past helper was unable to make it, Chris Wiley stepped in and did a fabulous job reading this popular story. He made it a memorable time for the kids and families in attendance. And, as always, the kids were very excited, and creative, making candy trains! ===PAGE 10=== Lego Challenge Day: We set up the tables in the Story Craft Room with 4 different Lego challenges during the school break week after Christmas. Good turnout for this fun event. Lunch and a Movie: We hosted this fun event during the week after Christmas. 21 kids and families gathered in the Community Room to make mac and cheese, applesauce and brownies! They all participated in mixing, measuring and preparing this feast, then they got to enjoy their lunch while watching the Paddington movie. UPCOMING EVENTS FOR JANUARY: • January 1st- Magic Tree House Book Club and Kids Comic Club Kits available • January 6-27th - Little Listeners Storytime for 0-3's • January 4-18th - Preschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • January 2nd - LPL Kids Book Club • January 2nd - In-Betweeners Book Club • January 6th - Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • January 23rd- Mission: Earth and Space with the Ecotarium • January 27th- Homeschoolers Craft Corner • January 27th – Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • January 28th- Legos at the Library Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 11=== EXPENSES FOR CHILDRENS AREA FY 2025: ===PAGE 12=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services January 2024 Summary - Programs o Past programs: ▪ Take and Make kits, ~5 regular pickups ▪ In-betweeners book club, 4 ▪ Homeschool family meet-up, 19 ▪ Video Game Night. 4 ▪ Bullet Journaling Basics, no participants ▪ TAB Meeting, 4 ▪ Craft Club o Upcoming holiday teen programs: ▪ Job Readiness Workshop ▪ Homeschool Craft Corner ▪ Monthly movie Night Other news/updates - Teen Advisory Board Updates - Feb Food Fest Reading Challenge o Creating a food themed reading challenge with prizes left from the virtual cooking program. - Started learning how to repair books in order to help with our growing pile of damaged books. - LCC Grants were approved, and spring program planning is beginning. Plan to reach out to Hannafords at the end of the month to schedule more virtual cooking programs in the spring. ===PAGE 13=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department January 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ We restarted the Saturday morning music clinics on December 7th with Lunenburg music teacher Jason Graham. And it was a great success for the first session in the series with 12 attendees. ➢ The winter artisan showcase and December concert took place on Sunday December 8th throughout the library. We had over 30 vendors selling their crafts inside from 9 am to 1 pm, Santa took pictures from 9 am to noon, and Chris and Katie Laford entertained an audience of 62 people with their Celtic Christmas concert from 2 – 3:15 pm. It was a smashing success for the library and despite the amount of effort it took to coordinate, I think this is something we will definitely consider doing as a new annual tradition! ➢ 24 puzzle enthusiasts joined us for a special holiday puzzle race on December 17th from 6 – 7 pm. It was a very challenging 500-piece puzzle, but the teams had a wonderful time working together to finish what they could in the allotted time. We will host another puzzle race during the February school vacation week. ➢ Craft and Chill took place on a snowy evening on December 20th after the library closed at 6 pm. There were 13 people who braved the elements for cookie decorating, recipe sharing, and hot cocoa sipping. Of note were four women who each brought a teen son with them for a group mother-son outing. They all had a blast and appreciated that the library offers programs that support a multi- generational experience. ➢ I ran a totally new in-house created program for the first time: an all-ages holiday music bingo program the day before Christmas Eve. We had huge registration numbers, with over 40 people expressing interest in attending, so we prepared accordingly. However, only 23 people came for holiday music bingo that day, which ended up working out for the best as the rounds went by much quicker than anticipated. We gave out mini trophies to winners and were able to do a few extra rounds. Ages of attendees varied from toddlers to seniors, but all enjoyed the experience. We may attempt another music bingo program in the future. ➢ On December 30th the library held the introductory “Sew Simple” meeting for anyone interested in learning to sew to meet, discuss potential projects, materials that may be needed, and other details for our monthly meetings going forward. Only three people were in attendance, but I am optimistic we will have better success at the Sew Simple sessions this year. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ The next Saturday morning music clinic with Jason Graham will be on January 4th. ➢ We are hosting a new monthly Saturday program: board game brunch on January 11th for patrons to stop by for coffee and snacks while making new friends over the library’s stash of board games. ➢ I will be running a DIY workshop for household cleaners on Wednesday January 15th at 6:00 pm. ➢ The January Craft & Chill program will be held on Friday January 17th. Participants will make New Year wish bracelets with a design, color, or word to help them in their new year resolution. ➢ The January music concert will be on Saturday January 18th with a return performance from Marc Berger. He will play a mix of folk and Americana music for patrons that Saturday afternoon. ➢ Melanie will be leading a workshop to teach patrons about hoopla on the morning of Wednesday January 22nd. This is the first in a series of digital services workshops run with Melanie’s help. ===PAGE 14=== ➢ On Tuesday January 28th we will be hosting our first workshop in the Sew Simple sessions for patrons to work on projects together, troubleshoot sewing machines, learn to read patterns, and support each other in the process. ➢ We cap off the month with the return of Monthly Movie Nights on Friday January 31st. Joslyn has taken the lead with the program series and will be showing the recent release Beetlejuice Beetlejuice that evening after we close. Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are going well with attendance continuing to grow. o 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We averaged 9 attendees at each meeting last year, and we continue to get new members each month. o The Brighter Days book club meets every second Wednesday evening. There are 8 consistent members each month and we are building bonds of friendship after each book discussion. The books may miss the mark for “uplifting reads” but they generate deep and meaningful conversations among our readers. ➢ The Community Chat & Color program was initially somewhat successful but has fallen off the last two months. We will pull this program from the offerings in February to free up space for other ideas. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance has bloomed in recent months with some weekly meetings having nearly a dozen crafters! There are consistently at least 4-5 people here every Tuesday, but most weeks we will have 6-7 people with us for the drop-in program. Quite a hit! Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 1/9/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 53% 36% 11% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 42% 28% 30% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 54% 15% 31% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 45% 30% 25% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 49% 27% 24% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-02-20-agenda-7049.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-02-20 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-02-20-agenda-7049.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02202025-7049 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of February 20, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, February 20, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of January 16, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · ARPA Update · Weather Policy revision discussion and approval · Computer and Internet Use Policy revision discussion and approval · Library Invested Funds Update · Director’s Contract update/discussion · Town Caucus discussion · Brooks House update/discussion · Friends Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-02-20-minutes-7049.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-02-20 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-02-20-minutes-7049.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_02202025-7049 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== ===PAGE 2=== ===PAGE 3=== ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update FY26 Budget Update I discussed the library budget a number of times with ITM Carter Terenzini, and he made a final recommendation of $625,000 for the library budget. This recommendation included funding for 100 floating hours to help us cover staff illnesses and still meet our Operation Safety Policy to remain open. It also includes a 10% increase to staff salaries as required by recent negotiations and updates to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Salary Admin Plan. Staff Update Deb Goodsell, Angela Clement, Michelle Belleza and I are planning to have monthly meetings to discuss collaborations and increase communication and coordination between departments. The renovation is well on its way toward completion. We have set up temporary shelving in the Main Hall, and stored a small number of books from the Teen Room. Work has been only minimally disruptive, with relatively little noise and mess. I anticipate moving to the new office within the week. The Story/Craft Room floor should be done when we return on Tuesday morning this week. We anticipate delivery of furniture on March 4. My presentation to the Finance Committee will be the night of our Trustee meeting. This will wrap up a very budget focused stretch of time. The Children’s Room, in particular, continues to be very busy, especially on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. The sheer volume of programming, though, also contributes to lots of activity. Our FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 53,879$ 59% 60% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 37,479$ 59% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 146,895$ 60% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 634$ 63% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 5,656$ 25% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 4,419$ 24% WATER CHARGES 1,000$ 852$ 85% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 140$ 28% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 5,235$ 35% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 732$ 29% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 234$ 26% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 3,061$ 44% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 237$ 79% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 18,676$ 20% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 240$ 6% TOTALS 592,063$ 305,475$ 52% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT preparations for the renovation have had only minimal impact on the volume of teens after school. Some days we have significantly fewer, but many days continue to see 10-20 students in the library. School Resource Officer Munroe will offer an informal staff training at our February staff meeting this week on de-escalating interactions and approaching patron interactions with respect. Programs Jana and I met to discuss ideas for our Poetry Month programming, and our staff seemed energized by a number of her ideas. I am hopeful that we can draw larger numbers of participants to our poetry programs this year! We are preparing to launch our Minute Madness materials. Last year, we finished second in this state-wide contest which pits communities head-to-head each week to see who proportionally can read the most minutes during March. Our Movie Night launch was successful with a group of 13 who came in. February’s showing of Wicked should bring another nice crowd. Our puzzle swap this past weekend had the largest volume of puzzles we’ve seen yet! This week is our week of February STEM programs for kids with Battlebots, Recycled Monsters Crafternoon, and then Cookie Decorating. Our homeschool programs continue to draw lots of attendance, too! Coming up: March will be thematically about cleaning your house with a downsizing workshop 3/13, and a Collectible Appraisal session 3/22, and a Transitioning to Retirement Presentation 3/24. There will also be a grief workshop 3/8, Board Game Brunch 3/11, and several STEM with Chris programs for kids. St. Patrick’s Concert 3/16 Gloucester Hornpipe and Clog Society. TWO sessions of Drawing with Jill Pottle. Virtual events: 3/16 An Interview with Amanda Jones, author of That Librarian, and Irish Whiskey History and Recommendations 3/17, A history of Guinness 3/31. Outreach WE have dates for this year’s Farmer’s Market, and will be delivering a Intro to Libby Workshop 3/19 at LAAC. Building & Maintenance We are anticipating the conclusion of the renovation in March. They’ve already begun work in the Teen Room itself. Technology Two of the newest batch of Public Access Computers needed hard drive replacements and were shipped to the manufacturer for repair. They’ve been back for about two weeks, and we will keep a close eye on the other two for similar issues. ===PAGE 6=== FEBRUARY 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report JANUARY STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 3 131 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 4 75 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 12 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 12 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN 1 25 LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 20 HOMESCHOOLERS CRAFT- SNOW GLOBES 1 20 STEM KITS STATISTICS: Top 3 Kits: • Flowers and Unicorns Coding • Three Little Pigs Problem Solving • Building and Design 27 KITS CIRCS: 80 Circs (as of 23 Dec24) MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/4bhd9dpu PATRON QUOTE FOR JANUARY: “I love your book displays that feature important dates for each month! It makes my choices for what to read as a second-grade guest reader so much easier!”- great job putting these together, Joslyn! HIGHLIGHTS FOR JANUARY: Mission: Earth and Space presented by The Ecotarium. The kids and families were introduced to tools and methods used to uncover the mysteries of the grandest science of them all with ===PAGE 7=== hands-on experiments and demonstrations. After learning about some astronomy science, the kids got to go outside and took through their big traveling telescope at Jupiter! Despite the very cold temperatures outside, the kids were so excited to wait in line up for their chance to view this planet! Good turnout for this program! The telescope ===PAGE 8=== Long wait in line for a turn but worth the wait! Legos at the Library- We had a great turnout for this fun library event. The kids were given the challenge of building a Lego race car and then they took turns racing each other! This challenge is always a popular one! Love their creativity! ===PAGE 9=== Ready, set... And go! UPCOMING EVENTS FOR FEBRUARY: • February 1st - Magic Tree House Book Club and Kids Comic Club Kits available • February 3-24th - Little Listeners Storytime for 0-3's • February 5-26th - Preschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • February 6th - LPL Kids Book Club • February 6th - In-Betweeners Book Club • February 3 – Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • February 8th – Sensory Story Time with Miss Pam • February 10th – Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • February 24th - Homeschoolers Craft Corner • February 18th - Family Crafternoon • February 19th- Battlebots- 2 sessions • February 20th- Cookie Decorating with Miss Madeline • February 24th - Homeschoolers Craft Corner • February 24th – Video Game Night • February 25th - Legos at the Library Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 10=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department February 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ January started with another music clinic and performance workshop with local music teacher Jason Graham on Saturday, January 4th. We had 6 people attend. ➢ Our launch of a new Saturday monthly series also started last month with the first Board Game Brunch happening on Saturday January 11th. There were 7 of us in attendance to play a variety of board games while sipping on coffee and eating snacks. ➢ There were 20 people who came out on a Wednesday evening to make all natural DIY household cleaners using easily accessible materials. We made spray cleaners, fizzy toilet cleaner tablets, and a laundry scent booster. ➢ Also in that week, we hosted the monthly Craft & Chill program for teens and adults. Participants made new year resolution bracelets with symbolic colors, patterns, beads and other supplies to remind them of a mantra or wish for 2025. Despite the weather concerns, we had 12 people attend. ➢ Our Monthly Music Concert was on a Saturday afternoon in January. Marc Berger returned for a third time to the library and played his original Americana/folk music for 12 people in the community room. ➢ Melanie led a workshop for patrons to learn more about Hoopla on a Wednesday morning. There were 4 people who came and left with some helpful information about this new digital resource. ➢ Our first Sew Simple Session, a new open 2-hour time frame for patrons to come sew together, was at the end of January. There were 5 of us in attendance and the program was positively reviewed and appreciated by everyone there. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ The next Saturday morning music clinic with Jason Graham was on February 1st. ➢ The next board game brunch was on February 8th. ➢ We had a Winter Puzzle Swap on February 15th. ➢ Another weight strengthening series with local occupational therapist Niki Holtzman started on February 18th. This will run on Tuesday mornings, 10-11 am, for five weeks. ➢ Due to weather, we rescheduled a winter sowing workshop a few times and will hopefully hold it on February 20th at 5:00 pm ➢ Partnering with the Lunenburg Fire Department, there will be a CPR & first aid training session at the library on Saturday February 22nd. ➢ The next Sew Simple session will be held on February 25th. ➢ An exciting program we are looking forward to this month, is the visible mending workshop featured on the front page of the Sentinel & Enterprise last week. There is a full class with a full waitlist and more interest keeps coming in. This will be held on Friday February 28th in the afternoon in our conference room. Due to the demand, we will inquire about booking another session with her. ➢ There will be a movie night on the same night, Friday, February 28th, with a screening of Wicked that evening. ➢ Sadly, there is no monthly music concert this month due to a series of miscommunications. ===PAGE 11=== Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are going well with attendance continuing to grow. o The Baking Book Club, which meets every first Wednesday, has not generated much growth in attendance, but there are 3 of us who faithfully attend each month and are building strong bonds together. One of our members is determined to get new attendees so she talks it up at other town events. We had one new face this month so perhaps it’s working! We are also discussing options to generate more interest, such as moving the date and time or changing to a general cookbook club with other dishes welcome. o The 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We averaged 9 attendees at each meeting last year, and we continue to get new members each month. o The Brighter Days book club meets every second Wednesday evening. There are 8 consistent members each month and we are building bonds of friendship after each book discussion. This month we had 2 new members join us and are discussing new ideas for next year’s theme. We may draw titles from a pool of reader generated recommendations. The current books on our list may miss the mark for “uplifting reads” but they generate deep and meaningful conversations among our readers. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance has bloomed in recent months with some weekly meetings having nearly a dozen crafters! There are consistently at least 4-5 people here every Tuesday, but most weeks we will have 6-7 people with us for the drop-in program. Quite a hit! Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 2/18/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 61% 28% 11% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 48% 11% 41% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 69% 0% 31% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 53% 23% 24% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 58% 15% 27% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-03-20-agenda-7102.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-03-20 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-03-20-agenda-7102.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03202025-7102 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of March 20, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, March 20, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of February 20, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update • ARPA Update • Caucus/nominees Update • Room Use / Tutors in the Library · Weather Policy Revision discussion & approval (Deferred from 2/20) · Computer & Internet Use Policy revision discussion & approval (Deferred fm 2/20) · Library Invested Funds Update (Deferred fm 2/20) · Discussion about AI & its impact on libraries (Deferred fm 2/20) · Brooks House Update/discussion (Deferred fm 2/20) · Friends Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-03-20-minutes-7102.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-03-20 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-03-20-minutes-7102.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03202025-7102 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public LibraryTrustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes March 20, 2025Attending: Harry Kubetz, Dick Mailloux, Donna Saiia (left 8:21 p.m.), Laura Boussom, Maia Wentrup, Jana-LeeBalish, David Niose, Muir HamanThe LPLBT meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. by Chairperson Harry Kubetz.Public Comment●No public comment.Agenda Items●Approval of Minutes of February 20, 2025○Dick made a motion to approve the minutes of February 20, 2025 as presented, seconded by Jana. Themotion passed unanimously.●Director’s Report○FY2025 Budget UpdateThe fiscal year is 67% completed.Still on track to be over-expended on water and sewer.The Mileage Reimbursement account includes expenses for training. At least three staff members will attendthe MLA Conference and the cost of that will be charged here. There will also be a charge here forHomelessTraining.com for staff. Harry asked about resources available for homeless patrons. Maia has infoabout shelters and other resources she can pass on to Muir. Donna suggested making a resource sheet tohave available to offer patrons. Staff can have this sheet available for those patrons who are receptive toreceiving help.○FY2026 Budget UpdateThe FY26 budget has increases in the water and sewer accounts to adjust for the increased cost of boththese expense categories. There is also an increase of $1K in the programs line item for next year.The postage line item has been removed for next year.The budget includes a 10% increase in staff salaries and 100 hours of floating time. It does not include thecurrently unfunded library assistant position.○Staff UpdateIn the past month, Muir has met with the CWMARS Users Council and participated in training for CensusData tools and the Public Records Law.Chief Thibodeau provided training for staff on de-escalation techniques. He also talked about opioidoverdose warning signs and building security measures. The library has Narcan donated by the police.Eight library staff members attended the Town Manager’s townwide staff luncheon on March 17. The librarywas closed for 90 minutes to allow staff the opportunity to attend.Bill Bernard, Director of DPW, has been working with Muir and Robin Venezia on a rainwater garden for thelibrary. Bill approached Muir about this a few months ago. It will be designed to catch rain and prevent runoff.A kiosk is planned to provide information so that people can try this at home. The funds to pay for thisgarden are in the DPW budget.Muir spoke with Susan Conroy about a memorial garden for Bob. She was appreciative and supportive of theidea.Muir has discussed a plan with Robin to plant native tree seedlings that will eventually replace the invasivepear trees currently planted on the grounds.Interviews for the open library page position were held on March 19.Monty Tech students have contacted Muir to offer volunteer labor. Muir will meet with them to discusspossibilities. ===PAGE 2=== Muir and Lydia will be meeting with a career center from Leominster and an immigrant rights group to see ifthere are ways to partner in support of the surrounding communities.Muir and Lydia have developed a staffing plan and are finalizing individual projects for each staff member.Muir, Lydia, and Melanie are finalizing an outreach plan. The plan will identify groups by their obstacle tolibrary use. The obstacles are transportation, disability, parents needing support, technological challenge,language, and being unaware of what the library offers.○Programs UpdateProgram attendance has been down the past two weeks, which is not unusual for this time of year. Even withthat, there are still programs that are pulling in a good number of attendees.○OutreachWe held a Libby Workshop at the Adult Activity Center for people interested in ebooks and e-audiobooks.We are working with the Friends to coordinate their attendance with the library staff at the Farmers andArtisan Markets.○Technology UpdateHalf of the security cameras are installed. The others are scheduled to be installed on March 21.○Building & Maintenance UpdateThe Teen Room renovation is complete and has been well received by the teens.Muir let us know that there is not enough capacity to handle the current EV charger design. Depending onthe disposition of the Brooks House, there may be possible solutions.○ARPA UpdateWe will be using a few thousand dollars of the contingency funds for the Teen Room.○Caucus / Nominees UpdateThe caucus nominees for Library Trustee are David Niose (current trustee), and Robin Venezia andStephanie Trudel.○Room Use / Tutors in the LibraryDefer until next month.●Weather Policy revision discussion and approval (Deferred from 2/20)○This was on the agenda in error. We voted on this last month.●Computer and Internet Use Policy revision discussion and approval (Deferred from 2/20)○Muir reviewed the policy with us. Maia made a motion to accept the policy as amended. Jana seconded. Themotion passed unanimously.●Library Invested Funds Update○Invested funds are at $101K.●Discussion about AI and its impact on libraries (Deferred from 2/20)○Jana brought to our attention an online article about Hoopla and the AI slop in its collection. There is no indicationto the users that an item is AI generated. When a patron checks out an item, the library is charged. This articlebrought a lot of nationwide attention to this issue which led to Hoopla saying they had removed most of the AIitems in their database. Muir said that libraries can not curate these for profit databases. You need to offer it all toyour patrons.○Muir made us aware of a lawsuit in California against Hoopla for tracking users.○Muir also made us aware that AI companies are requesting public records from municipalities to use that data totrain AI.○Harry asked if we should cancel Hoopla. Muir is going to do a cost/benefit analysis and get back to us. ===PAGE 3=== ●Brooks House Update / Discussion○No update.●Friends Update○Robin Venezia gave the Friends update. Planning for the library’s 20th anniversary celebration is under way.Plants have been ordered for the native plant sale.●Board Comments○Dick reminded us that the Trustees will need to appoint another member to the Master Plan Steering Committeeafter the election in May.●Other○None●Adjourn○A motion to adjourn was made by Dick, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting wasadjourned at 9:00 p.m.●Attached Documents○March 2025 Director’s Report○March 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report○March 2025 Young Adult Services Report○March 2025 Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update FY26 Budget Update Select Board had a meeting last night discussing the budget. Latest (from yesterday afternoon) from TM below: Staff Update FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 64,307$ 71% 67% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 44,697$ 70% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 175,379$ 72% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 634$ 63% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 9,446$ 42% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 7,630$ 41% WATER CHARGES 1,000$ 852$ 85% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 160$ 32% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 6,403$ 43% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 732$ 29% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 295$ 33% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 3,183$ 45% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 237$ 79% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 31,292$ 33% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 240$ 6% TOTALS 592,063$ 372,595$ 63% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT It seems like the last few weeks have been as busy as any for me. User’s Council, Security Camera installs, the finish of the Teen Room renovation, patrons visiting to chat about changes at the library. I participated in training sessions: Census Data, Public Records Law, and Chief Thibedeau of the Police Department visited our staff meeting this week to give us an informal training on de- escalation techniques. He also talked to us about opioid overdose warning signs, and building security procedures. I also met with the EV charging design firm to discuss their design and why it deviated from what we had hoped for. I’ve reached out to Deb Bookis of the schools to explore partnerships and I provided the schools feedback on their draft Collection Development Policy. The new Town Manager hosted a townwide staff luncheon March 17 and is definitely working on creating a healthier, friendlier atmosphere between departments. 8 library staff attended and we closed the library for 90 minutes. Bill Bernard of the DPW got a design for a rainwater garden to me last week. I shared it with Robin for her feedback. Bill and I discussed Tuesday morning, and he is supportive of the ideas we suggested. He will work with the design firm to incorporate what they can. I spoke with Susan Conroy briefly about the ideas for the memorial garden and gave her copies of our ideas. She seemed very surprised and appreciative, supportive of the ideas, but I want to connect again and confirm. Robin and I have chatted briefly about a tree stewarding program for the library grounds. We hope to germinate, plant and then steward a native tree for each of the invasive, decorative pears currently planted on the grounds. We are in the final steps of finding a replacement for our oldest Library Page, who has stepped away to concentrate on this studies and preparing for three AP tests this Spring. Interviews occurred yesterday. Monty tech students have reached out to offer volunteer labor. I will meet with them to discuss possibilities. Similarly, Lydia and I will meet with two community organizations—a career center and a support group for immigrants—to see if there are ways to partner in support of the surrounding communities. Lydia and I have developed our Staffing Plan and are finalizing individual projects for each staff member. These will be assigned in the next two weeks. Lydia, Melanie, and I are working on finalizing an Outreach Plan, identifying groups by their obstacle to library use. I will present this next month, and share it as soon as it is done. Programs Programming attendance seems to be taking a “vacation” the last two weeks. The weather is maybe too good, and we’ve seen a drop in numbers. Only a handful attended our St. Pat’s concert. Teen programs have seen numbers drop. Even story time attendance is down a bit. Recent highlights include the partnership with Lunenburg Business Association for a program on downsizing, Joslyn’s drop in craft session with almost 40 attendees, ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Kaitee’s TAB group, Music Clinic (19), Jill Pottle’s Drawing Class 0funded by the LCC (8 students), and Board Game Brunch (still only 6 attendees, but they LOVE it!). Coming up: Appraisal Workshop 3/22, Retirement Planning with Nikki of Edward Jones 3/24, Movie Night: Conclave 3/28, tomorrow night’s Teen Web Development Workshop, Gardening with Roin for Kids 3/22. Outreach Libby Workshop at LAAC on 3/19: we helped 4 individuals interested in ebooks and e-audiobooks. We are also working with the Friends to coordinate their attendance at Farmers and Artisan Markets, and events like the All Vendor Fair 5/10. Melanie, Lydia and I are finalizing our plan for next steps. Identifying target groups, services and how that will happen. Building & Maintenance Our new Teen Room looks spectacular. The teens seem very excited and have been enjoying the new furniture. Technology Half of the security cameras are installed. The other half are scheduled for tomorrow. We were also able to run 9 more cables to staff desks to get workstations off of wifi and back on LAN. ===PAGE 7=== MARCH 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report FEBRUARY STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 3 105 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 3 65 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 12 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 12 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN 1 39 LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 11 HOMESCHOOLERS CRAFT- CRYSTAL CANDLE HOLDERS 1 21 FAMILY CRAFTERNOON 1 12 BATTLEBOTS- 2 SESSIONS 2 30 STEM KITS STATISTICS: Top 3 Kits: • Flowers and Unicorns Coding • Three Little Pigs Problem Solving • Building and Design 32 KITS 95 CIRCS: (11/24-1/25) MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/4bhd9dpu PATRON QUOTE FOR FEBRUARY: “You have such a beautiful library! It’s so clean and well organized. I love all the many cool activities that you have- something for everyone!” ===PAGE 8=== HIGHLIGHTS FOR FEBRUARY: SENSORY STORY TIME WITH MISS PAM: Pam Wockenfuss presented Chicka Chicka Boom Boom sensory story time for an eager group of 11 children. She shared this wonderful story with the kids and their families and then allowed time to experience the story with all of their senses through the use of individual sensory boxes with a letter theme. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to participate along with the children as Pam explains the many benefits of sensory play. The added benefit- which the kids love- is that they get to keep their individual sensory bins! Battlebots with Mobile Quest: In this epic workshop participants used their coding skills to design a robot and take it tothe MobileQuest Arena where they then battled for robot supremacy. The participants worked in small teams to modify a Dash robot with balloons, skewers, plastic straws, and more as they prepared for battle to see who would have the last Bot standing?! Preparing for battle And they’re off! Making modifications for 2nd round Cookie Decorating with Miss Madeline: Miss Madeline stopped by to do another great cookie painting class with the kids. The kids had a blast bringing their delicious designs to life, exploring their artistic talents, and then enjoying a sweet treat they decorated themselves. It's a fun-filled, engaging activity that's topped off with a snack—what's not to like! Homeschoolers Craft Corner: ===PAGE 9=== This popular monthly activity was well attended again as the kids got a chance to interact with each other, be creative and go home with a cool candle holder! The homeschooling families are very appreciative of the time, space and activities that we provide for their group. So lovely! UPCOMING EVENTS FOR MARCH: • MARCH 1st - Magic Tree House Book Club and Kids Comic Club Kits available • MARCH 3-31st - Little Listeners Storytime for 0-3's • MARCH 5-26th - Preschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • MARCH 6th - In-Betweeners Book Club • MARCH 3rd – Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • MARCH 8th – Sensory Story Time with Miss Pam • MARCH 10th – Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • MARCH 13th- Autobiographical Graphic Novel Workshop with Jonathan Todd • MARCH 15th- S T E M with Chris • MARCH 24th - Homeschoolers Craft Corner • MARCH 20th- Art Class with Miss Julie • MARCH 22nd- Gardening with Robin • MARCH 24th - Homeschoolers Craft Corner • MARCH 25th - Legos at the Library • MARCH 29th- S T E M with Chris Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 10=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services March 2025 Summary - Programs o Past programs: ▪ Virtual Cooking, have currently 10 registered ▪ Video game night ▪ Homeschool Family meet up ▪ In-betweeners club ▪ TAB Meeting o Upcoming teen programs: ▪ Homeschool Craft Corner ▪ Intro to Web Development ▪ Sewing for Teens Other news/updates - Teen Room is open again! So far, all the teens and community members like the new space. - Signed up for a Youth Services professional development Youth Engagement workshop in May. - Garden program this year is “Hot Ones” themed. Will be doing garden take and make kits in April and starting the plants inside soon. ===PAGE 11=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department March 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ February’s music clinic and performance workshop with Jason Graham had 18 people attend. ➢ Board Game Brunch had 6 players on Saturday February 8th. ➢ Our Winter Puzzle Swap on Saturday February 15th saw 72 people come in to get new to them puzzles from the 650+ selections on display. Our most popular puzzle swap of the year! ➢ The winter session of Niki Holtzman’s weight strengthening series started on February 18th and will run for 5 weeks on Tuesday mornings. We have averaged 12 people at sessions, as of March 11th. ➢ We hosted a puzzle race for 8 teams competing to complete their puzzle first on the evening of February 19th. There were 34 people of all ages, even a team of 3 young boys, participating in the event, with a waitlist of 3 additional teams who wanted to participate. ➢ The rescheduled Winter Sowing Program was held on the evening of February 20th. As always, there was a strong showing of people coming to make a winter sowing project with 28 people at this year’s program. Robin Venezia proved indispensable in her assistance making this a success again, and working with her is always a pleasure! ➢ This month’s Sew Simple session had 5 people on February 25th, but those who came made significant progress on their projects and appreciated the help and opportunity to work as a group. ➢ The visible mending workshop we were looking forward to hosting was well attended with positive feedback from participants. We have a second one booked on April 18th to accommodate those who were waitlisted or missed the event in February. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ The March Saturday morning music clinic with Jason Graham was on March 1st with 19 people. ➢ Following the music clinic on March 1st was a reception for the new art exhibit with Trish Brown. We had two people join us for that event. ➢ Creative Drawing Basics was taught by Jill Pottle on Sunday March 2nd. There were 8 students in her session. This was funded by an LCC grant. ➢ The Lunenburg Business Association partnered with the library to host a downsizing seminar in the Wallace Room on Thursday, March 13th. There were 12 people in attendance. ➢ The March session of craft & chill, booked for Friday, March 14th, was canceled again due to low registrations. We may pause these programs until next fall/winter, when it was more popular. ➢ Board Game Brunch took place on Saturday March 15th with 5 players at the library. ➢ We were very excited to bring back The Gloucester Hornpipe and Clog Society for a St. Patrick’s Day concert on Sunday, March 16th. Unfortunately, a mix of weather and timing most likely led to an unexpectedly low turnout for the amazing concert. There were 5 people in attendance. ➢ Our community read book discussion brunch with the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center had 16 participants on the morning of March 17th. ➢ An appraisal workshop will be held on Saturday, March 22nd. ➢ Edward Jones Financial will visit the library on March 24th to discuss retirement planning. ➢ The next Sew Simple session will be held on March 25th. ➢ There will be a movie night on Friday, March 28th, with a screening of Conclave that evening. ➢ Jill Pottle will teach a second LCC grant funded session of Creative Drawing Basics on Sunday, March 31st. ===PAGE 12=== Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are going well with attendance continuing to grow in all but the Baking Book Club. o The Baking Book Club, which meets every first Wednesday, will have its last meeting in April. Due to continued low engagement we will be discontinuing this experimental book club. We may do quarterly recipe swap socials or another type of food-based program, but that is to be determined. o The 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We averaged 9 attendees at each meeting last year, and we continue to get new members each month. o The Brighter Days book club meets every second Wednesday evening. There are now 10 consistent members of that discussion group. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance has bloomed in recent months with some weekly meetings having nearly a dozen crafters! There are consistently at least 4-5 people here every Tuesday, but most weeks we will have 6-7 people with us for the drop-in program. Quite a hit! Virtual Program Update ➢ These are all events sponsored and managed by other libraries. By partnering with them we receive a dedicated link to track viewership and engagement from our patrons. To further promote these events, there is a standalone brochure at the front desk advertising March and April virtual programs. o “Author Afarin Bellisario discusses "Silenced Whispers"” took place on March 8th. Viewers TBD. o “Freedom to Read Event: Zoom Interview with Amanda Jones, author of That Librarian” took place on March 16th. We had 0 viewers. o “Irish Whiskey - History and Recs with Travis Ireland of The Friskey Whiskey Podcast” will be on March 17th. o “Community Read: Author Talk with Sonia Purnell!” will be on March 25th. o “A History of Guinness Beer with Brewery Ambassador, Mike Reardon” will be on March 31st. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 3/17/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 74% 15% 11% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 57% 27% 16% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 74% 0% 26% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 62% 21% 17% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 67% 16% 17% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-04-17-agenda-7162.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-04-17 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-04-17-agenda-7162.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04172025-7162 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of April 17, 2025 Revised AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, April 17, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Discussion about the redevelopment of Brooks House • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of March 20, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Conroy Memorial Garden discussion · ARPA Uodate · Room Use / Tutors in the Library (deferred from March) · Hoopla Report · Library Invested Funds update · Brooks House update/discussion · Friends Update · Discuss our June meeting time. It falls on June 19th, the Juneteenth holiday • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-04-17-minutes-7162.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-04-17 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-04-17-minutes-7162.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04172025-7162 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes April 17, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Laura Boussom, Maia Wentrup (remote), Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Muir Haman, Micheal-Ray Jeffreys (remote) The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:51 p.m. by Chairperson Harry Kubetz. Discussion about the redevelopment of Brooks House ● Michael-Ray Jeffreys gave a summary of the status of the Brooks House. ○ An article submitted by the Architectural Preservation District Committee passed at the 2024 Special Town Meeting directing the Select Board to come up with a plan for the sale or lease of the Brooks House. ○ Per the Municipal Building Design Committee, the Brooks House is surplus property and has no municipal use. ○ Town records show that the 20 parking spots behind the Brooks House were designated for use by the Brooks House. ○ The article passed at Town Meeting advised that the plan include an easement to use up to eight additional parking spaces at the library. ○ The only access to the Brooks House is through the library parking lot. Town records show that it was decided that no access should be available from the school driveway, and there is no place for access from Mass Ave. ● Michael-Ray left the meeting and the trustees continued to discuss the pros and cons of the sale or lease of the Brooks House. There were concerns about losing access to the 20 parking spots behind the Brooks House, and having to share any parking spots with a future business located there. The library parking lot is frequently full as it is now. There were also concerns about safety with the potential increase in traffic, especially during the after school hours when there is a lot of foot traffic with students walking through the library property. ● Muir shared a statement from Tony Sculimbrene, Chair of the APDC, in which he stated support for the restoration of the Brooks House. ● Muir and the Trustees need to be included in the decision-making process for the disposition of the Brooks House. Public Comment ● No public comment. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of March 20, 2025 ○ Jana made a motion to accept the minutes of March 20, 2025 as amended, seconded by David. The motion passed unanimously. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update The fiscal year is 75% completed. One library staff member is on Family and Medical Leave for three weeks. Other staff have been covering for them. Muir can cover any additional cost using excess from heating and electricity. The remaining funds in Library Materials will be going towards databases. Renewals happen in June. ○ FY2026 Budget Update No update. ○ Staff Update The library shared calls to participate in Empowered by Libraries from MBLC and Show Up for Our Libraries from the ALA, two advocacy opportunities for people to communicate with legislators about why libraries are important to them. Muir also asked the Select Board to sign a letter initiated by Mayor Petty of Worcester asking our congressional delegation to voice their resistance to IMLS cuts. Chairperson Nuzzolo signed on behalf of the board. ===PAGE 2=== Melanie, Lydia, and Muir have finalized a proposal for outreach services. Muir reviewed the plan with us. It identifies the target groups for outreach, identifies their needs, and has a list of action items to meet those needs. David made a motion to accept the action item list under the Outreach Plan, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously. ○ Programs Update Muir reported that Deb Goodsell, Director of the Council on Aging, is talking to their Meals on Wheels clients about home delivery of books. Muir is submitting a grant application to Main Street Bank, requesting that they provide funds to pay for summer lunches again this year. ○ Technology Update Another of the new Dell computers broke. Muir is contacting the vendor. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The Proctor Memorial Garden water feature should be running this week. Test pits for the rainwater garden were dug last week. ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ Bob’s family are supportive of our plans for a garden and would like to work with us to make it happen. ● ARPA Update ○ No update on the amount of contingency funds that will be spent. Muir will follow up with Chris Ruth about this. ● Room Use / Tutors in the Library (deferred from March) ○ There has been a lot of competition for quiet study rooms for tutoring, Zoom calls, and quiet study. ○ Rooms can be reserved for a time slot for up to two weeks. ○ Tutors are running a business. Is there a town rule against using public property to make a profit? ○ Allowing students to be tutored in the library also benefits the students. ○ There are no changes being made to the Quiet Room policy right now. Muir will continue to keep an eye on this. ● Hoopla Report ○ At our last meeting, the Trustees asked Muir if he could cancel Hoopla due to AI and security issues. Hoopla requires a written request and it will take 60 days for cancellation. ○ Muir checked the accounts with suspicious emails and found that we had 20 such accounts, but all seemed OK when he compared them to the ILS. ○ Muir looked at the top 500 items requested and did not see anything that looked like AI. ○ Hoopla tracking personal information may still be an issue, but we do not know. ○ Muir will not be cancelling Hoopla but will keep an eye on reported concerns. ● Library Invested Funds update ○ No update. ● Brooks House update/discussion ○ See first item above. ● Friends Update ○ Janet Winer, Abby Perrine, and Lydia Henshaw are working on the library’s 20th anniversary. ○ The native plant sale and the book and bake sale were discussed. ○ Discussed whether having an ongoing book sale vs two yearly sales, or some combination of those, makes the most sense. This is a continuing discussion. ===PAGE 3=== ○ Robin made a list of what she does for the Friends so that others can pick up those tasks, in anticipation of her becoming a trustee after the election in May. ● Discuss our June meeting time. It falls on June 19th, the Juneteenth holiday. ○ The library is closed on June 19th. We will be meeting on June 12th. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by David, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 9:17 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ March 2025 Director’s Report ○ March 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ March 2025 Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update Staff Update The library shared calls to participate in “Empowered by Libraries” from MBLC, an advocacy opportunity to tell stories about how libraries have been important in your lives. We have bookmarks and postcards that people can write a short narrative about what libraries mean and submit to lovemasslibraries.com. I also requested the Select Board sign on to a letter initiated by Mayor Petty of Worcester asking our Congressional Delegation to voice their resistance to IMLS cuts. Chair Person Nuzzolo signed on behalf of the SB after their April 1 meeting. Melanie, Lydia and I have worked extensively the last few weeks to finalize a proposal for Outreach Services. Our plan is attached. I have discussed and assigned all staff projects in the staffing plan. Joslyn and Lydia are particularly about their projects. Kaitee is on FMLA, no return date yet. I met with Deb Bookis, Director of Learning and Teaching at the Schools to discuss partnerships and the schools draft of a Reconsideration Policy. There are several promising possibilities of partnerships, notably around STEM, OpSciEd curriculum and school library support. I will meet with Deb and Tara (STEM Lab) next. Programs Kate Chadbourne’s concert had excellent turn out and was an impressive performance as always. Kate is also interested in volunteering a workshop for students who are preparing the college essays. Jason Graham’s music clinic continues to draw a nice crown, which was up to 19 in March and 20 in April. FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 67,784$ 75% 75% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 47,349$ 74% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 185,463$ 76% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 634$ 63% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 9,646$ 43% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 9,832$ 53% WATER CHARGES 1,000$ 852$ 85% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 180$ 36% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 8,133$ 54% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 732$ 29% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 334$ 37% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 3,306$ 47% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 237$ 79% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 31,292$ 33% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 1,004$ 25% TOTALS 592,063$ 393,885$ 67% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Craft and Chill last Friday night had great turn out, too, with 27 signed up and 23 attendees. Monday’s grief support group was well attended and received positive feedback from the facilitator. She loved our library. This group was formerly meeting at LAAC. Tuesday night we hosted an Intro to Homeschooling program at the request of a local resident. Virtual Programming has offered a variety of topics, with low engagement. Most registrations seem to be people hoping to receive the recording to watch at a later date. Children’s Programming this month has been spectacular. Sensory Story Time with Pam Wockenfuss, Art with Julie, and STEM programming with Chris Rodrigues twice. Excellent experiences for attendees. Coming up: Thoreau’s “Economy” Reading 4/16, Visible Mending WKSP #2 4/18, Animal Adventures 4/22, Japanese Folktales and Origami 4/23, Crafternoon: Poem in Your Pocket 4/24, Open Mic Poetry Night 4/30 Outreach Outreach Plan proposal has been the focus this month. Building & Maintenance The new cleaning crew continues to have trouble entering the building without setting off the alarm. They are tasked with cleaning everything, so we are keeping an eye on items that might get left out to correct now. The Proctor Memorial Garden water feature should return this coming week. Test pits for the rainwater garden happened last week. Susan Conroy and family are supportive of our plans and are very interested in helping with their labor to create the garden. Technology Another of the new batch of Dell public access computers broke this week. I am reaching out to the vendor to see what can be done. This instance pushes the likelihood of a manufacturing defect up. Mason should be completing an install of security monitor in the Director’s Office this week. Melanie and I are planning the process of our ongoing digital resource assessment. ===PAGE 6=== APRIL 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report MARCH STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 5 178 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 3 65 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 8 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 12 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN 1 27 LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 14 HOMESCHOOLERS CRAFT- PUZZLE PAINTING 1 35 S T E M WITH CHRIS- SIMPLE CIRCUITS 1 11 S T E M WITH CHRIS- HYDRAULIC CRITTERS 1 11 SENSORY STORY TIME WITH MISS PAM 1 10 MOTHER’S DAY PLANTING- SEED SEWING 1 25 ART CLASS WITH MISS JULIE 1 23 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL GRAPHIC NOVEL WKSHP 1 3 STEM KITS STATISTICS: Top 3 Kits: • Ozobot • Flowers and Unicorns Coding • Three Little Pigs Problem Solving 32 KITS 10 Ci MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/4bhd9dpu ===PAGE 7=== PATRON QUOTE FOR MARCH: “I love your library! I live in Leominster and work in Brookline, New Hampshire and this is the library that I choose to come to. I love coming here to your library!” HIGHLIGHTS FOR MARCH: SENSORY STORY TIME WITH MISS PAM: Pam Wockenfuss presented Light Up the Night sensory story time for an eager group of 10 children. She shared this wonderful story with the kids and their families and then allowed time to experience the story with all of their senses through the use of individual sensory boxes. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to participate along with the children as Pam explains the many benefits of sensory play. Lots of thought and sensory development awareness goes into developing the bins and I love that the kids get to keep them. ART CLASS WITH MISS JULIE We held our first art class with Julie Harrold and the children loved it! Julie has a BFA in Studio Arts, is a former Elementary art teacher/Art director and currently a homeschool mom who also teaches art classes in her spare time. She has a wonderful rapport with the kids, and they all benefit from her supportive, encouraging manner of teaching. ===PAGE 8=== S T E M WITH CHRIS: Two great S T E M classes with Chris this month- Simple Circuits: This workshop focused on creative thinking, and problem solving through circuit wiring concepts such as parallel and series circuits. Experimentation was key as the kids built their projects and got to see what didn’t work and they worked to find a solution that would. Hydraulic Critters: In this class, the kids learned about how hydraulics work while creating a hydraulic bug. MOTHER’S DAY SEED PLANTING: On a cold, drizzly Saturday day we gathered in the Story Craft Room for a two-part plant event. At first, we talked about gardening – how the process of gardening starts and what plants need to grow. Then we planted some marigold seeds. As the seeds sprout and begin to develop, library visitors can watch the seedlings grow until they are ready to become a gift for someone special. The librarians here at LPL will take good care of the growing plants until the kids come back in May to transplant the baby plants into bigger pots and decorate them for Mother’s Day gifting. ===PAGE 9=== UPCOMING EVENTS FOR APRIL: • APRIL 3rd - Magic Tree House Book Club and Kids Comic Club Kits available • APRIL 2-30th - Preschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • APRIL 3rd- In-Betweeners Book Club and LPL Kids Book Club • APRIL 5th- S T E M with Chris • APRIL 7th – Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • APRIL 7-28th - Little Listeners Storytime for 0-3's • APRIL 10th- Art Class with Miss Julie • APRIL 14th – Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • APRIL 15th -Getting Started with Home Schooling in MA- adults • APRIL 22nd - Legos at the Library • APRIL 22ND- Animal Adventures • APRIL 23rd – Japanese Folktales and Origami • APRIL 24th- Crafternoon- A Poem in Your Pocket • APRIL 28th - Homeschoolers Craft Corner Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 10=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department April 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ The March Saturday morning music clinic with Jason Graham was on March 1st with 19 people. ➢ Following the music clinic on March 1st was a reception for the new art exhibit with Trish Brown. We had two people join us for that event. ➢ Creative Drawing Basics was taught by Jill Pottle on Sunday March 2nd. There were 8 students in her session. This was funded by an LCC grant. ➢ The Lunenburg Business Association partnered with the library to host a downsizing seminar in the Wallace Room on Thursday, March 13th. There were 12 people in attendance. ➢ The March session of craft & chill on Friday, March 14th was canceled again due to low registrations. ➢ We were very excited to bring back The Gloucester Hornpipe and Clog Society for a St. Patrick’s Day concert on Sunday, March 16th. Unfortunately, a mix of weather and timing most likely led to an unexpectedly low turnout for the amazing concert. There were 5 people in attendance. ➢ Our community read book discussion brunch with the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center had 16 participants on the morning of March 17th. ➢ An appraisal workshop was held on Saturday, March 22nd. We had 13 people visit the library to get their items appraised. There was some initial confusion on timing of the program, but I think those who attended enjoyed the event. ➢ Edward Jones Financial visited the library on March 24th to discuss retirement planning, however we did not have anyone come to the program. We may try another topic at another time. ➢ Jill Pottle came back to teach a second LCC grant funded session of Creative Drawing Basics on Sunday, March 31st to a full class of 10 students. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ On Saturday April 5th we had 20 people join us for another session of the music clinic series. ➢ Our rescheduled Empathy in Grief workshop was canceled again due to low registrations. We may try again in the fall or create a handout of information to have at the library for patrons to take home. ➢ Janet Winer, Abigal Perrine, and I have launched community information sessions for the public to learn about the upcoming 20th anniversary of the library building. We held one on April 8th that was not well attended but have two more booked for the end of the month. ➢ Our craft & chill program for April was an LCC funded paint night on April 11th. We had 20 people join us for a fun family night out that was a huge hit! ➢ Monthly Music Series: Irish Poetry & Song with Kate Chadbourne was on Sunday April 13th and drew 35 attendees for another stellar performance by Kate! ➢ The library is also the new meeting location for the local grief and healing support group that formerly met at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center. Their first session will be on Monday April 14th. ➢ A homeschooling advocacy group will present a basic information session on Tuesday April 15th. ➢ On Wednesday April 16th we will host Jay DiPrima for a return program with Henry David Thoreau. This time he will be reading Thoreau’s work “Economy” in period costume. ➢ We have a return visit from Cathy Karp for another Visible Mending Workshop on Friday April 18th. ➢ During the school vacation week there will be another Puzzle Race on Wednesday April 23rd. ➢ To cap off poetry month, we will be hosting an Open Mic Poetry Night on Wednesday April 30th for anyone to come and share their favorite poem with the community. ===PAGE 11=== Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are doing well with excellent discussions at our monthly meetings. o The Baking Book Club ended after our April meeting had no attendees. We may revisit in the fall, but for now we will take a break from this to consider other options. o The 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We averaged 9 attendees at each meeting last year, and we continue to get new members each month. o The Brighter Days book club meets every second Wednesday evening. There are now 10 consistent members of that discussion group. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance remains steady at 5-6 per week. And new members join periodically so it continues to grow! ➢ The monthly Board Game Brunch programs happening on a Saturday morning have been successful. We have a manageable number of 5-8 people at each event. ➢ Monthly Movie Nights are gaining momentum as word spreads about them. The March program had 13 people in the audience, and they gave very positive feedback about the film. ➢ Sew Simple Sessions have petered out with very limited engagement from patrons. We have had no more than two people at each session since it started in December. Due to the low attendance and drain on staff resources, April will be the last program in the series so we can invest in other areas. Virtual Program Update ➢ These are all events sponsored and managed by other libraries. By partnering with them we receive a dedicated link to track viewership and engagement from our patrons. To further promote these events, there is a standalone brochure at the front desk advertising March and April virtual programs. We have not joined program offerings for May or beyond at this time. o “Irish Whiskey - History and Recs with Travis Ireland of The Friskey Whiskey Podcast” was on March 17th. We had 2 register but no one joined the program. o “Community Read: Author Talk with Sonia Purnell!” was on March 25th. We did not track stats for engagement from specific community groups, but there were 25 total attendees for the talk. o “A History of Guinness Beer with Brewery Ambassador, Mike Reardon” was on March 31st. There were some technical issues with the connection, but we had 4 people register and 1 joined the talk. o “Local Farms, MA - Produce, Meats, Dairy, Oh My!” was on April 7th. We had 4 people register and 2 attend the event live. o “The Intersection of Climate Action and Romance Novels: A Panel Discussion” was on April 10th. We had 1 register but did not attend the program live. o “Tudor Queens and Ladies in Waiting: A Discussion with Authors Nicola Clark and Jade Scott” was on April 12th. We had 2 register, and no one attended live. o “The Two Nerdy History Girls Ride Again!” will be on April 14th. o “No More Curse! A History of the Red Sox with David Kruh” will be on April 28th. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 4/17/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 90% 7% 3% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 55% 34% 11% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 89% 0% 11% ===PAGE 12=== MUSIC SERIES $6,600 70% 23% 7% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 76% 16% 8% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-05-15-agenda-7217.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-05-15 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-05-15-agenda-7217.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05152025-7217 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of May 15, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, May 15, 2025 5:30 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Reception for Dick & Donna who are departing the Board of Trustees after the May election • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of April 17, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Conroy Memorial Garden discussion · Room Use Policy Discussion · Library Invested Funds update · Friends Update • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-05-15-minutes-7217.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-05-15 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-05-15-minutes-7217.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05152025-7217 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes May 15, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Dick Mailloux (remote), Donna Saiia, Laura Boussom, Maia Wentrup, Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Muir Haman The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:54 p.m. by Chairperson Harry Kubetz. Reception for Dick & Donna who are departing the Board of Trustees after the May election ● Postponed until next month because Dick needed to attend the meeting remotely. Public Comment ● No public comment. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of April 17, 2025 ○ Maia made a motion to accept the minutes of April 17, 2025, as amended, seconded by Jana. The motion passed by roll call vote, with Dick and Donna abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update The fiscal year is 82% completed. Sewer will be an additional $600 for the year. The bill has not been entered yet. Excess funds will be moved to Library Materials to make purchases for the Library of Things, books, etc., and to Office Supplies. ○ FY2026 Budget Update Most of the increase in the FY2026 budget is in salaries. ○ Staff Update Muir attended the Town Meeting on May 3. Muir met with Deb Bookis, Director of Teaching and Learning at the schools, about STEM kits. He is hoping to continue the discussion with her and with Tara, 6th grade science teacher and STEM Club leader. Kaitee is working on developing a partnership with Pam Vallee, Librarian at Lunenburg Middle-High School. Staff has started to collect data for the Staffing Workflow Study. For one week, all staff will log their tasks throughout the day. Lydia and Muir will compile and analyze the data. This will be repeated another week during the summer. The goal of this study is to document data that will support requests for additional staff positions or adjustments to our current organizational hierarchy. Staff are working on their individual projects according to our staffing plan. Muir will complete staff evaluations during the summer. He is considering creating a rolling schedule for evaluations that would happen around hiring anniversaries to spread this large task out over the year, instead of doing it all in the summer, the busiest time of year for the library. Melanie will be going to the MLA conference on the Cape. Muir will be attending a Mental Health First Aid training through the Nashoba Board of Health on May 20. This training helps you to recognize when someone is in a crisis and how to get them appropriate resources. Muir is planning on meeting with library directors from Leominster and Fitchburg to share ideas. Ongoing Zoom calls between directors on the topic of the current funding situation continue. Debbie Lafond, Children’s Librarian, will be retiring in September. ○ Programs Update The Summer Reading Program is finalized. Hot lunches will be served again this year, Monday through Thursday, from June 23 to July 31. We are using the same vendor as last year. Muir is still waiting for confirmation from Main Street Bank that they will fund ===PAGE 2=== this, but he has another source of funds in case they can not support this program this year. Maia asked about serving lunch in August too, until school opens. Muir is open to this and thinks he can find a way to make this happen. Open Mic Poetry Night did not have good attendance. Muir and Jana have been discussing how to plan for poetry programs that are better attended. Jana spoke to Jacie at Smokestack Roasters about their poetry/open mic nights. They make it about more than just poetry. Kate Chadbourne’s concert was a success. Kate is also interested in volunteering to do a workshop for students who are preparing their college essays. Jason Graham’s music clinic continues to draw a nice crowd. Craft and Chill and a grief support group were both well attended. Virtual programming has low engagement. Children’s programming has been popular this month, especially during school vacation week. ○ Outreach Staff has contacted potential partners for outreach services, including Arrive Lunenburg and Tri-Town apartments, and Smokestack Coffee Roasters. Staff is creating a Welcome to Lunenburg and the Library packet of resources. Outreach events through September will include the All Vendor Fair, Lunenburg Cruise Night, Lunenburg Artisan Market, and the Lunenburg Farmers’ Market. ○ Technology Update Another of the new computers broke in mid-April. It has been sent to the manufacturer for repairs. A security monitor was installed in Muir’s office, and he can watch the feeds from the new security cameras. ○ Building & Maintenance Update Town Meeting approved a capital plan that included HVAC design for the library. This is scheduled for the early part of FY26. Muir asked Chris Ruth to attend a Trustee’s meeting to discuss. HVAC replacement is expected in FY27. The HVAC system needed some repair in early May, but seems to be operating efficiently again. A new cleaning crew is being trained and is improving. We are still waiting for Lakeview Landscaping to have time to get the Proctor Memorial Garden water feature running again. Muir and Robin Venezia met with Bill Bernard to discuss the latest draft of the design for the rainwater garden. ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ The Friends approved money for the Conroy Memorial Garden. ○ Muir met with Kevin Boussom, the artist who will be creating a sculpture for the garden. ○ Robin Venezia is planning on a bed prep and planting day on May 24. ● Room Use Policy Discussion ○ We should differentiate between conference rooms and private study rooms in the policy. ○ Policy should state how to handle tutors who reserve rooms on a regular basis, sometimes preventing others from using them. ○ Policy should state how to notify groups that have reserved rooms at a time the library needs to close due to weather or an emergency. ○ Policy should have a section about groups that reserve conference rooms outside regular library hours. ○ Muir will edit the policy for us to review. ● Library Invested Funds update ○ The investments have a value of approximately $99K. ===PAGE 3=== ● Friends Update ○ Discussed the Book & Bake Sale to be held June 6 & 7. ○ Discussed the Native Plant Sale to be held June 14. ○ Discussed ongoing planning for the 20th anniversary of the library building. ○ Jane Crook, President of the Friends, met with the North Central Mass Friends’ Consortium. She learned that Lunenburg has the largest number of members in the area. ● Board Comments ○ Dick spoke about his time on the board, and the accomplishments and changes during his time serving as a trustee. ○ Harry thanked Dick and Donna for the time they have given to the library. ○ Harry suggested that we have the reception for Dick and Donna at our next meeting. ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Donna, seconded by Dick. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ May 2025 Director’s Report ○ May 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ May 2025 Young Adult Services Report ○ May 2025 Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update FY26 Budget Update Annual Town Meeting approved the previously proposed Library budget: Staff Update FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 78,212$ 86% 82% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 54,835$ 86% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 214,535$ 88% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,000$ 634$ 63% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 13,340$ 59% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,294$ 11,517$ 63% WATER CHARGES 1,200$ 1,125$ 94% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 200$ 40% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 13,166$ 88% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 732$ 29% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 622$ 69% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 4,087$ 58% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 237$ 79% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 45,279$ 48% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 1,299$ 32% TOTALS 592,057$ 466,924$ 79% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Annual Town Meeting on May 3 was the big event in the last three weeks since we met. It was a long meeting, running until about %:30, but a positive one for the library (See preceeding Budget update), and approval of a capital plan that include HVAC design and planning for the library. The two large debt exclusions failed to achieve 2/3 majorities on the Town Meeting floor, but are on the ballot this Saturday, while the Citizen’s Petition Override of Prop 2 ½ to raise funds to give the schools $2.1M passed and is not on the ballot. The Friends approved money for the Conroy Memorial Garden, and I met with the artist I would like to work with to discuss the project. Kevin Boussom, son of Laura, is excited to work on the project and anticipates completing his work before the fall. Robin was able to source the remaining plants she needs from Central Mass Gardens, and we are likely to have a bed prep and planting day in the next few weeks (likely May 24). I met with Deb Bookis on 4/16 and hoping to meet with her and Tara (STEM club leader) to continue that conversation. Kaitee has returned from FMLA and is working on developing a partnership with Pam Vallee. Our SRP is finalized (save one day where we will have a program but have had one presenter unable to come through, leaving us scrambling). We will be serving meals again, M-Th at 12 noon from June 23 to July 31. We will be working the same vendor as last year. We have started gathering data for our Staffing Workflow Study. This week all staff will log their tasks throughout the day and Lydia and I will compile and analyze afterward. Likely we will repeat the log during the SRP to deepen our data. Lydia and I have identified a few areas already that require some attention in our staff hierarchy to help clarify roles and assignments. The goal for this study is to document data that will support our requests for funding additional staff positions or adjustments to our current organizational hierarchy. All staff are working on their individual projects according to our staffing plan. I have put copies of the staff evaluation in our meeting folder for your review. I plan to complete individual evaluations and reviews during the summer for all staff. I am considering creating an rolling schedule for evaluations that would happen around hiring anniversaries to spread out the rather large task of reviews. Next week is the annual MLA conference on the Cape. Melanie and Joslyn are slated to go. I will attend a Mental Health First Aid training on May 20. I am also planning to get together with Library Directors from Leominster and Fitchburg to share ideas and progress. Ongoing Zoom calls between Directors on the topic of our current funding situations continue. Programs Although our Open Mic Poetry Night did not bring crowds, Kate Chadbourne’s concert had excellent turn out and was an impressive performance as always. Kate is also interested in volunteering a workshop for students who are preparing the college essays. Jason Graham’s music clinic continues to draw a nice crown, which was up to 19 in March and 20 in April. Craft and Chill last in April had great turn out, too, with 27 signed up and 23 attendees. Monday’s grief support group was well attended and received positive feedback from the facilitator. She loved ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT our library. This group was formerly meeting at LAAC. Tuesday night we hosted an Intro to Homeschooling program at the request of a local resident. Virtual Programming has offered a variety of topics, with low engagement. Most registrations seem to be people hoping to receive the recording to watch at a later date. Children’s Programming this month has been spectacular, especially for school vacation week. Art with Julie, and STEM programming with Chris Rodrigues, Japanese Folktales and Origami, Animal Adventures, the ongoing Tween cooking class. Excellent experiences for attendees. Coming up: Puzzle swap (5/17), Floral Design Workshop (5/13), Woman in Jazz (Virtual, 5/21), Creeque Alley returns for Monthly Music Series (5/29), and Captain America: Brave New World (5/30). Outreach ▪ Outreach We have been reaching out to potential partners for outreach services, including Arrive Lunenburg and Tri-Town Apartments, and Smokestack Coffee Roasters. We are assembling a Welcome to Lunenburg and the Library packet of resources. • All Vendor Fair at the T.C. Passios building - Saturday, May 10th, 11:00-6:00 o Weather started rainy, and ended windy, but this was a positive event with solid attendance. Robin manned the booth with Melody from the Friends and were joined by Melanie and Joslyn from the staff. Chatted with about 15 people, about half were not regular library users. • Lunenburg Cruise Night at T.C Passios Wednesday May 21 • Lunenburg Artisan Market at 186 Massachusetts Ave: o Sunday, June 8, 9:00-12:00 o Sunday, July 20, 9:00-12:00 o Sunday, August 31, 9:00-12:00 • Lunenburg Farmers Market at T.C. Passios: o Friday, June 13, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, July 11, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, August 8, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, September 12, 4:00-7:00 ▪ Building & Maintenance ===PAGE 7=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Our HVAC system needed attention early in May. THE board that had been repaired two years ago, needed some tweaks to programming and an electrical repair. The system seems to be operating efficiently again. The new cleaning crew seems to have learned how to enter the building without setting off the alarm. They are tasked with cleaning everything. So, we expect them to do so. Most departments in town reported having repeated issues at our last department head meeting. Still waiting for Lakeview to have time in their schedule to get the Proctor Memorial Garden water feature running again. Test pits for the rainwater garden happened last month, and Robin and I met with the design firm and Bill Bernard to discuss specifics of the latest draft design. The test pit results dictate that the garden function more as filter than as an aid to infiltration, and we have tempered the maintenance needs of the plantings with a focal point, so that our volunteer labor can effectively help establish the native plants that will be going in. The landscaping crew will be able to mow around the filter beds without disturbing the native plants. ▪ Technology Another of the new batch of Dell public access computers broke mid-April. It has been sent to the manufacturer for repairs. Mason helped to install a security monitor in the Director’s Office mid-April. Melanie and I have begun to gather data for our ongoing digital resource assessment. ===PAGE 8=== MAY 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report APRIL STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 3 97 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 4 96 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 6 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 12 DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN 1 55 LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 6 HOMESCHOOLERS MEETING- ECOTARIUM VISIT 1 51 S T E M WITH CHRIS- INTRO TO ROBOTICS 1 10 ANIMAL ADVENTURES 1 64 ART CLASS WITH MISS JULIE 1 22 JAPANESE FOLKTALES AND ORIGAME 1 12 STEM KITS STATISTICS: Top 3 Kits: • Ozobot • Flowers and Unicorns Coding • Three Little Pigs Problem Solving 32 KITS 10 Ci MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/2jbc9nuh ===PAGE 9=== PATRON QUOTE FOR APRIL: PATRON CHECKING OUT BOOKS FROM ADULT COLLECTION: “I love your books that you put out. I find it so easy to pick something new to read just by looking at the books on display!” HIGHLIGHTS FOR APRIL: STORY TIME WITH LOCAL AUTHOR , JESSICA MCPHERSON Jessica came to story time today to share the story she wrote about the horses of Chincoteague Island entitled Where the Wild Ponies Swim. The kids really enjoyed the story and made some adorable ponies inspired by the story! . ART CLASS WITH MISS JULIE- Another successful painting class with Miss Julie. The subject was “birds”. ===PAGE 10=== Animal Adventures: An educational show from the Animal Adventures Family Zoo & Rescue Center - featuring live animals to pet! We got to see, up close and personal, Brazilian Three Banded Armadillo, Alligator, Snake, Chinchilla, Ferret, Hedgehog, Rats, Bunnies, Geckos, Bearded Dragons, Spiny Tailed Lizards, Blue Tongue Skink, and Turtles. DROP-IN CRAFT WITH MISS JOSLYN Fifty-five kids and families showed up today to make easter themed houses for their peeps! They had a blast! From Facebook post: ===PAGE 11=== UPCOMING EVENTS FOR MAY: • May 1st - Magic Tree House Book Club and Kids Comic Club Kits available • May 3rd- Author Story Time visit • May 5th & 12th -Little Listeners Storytime for 0-3'sPreschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • May 7th & 14th -Preschool Story Time for 4’s & 5’s • May 1st - In-Betweeners Book Club and LPL Kids Book Club • May 5th– Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • May 8th- Mother's Day Planting • May 12th – Drop-In Craft with Miss Joslyn • May 19th - Homeschoolers Craft Corner • May 20th - Legos at the Library Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 12=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services May 2025 Summary - Programs o Past programs: ▪ Needle Felting for Teens ▪ Art on the Wing – 3 participants ▪ TAB meeting – cancelled due to illness ▪ Video Game Night – cancelled due to no participation ▪ Virtual Cooking Class – 7 participants o Upcoming teen programs: ▪ TAB Meeting ▪ Homeschool Craft Corner ▪ Drippy Sky Painting ▪ End of School Henna Other news/updates - Art on the Wing was a very successful program. One of the teens in the program is interested in animal rehabilitation like the program presenters and got the opportunity to discuss animal rehab with them as a career field. - Video Game Nights: We only have one video game night left for the school year. I am thinking that next year we will only have video game nights quarterly instead of monthly since this year’s attendance has been so low. - Virtual Cooking classes continue to be the most popular teen program. It's also a good family program as younger siblings and parents get involved as well. - TAB: Currently we have 4 regular TAB members. I would like to see a couple more and I am hoping that as some of the active library tweens age up this summer, they will join TAB. Since June of last year TAB has collectively volunteered 47hours 15min in the library. They are planning to volunteer in the children’s room this summer to assist Debbie and Joslyn with summer reading. - The Hot Pepper Garden has moved from the Teen Room to the garden outside. I created lots of signage to hopefully get people interested as they walk by. We had a patron give us a ton more pepper plants so now we have 12 varieties of peppers in the garden. ===PAGE 13=== - The SHAPIRO group teens will be joining us again this summer with daily visits. I have a meeting scheduled with the director to work out how these visits will look. - Teen Summer Reading: o Doing a mix of crafting, take & makes, and D&D this summer. Last summer attendance was very low despite the high number of teen readers, so I didn’t want to book anybody beyond the Henna program. o I have high hopes for the Take & Makes series as they were popular over the winter. The gardening take & make also did really well. o Continuing the strategy of high value prizes for summer reading that I think won over a lot of teens last year. This year’s big ticket items include a record player and polaroid camera. o I am in touch with the High School librarian, Pam Valle, to see how we can promote summer reading before school lets out. She passed on all the info for the program to the 8th grade ELA teachers. ===PAGE 14=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department May 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ On Saturday April 5th we had 20 people join us for another session of the music clinic series. ➢ Janet Winer, Abigal Perrine, and I have launched community information sessions about the upcoming 20th anniversary of the library building. We held one on April 8th that was not well attended but the morning session on April 28th had two volunteers attend. ➢ Our craft & chill program for April was an LCC funded paint night on April 11th. We had 20 people join us for a fun family night out that was a huge hit! ➢ Monthly Music Series: Irish Poetry & Song with Kate Chadbourne was on Sunday April 13th and drew 35 attendees for another stellar performance by Kate! ➢ A homeschooling advocacy group gave an introductory information session on Tuesday April 15th to 14 people with varying interests in homeschooling. ➢ On Wednesday April 16th we hosted Jay DiPrima for a return program with Henry David Thoreau. This time he read Thoreau’s work “Economy” in period costume to 16 people. ➢ We had a return visit from Cathy Karp for another Visible Mending Workshop on Friday April 18th. There were 8 people at this workshop. ➢ During the school vacation week, we had five teams with a total of 18 participants join us for another Puzzle Race on Wednesday April 23rd. ➢ To cap off poetry month, we attempted to host an Open Mic Poetry Night on Wednesday April 30th for anyone to come and share their favorite poem with the community. However, only one brave local poet came to recite his favorite work. Instead of holding the program, he and I had an in-depth conversation on poetry for a few minutes during which he shared some insights to help us next time. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ On Saturday May 1st we had 12 people join us for the final session of the music clinic series. Due to their success, we will negotiate continuing the series in the fall of this year. ➢ There was a Floral Design Workshop on Tuesday May 13th. ➢ The annual Spring Puzzle Swap will take place on Saturday May 17th. ➢ Wednesday May 21st we will host the first of our Monthly Music Series programs with jazz flutist Galen Abdur-Razzaq joining us on Zoom for a tribute to women in jazz performance. ➢ On Friday May 23rd, we will host an opening reception for the new art exhibit: Lunenburg High School AP & Honors Art Thesis Show. There will be a live jazz performance by two students at the reception that Friday from 4-6 pm. The exhibit will run May 17th-31st ➢ The library will be hosting author Varla Ventura for a unique talk on botanical folklore based on information from her book Enchanted Plants on Wednesday May 28th. ➢ May will have two music concerts as part of the Monthly Music Series, with the second event booked for Thursday May 29th when the folk-rock duo Creeque Alley return to perform. One of our most popular, well received, and enthusiastic performers, we are very excited to welcome them back! Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are doing well with excellent discussions at our monthly meetings. ===PAGE 15=== o The 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We average 9 attendees at each meeting. o The Brighter Days book club meets every second Wednesday evening. There are now 10 consistent members of that discussion group. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance remains steady at 5-6 per week. ➢ The monthly Board Game Brunch programs have been moderately successful. There were no participants in April, but 3 new people for May’s meeting. ➢ Monthly Movie Nights have been hit or miss. The April program had 3 people in the audience, and one person left early dissatisfied with the selection, but we continue to learn and make better choices as the series goes on. There is more optimism for the next film on Friday May 30th. ➢ After many conversations and interest surveys with our Weight Strengthening class participants, Niki Holtzman and I have decided to try a new format for the summer: Tuesday Tune-Up Sessions. These are bi-weekly mini exercise classes for former attendees and new patrons. This is a compromise between the weekly meetings we usually do for a six-week series in fall and winter, and the break we normally take in the busy summer months. We had 11 people at our first class on Tuesday May 6th. Virtual Program Update ➢ These are events sponsored and managed by other libraries. By partnering with them we receive a dedicated link to track viewership and engagement from our patrons. There are no virtual programs booked in May or June, but there are several on deck for July and August that we will promote soon. o “Local Farms, MA - Produce, Meats, Dairy, Oh My!” was on April 7th. We had 4 people register and 2 attend the event live. o “The Intersection of Climate Action and Romance Novels: A Panel Discussion” was on April 10th. We had 1 register but did not attend the program live. o “Tudor Queens and Ladies in Waiting: A Discussion with Authors Nicola Clark and Jade Scott” was on April 12th. We had 2 people register, and no one attended live. o “The Two Nerdy History Girls Ride Again!” on April 14th had no registrations. o “No More Curse! A History of the Red Sox with David Kruh” on April 28th also had no registrations. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 5/13/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 93% 4% 3% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 69% 27% 4% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 90% 0% 10% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 70% 23% 7% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 81% 13% 6% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-06-12-agenda-7260.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-06-12 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-06-12-agenda-7260.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06122025-7260 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of June 12, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, June 12, 2025 5:30 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Reception for Donna Saiia & Dick Mailloux • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Welcome to new trustees Robin Venezia & Stephanie Trudel · Thanks to David Niose for returning for his 1st full term · Board Reorganization · Approval of Minutes of May 15, 2025 · Acceptance of Women’s Club gift · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Trustee Handbook discussion · Conroy Memorial Garden discussion · Room Use Policy Discussion · Library Invested Funds update & vote for guidance on investment strategy · Brooks House update / discussion · Friends Update · Discussion about having a LPL Board of Trustees meeting in August • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-06-12-minutes-7260.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-06-12 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-06-12-minutes-7260.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_06122025-7260 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes June 12, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Jana-Lee Balish, David Niose, Robin Venezia, Stephanie Trudel, Muir Haman, Glenn McLeod The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 7:21 p.m. by Chairperson Harry Kubetz. Reception for Donna Saiia & Dick Mailloux ● The reception to recognize Dick’s and Donna’s service to the library and town was held on the back patio at the library before our meeting. Public Comment ● No public comment. Agenda Items ● Welcome to new trustees Robin Venezia & Stephanie Trudel ○ The board welcomed the new members. ● Thanks to David Niose for returning for his 1st full term. ○ Harry thanked David for staying for another 3 years ● Board Reorganization ○ Chair - Jana nominated Harry, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Vice Chair - Harry nominated David, Jana seconded, David declined. Jana nominated Maia, Harry seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Secretary - Robin nominated Laura, Harry seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Treasurer - Harry nominated Robin, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Budget Subcommittee - Harry nominated Laura and Jana, Robin seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Friends Endowment Subcommittee - Harry nominated Jana, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Personnel Subcommittee - Maia nominated Jana, Harry seconded. Maia nominated Harry, Jana seconded.Harry nominated Stephanie, Robin seconded. Harry nominated Maia, Jana seconded. Vote for all was unanimous in favor. ○ Policy Subcommittee - Maia nominated David, Harry seconded, Harry nominated Laura, Maia seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Trust Fund Investment Subcommittee - we no longer need this subcommittee since we have a treasurer. ○ Master Plan Steering Committee Representative - Harry nominated David, Laura seconded, vote was unanimous in favor. ● Approval of Minutes of May 15, 2025 ○ Robin made a motion to accept the minutes of May 15, 2025, as amended, seconded by Harry. The motion passed, with Robin and Stephanie abstaining. ● Acceptance of Women’s Club Gift ○ Passed over. Will do at our next meeting. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update The fiscal year is 94% completed. Yearly subscriptions will be paid this month from the Library Materials budget. ○ FY2026 Budget Update No update on the town’s FY2026 budget. ===PAGE 2=== The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) historically has provided funding to the states for library services. Due to funding cuts at the federal level, it is likely we will see a $3.5 million shortfall at the state level. This means the MBLC will need to cut support for research databases that, in the past, have been made available to libraries across the state. Starting 7/1/25, statewide research database offerings will be significantly reduced due to this cut in federal funding. We have been able to get a discount on some databases and will be paying for them directly from library funds. MBLC staff is also supported by IMLS funds, and there could be some cuts there. ○ Staff Update Melanie attended the annual MLA conference in May. She attended sessions that covered book challenges and legal frameworks, civic literacy post-election, and updates on current challenges around IMLS funding and cuts. Muir was certified as a Mental Health First Aid respondent. The skills learned will be valuable in referring those in need to resources that will help them. Muir has been meeting with Deb Bookis (Director of Teaching and Learning) and Tara Bastien (STEM teacher) to discuss ongoing collaborations with the schools, and to hopefully resume 5th grade visits to the library. They plan on sharing resources and support around STEM topics, including our circulating STEM kits with the Primary School. Muir will be presenting on the library’s anticipated FY27 needs to the new town Tri-Board in August. This means Muir and Lydia will need to complete the staffing study earlier than they originally planned. A sample for the staffing study was done to track an average week in May and June. Another sample will be done during July to capture our busiest time of year during the Summer Reading Program. Debbie Laffond, our Children’s Librarian, will be retiring this fall. ○ Programs Update The Summer Reading program registration is ongoing. Events are starting 6/23 and will again include a free lunch program. Main Street Bank has donated $9,225 to support the lunch program in June and July. Muir is exploring options to continue the program through August until the start of school. There were a few program cancellations in the past month due to low registration numbers. North End Subaru has committed to another year of support for the monthly music program.. ○ Outreach The staff is assembling a Welcome to Lunenburg and the Library packet of resources. Recent outreach events have included the All Vendor Fair at TCP and Lunenburg Cruise Night. Future events are planned for the Arrive Lunenburg Monthly Event, the Lunenburg Artisan Market, and the Lunenburg Farmers’ Market. ○ Technology Update One Verkada camera failed and has been replaced under warranty. 3D printing as a public service should be ready in the next few months. We are waiting to get more than one person trained on the machines and software. We have purchased some Raspberry Pi devices to support a coding club that is planned for the fall. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The projector screen in the Community Room may be damaged and we are waiting on an assessment from an expert. Facilities protected the pump in the water feature from accidental damage, and it has been running for two weeks. But the pump stopped working today for some reason that is not yet known. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Muir suggested we have a review of the MBLC Trustee Handbook at our upcoming meetings for the new trustees. ===PAGE 3=== ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ Robin Venezia, Lydia Henshaw, and family and friends of Bob Conroy gathered in May to begin planting the garden. It is now about half planted. Kevin Boussom will be delivering the sculpture before fall, and the planting can then be finished. ● Room Use Policy Discussion ○ We reviewed the updated Room Use Policy. Harry made a motion to accept the policy as amended. David seconded. The vote was unanimous to accept the policy. ● Library Invested Funds update ○ We do not have the June statement yet. It was at 99K last month. ○ There is approximately 4K in a money market account, 36K in a CD, and 56K in a managed balanced fund. ○ Nicole Groskreutz of Edward Jones will be at our September meeting to review our investments with us. ● Brooks House Update ○ No update. ● Friends Update ○ Update on the 20th anniversary of the library building celebration. ○ The Friends’ annual meeting is 7/26/25 at 9 a.m. There will be a breakfast buffet. ○ The spring book sale made $2,610.50, and the bake sale made $1,011.00. ● Discussion about having a LPL Board of Trustees meeting in August ○ It will be difficult to plan a meeting to work around everyone’s summer plans. ● Board Comments ○ Jana will not be able to attend our September meeting. ○ Glenn forwarded us an article, SJC Decision Guides Open Meeting Law Compliance, and said it would help us understand the latest rulings about how to complete Muir’s review without violating the open meeting law. ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Harry, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:29 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ June 2025 Director’s Report ○ June 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ June 2025 Young Adult Services Report ○ June 2025 Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update *Accounts Payable warrant submitted today in the amount of $18,272.90, I will update this spreadsheet Thursday to reflect. FY26 Budget Update No update from last meeting. Town Meeting approved the following Library budget: FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 81,688$ 90% 94% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 57,286$ 89% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 242,984$ 224,125$ 92% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,268$ 1,268$ 100% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 13,897$ 62% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,026$ 11,517$ 64% WATER CHARGES 1,200$ 1,125$ 94% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 29$ 6% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 13,166$ 88% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 732$ 29% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 900$ 642$ 71% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 4,213$ 60% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 306$ 102% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 45,366$ 48% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 1,299$ 32% TOTALS 592,057$ 483,765$ 82% ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update May 19th, Melanie attended the annual MLA conference. Some valuable sessions included discussion of book challenges and legal frameworks, civic literacy post-election, and updates on the current challenges around IMLS funding and cuts. I was certified as a Mental Health First Aid responded at a workshop on May 20, and the skills learned should prove valuable in referring those in need to resources that will help them and in reducing stigma around mental health challenges. I met with Deb Bookis and Tara Bastien of the schools to discuss ongoing parterships and collaborations. It seems as if these efforts may result in resumption of 5th grade visits! We plan to share resources and support around STEM topics as well. Town Administration will be initiating “Tri-Board” (Select Board, FinComm, and School Board) meetings starting this month. Their charge will be to advise on a comprehensive fiscal plan for the town’s future. This group will ask for more information, earlier about FY27 needs. I will be presenting in August about the library’s anticipated needs. This puts a little more pressure on Lydia and I to complete our staffing study earlier than we thought we might. The Conroy Memorial Garden is about half planted. Around 20 people gathered on May 24, including Robin, Lydia, Susan Conroy, and family and friends. Kevin Boussom is working on the sculpture and anticipates delivery before the fall. North End Subaru has expressed their commitment to another year of support for the Month Music Series, and their intention to support us long-term. Both Library and Jason from North End are appreciative of the partnership. Programs Mother’s Day Planting 2.0 had 38 attendees! Our Enchanted Plants program brought 16, despite competition with the rescheduled Cruise Night. Niki’s Weight Strengthening sessions has seen a dip in attendance. A few program cancellations happened this past month due to low registration numbers, like the Women in Jazz performance, Sew Simple Sessions, movie night, and video game night. You may not have realized it but our magnificent Children’s Librarian Debbie Laffond held her final storytime in May. Her retirement will come in the Fall, and she will not deliver the Fall storytime sessions. Coming up: Summer Reading! Registration is ongoing, events start 6/23, including free summer lunches! Outreach We have been reaching out to potential partners for outreach services, including Arrive Lunenburg and Tri-Town Apartments, and Smokestack Coffee Roasters. We are assembling a Welcome to Lunenburg and the Library packet of resources. • All Vendor Fair at the T.C. Passios building - Saturday, May 10th, 11:00-6:00 ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT o Weather started rainy, and ended windy, but this was a positive event with solid attendance. Robin manned the booth with Melody from the Friends and were joined by Melanie and Joslyn from the staff. Chatted with about 15 people, about half were not regular library users. • Lunenburg Cruise Night at T.C Passios Wednesday May 21 POSTPONED • Lunenburg Cruise Night at T.C Passios Wednesday May 28 ~137 interactions, many library users, lots of families and children • Arrive Lunenburg Monthly Event BBQ Afternoon June 13 12-3pm • Lunenburg Artisan Market at 186 Massachusetts Ave: o Sunday, June 8, 9:00-12:00 Quiet day with fewer than 20 interactions, fewer than usual vendors, GRADUATION PARTY competition? o Sunday, July 20, 9:00-12:00 o Sunday, August 31, 9:00-12:00 • Lunenburg Farmers Market at T.C. Passios: o Friday, June 13, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, July 11, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, August 8, 4:00-7:00 o Friday, September 12, 4:00-7:00 ▪ Building & Maintenance Our HVAC system has been blasting cold air lately. Seems ready for summer! Facilities helped protect the water feature pump from accidental damage, and the water has been running for two weeks now! The projector screen may be damaged, we are waiting on an assessment from an expert. ▪ Technology One Verkada camera failed, and it has been replaced. 3D printing as a public service should be ready at some point soon in the next few months. We are really just waiting for an opportunity to get more than one person trained on the machines and software. We have purchased a number of Raspberry Pi devices to support a coding club that is planned for the Fall. ===PAGE 7=== JUNE 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report MAY STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS LITTLE LISTENERS STORYTIME 2 59 PRESCHOOL STORY TIME 2 55 MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOK CLUB KITS 1 6 KIDS COMIC CLUB KITS 1 10 LEGOS AT THE LIBRARY 1 11 AUTHOR STORY TIME 1 15 MOTHER’S DAY PLANTING 1 38 MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT: https://tinyurl.com/ydrjvra8 HIGHLIGHTS FOR MAY: Story times, book clubs, Legos at the Library,& drop-in crafts all are put on pause by mid-May. We use the last few weeks to gear up for Summer Reading 2025 “20,00 Reads under the Sea” making sure we have everything ready and organized for all our wonderful upcoming events! STORY TIME WITH LOCAL AUTHOR STEPHANIE LUCIER Local, beloved elementary teacher Stephanie Lucier came by to share her story based on her cat Binx: Lucky believes that he is the unluckiest cat in the world. He has tried every good luck charm he can think of and still he finds himself involved in silly mishap after mishap. But with the help of his mom and positive thinking, Lucky perseveres and learns that luck is something you get to make for yourself! Ms. Lucier teaches at the Lunenburg Primary School and has a passion for writing. She currently resides in Massachusetts, with her family and her own little "Lucky" named Binx. The children were very excited to have their teacher as a guest reader and really enjoyed the story and accompanying craft. ===PAGE 8=== MOTHER’S DAY PLANTING The kids who had planted seeds in April came back to the library to repot them into larger containers, after decorating them for someone special, to give away for Mother’s Day. They were quite impressed to see how the seeds had grown into small plants! We all worked diligently to make sure the seedlings survived and were happy to send them on to their new homes! CRUISE NIGHT By delaying this event for 1 week, we were able to enjoy a beautiful evening outside on the green space at T C Passios for Cruise Night 2025. The library sponsored a nature scavenger hunt- with bubbles and lollipops as prizes and shared lots of information about our upcoming Summer Reading Program. I also assisted at the Scout table where we offered the kids a chance to make a wind powered balloon car- a very popular craft! All of this was accompanied by millions of bubbles produced by the library's bubble machine! ===PAGE 9=== SENSORY STORY TIME WITH MISS PAM Pam Wockenfuss presented another of her delightful sensory story time programs with the kids and families. This month's story was Sam’s Sandwich by David Pelham. After reading this fun book, Pam gave the children time to experience the story with all of their senses as each was presented with a plastic box, which they were allowed to keep, containing many elements from the story. UPCOMING EVENTS FOR JUNE: • June 2nd- Registration for Summer Reading begins! • June 11th- Author Story Time visit ===PAGE 10=== • June 16th – Last Day of School • June 23rd- programming begins for SRP- “Make it Monday” • June 24th- First week of Lego Bucket Challenges • June 25th- Whimsical Wednesday Lunch and Story Time • June 26th- SRP Kick-Off with Davis Bates Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 11=== Kaitlyn Himmelberger Young Adult Services June 2025 Summary - Programs o Past programs: ▪ TAB Meeting – 3 participants ▪ Homeschool Craft Corner – no participants ▪ Drippy Sky Painting – 4 participants ▪ End-of-School Henna – 18 participants ▪ Video Game Night – Cancelled due to low attendance ▪ TAB volunteer day – 2 participants o Upcoming teen programs: ▪ TAB Meeting ▪ Summer Take & Make Kits ▪ Dungeons and Dragons one-shot ▪ Sewing for Teens Other news/updates - School Visits: I visited two 6th grade classes at the school library in order to promote summer reading. Both visits went well, and I was also able to promote some of the summer events as well. Pam (the school librarian) also passed along Summer Reading info to the ELA teachers for the 7th & 8th grade classes. - Teen Summer Reading: We currently have 13 teens signed up on beanstack (as of 6/9). The first of the summer reading events was the end of school henna and that was a successful program with 18 total participants. Mandy from WickedGoodHenna is great and always draws a crowd. - SHAPIRO group: I met with the director of the SHAPIRO group to discuss the teen summer visits. They will come four days a week, Mon-Thurs, at 1pm. I will have activities for them to participate in throughout the week, including lego challenges, coloring, board games, and a craft activity one day a week. The young adult group might come as well for some classes such as how to apply and interview for jobs etc. - Homeschool Craft Corner/Meet-Up: These events are over for the summer but will be back in the fall. Overall they were regularly attended by 15 – 20 individuals ===PAGE 12=== consistently, which was about 6 families. Attendance did drop off in the late spring once the weather turned nice. - Professional Development: I attended a three-week course on Youth Engagement that was hosted by the Library Journal. It was a thorough course with lots of good ideas and suggestions. o I also took a short course on how to successfully support coworkers during conflicts with patrons. - The TAB group met on Saturday, June 7th in order to put together the Summer take and make kits. At our last meeting we decided to change our meeting times to a little earlier since three of our members are also pages at the library in order to better accommodate their work schedules. We will also be meeting through out the summer. ===PAGE 13=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department June 2025 Summary of Last Month’s Programs & Events ➢ On Saturday May 1st we had 12 people join us for the final session of the music clinic series. Due to their success, we will negotiate continuing the series in the fall of this year. ➢ We hosted a fabulous Floral Design Workshop on Tuesday, May 13th. There were 15 people in attendance, and it was a very engaging group that made the workshop a huge success! ➢ The annual Spring Puzzle Swap that took place on Saturday, May 17th was another successful swap event. We had 52 people visit to exchange 472 tickets for selections from the 656 donated puzzles. ➢ Wednesday May 21st we postponed our Monthly Music Series program with jazz flutist Galen Abdur- Razzaq on Zoom for a tribute to women in jazz performance. We will most likely reschedule in late winter or early spring when virtual programs may be more appealing. ➢ On Friday May 23rd, we hosted an opening reception for the art exhibit: Lunenburg High School AP & Honors Art Thesis Show. That was very well attended, with an estimated 58 people visiting the reception. The exhibit ran May 17th-31st and is something we will continue to do with the school in the coming years. ➢ The library sponsored author Varla Ventura for a unique talk on botanical folklore based on information from her book Enchanted Plants on Wednesday May 28th. There were 16 people at this informative and engaging talk, despite the draw of Cruise Night happening concurrently outside. ➢ On Thursday May 29th the folk-rock duo Creeque Alley returned to perform. One of our most popular, well-received, and enthusiastic performers, we were very excited to welcome them back! There were 25 people enjoying the music and singing along that evening. This Month’s Programs & Events ➢ Local Lunenburg resident and personal crisis coach Pamela Dussault visited on June 4th for a talk on managing caregiver burnout. There were 11 people here for the program and it was very well received, with calls for more support groups and workshops to be held at the library in the future. ➢ On Thursday June 12th we will host a return visit with Mark & Raianne for a folk duo concert as part of the Monthly Music Series. ➢ There will be a summer puzzle race on June 17th. ➢ For a creative workshop, the library will be holding a fused glass pendant making class on June 18th. ➢ And as part of summer reading, on June 25th there will be a “bad art” night for patrons of all ages to come to the library and make creative artwork using odds and ends pieces from the craft supply. It should be a fun event to mark the beginning of summer! ===PAGE 14=== Recurring Program Update ➢ Book clubs are doing well with excellent discussions at our monthly meetings. o The 100 Books Bucket List book club meets every first Tuesday morning. We average 9 attendees at each meeting. o The Brighter Days book club met every second Wednesday evening. It is being rebranded as Between the Bookends book club, where we will read through suggestions from our regular readers instead of working on a set theme for the year. There are now 10 consistent members of that discussion group. ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group attendance remains steady at 5-6 per week. ➢ The monthly Board Game Brunch programs have been moderately successful. There were no participants in April, but 3 new people for May’s meeting. ➢ Monthly Movie Nights have been dragging with the weather change for spring. The May program had no one attend. We may take a break for the summertime and bring it back for the cooler weather. ➢ The Tuesday Tune-Up Sessions with Niki Holtzman started strong but have already tapered off. These are bi-weekly mini exercise classes for former attendees and new patrons. This is a compromise between the weekly meetings we usually do for a six-week series in fall and winter, and the break we normally take in the busy summer months. We had 11 people in our first class on Tuesday May 6th, canceled the May 20th session, and only had 3 at our June 3rd meeting. Virtual Program Update ➢ There are no virtual programs booked in May or June, but there are several on deck for July and August that we will promote soon. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 6/9/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 95% 0% 5% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 84% 12% 4% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 90% 0% 10% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 76% 9% 15% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 86% 5% 9% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-09-18-agenda-7403.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-09-18 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-09-18-agenda-7403.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09182025-7403 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of September 18, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, September 18, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Presentation by Edward Jones · Verbal conf. fmTrustees to allow Edward Jones to communicate with Treasurer · Treasurer’s Report · Approval of Minutes of June 12, 2025 · Discussion of thanks to Debbie Laffond whose last working day will be Sat, Oct 4 · Acceptance of gifts from Women’s Club, Nashoba Velley Pride, & Memorial Bench · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Master Plan Steering Committee Feedback to Draft Recommendations for 2025 · Trustee Handbook discussion · Conroy Memorial Garden update · Room Use Policy Discussion · Brooks House update / discussion · Friends Update · Book Challenge discussion · Open Meeting Law Discussion (as it applies to ‘reviews’) • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-09-18-minutes-7403.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-09-18 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-09-18-minutes-7403.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09182025-7403 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes September 18, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz (remote), Maia Wentrup (Acting Chair), Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, Stephanie Trudel, Muir Haman The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by Acting Chair Maia Wentrup. Public Comment ● Laura explained the Library of Services fundraiser to the Trustees and passed out forms in case anyone had a service they wished to donate. Agenda Items ● Presentation by Edward Jones ○ Nicole Groskreutz of Edward Jones met with the Trustees for our annual review of investments. Total investments as of 9/17/25 was $107,733.20. ○ We are staying with the same investment strategy. ○ Robin requested that funds in CDs automatically roll into a money market fund upon maturity. Nicole will need a letter of authorization for this to happen. ● Verbal confirmation from Trustees to allow Edward Jones to communicate with Treasurer ○ Edward Jones already has permission from Myleen Mallari, Town Treasurer, to talk to Robin, Treasurer of the Trustees. Nothing further needs to be done. ● Treasurer’s Report ○ Robin explained that the Trustees’ Investment Policy needs to be updated to reflect current practices and correct out-of-date information. Due to gains in the Edward Jones managed/balanced account, the current distribution of funds no longer matches the original investment percentages the Library Trustees established on May 18, 2023: ■ 40% principal protection (CD), ■ 2% liquidity, and ■ 58% in a managed/balanced account with Edward Jones. ○ The percentages as of the August 29, 2025 statement were: ■ 34% in a CD, ■ 5% liquidity, and ■ 61% managed/balanced account. ○ Robin will work with Muir to draft an updated investment policy and establish working guidelines on how the funds should be distributed between these three categories. When finished, the draft policy will be presented to the entire Board of Trustees for discussion. ● Approval of Minutes of June 12, 2025 ○ Robin made a motion to accept the minutes of June 12, 2025, as amended, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. ● Discussion of thanks to Debbie Laffond whose last working day will be Sat, Oct 4 ○ We discussed what the Trustees could do to recognize Debbie’s years of service to the library and town. ○ Monday, October 6 has been publicized as a day the public can come by to say goodbye to Debbie. ● Acceptance of gifts from Women’s Club, Nashoba Valley Pride, & Memorial Bench ○ The Lunenburg Women’s Club gave a $100 gift to the library with no restrictions attached. The library can use this money as they see fit. ===PAGE 2=== ○ Nashoba Valley Pride gave a $100 gift to the library to be used for books and/or materials related to LGBTQIA+ topics. ○ Robin made a motion to accept the gifts from the Lunenburg Women’s Club and Nashoba Valley Pride, seconded by Harry. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. Muir will send thank you notes for these two donations. ○ A granite bench in memory of Regina McGee will be donated to the library. It will be located near the water feature. A proposal for this project will be available for us next month. ○ Muir is developing a gift policy that he will present to us next month. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update Muir is waiting for two outstanding invoices. One is from SHI for $2,400, which will be entered under office supplies. The other is from Baker & Taylor for $1,300, and will be paid from library materials. ○ FY2026 Budget Update Electricity is higher than last year. This could be due to the HVAC repairs and now having a fully functioning system. Maia asked if a meter had recently been replaced and could be causing this increase. Muir will check on this. The heat has not been turned on yet. The $70 amount is a minimum monthly charge. Muir will be stopping our current book service in FY27. We need to start thinking about what we will be doing for our next five-year plan. If we hire a consultant for this, it will be budgeted under contracted services. ○ Staff Update The Summer Reading Program was a wild success with more than 400 participants. More than 1,600 free lunches were served, thanks to donations from Main Street Bank and the Friends. Harry will write a thank you note to Main Street Bank. FY25 ended with very positive statistics. For the year, there were 68,459 visitors, 77,543 physical items circulated, and another 34,363 digital circulations. These are all increases over FY24, with the digital circulations increasing by almost 30%. Debbie Laffond, Children’s Librarian, is retiring in October. The celebration of the 20th anniversary of the building will be held throughout the month of October. Penelope Balish has been hired as a Library Page. Muir will be starting interviews for the Children’s Librarian position within the next week. Marabeth Balboni was recognized for excellence at the town employee event in August. Muir presented his anticipated FY27 library budget to the Tri-Board on August 26. Muir participated in the Massachusetts Library Aid Association scholarship selection process. Joslyn and Kaitee have been participating in a number of professional development courses and workshops over the summer and will continue to do so this fall. Joslyn has worked hard to develop a story-time calendar for September through December, and will be delivering those story-times. Kaitee is focusing on customer service and reader’s advisory skills. Muir will be targeting two grants this fall. One is from Emerson Hospital for memory kits to be used at the Memory Cafe at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center. The other is a Community Foundation grant. The library will be partnering with the LAAC to deliver books to home bound individuals using Meals on Wheels drivers to deliver and pick up books. Muir met with Jodi Fortuna, the new Superintendent of Schools. She is onboard with reviving the 5th grade visits to the library and with other collaborations. ○ Programs Update FY2025 programs brought in nearly 7,000 attendees to 410 programs. August was a quiet month, but once school started activity at the library has increased. ===PAGE 3=== The Teen Room is offering less-structured activities and having a more “come and go” atmosphere rather than scheduled programs. Hopefully this flexibility will increase attendance. The opening event for the 20th Anniversary Celebration is on 10/3, and the closing event will be on 10/24. Scavenger hunts for three different age groups will be held throughout this time. ○ Outreach The library will be participating in the Lunenburg Business Association’s Trunk or Treat event in October. Visits are also planned to Arrive and Tri-Town apartment complexes. Muir is working on outreach at Smokestack Roasters. ○ Technology Update In preparation for the Tri-Board presentation, Muir met with the IT department to discuss our technology replacement schedule and needs. We now have a 5-year replacement schedule and this will be a part of the IT department’s presentations moving forward. Our ongoing hard drive issues have turned out to be a result of improper selection of hardware. Due to our use of Deep Freeze, we will need to upgrade to Enterprise quality SSDs to avoid damage to the hard drives. We upgraded to cloud-based management of Deep Freeze which will save a significant amount of time for Melanie. ○ Building & Maintenance Update DPW patched our parking lot. Muir had a discussion with Chris Ruth, Facilities Manager, about our future capital needs, including sidewalk repairs. Two Friends-funded projects are in the works for the bidding process. They are for a sail shade for the patio and motorized shades in the Main Hall. An order for cafe furniture has been placed with Blockhouse. The cost is $900 over what the Friends allocated. Muir will bring this up at the next Friends’ meeting. The projector screen motor was repaired this summer, and the projector cart is having its caster wheels repaired. The projector should be installed from the ceiling in the Community Room sometime this year. The rainwater garden design is complete, and the garden should be installed this fall. ● Master Plan Steering Committee Feedback to Draft Recommendations for 2025 ○ We will discuss this next month when David is here, since he is our representative to the MPSC. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Did not discuss. Will put it on next month’s agenda. ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ Kevin Boussom installed the sculpture, and it has been fastened to the granite. Robin Venezia and volunteers completed the plantings. ○ Muir will ask Bob Conroy’s family if they would like a plaque installed or a dedication ceremony. ● Room Use Policy Discussion ○ The volume of tutors using the quiet study rooms has been steady over the summer, and they have been receptive to the policy changes. ○ Muir would like to add a stipulation that the contact person of any group using the library should live in Lunenburg. ○ Other discussion was had about how to keep room use fair and equitable. ● Brooks House Update ○ The new superintendent may have some interest in the Brooks House. ● Friends Update ○ The annual meeting was in July. Thirteen members were in attendance. ===PAGE 4=== ○ Chris Harlow is now the Assistant Treasurer. All other officers were re-elected to their existing roles. ○ There are 326 active members of the Friends as of 6/30/25. ○ The 20K contingency for the Teen Room reno has been released and will be deposited in a CD. ○ Museum pass use is down and the Friends are having a discussion about opening up pass use to non-Friends. ○ The meeting on 9/8 discussed final plans for the 20th anniversary celebration. ○ The Book and Bake Sale will be Nov. 7 & 8. ● Book Challenge Discussion ○ A patron called and spoke with Muir about a children’s book that concerned them. Muir heard them out and told them they would need to fill out a form for reconsideration if they would like a formal review of the book. ● Open Meeting Law Discussion (as it applies to reviews) ○ Defer to next month when David will be here. ○ Harry will discuss this with Jennifer Warren, the Town Manager, to get her opinion. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Laura, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ September 2025 Director’s Report ○ September 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ September 2025 Adult Services Department Report ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update FY26 Budget Update FY25 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 90,726$ 90,726$ 100% 100% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 64,023$ 63,731$ 100% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 249,142$ 249,570$ 100% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC -$ -$ SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,268$ 1,585$ 125% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 19,342$ 19,132$ 99% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 15,026$ 13,059$ 87% WATER CHARGES 1,200$ 1,200$ 100% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 499$ 100% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,500$ 100% PROGRAMS 15,000$ 15,000$ 100% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 2,455$ 98% CWMARS NETWORK 22,630$ 22,630$ 100% POSTAGE 523$ 523$ 100% OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000$ 4,805$ 69% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 306$ 306$ 100% LIBRARY MATERIAL 94,000$ 92,806$ 99% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 3,999$ 100% TOTALS 591,686$ 586,526$ 99% FY26 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 97,076$ 13,365$ 14% 21% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 69,627$ 11,553$ 17% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 269,513$ 46,310$ 17% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,300$ 0% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 3,733$ 17% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 70$ 0% WATER CHARGES 1,150$ 0% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 20$ 4% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 16,000$ 2,296$ 14% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 0% CWMARS NETWORK 20,571$ 20,571$ 100% POSTAGE -$ OFFICE SUPPLIES 8,000$ 171$ 2% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 233$ 78% LIBRARY MATERIAL 96,000$ 5,563$ 6% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 0% TOTALS 632,037$ 108,362$ 17% ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update We are coming off the best statistical Summer ever for the library! Our SRP was a wild success, with more than 400 participants. Starting registrations at the beginning of June also supported the readers who were interested in starting as soon as possible. The majority of registrants signed up during the month of June. We also served more than 1600 lunches during SRP, thanks to Main Street Bank and the Friends! The summer was very busy and staff have been putting in the extra effort to make it a spectacular experience for all who visit the library! FY25 concluded with very positive statistics on the whole. Submitting ARIS in August, we counted 68,459 visitors between July 1 and June 30. 77,543 physical items circulated (for a value of $1.148M), with another 34,363 digital circulations. These are all increases, with the digital circulations jumping almost 30% over FY24. The next two months promise to be quite busy for our staff. Debbie Lafond’s retirement will be in early October. The day for the public to visit her and express their appreciation will be October 6 between 10 and 5. Our celebrations of the 20th Anniversary of opening this facility take place during October. We are engaged in two job searches, Children’s Librarian and a Library Page. We are about to hire for the Library Page position, and we will begin to invite applicants to interview for the Children’s Librarian position late this week or early next week. The Town Manager organized a town employee wide event in August, which continued to support a friendly, collaborative atmosphere for town employees. The Library’s own Marabeth Balboni won recognition for her excellence. I presented to the Tri-Board (Selectboard, School Board, Finance Committee) meeting about Library budget anticipated needs for FY27 and beyond on August 26. The presentation was much more detailed than my usual presentations and much earlier in the year. I also participated in the Massachusetts Library Aid Association scholarship selection process, although I was not able to attend in person this year. We are supporting significant effort to engage in professional development for both Joslyn and Kaitee. They have signed up for a number of courses and workshops over the summer and into the fall. Joslyn has worked really hard to develop a story-time calendar for September-December and will be delivering those story-times. This endeavor will be a hand-on learning experience to help her develop her Children’s Librarian muscles and to help the organization bridge a transition to a new Children’s Librarian. Kaitee is focusing on customer service and reader’s advisory skills. We are also attempting to rebuild our 5th grade visit program, and establish a partnership with the school librarian at the Middle-High School. So far, after school crowds are even bigger than last year! I will be targeting two grants this fall. One will be from Emerson Hospital and the other will be a Community Foundation grant. We will also be introducing at-home delivery for Meals on Wheels participants. If those home-bound individuals would like personally selected library materials, they can join our program and the books will be delivered and returned by the Meals on Wheels drivers. Programs ===PAGE 7=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 library programs brought in nearly 7,000 attendees at 410 programs. We hope that this upward trend will continue as we focus this year on balancing staff time with engagement at events. Especially with the Children’s Room transition and other anticipated commitments for our wonderful staff, we will have fewer resources to direct toward programming, so this balance is very important. After a brief lull in activity during August, the school year has really blasted off to a quick start. Book groups have grown (11 for both Bookworms and In-Betweeners groups), and our first story time had solid turn out (30) for a musical theme. We are endeavoring to plan and schedule programs a bit further out to help with our workflow and conscientiously selecting events to offer. Our first Paint Night was a booming success: with only 20 available spots, more than 30 people were wait listed. In our Teen Room, we are also offering an activity (less structured and more “come and go” atmosphere than a “program”) three days each week. We are also offering approximately one teen program per week with an immediate goal of increasing program attendance. Our focus here is to develop an expectation around activity and engagement being regularly available for teens, an expectation that has been missing for a few years. Coming up: Around the World Storytime (9/17), Teen Coding Club (starts 9/16), LBA Lunch and Learn with Jay’s Cryptic Creatures (snakes, 9/20), a rebranded “After Hours” video game night (9/26), Monthly Music Series: History and Legends through Song with Sultana (9/24), “Stamped” Discussion and Author Q&A (9/25), Flu Clinic (9/20), and Weight Strengthening with Niki (returns 9/30). Anniversary Celebrations will be an Opening Ceremony on 10/3 and Closing Event with concert on 10/24. Scavenger Hunts for three different age groups will be offered as well. Outreach Outreach has been moderately successful over the summer. Having the Friends participate makes a lot of sense. Moving into the Fall, we are targeting events like LBA’s Trunk or Treat and visits to Arrive and Tri-Town. These are data gathering engagements for us, and could be very useful as a chance to advertise Friends benefits. Smokestack Coffee Roasters is our next target for partnership. We will also be starting at-home delivery partnering with LAAC’s Meals on Wheels as mentioned earlier in the report. ▪ Building & Maintenance Electricity costs are significantly higher this summer than in past years, perhaps a result of a fully functioning HVAC system. DPW patched our parking lot, and I have discussed with Facilities our future capital needs, including repairing sidewalks. Two Friends funded projects are in the works for the bidding process: Sail shade for patio and motorized shades in the Main Hall. Order submitted to Blockhouse for café furniture. Our projector shade motor was repaired early in the summer, and our projector cart is currently receiving some maintenance on its caster wheels. I tightened the wobbly tabletops in the Community Room and all seem to be functioning appropriately at the moment. ===PAGE 8=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT The sculpture for the Robert Conroy Memorial Garden has been delivered. It is even more inspiring and heart-warming than expected. A fantastic result from Kevin Boussom, the artist. The rainwater garden design is complete. The DPW and its contractor should be installing the design this Fall. This project will add a significant new demo space to the property and support education around dealing with storm water runoff for homeowners and for businesses. ▪ Technology As part of our preparation for the Tri-Board presentation, I met with IT department (Casey, Mason, Kara) to discuss our future replacement schedules and needs. Our Technology plan and replacement schedule should be a part of that department’s presentations moving forward. It does seem that our ongoing hard drive issues in our public access computers are a result of improper selection of hardware. Deep Freeze is likely frying the hard drives, and we may need to upgrade to Enterprise quality SSDs to avoid the issue. We upgraded to cloud-based management of Deep Freeze to save significant time for Melanie. ===PAGE 9=== SEPTEMBER 2025 Youth Services Area Trustee Report JUNE/JULY/AUGUST STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS SRP Kick-Off Event with Davis Bates 1 22 Make-It-Monday Crafts for Kids 6 142 Lego Bucket Challenge 6 120 Whimsical Wednesdays- Storytime with Lunch 6 109 Water Day 1 52 Pirate Party with Ed the Wizard 1 53 Ice Cream Social 1 118 Oceans of Reptiles- 2 sessions 2 44 Whale Mobile- 4 sessions 4 91 Meet the Bruins Mascot-Blades 1 68 Alpaca Storytime 1 50 Meet and Greet with Dr. Fortuna 1 35 Touch a Truck Event 1 100+ Summer Lunch Program sponsored by Main Street Bank 34 1600 ===PAGE 10=== SRP 2025 STATS FOR CHILDREN’S AREA: Beanstack: 97 readers 1258 hrs. /75,468 mins In-Person: 235 3043 hrs. / 182,580 mins TOTAL: 332 readers 4,301 hrs. / 258,048 mins SRP 2024 STATS FOR CHILDREN’S AREA: Beanstack: 63 readers 1,280 hours/76,828 minutes In-Person: 229 readers 2,420 hours/145,172 minutes Total: 292 readers 222,000 minutes/3,700 hours HIGHLIGHTS FOR JUNE, JULY & AUGUST: • Our Summer Reading Program this year was a great success! As seen above, we increased our numbers in all areas of registration and program attendance. We had 17 reader reward prizes- 90% of the items culled from donations! It's so rewarding to have kids and families embrace and engage in the many activities that we have worked hard to put together! • Starting summer reading registration on June 1st proved to be a good decision. We were able to capture and inform more young families during a time when it was not as busy here in the library. • Joslyn did an excellent job planning and executing the weekly craft sessions for the kids. There was lots of enthusiastic participation in these events! • Weekly lunch and story time started off slowly but definitely gained momentum as we went along. Offering a storytime event in the summer was a request that we have had many times, and it felt appropriate to offer this service. Sitting in the air-conditioned Story Craft Room, eating your delicious, free lunch while listening to a story or two definitely worked for many families. • Our Ice Cream Social was a big hit! We provided the ice cream and invited families to bring their favorite toppings. We had a well-organized set-up and lots of volunteer help which certainly contributed to the success of this event- and who doesn’t love a bowl of yummy ice cream shared with friends on a steamy, hot day! • We hosted a return favorite event this summer- Water Day. Using a couple of hoses, some buckets and sponges, a jar of marbles, and, of course, our lovely water feature- the kids were able to play with water in so many fun ways! This fun event cost $0, required lots of sweat equity and help from an army of volunteers! Kids and water- we couldn’t miss! • A visit with the Whale Mobile was also a star event of the summer. Sitting inside a 40’ whale while someone educates and entertains you about these amazing creatures is an experience that the kids will remember for a long time! ===PAGE 11=== • Another big hit of the summer was an alpaca story time with Kristi Mahoney. Ms Mahoney shared her book Alpacas Make Terrible Librarians (it was agreed that they do) and then we all got to visit with and learn about Jackie Chabot’s alpacas! • Kids and families got to meet Dr Fortuna, our new superintendent, here at the library. Dr. Fortuna hosted a lively story time where she shared a couple of books about starting school and answered questions from the kids and families. She was wonderful- calm, relaxed and friendly! • On a warm, sunny Friday afternoon, kids and families gathered at the DPW building to “touch a truck” So many participants for this great event! We were a presence at this and shared, along with information about our fall activities at the library, temporary truck tattoos, lollipops and lots of goodwill. We are hoping this becomes an annual event! • And, lastly, a huge thank you to Main Street Bank for providing the opportunity to serve free lunches every Monday-Thursday. Many families came by every day to take advantage of this, and we know that for many of these it was fulfilling a need. It felt great to be able to do this for our patrons. UPCOMING EVENTS FOR SEPTEMBER: Fall story times and events return this month- • September 8-29th: Sounds and Music Storytime for 0-3's • September 10-24th- Around the World Storytime for 3’s,4’s 5’s • September 2nd - Kids Comic Club Book Kits available • September 4th-The Bookworms Book Club for ages 8-11 • September 6th- Sensory Story Time with Miss Pam • September 8th- Beginners Book Club for ages 6-8 • September 8th- Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • September 15th- Homeschoolers Craft Corner Respectfully submitted: Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area ===PAGE 12=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department September 2025 Summary of Last Month ➢ This year we had a very busy summer reading program for adults! o The summer reading program ran from June 1st - August 2nd o There were 74 readers who logged 164,016 minutes on Beanstack o We held 7 adult events during the program with a total of 159 attendees ➢ After the summer reading program ended, there were still some successful events in the month of August. o Our puzzle events went well with 14 people at our summer puzzle race, and 56 people stopping by for the summer puzzle swap. o Our music program for the month was a performance by Didgeridoo Down Under, who did a fantastic job educating our audience about Australian ecology, animals, culture and folklore during a very impressive show. The timing was not ideal, but there were still 16 people in attendance who really enjoyed the concert. Recurring Program Updates ➢ Book club attendance dipped a bit with inconsistent summer schedules, but we anticipate getting back to full participation for fall and winter meetings. o 100 Books Bucket List is discussing The Power Broker by Robert Caro at the next meeting on Tuesday October 7th o Between the Bookends is discussing Blowing the Bloody Doors Off by Michael Caine at the next meeting on Wednesday October 8th ➢ Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group also continues growing! We see a minimum of 6 people every Tuesday for the sewing group with a few new faces every so often. ➢ Drop-in tech help with Melanie sees intermittent participation, as expected, but many who stop by find it helpful to have a set time for their technology questions. This is an easy program to continue, and we hope to see patron engagement grow with time. Right now, this program runs bi-weekly on Saturday mornings when Melanie is scheduled to be in the library. ===PAGE 13=== September Programs ➢ Monthly Music Series: Music of McCartney on September 4th at 6:00 pm ➢ Grief & Healing Support Group with Nashoba Associated Boards of Health on September 8th at 4:00 pm ➢ Paint Night: Sunflower Gnome with local artist Christina Senecal on September 12th at 6:00 pm ➢ Great Reads Book Discussion presented as part of a grant awarded by the Massachusetts Center on the Book with free copies of Stamped from the Beginning graphic adaptation given to participants on September 15th at 6:30 pm ➢ VIRTUAL: Democracy Talks: Your Brain on ChatGPT hosted by the Watertown Free Public Library on September 17th at 7:00 pm on Zoom ➢ Jay's Cryptic Creatures: Snake Education “lunch & learn” workshop co-sponsored by the Lunenburg Business Association on September 20th at 11:00 am ➢ History and Legends through Song with Sultana, funded with a local cultural council grant, on September 24th at 6:30 pm ➢ "Stamped from the Beginning": Discussion and Virtual Q&A with Joel Christian Gill, another program presented as part of the MCOTB grant to be offered in conjunction with the earlier book discussion, on September 25th at 6:00 pm ➢ Weight Strengthening Series with Niki Holtzman starts on September 30th at 10:15 am and runs for five weeks ➢ Flu Clinic: Nashoba Associated Boards of Health is open to all on September 30th at 3:00 pm, with appointments recommended through the link on the calendar listing. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 9/1/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 17% 32% 51% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 8% 31% 61% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 10% 0% 90% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 15% 39% 46% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 13% 25% 62% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-10-16-agenda-7451.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-10-16 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-10-16-agenda-7451.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10162025-7451 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of October 16, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, October 16, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Welcome new Children’s Librarian · Approval of Minutes of September 18, 2025 · Acceptance of Memorial Bench gift · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Outreach Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Master Plan Steering Committee Feedback to Draft Recommendations for 2025 · Trustee Handbook Discussion · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussions – Room Use, Collection Development, Gift, Investment · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update · Request for Reconsideration of book I am Jazz · Open Meeting Law Discussion (as it applies to Director’s review) • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-10-16-minutes-7451.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-10-16 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-10-16-minutes-7451.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10162025-7451 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes October 16, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, Jana Balish, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Muir Haman, Glenn McLeod (Select Board Representative) The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:59 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● None Agenda Items ● Welcome new Children’s Librarian ○ Joslyn Davis, who has been a Library Assistant in the Children’s Room for the past three years, has been promoted to Librarian of Children’s Services. ● Approval of Minutes of September 18, 2025 ○ Robin made a motion to accept the minutes of September 18, 2025, as amended, seconded by Maia. The motion passed with five votes, with David and Jana abstaining. ● Acceptance Memorial Bench gift ○ Laura DeGroot came before the board to present a proposal for the donation of a granite bench in memory of Regina McGee, who passed away in June 2021. Laura and the friends and family of Regina would like the bench to be located on the hillside area of the courtyard of the library. ○ All costs will be covered by the family and friends of Regina McGee. ○ Since the area in which the bench is proposed to be installed is part of the Proctor Memorial Garden, Muir will check with the Proctors to confirm they have no concerns about this proposal. ○ Jana made a motion to accept the proposal as presented, pending an approval from the Proctors, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed unanimously. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update There is still one outstanding invoice for 2025 for $1,300 from Baker & Taylor, a book supplier. Baker & Taylor has filed bankruptcy and is in the process of closing. Muir does not know when they will invoice us. ○ FY2026 Budget Update The calendar year is 29% completed and the budget is 29% expended. Electricity is high at 37% expended. Muir has discussed this with Chris Ruth, Facilities Director. The high usage is not due to a meter replacement. Heat was turned on this week. ○ Staff Update Muir began the search to fill a Library Assistant position, which is vacant due to the promotion of Joslyn Davis to Librarian of Children’s Services. Muir and Lydia are working on a Policy and Procedure Handbook for staff to assist them in their interactions with patrons. This will give them guidance to ensure they handle encounters with consistency, whether it is a normal daily interaction or a less-frequent challenging situation. Muir and Lydia are making preparations for covering expected staffing shortages due to three parental leaves expected late 2025 and early 2026. Parental leave can be up to twelve weeks. Muir will be discussing these plans with Jennifer Warren, the Town Manager, in the next few days. Muir is working with Pauline Roy and Deb Goodsell from the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center to submit an application for the Emerson Community Grant. If awarded, this will be used for 10 memory kits which will be listed in our card catalog, but will be kept and circulated by the LAAC. 1 ===PAGE 2=== Muir is also submitting an application for the Bemis Community Fund Grant. If awarded, this will be used for a series of music and storytime programs. ○ Programs Update Joslyn’s Around the World storytimes have been super popular. There were 124 attendees with four sessions held so far. Book Clubs have had steady attendance, as has the Tween D&D program. The last few monthly concerts have been popular. There will be fewer programs offered during the three upcoming parental leaves. The 20th Anniversary Closing Ceremony and Concert will take place on October 24. The Friends’ Book and Bake Sale is November 7 & 8. ○ Outreach Update Upcoming outreach is planned for Shrieks and Krieks at The Club, Literacy Night at the Primary School, Lunenburg Business Association’s Trunk or Treat, and at Baker Brook Apartments. Carla Squier and Michael Smith, Principal and Vice-Principal at the Lunenburg Primary School, would like to partner with the library. The library held a “petting zoo” of the Library of Things at Smokestack Roasters. It did not attract many people. ○ Technology Update The staff’s color printer is being replaced with a surplus printer from the IT Department. Town-wide, the number of standalone printers is being reduced to streamline costs. The library currently has five printers in addition to the copy machine. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The HVAC system was readied for the heating season. The rainwater garden has been planted. Curb cuts will be made after the native grasses are better-established so they don’t wash away. The DPW and the Storm Water Task Force have installed this garden to serve as an educational resource for homeowners who would like to have similar gardens on their properties. In the spring, we will be removing the juniper ground cover in front of the Community Wing to make way for more native plantings. ● Master Plan Steering Committee Feedback to Draft Recommendations for 2025 ○ David is the library’s representative to the MPSC. He said the committee would like our feedback on what we would like to see done with Brook’s House. ○ The superintendent has no interest in the Brook’s House. ○ Muir said he had heard from Anthony Sculimbrene, Chair of the Architectural Preservation District Committee, that turning the Brook’s House into a maker space run by the library would be a great addition to town. We could collaborate with a tech school on renovating the building. ○ We all agreed this would be a great addition to town, however it would be unlikely the voters would approve the costs. The cost of renovation would be around $1 million. There would also be the expense of hiring staff to run the space and maintaining another building. ○ The Trustees do not want to see a private party owning the property. If this happened we would have to give up parking spaces the library currently uses. If a business bought the property, there would be an increase in traffic through our parking lot. This would cause a safety issue, especially in the after-school hours when there are a lot of students walking through the library parking lot. ○ Glenn said that due to the location of the property and the fact that it is surrounded by town property, it was not a good idea for the town to sell it to a private party. ○ Stephanie suggested we should ask big, even if it is not likely we will get what we ask for. We all agreed a maker space would be a wonderful addition to the town. ○ The Trustees instructed David to report to the Master Plan Steering Committee that the Trustees' first preference would be to have the Brook's House demolished, creating open space that would be beneficial to 2 ===PAGE 3=== the community. If the building is not demolished, the Trustees prefer that ownership and control of the structure remain under public authority that recognizes the importance of its use being consistent with the activities of the Library. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Did not discuss. Will put it on next month’s agenda. ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ Muir spoke to Bob’s family and asked if they would like a plaque and/or a ceremony dedicating the garden. The family is discussing this and will get back to Muir. ● Policy Discussions - Room Use, Collection Development, Gift, Investment ○ Robin attended a virtual seminar presented by United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. The seminar focused on intellectual freedom and related library policies. In the seminar, lawyers discussed that a lack of clear guidelines or phrases such as “at the discretion of” in regards to intellectual freedom opens the library up to accusations of bias. Policies should contain clear guidelines that are consistently applied to all patrons within the library’s defined community. The lawyers also clarified that if an affiliated organization, such as the Friends of Lunenburg Public Library, receives preferential treatment, such as under the Room Use Policy, that exception should be clearly stated in the policy. ○ Room Use Policy - David will review the indemnity section for next month. ○ Collection Development Policy - The policy has been updated to include databases, programs, and displays as library materials. The term “service area” has been changed to “Town of Lunenburg”. David asked if it was legal to limit requests for reconsiderations to three per year per resident. Robin said it was recommended in the seminar to put a limit in your policy. This was to provide a balance between a patron’s right to question specific materials and to ensure that the number of requests for reconsideration submitted do not impede the library’s ability to continue offering its services to the community. Muir will check on this limit with Town Counsel. Harry made a motion to accept the Collection Development Policy as amended, pending approval by Town Counsel, with a second by Maia. The vote was unanimous in favor. ○ Gift Policy will be reviewed at a future meeting. ○ Investment Policy will be reviewed at a future meeting. ● Brooks House Update ○ See Master Planning Steering Committee Feedback. ● Friends Update ○ Nicole Groskreutz from Edward Jones attended the meeting to review the Friends’ investments. ○ The Book & Bake Sale will be November 7 & 8. ○ The Artisan Market will be at the library for the 2nd annual Holiday Fair. The Friends discussed how they could participate. ● Request for Reconsideration of book I Am Jazz ○ A Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials was submitted on 9/26/25. It was for I Am Jazz , a children’s picture book by Jessica Herthel, which tells the true story of a young transgender child. This book is shelved in the Children’s Room in the parenting section. The requester would like the book to be labeled for content, to be shelved where young children can not reach it, and/or shelved in a trans-specific section. ○ The requester did not attend this meeting. ○ The book was made available for the Trustees to read. ○ Muir gathered professional reviews of the book for the Trustees to read. ○ Harry read us the emails that he and Muir received from the requester about this matter. ○ Muir said this book is in more than half of CWMARS libraries and most shelve it in their picture book sections. ○ David said that shelving it in the parenting section can seem to imply that the subject matter is not for children and that it may be more appropriate to shelve it in the picture book section. ○ Muir showed us where the parenting section is and the types of books found there, including books on grief, death, and divorce. 3 ===PAGE 4=== ○ We reviewed library policies relating to this matter. Our Child Safety Policy states that, “Children under the age of twelve (12) must be attended by a caregiver, within sight and attentive to the child.” Our Collection Development Policy states that, “Recognizing that any community contains people with different backgrounds, sensibilities, personalities and interest, the library must strive to provide materials that mirror all elements. No conscious effort will be made to impose one set of religious, political, or moral values in the selection process, thereby avoiding a biased collection.” ○ Based on our discussion of the book, book reviews, library policies, and the diversity of our patrons, the Trustees decided to keep the book I Am Jazz where it is currently shelved. ○ Harry will send an email to the requester letting them know our decision. ● Open Meeting Law Discussion (as it applies to reviews) ○ Harry spoke with Jennifer Warren, Town Manager, to discuss the article, SJC Decision Guides Open Meeting Law Compliance, that Glen gave us in June. This article gave guidelines on how we could complete Muir’s review without breaking the open meeting law. Going forward, Harry will collect our reviews and compile them by himself into a consolidated review. We will then review it at our next regularly scheduled meeting to edit and finalize it. ● Board Comments ○ Robin told us that there were two positive public comments about the library at the Select Board meeting on October 14th. Jack Rabbit complimented the library and the Adult Activity Center on their collaborating on having Meals on Wheels drivers deliver library books to their clients. Tom Alonzo thanked the library, the Trustees, and the Friends for the 20th Anniversary opening ceremony and encouraged people to attend this month’s related activities. ● Other ○ Glenn McLeod commented on the Request for Reconsideration of I Am Jazz . He gave credit to the requester for dealing with the library staff directly about their concerns, rather than posting their concerns on Facebook. He also felt their concern about the location of the book was valid, and their request to have the book labeled for content or shelved on a higher shelf where a child could not reach it was a good solution. ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Robin, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 10:42 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ October 2025 Director’s Report ○ October 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ October 2025 Teen Services Report ○ October 2025 Adult Services Department Report 4 ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT FY25 Budget Update Payment for computer hardware submitted, but not on the books yet. FY26 Budget Update Staff Update We have hired a new Children’s Librarian. Joslyn Davis has been our Library Assistant in the Children’s Room for the last 3 years almost, and has had the opportunity to learn and experience many tasks under Debbie’s guidance. She has shown remarkable growth during her time thus far, and I expect that she will continue to grow. Her passion and dedication to excellence should help her achieve wondrous things for the library in support of our community. We have begun our search to fill the now vacant Library Assistant position. Lydia and I are working on a Policy and Procedure handbook for staff to assist them in their regular interactions. We have introduced a number of more stringent controls to help support staff during challenging situations, and this handbook will help ensure we approach situations with consistency. She and I are also in preparations for the parental leaves that are on the near horizon. I am hoping to meet with the Town Manager to further discuss these plans in the next few days. I am working with Pauline and Deb at LAAC to submit our Emerson community grant. We will also submit a Bemis Community Fund Grant application. Both are due November 7. FY26 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 97,076$ 27,524$ 28% 29% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 69,627$ 19,421$ 28% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 269,513$ 81,536$ 30% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,300$ 0% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 8,412$ 37% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 159$ 1% WATER CHARGES 1,150$ 323$ 28% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 60$ 12% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 16,000$ 3,422$ 21% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 0% CWMARS NETWORK 20,571$ 20,571$ 100% POSTAGE -$ OFFICE SUPPLIES 8,000$ 544$ 7% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 233$ 78% LIBRARY MATERIAL 96,000$ 15,050$ 16% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 228$ 6% TOTALS 632,037$ 181,958$ 29% ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT The Town’s Financial Department has been decimated lately, two resignations and a retirement, so payments are a bit behind. The Town Manager has made every effort to smooth payroll, but she does anticipate a few hiccups while payroll is being processed by a consultant. Programs Joslyn’s Monday Around the World Storytimes have been SUPER popular, 4 session with 124 attendees so far! Books clubs continue to gather steady interest. Tween D&D has been steady, and the last few concerts in our Monthly Music Series have been fantastic in quality and high in attendance. We are entering a transitional period with fewer staff available temporarily and then three parental leaves. The frequency of programming will drop slightly, even though we are making arrangements to keep our momentum carrying forward. Coming up: DIY Halloween Masks for Tweens/Teens 10/16, Homeschool Craft Corner 10/20, Tween D&D 10/22, “Murder in Rockport” Book Talk with Authors 10/22, Anniversary Closing Ceremony and Concert 10/24, Tech Help Drop-In with Melanie 10/25, Storytime Costume Parade 10/27, Book Bedazzling for Adults 10/29, Wildcrafted Apothecary Workshop 11/1, Book Sale 11/7+8, Small Works Exhibit Opens 11/15 Outreach Upcoming outreach: Shrieks and Krieks with The Club 10/18 (3+ staff), Literacy Night at the Primary School 10/22 (2 staff), LBA’s Trunk or Treat 10/25 (2 staff), 10/28 Outreach to Baker Creek apartments. ▪ Building & Maintenance The building HVAC has been receiving attention as we prepare to transition to heating season. The rainwater garden has been planted, with one small snafu that has been remedied. Still waiting on the curb cuts, but native grasses are already germinating! We are making preparations for Spring to removed the juniper ground cover in front of the Community Wing to make way for more native plantings. ▪ Technology Our Staff Color printer will be getting replaced in the next few days. This device is one of the oldest pieces of hardware in the building and has served us well. The IT department had a barely used surplus printer that should work for us. Town-wide, we are reducing the number of standalone printers to streamline costs. The library currently has 5 printers in addition to the copy machine. ===PAGE 7=== OCTOBER 2025 Youth Services Area Trustee Report SEPTEMBER STATS: ACTIVITY NUMBER / PARTICIPANTS Sounds & Music Storytime Ages 0-3 4 124 Sensory Storytime with Pam Wockenfuss 1 9 Beginners Book Club 1 3 Homeschool Family Meet-Up 1 19 Around the World Storytime Ages 3+ 3 41 Homeschool Craft Corner 1 16 Kids Comic Club Kits 1 9 HIGHLIGHTS FOR SEPTEMBER: • Story times have resumed! We’re getting lots of enthusiastic participation and many new families. Joslyn has a well-developed curriculum planned for the two different age groups. For the littlest participants we have Sounds and Music Storytime: “As little ones start to become more aware of their surroundings, they are discovering so many different worlds of sounds. To help them along their noisy adventure, we’ll be examining a new sound theme every week. Depending on the week, there could be everything from interactive stories, silly sounds, instrument play, dancing, crafts and more!” For the older 3-5 group, the theme is Around the World Storytime: a whimsical journey across the globe as we explore vibrant cultures, places, and holidays from around the world. Each week, we’ll set our sights on a new exciting holiday or location - discovering captivating tales and festivities through stories, music, activities, and crafts! • We have 2 new book clubs this year. Joslyn has developed a year of book sharing, The Beginners Book Club, for kids ages 6-8 where they will have an opportunity to: chat about our latest book, share our favorite moments, discover new perspectives, eat some yummy treats/snacks, and do crafts/activities that bring our books to life! It’s a fantastic way for your 1st or 2nd grader to make new friends and discover a love of reading! ===PAGE 8=== The second book club, The Bookworms, is designed to engage kids ages 8-11 who are middle grade readers looking for a place to find new stories and talk about them! Many reading adventures ahead! UPCOMING EVENTS FOR OCTOBER: • October 6-27th: Sounds and Music Storytime for 0-3's • October 1-29th- Around the World Storytime for 3’s,4’s 5’s • October 1st - Kids Comic Club Book Kits available • October 2nd -The Bookworms Book Club for ages 8-11 • October 3rd- Taylor Swift Listening Party • October 4th - Creepy Crawlies with Joys of Nature- 2 sessions • October 6th - Beginners Book Club for ages 6-8 • October 6th - Homeschoolers Family Meet-Up • October 20th- Homeschoolers Craft Corner • October 22nd- Halloween Art Class with Miss Julie • October 27th- Halloween Parade Around Town • October 28th- Legos at the Library Respectfully submitted: Debbie Laffond, Children’s Services Librarian Joslyn Davis, Library Assistant, Children’s Area Dear Muir and Board of Trustees, Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to serve as the Children’s Librarian these past ten years. It has been such a joy to share stories, laughter, and learning with our community’s children. I’m truly grateful for your trust and support. I have always felt the respect and gratitude that you have extended to me as I went along this journey. Martha asked me what my goals were as the Children’s Librarian here at LPL. My number one objective was to help create an environment that made people want to, not just drive by and admire this beautiful building, but to pull into the parking lot and come on in. Mission accomplished, I'd say! Thanks for giving me my dream job and for “having my back” all these years! With appreciation, Miss Debbie ===PAGE 9=== Teen Services Trustee Report 10/16/2025 Past Programs • Sept. 19th - The Page Turners Book Club –2 participants • Sept. 20th - The Great Oreo Guess Off (TAB Event) - 26 participants, 3 TAB members • Sept. 24th - Tween Dungeons and Dragons – 5 participants • Sept. 25th - Virtual Cooking Class – 1 participants • Sept. 26th - After Hours Video Game Night –6 participants • Oct. 2nd - In-Betweeners Book Club – 8 participants • Oct. 3rd - Taylor Swift Listening Party – no participants • Oct. 8th - Tween DnD – 5 participants • Oct. 9th - Virtual Cooking Class – 3 participants • Oct. 14th - TAB Meeting – rescheduled for Oct 21st • Oct. 16th- DIY Halloween Masks – no participants Upcoming Programs • Oct. 17th – The Page Turners Book Club • Oct. 22nd – Tween Dungeons & Dragons • Oct. 23rd – Virtual Cooking Class • Oct. 28th – Coding Club • Nov. 4th – Fall Mosaics • Nov. 5th – Tween Dungeons & Dragons • Nov. 6th – In-Betweeners Book Club • Nov. 13th – Virtual Cooking Class • Nov. 14th – TAB Meeting • Nov. 18th – Needle Felted Art • Nov. 19th – Tween Dungeons & Dragons • Nov. 20th – Sewing for Teens ===PAGE 10=== - After-school activities have been going well with an average of 2 participants per day. There are now snacks available for the participants so there has been a slight bump in participation thanks to that. These activities have also attracted older teens, from 10th to 11th grade, which is usually an age we don’t see participating in teen activities at the library much. - TAB events have slowed down for the fall. Most of the TAB members are usually engaged in sports during this time of year and don’t have time for much else. I believe that TAB activity will pick back next month when most of the sports they play end. - Program participation has averaged at 5 participants per program for the past two months. Video game night and tween dungeons & dragons have so far had the most engagement. The tweens at dungeons & dragons are very excited to have a game to play and several of the parents have told me that they are grateful that Lunenburg is holding such an event regularly. ===PAGE 11=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department October 2025 Summary of Last Month ➢ To start the fall season, we had a return to normal levels of programming, with some great successes marking the month of September. o Our monthly music concert was on September 4th by a regular performer, Dan Kirouac, who has been here a few times with his band Creeque Alley. This concert featured the music of Paul McCartney and was one of our best attended performances this year with 70 people in the audience. o Another success was a Friday Night Paint Night with local artist Tina Senecal on September 12th. We had 22 painters attend and a waitlist that could have filled another class; a big hit for us! o We also participated in the Mass Center for the Book’s statewide read of the graphic adaptation of Stamped from the Beginning: A History of Racist Ideas in America this month, with a book discussion on September 15th attended by 7 people, followed by a virtual interview with the illustrator on September 25th that drew 5 more people. It was a very engaged group with an excellent civil discussion at both events. o At the end of the month, we started our annual fall Weight Strengthening series with Niki Holtzman on September 30th. This 5-week series has 16 registrants with many new faces in attendance. Recurring Program Updates ➢ Each book club had 6 participants in September, but we anticipate more in the fall. o 100 Books Bucket List is discussing The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger at the next meeting on Tuesday November 4th o Between the Bookends is discussing Still Alice by Lisa Genova at the next meeting on Wednesday November 12th ➢ The Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group also continues to grow! We saw 8 people every Tuesday for the sewing group with a few new faces every so often. ➢ Drop-in tech help with Melanie sees intermittent participation, as expected, but many find it helpful to have a set time for their technology questions. This is an easy program to continue, and we hope to see patron engagement grow with time. Right ===PAGE 12=== now, this program runs bi-weekly on Saturday mornings when Melanie is scheduled to be in the library. ===PAGE 13=== October Programs ➢ 20th Anniversary of the Building: Welcome Remarks & LHS Presentation on Friday, October 3rd at 6:00 pm. ➢ Monthly Music Series: Bluegrass Duo: Flynn Cohen & Laura Orshaw on Thursday, October 9th at 6:30 pm. ➢ “HELLO!” — A Student Self-Portrait Exhibition by LMHS Art Department is going up on Friday, October 10th and will run until November 9th. ➢ "Murder in Rockport, Massachusetts" Book Talk with the Authors on Wednesday, October 22nd at 7:00 pm ➢ 20th Anniversary of the Building: Closing Birthday Party on Friday, October 24th at 5:00 pm, with a Jazzukulele Concert that evening at 6:00 pm. ➢ Adult Craft Night: Book Bedazzling on Wednesday, October 29th at 5:30 pm. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 10/1/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 24% 40% 36% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 24% 29% 47% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 10% 0% 90% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 20% 59% 21% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 20% 32% 48% Admin Report Due to my upcoming parental leave in the spring, Muir and I have been working on additional admin/planning projects to assist the library in my temporary absence. Among these projects include a best practice procedural manual for uncommon situations that may arise in the library, updated documentation around tasks like scheduling, payroll, and financial processing, and sketching out potential delegation of responsibilities on staff. These are ongoing projects between myself and the Director to ensure there is adequate planning and coverage before I am unavailable in April. Respectfully submitted, ===PAGE 14=== Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-11-20-agenda-7518.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-11-20 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-11-20-agenda-7518.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11202025-7518 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of November 20, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, November 20, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of October 16, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Trustee Handbook Discussion · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussion(s) – Room Use, Gift, Investment (most likely not all) · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update · Discussion about Director’s review • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-11-20-minutes-7518.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-11-20 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-11-20-minutes-7518.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_11202025-7518 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes November 20, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Jana Balish, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Muir Haman The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:50 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● None Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of October 16, 2025 ○ Maia made a motion to accept the minutes of October 16, 2025, as amended, seconded by Jana. The motion passed unanimously. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update Muir placed an order for $1,300 in FY25 with Baker & Taylor, a library materials supplier who has since gone out of business. The order did not ship. Muir will need to reorder these materials from another vendor and this expense will now come out of the FY2026 budget. When he spoke to Jennifer Warren, Town Manager, about this, he was told that going forward he can no longer encumber items ordered, but not received before the end of the fiscal year. He said he will need to change how he spends down accounts at the end of the year to make sure he does not lose any funds going forward. ○ FY2026 Budget Update The fiscal year calendar is 39% complete and library funds are 34% expended. ○ Staff Update Muir is interviewing for the open Children’s Room Library Assistant position. There is one interview this week, and potentially three next week. The Teen Librarian resigned and that position is now open. We already have applicants for that position. Staffing is at a critically low level, with two open positions and two upcoming parental leaves. For safety reasons the library needs three staff members on duty for the building to be open fully. We can also function with two staff if we close a section of the library. Muir and Harry discussed a plan with Jennifer Warren that would allow a Trustee or a Friend of the Library to volunteer to fill in when we are short-staffed. She approved of that plan. David asked if volunteers would need a CORI check. Muir will consider that. Muir is also considering temps and a recently retired employee to fill in as needed. During Muir’s parental leave, Julie Belliveau, Assistant Town Manager, will handle any firing, hiring or discipline duties for him. Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director, will cover the rest of Muir’s duties. Muir submitted two grant applications in November. One is for $1,000 from the Bemis Community Fund for five monthly sessions of music and movement storytime with Monument Square Community Music School. The other is for $1,700 from the Emerson Hospital Catherine Gallery Community Grant for memory kits to support the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center’s Memory Cafe program. These kits will be housed at the LAAC and catalogued by the library. ○ Programs Update Due to currently not having a Teen Librarian, we have had to cancel a number of teen programs. Joslyn will fill in to continue one of the teen book clubs. We also have a para-professional from the high school who has volunteered to get a board game club started and is also interested in running a Dungeons & Dragons program. The second annual Winter Artisan Showcase will be held on December 7, with 40 vendors participating. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Outreach Update Melanie held an outreach session at Baker Brook Apartments with 17 residents in attendance. The LBA’s Trunk or Treat event was very well attended, and will be a good event for us to attend in coming years. ○ Technology Update The staff color printer was replaced. The old printer is now in the Children’s Room office to make labels for cataloging. CWMARS has suggested that all libraries with a fiber line work towards CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) compliance. Discounts will be available for libraries that comply. Complying will require the use of filtering software. The Trustees had questions about what would be blocked, how this will affect access to information, and how much of a discount we would get. Muir will be gathering more information. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The furniture purchased by the Friends is now in our cafe. The old furniture is being offered to other town departments. HVAC settings are still being adjusted to get the temperature in a comfortable range. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Defer to next meeting. ● Conroy Memorial Garden discussion ○ Susan Conroy has a quote she would like included in the garden. Muir is checking on pricing for engraving the quote in brass, bronze or stone. ● Policy Discussions - Room Use, Gift, Investment (most likely not all) ○ Town Counsel is reviewing the Room Use Policy. ○ The Gift Policy will be reviewed at a future meeting. ○ We will wait for Robin to be in attendance before reviewing the Investment Policy. ● Brooks House Update ○ No update. ● Friends Update ○ The fall book sale brought in $2,340, and the bake sale brought in $1,119 for a total of $3,459. ○ Kate Ravelette, from the Lunenburg Artisan Market, attended the meeting to talk about the 2nd Annual Winter Artisan Showcase. She will be supplying baked goods for the Friends to sell, with all proceeds going to the Friends. She guaranteed a donation of 1K, regardless of how much is earned from the bake sale. ○ The Friends have seen an increase in active members participating and coming to the meetings. ● Discussion about Director’s review ○ The Trustees emailed their individual reviews to Harry. He will make a consolidated review for us to discuss and amend as needed at our December meeting. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Stephanie, seconded by David. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m. 2 ===PAGE 3=== ● Attached Documents ○ November 2025 Director’s Report ○ November 2025 Children’s Services Trustee Report ○ November 2025 Adult Services Department Report 3 ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update We are currently interviewing candidates for our open Library Assistant position in the Children’s Room. Our Teen Librarian Kaitee has resigned, and the job has been posted last Thursday. Although we are now at a critically low staffing level, with two parental leaves coming up, we can move to fill our open positions. Lydia and I have met and discussed with the Town Manager and the Assistant Town Manager/HR Director the duties Lydia will perform while I am on leave. They are in negotiations with the Union about a stipend to compensate Lydia for this additional responsibility. I submitted two grant applications in early November. One for $1000 from the Bemis Community Fund for five monthly sessions of music and movement storytime with Monument Square Community Music School. The other grant was from the Emerson Hospital Catherine Gallery Community Grant for materials to support the LAAC’s Memory Café program. There will be 10 memory kits that can circulated to Alzheimer sufferers and their caregivers. These will be housed at the LAAC and catalogued by the library. The Town’s Financial Department continues its transition. The Finance Director who was hired has decided not to stay, and payments will continue to be slow. Two consultants have been tasked to help, one with payroll and one with Accounts Payable. An Assistant Accountant has been hired. STM has a significant update to the SAP. Programs The biggest update in Programming is our Teen calendar. We have had to cancel a number of programs, though we are continuing what we can. One of the two book clubs will likely not continue, but we have serendipitously had a volunteer paraprofessional from the High School who will try to get a board game club off the ground on Thursday afternoons! She is learning about DM’img D&D campaigns and may be able to take over leading that series. Our Teen CPR program has a number of registrations despite being scheduled the weekend after Thanksgiving. Our Anniversary celebration was a big success and the Friends seemed very happy with the result. We have continued to offer the Library of Services fundraiser. Our Small Works 2025 exhibit in hanging and we had almost 30 attendees at the opening. The Wildcrafted Apothecary Event was also remarkably successful with 25 attendees. This year’s Fall Puzzle Swap had 56 attendees, but more than 760 puzzles were dropped off (a record high). Our bluegrass duo drew 51 attendees, and our weekly Stitchcraft group has create more than 50 hats to donate to the local Meaghan’s Hats charity! Holiday programs are about to hit. The Winter Artisan showcase will be December 7th. 40 vendors signed up within minutes of the registration being opened. 10 vendors will provide an indoor “Farmer’s Market” in the Teen Room during the event. “The Dirty Martinis” will perform afterward. They have inquired about continuing a regular market during the winter season, too. The First Thursday of December will be our annual craft to follow the tree lighting in the Town center. And December 13th will be the family gingerbread house event that has been popular the last few years. ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Coming up: 11/20 Board Game Club, 11/29 CPR for Teens, 11/22 The Dangerous Art of Chainsaw Sculpture, 12/4 DIY Ugly Sweaters, 12/7 Winter Showcase, 12/13 Gingerbread Houses. Outreach Our presentation at Baker Creek received very positive review and Melanie was invited back to talk to them again. She had 17 interested and curious residents in attendance on 10/28. Trunk or Treat was AMAZING. We saw several hundred children and families, and this event with the LBA is definitely something we should do every year. Similarly, Literacy Night was a great event to be a part of with about 50 interactions. Most were library users we know very well, we did sign up 8 people for library cards. ▪ Building & Maintenance The furniture purchased by the Friends for our Café has arrived and looks fantastic. On the whole, it brightens and opens up our café area. We are still tuning in the HVAC settings to get the temps in the range we want. ▪ Technology Our Staff Color printer was replaced and now resides in the Children’s Room Office to make labels for cataloging. The new printer is fantastic, so far. CWMARS has suggested that all libraries with a fiber line work towards CIPA compliance. With the developments over the years with filtering software, this seems like a reasonable course to enable some significant discounts. ===PAGE 6=== November 2025 Children's Services Trustee Report Stats (Oct 1- November 18th) Activity Participants Kids Comic Club Kits 10 Around the World Story Time (7 meetings) 103 Bookworms Book Club (2 meetings) 10 Creepy Crawlies w/ The Joys of Nature 28 Sounds and Music Story Time (5 meetings) 162 Beginners Book Club (2 meetings) 6 Halloween Painting w/ Julie 18 Halloween Costume Parade 60 LEGO Club 3 Wampanoag Pottery w/ Plimoth Patuxet Museums 33 Patron Quote: “I’ve brought my kids to many libraries, but this is the library that gave them a love of reading! They never used to read! And whenever we try to go to a new library they always ask to come back here instead.” Budget Stats: ===PAGE 7=== Highlights: LBA TRUNK OR TREAT: Muir and I (with the help of Sienne, Wren, Torben, and Maisie) were able to interact with hundreds of Lunenburg folks. While there were a lot of familiar faces, we also had plenty of new interests among families. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME: Despite losing the early learning center kids due to their relocation, there’s been a steady growth of attendees in our Around the World Preschool storytime. We started at 10 and are now getting around 22 each time! CREEPY CRAWLIES: The Joys of Nature returned for a spooky live animal program and brought some extra scary snakes (at least to me) and an adorable tarantula – much to the delight of the kids. BOOKWORMS BOOK CLUB: Five kids might not seem like a lot, but to have a steady kid’s book club of enthusiastic and friendly voices is truly a monthly delight. HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARADE: Our annual tradition was yet again a big hit! We had perfect weather, a generous police escort for safety, tons of cute costumes (from the kids and town helpers alike), and (of course) a LOT of candy. ===PAGE 8=== WAMPANOAG POTTERY: Well-attended, informative, and hands-on! Tim from Plimoth Patuxet Museums was great with the kids and made sure they would all go home with something they were proud of! We received many comments from parents praising the program – both for its execution and its uniqueness. Upcoming Events: • Nov 1 - 29: Kids Comic Club Kits Pickup • Nov 19: Around the World Storytime • Nov 24: Sounds and Music Storytime • Nov 25: LEGO Club • Dec 1: Sounds and Music Storytime • Dec 1-30: Kids Comic Club Kits Pickup • Dec 3: Around the World Storytime • Dec 4: Bookworms Book Club • Dec 4: Annual Ornament Night • Dec 8: Sounds and Music Storytime • Dec 8: Beginners Book Club • Dec 10: Around the World Storytime • Dec 13: Family Gingerbread Houses • Dec 15: Sounds and Music Storytime • Dec 15: Homeschool Family Craft • Dec 16: Drop-In Craft: Paper Roll Elves Joslyn Davis, Children’s Services Librarian ===PAGE 9=== Trustee Report Adult Services Department November 2025 Summary of Last Month ➢ The main highlight of October was a fantastic showing of support and engagement for our Library Building’s 20th Anniversary celebrations. Additionally, we had some great single programs to round out a successful month of events at the library! o On October 3rd we had a welcoming event for the month-long celebration of the library building being 20 years old. This event included remarks from committee members, Friends, and the Director, as well as a presentation by Bill Tyler of the historical society on the history of libraries in town. Donuts was donated by Hollis Hills Farm and cider was donated by Lanni Orchards. There were an estimated 50 people at this opening event. o Our monthly music concert was on October 9th by bluegrass duo Flynn Cohen and Laura Orshaw. This stop was part of their local tour for bluegrass concerts, and we drew an impressive 51 people for their show here. o Two authors of a true crime book based in Rockport came on October 22nd to discuss their book and sell copies. We had 8 very engaged attendees come for a cozy book talk that evening. o At the end of the month, we closed the anniversary celebrations with two events: a family-oriented “birthday party” for the library with a balloon twister, face painting and temporary tattoos; and a jazzukulele performance sponsored by the local community council. Both were major successes with a combined estimated 75 people at the library for the evening. Recurring Program Updates ➢ Each book club had 8 participants in October. o 100 Books Bucket List is discussing The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen at the next meeting on Tuesday December 2nd o Between the Bookends is discussing The Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher at the next meeting on Wednesday December 10th ➢ The Stitchcraft knitting and crochet group also remains steady. The group worked on making hats and winterwear for a charity group called Meaghan’s Hats that donates materials to schools, shelters and unhoused individuals in Central ===PAGE 10=== Massachusetts. ➢ Drop-in tech help with Melanie sees intermittent participation, as we expected, but many find it helpful to have a set time for their technology questions. This is an easy program to continue, and we hope to see patron engagement grow with time. Right now, this program runs bi-weekly on Saturday mornings when Melanie is scheduled to be in the library. ===PAGE 11=== November Programs ➢ The wildcrafted apothecary workshop with Grace Krupkowski was held on Saturday, November 1st. ➢ On Wednesday, November 5th, we held a fall puzzle race. ➢ We partnered with the Association of Financial Planners for a talk ➢ The annual fall puzzle swap followed the puzzle race on Saturday, November 15th. ➢ Our monthly music series concert for November will be on Wednesday, November 19th when the Asphodel Pagan Choir performs. ➢ Wrapping up the month will be a talk with a chainsaw artist on Saturday, November 22nd where he will explain his journey in the field of chainsaw artistry. Programming Financial Report ADULT PROGRAMS AS OF 11/1/2025 BUDGET LINE TOTAL % SPENT % ENCUMBERED % REMAINING TOWN $4,500 27% 59% 14% FRIENDS - PROGRAM $3,000 36% 25% 39% FRIENDS - SUPPLIES $500 10% 0% 90% MUSIC SERIES $6,600 30% 48% 22% GRAND TOTAL $14,600 26% 33% 41% Respectfully submitted, Lydia Paolilli, Assistant Library Director ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-12-18-agenda-7563.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-12-18 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-12-18-agenda-7563.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12182025-7563 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of December 18, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Thursday, December 18, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of November 20, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Trustee Handbook Discussion · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussion(s) – Room Use, Gift, Investment · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update · Discussion and Finalization of Director’s Review • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-12-22-agenda-7566.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-12-22 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-12-22-agenda-7566.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12222025-7566 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of December 22, 2025 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Monday, December 22, 2025 6:45 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of November 20, 2025 · Director’s Report • FY 2025 Budget Update • FY 2026 Budget Update • Staff Update • Programs Update • Technology Update • Building & Maintenance Update · Trustee Handbook Discussion · Conroy Memorial Garden Update · Policy Discussion(s) – Room Use, Gift, Investment · Brooks House Update / Discussion · Friends Update · Discussion and Finalization of Director’s Review • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2025-12-22-minutes-7566.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2025-12-22 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2025-12-22-minutes-7566.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12222025-7566 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes December 22, 2025 Attending: Harry Kubetz, Maia Wentrup, Laura Boussom, Robin Venezia, David Niose, Stephanie Trudel, Lydia Paolilli (Acting Director), Glenn McLeod The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:49 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● Laura reported that some Trustee minutes and agendas from previous years are missing from the town website. This was brought to her attention by Robin, who was doing research and could not find some of the minutes she needed. Laura is working to find the missing documents and have them reposted. Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of November 20, 2025 ○ Maia made a motion to accept the minutes of November 20, 2025, as presented, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed with five votes, with Robin abstaining. ● Director’s Report ○ FY2025 Budget Update None ○ FY2026 Budget Update None ○ Staff Update Muir is on parental leave for six to eight weeks. In his absence, Lydia Paolilli is the Acting Director. The Teen Librarian search has been put on hold during Muir’s absence, since Lydia does not have authority to fill in for the hiring decision process. Minna Scholten has been hired to fill the Library Assistant position in the Children’s Room. A starting date is being negotiated. Debbie Lafond, recently retired Children’s Librarian, will be rehired as a Staff Librarian to help provide coverage during the current staffing shortage. ○ Programs Update The 2nd Annual Winter Artisan Showcase was held on Sunday, December 7, with over 40 vendors attending. The vendors were pleased with the success of the event. Kate Ravellette, the organizer of the event, provided baked goods for the Friends to sell and also made a monetary donation to them. Thanks to Kate, the Friends received $1,061.50 in donations. The annual Small Works Art Exhibit was held in December. We held another puzzle swap, which was very popular. Due to the Teen Librarian vacancy, there have not been many teen events. We do have two community volunteers helping out. One is running a board game club and a Dungeons & Dragons club. The other is helping Joslyn with the homeschool craft programs. Joslyn has also taken over a tween book club to keep it running. Maia offered to help with the Teen Room and the teen book clubs. ○ Outreach Update There were no outreach events in November, but plans are being discussed for the future. Melanie will be having another petting zoo for the Library of Things to be held at Smokestack Roasters in January. Melanie is also planning a follow-up event at TriTown in February. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Technology Update We have switched over to a fiber line, as CWMARS has suggested for libraries. ○ Building & Maintenance Update Nothing to report.. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion ○ Defer to the next meeting. ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ No update ● Policy Discussion(s) - Room Use, Gift, Investment ○ Room Use Policy - no update ○ Gift Policy - no update ○ Investment Policy - Robin is still working on this ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ No update ● Friends Update ○ The Rivard family donated $2,500 to the Friends to be used in the Children’s Room. An employer match increased the donation to $5,000 total. ○ An anonymous donor gave $35,000 to the Friends to be used for informational resources and to enhance STEM information and activities. ● Discussion and Finalization of Director’s review ○ Harry compiled our individual performance reviews of Muir into one. We discussed it and made some minor changes. Harry will be presenting the review to Muir at a future date. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● Adjourn ○ A motion to adjourn was made by Robin, seconded by Stephanie. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 8:44 p.m. ● Attached Documents ○ December 2025 Director’s Report 2 ===PAGE 3=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT Staff Update Muir and Sienne welcomed a baby boy on Thursday, December 18th. I have not received official notice of his leave starting yet, but it is understood by myself and the Town Manager, Jen Warren-Dyment, to be underway in his continued absence. An offer letter has been extended to Minna Scholten for the Library Assistant – Children's Room position. She has accepted and start dates are being negotiated. Minna may work some Fridays in January for initial training but is anticipating availability to accept the full schedule for the position during the week of January 26th. We are excited to welcome her to our team! A second offer letter for temporary employment has also been extended to Debra Laffond to start immediately. She will work less than 20 hours per week as a regular schedule, and will be hired as a SAP (salary admin plan) Staff Librarian. Her assistance will be invaluable in covering desk shifts and providing much needed coverage. The Teen Librarian search has been suspended during Muir’s leave. I anticipate that we will need to repost the position upon his return, as I cannot fill in for the hiring decision process during the interim. In the meantime, staff are prepared to address teen behavior as needed, and we have two community volunteers to assist with some much-needed programming. One is running a board game club on Wednesday afternoons and a Dungeons and Dragons club on Friday afternoons. The other volunteer will assist Joslyn with the homeschool craft programs. Programs A major success for us recently was the 2nd annual Winter Artisan Showcase on Sunday, December 7th. We hosted over 40 vendors and were consistently busy during the market hours of 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Many vendors reported record sales, and our Friends group received $1061.50 in donations from the bake sale and the organizer Kate Ravellette. This is sure to be an annual tradition that will continue to grow and improve with time! For adults, we held another very popular puzzle swap on November 15th with a record number of 765 puzzles available to attendees. That same day was also our Small Works art exhibit reception, which kicked off the annual exhibit for 2025. There have been a few sales so far, but many more compliments on the beautiful artwork in the Wallace room. This is another successful exhibit for the library and the local artist community. This winter we are also partnering with the Ashland Public Library to host 11 virtual programs via Zoom in January and February. These are promoted through a special brochure available at the desk and will be included in the newsletter to gain traction with our digital audiences. Teen events continue to be sparse with the absence of staff in that department; however, we did offer a successful felting program on November 18th and a CPR training class run by a member of the Lunenburg Fire Department/EMS on November 29th. Joslyn has taken over one of the tween book clubs to keep it running in the interim, while the older teen book club is unfortunately canceled. ===PAGE 4=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT In addition to the extra book club, Joslyn has been providing excellent programs for kids and families in the children’s department. Story time attendance remains steady for both sessions, and the two main programs for December were substantial hits for the library. The Family Ornament Craft on December 4th took place after the town tree lighting, and 76 people stopped by in the cold weather to warm up with hot chocolate and make their annual ornament. A few weeks later we hosted the family Gingerbread House program to much success, as usual. These popular programs are staples of holiday programming, and it’s encouraging to see the engagement continue through the years. Coming up: 1/6 Magical Winter Lights (a magic show for families), 1/8 & 1/22 Yoga and Breathwork Class, 1/10 Winter Sowing Workshops, 1/20 Teen Nautical Crafting, 1/24 Golden Oldies Sock Hop Party, 1/30 Winter Salve Workshop, 1/31 Toddler Yoga. Outreach We did not attend or participate in any outreach events in November; however, we did spend a good deal of time discussing our plans moving forward. Melanie has planned a second event at Smokestack Roasters on Sunday, January 18th to reprise the Library of Things petting zoo program during a more popular time. Jaci Nicoll, one of the co-owners, is supportive of libraries and assisting us in outreach. Developing this partnership is a goal for 2026. A follow-up event at Tri Town in February 2026 is also in the works. We want to capitalize on the interest we saw in October by delving deeper into some digital resources accessible with a library card. Melanie is preparing a presentation on Libby that should find some success with this demographic. ▪ Building & Maintenance No changes that I am aware of to report. ▪ Technology CWMARS has suggested that all libraries with a fiber line work towards CIPA compliance. With the developments over the years with filtering software, this seems like a reasonable course to enable some significant discounts. This work was completed on Thursday, December 4th. ======================================================================================== 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 ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-06-18-minutes-7852.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-06-18 KIND : minutes OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-06-18-minutes-7852.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_06182026-7852 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Trustees of Lunenburg Public Library, Meeting Minutes June 18, 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 Members Remote: Maia Wentrup Members Absent: None Select Board Representative: None The LPLBT meeting was called to order at 6:50 p.m. by Chair Harry Kubetz. Public Comment ● None Agenda Items ● Approval of Minutes of May 21, 2026 ○ Robin made a motion to approve the minutes of May 21, 2026, as amended. Stephanie 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 ● Director’s Report ○ FY2027 Budget Update FY2027 will soon be open for purchase requisitions. An improved process for accounts payable and invoice processing has been put in place. ○ FY2026 Budget Update Muir submitted a $12k batch of invoices on Tuesday. A poster printer will be purchased for $4k before the end of the fiscal year. Database renewals will use up the unexpended amount in Library Materials. Office supplies will be ordered. Muir will be making sure he spends as close to budgeted amounts as possible, with receipt of goods to be before the end of the fiscal year. ○ Staff Update The town had a full day of training on June 9, with sections on CivicsPlus (town website), Suzor IT help, and MUNIS. Muir attended the CWMARS User’s Council on June 2. Marabeth and Cheryl have both returned to work after their leaves. Lydia will be returning at the end of the month. North End Subaru committed to another year of support for the Monthly Music Series and increased their funding to $400 per event, up from $300 in previous years. They have also approved the use of their funds for a potential outside, off-site series this summer to take place at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center. This needs to be coordinated with Deb Goodsell, Director of the Council on Aging. Muir plans to meet biweekly with Jennifer Warren-Dyment, Town Manager, to improve communication and discuss organizational needs. ■ Library Director Job Description The Director’s Job Description has been placed in the Library Trustees New Member Kit and the June Meeting Documents folders. 1 ===PAGE 2=== ○ Programs Update The Summer Reading Program (SRP) launched with quite a bit of interest. Nearly 200 children have registered so far. Teen numbers have been slow to increase. A couple dozen adults have registered. We have added second sessions for nearly all the summer children’s events as registrations for most of them filled up in the first two days. We will use State Aid funding to cover the cost of these extra sessions. Harry asked how our SRP attendance compares to other libraries. Muir does not know, but will investigate and get us an answer. We are on track to have over 72,000 visitors in FY26. This will be a 10-year high. Harry asked if there is a way to compare our attendance with other libraries in the area. Muir will look into this. Harry also suggested that Muir send a letter of thanks to North End Subaru, expressing our appreciation for their support of the monthly concert series. Muir said he will do that. The Hello Summer Henna, Summer Book Bag Decoration, Wacky Weather with Kosmic Kelly, and Caterpillar Day programs for children were well-attended. There seems to be interest in the Crochet and 3D Printing clubs for teens this summer. For adults, the Felted Wool Sheep Workshop was full, and the Stitchcraft and Book Clubs have been steady. The monthly concerts have also been bringing in steady numbers. The SRP finale will be on July 30, with LED mini-golf and games. ○ Outreach Update Upcoming outreach events will be held at the Artisan Market at the Montuori Flea Market on Mass Ave., and at the Town Beach. ○ Technology Update We will be purchasing a poster printer that can print up to 24” in house. This service will be available to staff, patrons, and other town departments. It will be capable of printing on matte or gloss paper, and vinyl banners. The schedule of fees is to be determined. A Cisco Umbrella license has been purchased. Our trial remains in effect as CWMARS will be installing a new router this summer that will allow us better filtering management. Filtering is currently limited to library-owned devices. ○ Building & Maintenance Update The water fountain by the patio is waiting for service before it can be turned on. New bathroom stalls were ordered, but the wrong color was delivered. Don has been trying to find a replacement for the baby changing station in the Men’s Room, but the sizing has been incorrect and the original is no longer made. Al is out on leave, but when he returns, he will continue with the painting projects for the library. We received an anonymous gift to replace the marsh marigolds that were taken from the Rainwater Garden in May. Robin planted them. ● Discussion about amending Director’s contract reflecting new Town of Lunenburg employee vacation system ○ Harry let us know that Muir’s contract would be updated to include the standardized language about vacation accruals that the town now uses. Nothing else will change. We all agreed this was an appropriate change. ● Trustee Handbook Discussion - Chapter 7 - Budgeting & Financial Management ○ Due to the size of Lunenburg and the organization of our town government, the Trustees are not responsible for developing a budget. However, Harry suggested that we should be more involved in the future by attending budgeting meetings with the Finance Committee and the Tri-Board. ○ Robin said we should promote our programs and the value we and the Friends add to the town. The summer free lunch program is a good example of this. Promoting our successes and showing how much we add to the town will help when asking voters to support our budget. ○ Maya asked Muir if there is a role for us in helping to raise funds from the community. He said there was for special projects and for encouraging people to make donations to the Friends or to our trust funds. ○ Robin noted that the MBLC’s Annual Report Information Survey (ARIS) is an excellent tool to research how we compare to other libraries in the state. 2 ===PAGE 3=== ● Conroy Memorial Garden Update ○ The rock has been delivered to Leominster Monument for engraving. Muir is waiting for the mock-up to give final approval. ○ Bob’s family would like a dedication ceremony. ● Strategic Plan ○ FY22 - 27 report Muir reviewed the goals and action plan of our current plan. Some goals were accomplished and some are ongoing and can be included in our new plan. An action plan is submitted to the MBLC each year so that we can qualify for LSTA grants. ○ RFP review & schedule for new five year plan Not complete. Will review at the next meeting. We will be having a meeting in July to start the strategic planning process. ● Policy Discussion ○ Collection Development Policy Muir has not received the answers to our questions from Town Counsel. ○ Room Use Policy Laura asked if the patio should be included as an area that can be reserved. Muir said he would like to see it get more use, but that it is hard to monitor. Jana doesn’t want it to be over-reserved and prevent casual use. Robin noted that our parking lot is not mentioned in Section 8, Parking. It only mentions on-street parking and nearby municipal lots. In Section 1, Purpose, it states that the library is not to be used for non-library related entrepreneurial or commercial purposes. We allow professional tutors to reserve rooms, so this would need to be stated in the policy. We would also need to include a carve-out for the Friends. We deferred further discussion until September. ○ Statement on Library Filtering Software Robin asked who is the intended audience of this statement. Muir said it was for patrons. An explanation of what a patron should do if they feel they are incorrectly blocked needs to be added. The statement needs some reworking, which Muir will do and bring back to us in the fall. ● Brooks House Update / Discussion ○ Muir mentioned that he has spoken to several town employees and town officials who have expressed an interest in seeing a makerspace at the Brooks House. No plans are underway, and finding the funds to do this would be difficult. ● Friends Update ○ Chris Harlow had QR codes ready for the Book & Bake Sale so that electronic payments could be accepted through Donorbox. ○ The Book Sale brought in $2,674.66 and the Bake Sale brought in $1,155.62. ○ The Friends’ annual meeting is August 8, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ● Board Comments ○ None ● Other ○ None ● 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 9:39 p.m. 3 ===PAGE 4=== ○ Harry Kubetz Aye ○ Maia Wentrup Aye ○ Laura Boussom Aye ○ Robin Venezia Aye ○ David Niose Aye ○ Stephanie Trudel Aye ○ Jana-Lee Balish Aye ● Attached Documents ○ June 2026 Director’s Report ○ June 2026 Youth Services Report ● Additional Documents Referenced ○ Town of Lunenburg Library Director Job Description ○ Lunenburg Public Library Statement on Library Filtering Software (Draft) ○ Strategic Plan FY22-27 Goals and Descriptions ○ Collection Development Policy with proposed changes ○ Room Use Policy with proposed changes 4 ===PAGE 5=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT June 18, 2026 FY26 Budget Update FY27 Budget Update FY2027 is open for purchase requisitions, and we have been introduced to an improved process for Accounts Payable and invoice processing. Staff Update The Town offered a full-day training on June 9, with sections on CivicsPlus (Town website), Suzor IT Help, and MUNIS. I attended and will share the CivicsPlus details with Melanie, though we do not use the Town’s website for much. User’s Council occurred on June 2, with a handful of votes, including a renewal of by-laws. News of Clinton’s voting down their Library’s building project clouded the event. Moods were slightly buoyed with reports from MBLC and MLS about advocacy efforts. Marabeth and Cheryl have both returned to duty. Lydia and I discussed her return at the end of the month. Thanks again to Debbie for sticking around in her retirement and continuing to help us out. North End Subaru has committed to another year of support for the Monthly Music Series and increased their funding level to $400 per event. They have also approved use of their funds for an outside, off-site series during the summer, if I can work with Deb at COA and make that happen on FY26 Budget Budget Expended % Expended Calendar Completion LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 97,076$ 90,753$ 93% 96% ASST LIBRARY DIRECTOR SALARY 69,627$ 66,770$ 96% LIBRARY STAFF SALARIES 272,757$ 231,860$ 85% LONGEVITY 850$ 850$ 100% BLDG REPAIRS & MTC SEWERAGE DISPOSAL 1,300$ 951$ 73% ELECTRICITY CHARGES 22,500$ 22,656$ 101% HEATING CHARGES/NATURAL GAS 18,500$ 13,256$ 72% WATER CHARGES 1,150$ 752$ 65% NETWORK MAINTENANCE 500$ 219$ 44% BOOK SERVICE 4,500$ 4,476$ 99% PROGRAMS 16,000$ 13,468$ 84% CONTRACTED SERVICES 2,500$ 256$ 10% CWMARS NETWORK 20,571$ 20,571$ 100% POSTAGE -$ OFFICE SUPPLIES 8,000$ 4,007$ 50% CUSTODIAL SUPPLIES 300$ 294$ 98% LIBRARY MATERIAL 96,000$ 60,714$ 63% MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT 4,000$ 847$ 21% TOTALS 636,131$ 532,701$ 84% ===PAGE 6=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT short notice. I plan to meet with the Town Manager on a more regular basis to improve communication, with meetings every other week penciled in to the schedule. Programs Summer Reading registration has launched with quite a lot of interest. We registered nearly 200 children by the end of the second week that registrations have been open. Teen numbers have been slow to increase, perhaps related to the conclusion of the school year. We have a couple dozen adults already registered, too. A number of residents registering for new cards have also expressed interest in Summer Reading. We have added second sessions for nearly all summer events for children, too, as regisrations filled up in the first two days for almost everything. We will use State Aid funding to cover these extra sessions. Hello Summer Henna was again popular, drawing 48 attendees. Although a number of registrants did not show up, Joslyn’s Summer Book Bag Decoration program had 72 attendees! 32 attended Wacky Weather with Kosmic Kelly and 13 came to Caterpillar Day and our screening of Amazing Caterpillar, even though we had to release the butterflies we hatched early. For teens, one scheduled of the Yoga drew a dozen participants, but then the second was scheduled to close to the end of the year. There does seem to be interested so far in our Crochet and 3D printing clubs during SRP, too! We had a full workshop to make felted sheep on June 10th, and Stitchcraft and Book clubs have been steady for adults. Concerts have brought in solid numbers the last few months. North End Subaru committed to another year of funding at $400 per event (an increase of $100). Coming up: SRP full launch 6/22! 6/18 Monthly Music: Pop Rock of the 60s and 70s, 6/19 closed for Juneteenth. Teens: 3d printing club on Mondays, Crochet Tuesday afternoons. Children: Make-It Mondays, Lego Tuesdays, Therapy Dog Wednesdays, Big Event Thursdays. 6/25 SRP Kickoff: Ice Cream Social (after free lunch) 7/9 Animal Adventures (with a wallaby!). 7/15 Monthly Music Series: Irish Folk Music, 7/27 Make It Monday: Unicorn Snot, 7/30 LED Mini Golf and Games (Finale). 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: Artisan Market on 6/21, 7/19, 8/2, 8/30. Town Beach TBD. ▪ Building & Maintenance A number of Facilities projects have seen delays this spring. Our water fountain is still awaiting service. The bathroom stalls that were ordered came in the wrong color. Don has been trying to find a replacement for the baby changing station in the Men’s Room, but sizing has been incorrect and the original is no longer made. Al is out on leave and will continue painting projects around the Library when he returns. ===PAGE 7=== LUNENBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT We received an anonymous gift to replace the marsh marigolds that went missing in May. What a generous and kind person to do this! ▪ Technology Cisco Umbrella licensing has been purchased. Our trial deployment remains in effect as CWMARS will be installing a new router this summer that will allow us better filtering management. We will be purchasing a poster printer that can print up to 24” in-house. This service will be available to staff, patrons and other departments. We will be capable of matte or gloss paper printing, and vinyl (banners). Schedule of fees TBD. ===PAGE 8=== JUNE 2026 Youth Services Trustee Report Children’s Stats (May 15 – June 11) Activity Participants Caterpillar Day 13 Wacky Weather w/ Kosmic Kelly 32 LEGO Club 2 Toddler Yoga 17 DIY Summer Reading Book Bags 72 Tween/Teen Stats Activity Participants Mindful Yoga for Teens (2 Sessions) 12 Patron Quotes: “OMG [child] came home SO EXCITED about the library. He told me we have to go every single day this summer because “there’s something ALL SUMMER LONG” (text Minna received from a Lunenburg mom after our Primary School visit) Budget Stats: ===PAGE 9=== Highlights: MINDFUL YOGA FOR TEENS: We had such an unexpected number of teens show up that the instructor had to make a trip back to her car to get more yoga mats! There was a good mix of kids (gender, age, newbies vs frequenters, etc.) with the newbies giving rave reviews afterwards! Bonus: Kat, the instructor, was proud of some of the boys who have shown interest but had a couple of behavioral issues during past sessions. A great example of how consistency can build both interest and trust with the teens! SUMMER READING OFF TO A GREAT START: Minna and I had a fantastic visit to the Primary School! The kids were so full of energy that we had to hold for applause after everything we said! And it seems to have worked... We have had an overwhelming response to our summer reading events! We’ve even had to add second sessions to a few programs. I can’t blame everyone for wanting to do a craft with me, but we’re going to need a lot of glue for our Unicorn Snot slime... We are also up to 207 SRP registrations! WACKY WEATHER W/ KOSMIC KELLY: Kosmic Kelly is karismatic, kreative, and klever! The kids were thoroughly entertained by her weather show and, thankfully, very interested in both the spectacle and the science behind it. Hopefully it was a room full of future scientists! LAST TODDLER YOGA: We had some frequenters and some surprised patrons who just happened to show up on a Saturday and then we roped into doing yoga... But everyone was delighted! Every session has received very positive feedback with 2MindfulGirls’ being fantastic ===PAGE 10=== with the kiddos – but this one received the most praise (along with demands to have them back next school year). Might have to be a recurring event! HENNA: As always, Mandy’s henna was quite popular and loved! She always brings tons of designs and works at an unbelievably impressive speed allowing her to do henna for around 50 people in just a 2-hour time span. Even the toddlers who got henna didn’t have the time to get impatient. DIY SUMMER READING BOOK BAGS: I could not have predicted this event’s popularity... I even had to go and buy double the number of bags! And it was worth it for all the highly enthused young artists ready to take home some summer reading books in their brand-new bags Upcoming Events: TEENS: 3D Printing Club Mon 6/22 - 7/20 4 Sessions ===PAGE 11=== In the Loop (Crochet Club) Tues 6/23 - 7/28 6 Sessions Explore the Procreate App 7/21/26 CHILDREN: Floor Babies: A Postpartum Support Group 6/18/26 Make-It Monday: Fairy Houses 6/22/26 Dog Days: Read to a Therapy Dog Wed 6/24 - 7/22 5 Sessions Make-It Monday: Magic Wands 6/29/26 Science Heroes: Digging It 7/2/26 Make-It Monday: Creature in a Jar Session One 7/6/26 Make-It Monday: Creature in a Jar Session Two 7/6/26 Animal Adventures Session One 7/9/26 Animal Adventures Session Two 7/9/26 Make-It Monday: Chinese Dragons 7/13/26 America is Wild 7/14/26 Alien Escape w/ Big Ryan’s Traveling Mystery Rooms 7/16/26 Make-It Monday: DIY Woodland Crowns 7/20/26 Reading is Magic 7/23/26 Make-It Monday: Unicorn Snot 7/27/26 Joslyn Davis, Children’s Services Librarian Minna Scholten, Library Assistant (Children’s Room) ======================================================================================== DOCUMENT : 2026-07-10-agenda-7893.txt BOARD : library-board-of-trustees DATE : 2026-07-10 KIND : agenda OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/library-board-of-trustees/2026-07-10-agenda-7893.txt TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07102026-7893 ======================================================================================== ===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Public Library 1023 Massachusetts Avenue • Lunenburg, MA 01462 • (978) 582-4140 Agenda Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees July 10, 2026 AGENDA Lunenburg Public Library Board of Trustees Friday, July 10, 2026 5:00 p.m. Lunenburg Public Library • Public Comments • Agenda Items · Approval of Minutes of June 18, 2026 · MOU between Parks Commission and LPL Trustees re: Room Use · New LPL Strategic Plan Subcommittee - Yes or No? Schedule for Consultant Interviews, Focus Groups, etc. RFP Details Review Discussion of Values & Priorities • Board Comments • Other • Adjourn