Board of Library Trustees

Meeting Minutes

Documentation

• Meeting Minutes for Approval – October 14, 2025
• Friends Report
• Professional Staff Reports
• Director’s Report
• Financial Report
• Miscellaneous –Internet Use Policy, Correspondence

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by P. Ivanovskis.

Public Comment

None.

Approval of Meeting Minutes

The Board discussed the inclusion of correspondence in the minutes. If correspondence is
discussed in a Board meeting, it becomes part of public record and should be included as an
appendage to the minutes. Email addresses and phone numbers will be redacted if included.
Going forward, a note will be included on the Board’s webpage that states that the Boyden
Library is a public entity subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and public meeting
law requirements. As such, any correspondence the Library receives may become public record.
Kay Andberg’s correspondence from October will be included with the October minutes, and all
email addresses and phone numbers will be redacted from those minutes. A. Clement made a
motion to approve the minutes as amended. J. Ooi seconded and the motion passed 5-0-1 with K.
Penders abstaining.

Friends’ Report

B. Lorusso provided an update from the Friends. The fall book sale was very successful, bringing
in $5700 in total sales, $500 more than the spring sale. There were a lot of great donations
received during the book drives leading up to the sale and a lot of new membership sign ups
during the sale, both of which helped fuel the sales. Additionally, the Friends are earning $1 per
shopping bag sold at the Foxborough Stop & Shop this month.

As previously mentioned, Betsy Buckland is stepping down from the Friends Board. As such, at
their November meeting, Maureen Ryan-Wise was selected to serve as Vice President for a oneyear term. The Friends annual meeting will be held in February 2026.

Professional Staff Reports

Kathy Bell-Harney worked with SAILS to install web filtering on the children’s computers. This
eliminates the need for permission slips to use the computers in that room.

Jennifir Huston attended the Ahern PAC to promote the Tinker Tank.

L. O’Neill, J. Huston, and Emma Brelsford all attended the NELA conference. L. O’Neill
presented on being a director at the conference and was asked to do the presentation again at next
year’s MLA conference.

Financial Reports

The Library budget is on track so far this year. The Network & Information Systems line item is
fully expended due to the SAILS network assessment and is typical at this time of year.

The Library will be in the first round of State Aid allocations and will received $25,940.80. L.
O’Neill plans to spend down this account to cover expenses related to creating a teen
programming room including the building work, counters, cabinets, a sink, and furniture. A vote
for this allocation will be on the December agenda.

The Board will vote on the FY27 budget in December. From there, it will go to the town
manager, then AdCom, then Town Meeting.

Director’s Report

Library Operations

None.

Programs & Services

The food cupboard has been a huge success, especially since the start of
November. Over 250 items have been taken from the pantry. The Library is running food for
fines to ramp up donations. Traci Lorenz has been picking up donations from Stop & Shop
weekly, and the Foxborough Food Pantry reached out to offer supplies as they are well stocked
at present. J. Parlapiano suggested putting together a list of food pantries in the area to post in the
cupboard.

.

Personnel Updates

L. O’Neill reported that Vickie Kusleika will be retiring in September of 2026.

A. Clement inquired about the incident referenced in the director’s report. L. O’Neill gave an
overview of the incident from the report and concluded that while staff felt harassed by the
events, they did not feel threatened. As such, no action to disinvite was taken, though a warning
was issued via email in response to the correspondence received relating to the incident
(correspondence is attached).

Correspondence:

L. O’Neill distributed correspondence that was received from a patron, a copy of which can be
found at the end of the minutes. The correspondence is in reference to the incident discussed
under the director’s report. The Board discussed how the library is a community space where
social connections can be made, and that they are no longer the quiet spaces they used to be.
Given the architecture of the Library, a truly quiet space is difficult to achieve. P. Ivanovskis
complimented the tone and solutions offered in L. O’Neill’s response.

New Business

New Library Website & Accessibility Compliance:

The Library is looking into getting a new website. Under a recent law passed, the website must
be ADA compliant by April 2027. It will be critical to ensure that the web designer is prepared to
meet the ADA requirements when building the new site. Because of this requirement, the cost
may be higher. The Board encouraged L. O’Neill to have quotes by the December meeting so it
can be incorporated into FY27 budget planning. Quotes should include the initial set up and
maintenance. L. O’Neill is considering rebranding with a new logo to align with a new website.
K. Penders suggested putting together a small committee made of up of staff, Board members,
and Friends to work together to develop and change the branding.

FY27 Budget:

Finance has advised that Town departments should budget for what they need for FY27. L.
O’Neill is going to include a programming line item for this budget cycle, as well as increases to
network & info and materials expenditure. With V. Kusleika retiring, L. O’Neill is considering
changing the position from 30 hours to 18. Additionally, she is considering changing the
department administrator position to a librarian level II, step one position. The role would
include the existing department admin tasks plus more library-specific work. This would allow
for better coverage library wide. K. Penders advised that these changes will really come down to
the unions. L. O’Neill is meeting with the Library union rep in the first of week December.

L. O’Neill will be including $100,000 for a bookmobile in the capital improvement plan (CIP)
for FY27. This would be in addition to $100,000 from Beyond Books and fundraising roughly
another $100,000. Bookmobiles generally cost $200,000-300,000. L. O’Neill briefly outlined
why a bookmobile would be a vital component for the Library and beneficial to the community.
She also mentioned a few locations (parks, Patriot Place, local schools, YMCA, community
events, etc.) the bookmobile could visit in Foxborough. The Board is generally in support of
using funds from Beyond Books as this has historically been used almost exclusively for the
annual Community Reads.

Address Change:

Last month, a patron reached out to suggest considering changing the Library’s address to Baker
Street to be more easily found via navigation. L. O’Neill reported back that the process would be
easy for the Library –the Town of Foxborough’s Staff Planner will take care of updating the Post
Office, etc. They recommended using 2 Baker Street. A. Clement suggested rolling out a new
logo/branding in conjunction with the address change to avoid having to make updates and
reprint materials twice.

A. Clement made a motion to approve changing the Library’s address to 2 Baker Street. J.
Parlapiano seconded the motion and it passed 6-0-0.

Old Business

Internet Use Policy:

Web filters have been installed on the children’s computers through SAILS. Now, children 12
and under can use the children’s computers and those 13+ can use the reference computers.
Permission slips are no longer needed for kids to use computers in the children’s room. The
policy is being adjusted to reflect these changes, as well as a lack of computers in the teen room.

K. Penders made a motion to approve the policy as amended. P. Ivanovskis seconded the motion
and it passed 6-0-0.

Adjournment

Respectfully submitted,
Renee Spinner