The Jones Library, Inc. Board of Trustees Sep 10, 2026

Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Welcome everybody. Uh please um indicate your ability to speak and hear when I call your name. Eugene >> here. >> Nat >> I'm here. >> Bar >> here. >> Tammy >> here. >> Lee >> here. >> And I am Austin. Okay. I have no changes to the agenda that I know of. Uh we next have some minutes to approve. So the first set of minutes comes from July 30. Is there a motion to approve those minutes? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Uh questions, additions, edits to the minutes. >> Okay, on the question of approving the minutes, Eugene >> approved. >> Thank you. N >> yes. >> Farah, >> yes. >> Tammy, >> yes. >> Lee, >> yes. >> And Austin votes yes. Okay. Um, I didn't see a second set of minutes in there. So, um, 8:13 >> have to pick that. I actually finished them, but apparently I never sent them to Sharon. >> Okay, we are we are totally good. Uh, okay. Next is public comment. Uh, we have three attendees. Uh, anybody wish to make a comment, please raise your virtual hand. Okay, let's see. No public comment. All right, the president's report. Uh, again, I'm going to speak about the building project. Uh, things seem to be going well. Um the um I don't know if you are excited as I am at the sight of bricks on the outside of the building. Uh but when I saw them it I don't know it felt even all the more look at how wonderful this building is going to be. Uh there's a lot of work being done on the interior at this point as you um know. uh the process between the various among the various parties, the the architects, the OPM, the general contractor seems to be going um smoothly as well. So, I think everything is good on that end. Um I do have a question rather than a comment. Sharon, could you say something about the we read program at this point? How's it going and what's been happening? Um, uh, no. I, uh, >> okay, >> you caught me off guard. No, >> no, we're totally good. So, I remain very enthusiastic about this program. I think it's an incredibly important um, program and continue to look forward to its uh, its progress. Uh, Farah, Sharon, do you want to say anything else about the building committee? Uh the one thing that um you know staff are starting to come to me and the funny thing is is we feel like we have been in this you know this this mode um where we're we're waiting and it's happening and it's going to be 18 months and and come to find out you know it's 6 months awayish you know when we get to be in the new space and that's darn exciting. And I I just I really think I know that this this new building is going to be a place that serves the whole community for decades and decades and decades to come. So, it's really exciting. >> Yeah. Far, did you want to say anything about the building committee or about the building? >> Uh, no. But I share Sharon's excitement and enthusiasm. >> And you want to say something about the community outreach. >> Oh, yeah. I will. I was waiting for my report. >> Okay. >> Should I wait? Yeah, >> that's fine. You'll do it later. Okay, >> that is totally good. All right. Next item on the agenda is buildings and facilities. >> Um, we did not have a meeting last month, but we have a meeting on Tuesday. Sharon, anything about uh 101 that you would like to share or or the >> branches? >> No, we're good. We're good for now. We'll talk on Tuesday, >> but we're good. >> Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, next item is the development committee. >> Before Before I get to that and in anticipation of FAR, I had the pleasure of attending the first of the Jedi community outreach meetings that was held yesterday at the Mson. It was very well attended and I think it was a very productive meeting. Um there were lots of you know different elements of the community represented and people had interesting and very thoughtful things to say about their hopes for the new building. It was it was very nice. I was glad to have gone. So thank you Farah. Thank you Jed eyes. >> Okay. Um it was not a bad month for the development committee. The annual fund is at $5,57759. So, it's kind of chugging along in a normal way. Um the uh capital campaign received 555 $550,000 in new pledges and received cash payments on pledges made of $364,548 and new cash gifts of $1,122. So total cash that came in last month was 365670 and as I say over half a million dollars in new pledges. So that was quite nice. Um and then it says on the agenda uh the MOA is once again referenced but I thought thought we talked about that to death. And um I know that Marian I'm assuming Marian's here. I haven't actually looked, but the friends constituted the new ongoing whatever whatever we're calling it, the the committee to contemplate um the future fundraising for the library on its meeting on Tuesday. So, um if Marian I'm assuming Marian will talk about it when she makes her report. So I think that's that's that's my official report from the development committee. >> Capital campaign effort has raised $10 million uh for this project. There's more to go and much optimism about further progress. But I really do think it's important just to take a minute and um recognize the extraordinary effort by many people, especially now by Kent and Lee and Lisa that have produced $10 million uh for this building project. I think it's quite remarkable. Um I think uh it's a tribute to the commitment of lots of people to the library and to the town and it's an exemplification of citizenship at its best. Uh the best expression of gratitude is service and this committee has just done a absolutely remarkable job. As you say, we have lots still to do. >> Don't rain on my parade. >> I was going to tell you all the stuff we have. Anyway, there's going to be um a sort of house party at the Drake on the 22nd of September and everybody is welcome to come and it should be should be a lot of fun and I hope we'll raise some money. >> There's going to be music. >> Yes, music. be music. >> Yeah. >> All right. Nothing else from developmentally. >> Uh, no. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you for all the work and please convey to your colleagues the great gratitude and celebratory thanks of the board of trustees. >> Okay. >> Next, I believe is PPP. >> Yes. Um, I'd like to start off making a motion um for the um for us to approve Sharon's um 1996 evaluation. You have a draft in your packet. >> I think you said 1996. >> No, 2026. Okay. So, um if someone will second it, then we can discuss it. >> I second it. Thank you, Lee. Um, I hope you've had a chance to read it. I'd be happy to answer any questions as to the process. Um, the only thing I will say is despite repeated requests this year, I did not hear from either the town manager or the HR director. um which was disappointing. But um you know this is entirely voluntary and at different years we get different amounts of of um people participating >> for sure. Okay. discussion of the um evaluation. >> Yeah, >> sure. Um first thanks to Tammy and the committee because it does seem like a lot of work to compile all these things and >> um yeah >> and I guess some of them especially from the public were >> fairly illeible. So even to wade through all those requires a lot of effort. So, um >> I my husband helped me try to decipher a few of them, >> but um I just wanted to reiterate one of the things that that stood out to me was that I think I only see a part of what Sharon does um you know, dealing with, you know, budgets and the finances and and the fundraising and the building and that sort of thing. And I don't see so much of what her job involves. And it's just amazing to me that um what I see is so exemplary and she has such a um command of um so much of that part of her job that I see, but talking to people who see other parts of her uh work um it's also so exemplary and she's able to um have such command of so many different areas of the library and um I think that is an amazing skill. very few people have that sort of breadth to be able to um fulfill so many different requirements uh in a job like this. It's so complex. So I I would say, you know, hats off to all that she brings to us. >> Yeah, I call it juggling everything that there's so much going on that she has to juggle and balance and and uh focus on one thing and then turn around and focus on another. Um, this year we last year with the move it was harder to get staff to participate, but this year we had many more staff particip participants and more public comment than last year because last year was during the move and it was kind of hard to um elicit responses. And kudos to to Matt. Um, he puts these on the on the website and so people respond on the website too. And um as well as there are boxes in the staff room and boxes in the um uh main reading area with forms there so people can fill them out and stick them in a box that's secure. So I get a lot of help from Matt Buby and from uh Tashi um the uh assistant in in Sharon's office and they both help out a lot. So they deserve a lot of credit for the organ for collecting all the responses that that I then collate and um come up with this uh narrative evaluation >> any >> Oh yeah I just wanted to add well first thanks Tammy because I know it's a lot of work and I'm glad you have Larry there to decipher handwriting Yeah, >> but also I just wanted to second what Nat said about Sharon and how amazing I think you know all that Nat said, but above all else, I think Sharon is always like really patient and deals with everything with a lot of grace and a sense of humor. And also, she is a great therapist. The number of times I have barged into her office frustrated about something, whether it's library related or teen related or anything in between, she's been pretty amazing. But she does have a bad uh um bad um I'm trying to find the perfect word and I can't find it. I don't like her candy selection. That's the one thing I do not like about her. I think you can tell from some of the comments that I've quoted here um how various constituencies feel about Sharon and uh what a great job she does. Tammy, it might be useful uh without going into um great detail or re revealing anything about sources, what constructive criticism, what areas uh do you think that our library director should work on that the board should know about? >> Well, I will go over the the comments with her. There were some staff who felt um that she was not as responsive to their needs or they didn't feel as comfortable as many of the other staff members um revealed that that they didn't feel as comfortable talking with her um about things. And it's hard to know because you don't know what position they are. I only know if they're full-time or part-time. Um, so those I I meet with Sharon and I go through uh all the she gets all the comments. Um, and hopefully she can decipher a few of them. Um but this year I would say more so than in previous years when the project hadn't yet started there were sort of more negative public comments because people wanted to express their frustration. In this case there were many more positive um community comments um and also there were boxes at the branches. So that was interesting too. Um, >> great. >> Okay. Anything else about the evaluation? So, uh, there's a motion. Was it seconded? >> Yes, please second. >> Okay. Are we ready to vote on the question of adopting the recommendation of the PPP concerning Sharon's evaluation? Eugene, >> approve. Far. >> Yes. Lee, >> yes. >> Natt, >> yes. >> Tammy, >> yes. >> And Austin both Yes. again with gratitude. Tammy Moore. >> Okay. Um I also I Far will report on on the Jedi committee and the outreach sessions, but um this one at Mson uh had a lot of trustees because with Lee along with Lee, I was there and Eugene was there. Um, and it was very interesting and we uh we wrote out concerns and hopes and then we went into groups to discuss those and came out with some ideas that were posted. It was very interesting and the facilitators I thought did a good job kind of working with the us as a whole and then with the individual groups. But I will let Far report on Jedi and report on the sessions. Thanks Tammy and thank you guys. I mean thank you all for your support. Um we weren't in the same groups. We made sure the trustees were in separate groups. But it was really I mean the reason we had these sessions spread out out over different times of days was to let different groups of people uh let them be able to join. And um I'm hoping we will have more people because there were people who left yesterday and said, "Oh, I'm going to tell my book group." So they they sign up for one of the other two sessions. But like Tammy said, um Dr. Pat Romney and Anhelica Castro, I mean, they're amazing. They do this all the time. They're um they have really good energy and um there were a lot of great suggestions. So they they split us up into groups and it was about your hopes and concerns for the library or what the or how you use the library and what it means to you. And you know, um, people were really thoughtful and, um, some of the same things came up, but there was a lot about community and hope that the teens use the space going forward that, um, but one of the things that that um, came up was about parking. And um it was really interesting because it it it was one of the things that we had I feel like the most productive or constructive discussion. So, I don't I don't know where we go from here, but somebody had talked had asked about whether we would make sure that we had handicap parking close to the building because it's hard for people some people to park at the CVS lot and walk over. So there was suggestion about the I don't even know what the street is it North Prospect the one adjacent to the to the stronghouse and whether we could make sure that we could have a couple of uh designated handicap parking spots there and maybe in front of the uh opposite Ammerst Coffee which was the co-working space for a few years. So I I know this has to go through the I guess the transportation transportation and parking committee, the committee for persons with disabilities, but there was a lot of suggestions and after the next couple of sessions, uh Pat and Anhelica will like coate all the suggestions and ideas and then present a report for us. But um uh I've lost my train of thought. I'm just hoping people show up. We do ask people to register if they want child care and just to make sure we have enough food. And we're hoping more people from different parts of our community show up for the next two. Uh, one is next Wednesday at 6:00 at 101 University and on Saturday at 10 at the Bang Center next week. I know that was a lot of information. So, if you have any questions, >> could you give us a rough sense of what the attendance was? >> Uh, I'm trying to I want to say five fours are 20 about 20 people. That's what I would say. >> Yeah. >> Is that about right? Yeah. About 20. And um Sharon wasn't in the room, but in the last 10 15 minutes, she came in to ask and uh to answer any questions about the library and when it reopens and uh other things that people had questions about. Can you tell us anything about the demographics of the 20? >> Uh, I want to say a bunch of retired folks. >> Um, someone say something. >> Oh, yeah. A bunch of retired people. Uh yeah, not a lot of uh young parents, let's put it that way. And that's that's I mean those are the people we kind of want to reach out to. So I'm hoping they'll show up in the next two at the next two meetings. >> Do you have a sense that these were people who were um already regular patrons of the library? >> Uh yeah, for the most part. Yeah. But a lot of people who were going to Mson because it felt more accessible in terms of how the building was set up. Oh, one interesting thing that I you know we people were talking about the library of things and the suggestions about but one of the suggestions was in the welcome area whether we could have wheelchairs or walkers or um strollers. So people who are not, you know, who get dropped off and then they don't realize that they have a long way to walk or whatever. >> So actually the uh Pamela Nolan Young and Phillip were from the DEI department were there. I just I can't say enough about how amazing they've been and how supportive throughout this whole process. But Pamela did point out that the senior center and senior center bangs um they do have access to things like wheelchairs and canes. So when the time when when we're ready to be back in the building, they would be good people to approach. And could you uh other than the parking thing and the wheel, were there other concrete suggestions that you recall? I know they're going to write up a summary. um parking. Um I think there was there was a suggestion of a tour of the building of um I guess those people who aren't that represented all the time. Uh and then there was stuff about oh one of the people had talked about youth voices and I did point I did go and speak to her after we adjourned to let her know that we do plan to have sessions for kids at the middle school and the high school but they're going to be separate from these three. >> The Did I miss anything? Lee, you're going to say sorry. >> I This This may be completely impractical, but it was a suggestion that came up in Austin. Don't get upset. It's because it's about signage. >> Oh, yeah. Somebody had >> right had the the thought that it it would it if it were possible to have signage in languages in addition to English that >> might be a good thing. >> Yeah. I Why would I be upset? That sounds like a great suggestion. And >> I thought you were tired of hearing about science. >> The reason for the work that Farah is doing, right, is you hear we don't think about this and somebody says, "But if Spanish is my primary language, these signs aren't going to help me." It's great. Lee, do you have more? Your hand is up. >> Oh, no. I don't. >> Okay. Farah. >> Yeah, I guess that's Yeah, I'm sorry. I forgot that. Thank you, Lee. Um, uh, I guess that would be something that we could address in buildings and facilities. Uh, Sharon and Jedi, would you >> Can you hear me? >> Yeah. >> Good. Uh, so I would think so it depends on funding. Um, there there isn't there isn't funding for our signage to uh include other languages now. Um, so I don't know. I I don't I don't know how to make that happen, even though I desperately would love that. You know, we we talked about it early on with the architects and the signage folks and um the more languages you add, the larger the signs get, the more unwieldy they get and u the more expensive they get. Yeah, form. >> Yeah. Could we even get like uh you know just do paper and like some kind of slots I mean you know and insert them somewhere or >> Yes. So after the fact certainly we could do stuff like that. Yes. >> Okay. >> So I um uh Right. I mean I think we need to put this pretty high up on our list of to-dos. >> Yeah. Um uh you know everybody agrees we want to make it as welcoming a building for as many people as we can and if we cannot accommodate uh the particular thing within the library budget the building budget as it currently is construed we we'll need to figure out a a way to move forward pretty quickly I hope on this uh you know as soon as as soon as we Tara, anything else? >> Um, no. Um, we have a Jedi meeting on Wednesday. You're invited. People are welcome to attend. And, um, No. And we have our new members starting on Wednesday as well. >> Good. >> That's great. Okay. Any other questions so far? Okay. So next is budget and investment. >> Okay, here I am again. Okay, so we met on Tuesday. We had a very efficient short meeting. Um the audit for FY25 has been completed and we'd hoped to bring it to you for a vote of approval today, but um Nat noticed that he had some questions about where certain expenses had been reported. So Sharon's going to talk to the auditors and we'll get back to you. But basically the audit's done the and the auditors found they had no problems. So this is just a question about where they recorded something rather than what they recorded. Um, the budget report for FY26, which will now go to the auditors, has been concluded. And, um, I'm happy to tell you that there's a carryover into FY27 of a little under $100,000. So I think that's a tribute to once again to Sharon and everybody else in the library for their prudence and their good management. Um and I already gave you the financials. Oh no no no I didn't didn't give you all. So, as of um the end of July or the 1st of August, the endowment was at 9,542,900.36 and the Woodbury fund was at $343,952.117. And then we adjourned. Okay. >> Questions for Lee? Okay. Thank you very much. All right. The next item on our agenda is uh to hear from the friends. Marian. >> Hi everybody. Thanks for having me. Um so our last meeting was this past Tuesday and as Lee mentioned the two big uh big developments were number one we have reconstituted the friends development committee with two trustees two friends I myself will be there also and um we are going to talk about inviting community members. The first meeting is next week on Tuesday at 4:00 at 101 University Drive. Sharon will be there also. We're looking forward to it. Um, we have also been working with Lisa Degrace. We did vote some money, $350,000 to hire two positions for development. And Lisa Degrace is working on the description of those positions and she will be posting them ASAP. So, we'd like to get moving on both of these things right away. And, uh, we had a very brief discussion of what the future structure might look like at the Friends meeting on Tuesday. And um we look forward to continuing it next week. So if there are any questions about that? No. Okay. Great. So the other thing uh other the block party is on the Tuesday sorry Thursday on the 17th of September. The friends will have a table there next to the library. We have volunteers for that. We're looking for that. The pickle ball committee is going full force. That's on November 15th on a Sunday. They have raised $12,000 in sponsorships. So far, the registration is open. So, um, encourage anyone you know to register for the pickle ball tournament. >> And I have a few statistics on, uh, demographics provided by Lisa Deg Grace. >> So, there are about 2,800 friends in total. And remember, the population of Ammerst is what 40,000 with all of the students. Um, unfortunately she was only able to provide me with the sample of people who chose to respond to the survey which was 100 people. Of those 100, 60 of those people identified as 65 years of age or older. And Lisa said to remember that those people are more likely to answer surveys. Um, the next group coming in at about 14 was uh the early 20s. So um so and then it kind of broke down between you know 25 to 34 35 to 40 55 plus etc. So um make them that what as you what you will um I don't know like that's the best we can do. We can't really mine for information on the friends unless they chose chose to give it to us. Anyone under 18 we don't collect email addresses from. So, but that does give you some kind of picture of who's joining the friends. And I think that's about all. Was there anything else at the meeting? I don't think so. I think that those are the highlights. Could you say a little bit about um the we've had wonderful relationships with the friends uh for a long time. The reason I asked the question I asked is that the when I first got involved, the friends were a predominantly older group and I would describe the friends as um really focused on helping the library but um not >> energetically thinking about Yeah. >> No, I know I know what you're saying. I do think it is a bit of an older group. We're trying to make it, you know, kind of a more dynamic, age inclusive, if you will, um, group, a little more, >> you know, uh, social. I think I think that I think, you know, >> in my view, the friends have two jobs. One is to raise money for the library and the second one is to have fun or create fun and those are very closely intertwined. So, um, >> uh, you know, I think it should be an enjoyable thing to be with the friends and to raise money for the library. And we're trying to I hope that that's what we're going to do in the future. And one of the positions that Lisa Degrace will be advertising for is an events manager. So that we can get back to what the Sammies were and uh other fun events that happened throughout the year that really involved lots of different people and you know had a sense of enjoyment and you know that should be there too. So, um, hopefully that's what we will be starting to focus on in addition to like figuring out what we're going to do with development in the rest of the capital campaign and beyond and how the future looks. >> Yeah. >> So, but yes, I agree with you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Any questions for Marian? >> Thank you. Thank you for what you're going to do for the block party and um uh I love the idea that you're going to work in this group. It ought to be fun. >> Yes. >> Um that's great. >> Okay. >> Um though personally I'm a little ambivalent about fun. I'm happy when other people have it. So this is really good. >> Okay, Sharon. So, I was going to make a funny comment about how so, you know, age is relative and and what what we think of as old. So, Austin, I would now say you are now officially older than the friends. Come on. I I deserve just a little smile on that. >> I'll mail I'll put it in the mail. >> Okay. Okay. Uh no. Yeah. Uh thank you to the friends. Um uh and in fact it it's interesting what Marian just said about the fun piece. Um one of them Monday night was talking about how fun it is to work the block party for example because I mean a it's so busy and you get to talk to so many people um and you just get to sit there and listen to how much people love the library. um which is that's awesome and very rewarding and which brings me to the staff of the library. That is why they love the library I believe. Um it's because of the services that the the staff specifically are providing and how they provide it. Um so those are those are my shoutouts there. Um, and other things that I wanted to report on, uh, is our, uh, Matt and Steve got another MBI grant. Um, and so this involves seven new large screen TVs. I didn't ask the size, so I don't know what large screen means. And five new um, laser printers, color. This is in addition to the 27 uh desktop computers and the 72 laptops that they got for us. And you know, timing is everything. And because of the building project, this we've got space for additional tech and um you know, funds are low-ish. And so the fact that this grant came in now, I it's so exciting. And um it's uh the the building is going to be tricked out with lots of it uh in part thanks to uh mass broadband. So that's wicked cool. Also uh shout out to our staff who have begun uh converting to RFID. So uh what's involved right now is tagging our collection. Um so off the top of my head, how many items do we have? Let's say 500,000 items. they each need a radio tag on it so that they can be checked out um once we open the new library. So, it's um it it's a job that is easy to do. It could be considered a little tedious because you're sticking a sticker and then you're scanning it into the into the computer, but um we've got people doing it and it's really exciting. It's very exciting. I'm such a library geek. Um so, that's great. And uh also side note, the branches are going to be closed on election day because they are both polling places. >> I think that's everything other than the naturalization ceremony. Shout out to um Lynn Winrob uh for overseeing this. This will be next week um 11:00 a.m. at the Mson, which I think is a really spectacular location for this event. Um, and we've got elected officials who will be there to speak and we Lynn doesn't know how many countries or how many pe you know how many countries will be represented. We don't know how many people will be naturalized but um we do expect a full house and so if you're planning on coming come early and um if you've never been to one before you need to come. I think every United States uh of America citizen should come and see this. I know personally I I really feel like I take a lot for granted and this kind of this event kind of grounds me. So I'm really thankful for everybody that is involved in that. So that's everything for me. >> Questions for Sharon? So, I just want to make a suggestion about the naturalization ceremony. Alas, unfortunately, I'm I've got to be teaching. Um, last year there was a long line of people waiting to check in with whoever they have to check in with. And uh I went through that line and greeted every person in that line and welcomed them. So, I just think it would be great if someone who's going to be there um does that. And for many of them, they're ner, you know, kind of nervous. They don't know what to expect. Um and just just welcoming people in that line as they're lined up might be a good thing to do. >> Love it. Thank you. Um, the next thing is, um, I found my favorite thing in your report, which is a report on the homebound program. And I just wonder if you could uh just say a couple of words so that everybody remembers what the homebound program is and how important it is and uh, how often it is used. >> We're so lucky that we get to do this. I I have a feeling that once um you know once the library reopens I have a feeling it this program this program has a potential to get even bigger. Um but right now we've got 49 patrons using it and anybody can use it whether you are homebound temporarily or or permanently. Uh give us a call. You do have to live in Ammerst uh to be eligible for this, but we will we will work with anybody. Uh tell us what your interests are. We will bring books to you and if we don't get it right the first time, we will try again. And um uh what else can I say? We're just we're lucky to be able to have this program. And when people call up, you don't ask them any like why do you need us to come to you questions. Someone says you just bring it to them. >> 100%. Yes. Yes. >> That is that is absolutely fabulous. >> Okay. Anything else for Sharon? Okay. I think we are ready to adjourn and um everybody should have a good time at the block party. Let's hope it doesn't rain. Is it a Does it go on if it rains? >> Absolutely. >> Oh, then let's hope it doesn't rain. >> Yes. >> All right. Stay well, everybody. >> Bye, everybody. >> You, too. >> Take care.