Board of Trustees Meeting – Sept. 9, 2025

Board of Library Trustees

Meeting Minutes

Documentation

• Meeting Minutes for Approval – June 10, 2025
• Friends Report
• Professional Staff Reports
• Director’s Report
• Financial Report
• Miscellaneous – Community Bulletin Board Policy, Visual Exhibit Policy, Correspondence

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 P.M. by P. Ivanovskis.

Public Input

Nancy Morrison, of Grove Street, attended to give public input regarding the policy on using the
Fuller Room when it’s not in sure by others, it’s become an issue when she wants to use it. N.
Morrison spoke about other area libraries, specifically Norton and Stoughton, have their rooms
on a first come, first served basis when the rooms aren’t occupied. She has been using other
libraries all summer for her crafting projects and noted on Boyden’s calendar that the room was
no in use on Fridays and Saturdays all summer. N. Morrison finds it foolish that patrons can’t
use Boyden conference rooms if they’re not use in by anyone else.

Grace Morrison, of Grove Street, also attended to give public input regarding the policy on using
the Fuller Room when it’s not in sure by others, posing the question, “Where is the space for
someone like me?” G. Morrison is studying for board exams and has found the Library to be
chaos on the second floor in the afternoons, 2-4pm, and the weekends, 10am-1pm. There isn’t a
quiet space to study with all the kids coming to the Library after school. The Teen Room seems
to serve as a hang out space, making the adjacent reference area no longer a quiet area. The kids
literally bouncing off the walls are distracting, and even some older patrons listen to videos
loudly. G. Morrison has used the study pods and found them to be very hot, with not a lot of
space to spread out. The tutoring room gets loud, as do the other areas such as the tables by Bird
Street, where tutors often set up to work with students. When G. Morrison was in high school,
the Teen Room was a quiet space. She points out that $22 million was spent on renovations, yet
there is no quiet space. Being a college student short on cash, the cost to drive to other area
libraries that have private study rooms isn’t feasible.

Approval of Meeting Minutes

A. Clement made a motion to approve the minutes as presented.

Correspondence:

P. Ivanovskis circulated correspondence he received from patron and resident Nancy Morrison
regarding the use of meeting rooms on a first come, first served basis by whoever wants to use
them when they are not already in use by reservation, as well as concerns over the volume of
teens visiting the library. While discussion was limited as it’s closely related to the public input
that will be addressed at the next meeting, J. Ooi did comment that the teen noise level has
greatly improved since the full-time Teen Librarian position was approved. L. O’Neill clarified
that other libraries such as the Norfolk Public Library have study rooms that are first come, first
served, but their full conference rooms are not available on this basis.

Friends’ Report

S. Collins reported that the Friends had a table at the Teddy Bear Picnic selling children’s books.
A. Clement, her son Archie, and Colleen McManus were very helpful with the heavy lifting. The
Toe Jam Puppet Band and face painting were a hit.

The Friends are gearing up for their fall book sale, which will take place on November 13-15
with set up on the 12th. There will be book drives on September 25th and October 27th for which
appointments can be made, 10am-12pm, to drop off donations.

A. Clement, Betsy LaRusso and Maureen Ryan are coordinating this year’s Friend’s social. It
will take place on October 22nd, 6:30-8pm at the Canon Forge Club House. While some details
are being finalized at a meeting later this week, appetizers will likely come from Mansfield Deli
and Costco, Jen Linskey is donating wine, and there will be a giveaway activity.

Newsletter articles are due to the Friends by October 1st. The PayPal account has been fixed and
is functional again. Venmo is still unavailable, but the Friends are working to find a solution.

Professional Staff Reports

Shifting in nonfiction has been doing well and there will soon be enough room to move
biographies into the nonfiction section.

Summer reading was a huge success with 66 teens and 496 kids participating, a big increase over
last year.

Financial Reports

L. O’Neill reported that there are no red flags this early in the year on the financial report. The
Network & Information Systems line item is full expended due to the SAILS network assessment
and is typical at this time of year.
Looking back at the final report for FY25, the Library turned back $0.69 from the operating
budget. More was turned back in salary, though Finance did suggest reducing the substitute
budget for FY26 to minimize some of this. The postage line item was overdrawn, though it wasbalanced by other lines that weren’t fully expended. This is due to the mailing of overdue/lost
item bills.

L. O’Neill will confirm with SAILS whether or not these notices are also going out
via email to potentially cut the cost. Once stamps reach $1, this mailing practice will be
discontinued regardless.

There were some questions on the trust report L. O’Neill circulated, specifically the trusts
showing negative expendable balances. L. O’Neill will work with Finance to determine what’s
going on with these funds and report back at the next meeting.

Director’s Report

Library Operations

The window in the stairway has been replaced, the cost of which was
covered by Facilities. The elevator recently went down, though it was the first time since
November 2024 and Facilities was quick to get someone out to fix it.

Programs & Services

Adult summer reading was a success with 24 bingo cards returned, an
increase from last year. The Friends sponsored the five gift card prizes.

The Library is hosting a community baby shower on October 4th. L. O’Neill got the idea from a
webinar and Emma Brelsford has taken the lead on organizing. Local vendors will be set up with
helpful information and resources for new moms.

The Library will begin participating in Access to Justice this month. This is a partnership with
the Massachusetts Trial Court System to offer virtual court access to anyone who needs it.

Boyden’s Food Cupboard will be launching on September 22nd
Its nonperishables will be accessible 24/7 with the goal of supplementing the Foxborough Food Pantry and St. Mark’s food
pantry. Traci Lorenz was able to secure a weekly donation from Stop & Shop, donations will be
accepted from the public, and additional items will be purchased with Library funds as needed.

The FY25 ARIS report for the MBLC is complete. FY24 saw 594 programs and FY25 saw 672,
a great improvement in offerings.

Personnel Updates

Two new pages have started in the last two weeks – Sophie Moore in
Children’s and Logan Hocker in Adult.

New Business

2-Seater Pod Quotes:

The single study pods have been very popular and the Library does not have study rooms – the 2-
seater pod would alleviate this issue. L. O’Neill received four quotes, the lowest being from
Nook for $8,085 with a $675 assembly charge. The next highest quote was $11,678. Between the
quote and the existing pods being from Nook, this is the best option. A. Clement made a motion
to approve the purchase of a two-person pod for up to $9,000 from the Carpenter Trust. P.
Ivanovskis seconded the motion and it passed 5-0-0. L. O’Neill will bring the Pod Policy to the
next Board meeting for revision to include this new pod.

October Sundays:

All staff must work at least one Sunday per month. Under the new union contract, staff may only
take comp time for one Sunday per month, any others must be pay. Both are paid out as double
time. This has created two problems:

1. Because less comp is available, it’s likely that more time will be paid out. Being that the
   budget was developed and approved before this change to the union contract, there is
   concern about going over budget. In FY25, the Sunday budget line was exceeded by
   $4,500.
2. The Library resumes Sunday hours halfway through October, so there are only two
   Sundays to be worked that month. This will result in some staff receiving six comp days
   and some staff receiving seven – as issue than staff have brought to the Director.

In order to address these issues, L. O’Neill proposed being closed all Sundays in October so that
Sunday hours begin the first weekend in November. This will cut back on expenses and provide
comp time equity among staff. Additionally, patron visitation on Sundays is sporadic and
significantly less than other days of the week. Many patrons don’t realize the hours change the
first weekend Sundays start and the second weekend is Halloween weekend, so many families
are busy with other activities.

In discussion, the Board raised the concerns that the community may be upset given how quickly
this would go into effect, it was hard fought to get Sunday openings and there is hesitation to
scale them back as a result, and being open two additional Sundays may be a better solution for
staff and the community than being open two less Sundays.

Given these concerns, P. Ivanovskis made a motion to close all Sundays in October 2025. A.
Clement seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0-0. This solves the immediate problem while
allowing for reflection and flexibility next year.

Old Business

Tinker Tank Update:

The Tinker Tank has been open all summer. While it has been slower than hoped, there have
been busy days and staff time off resulted in some hours being cancelled. Volunteers are still
being sought. At the suggestion of the Board, Jennifir Huston will ask for volunteers around the
schools, L. O’Neill will send out the volunteer description to the Board, S. Collins will pass the
info along to the Friends sorting volunteers, and L. O’Neill will see about having the call for
volunteers put in the Foxboro Reporter and/or the Town newsletter. S. Halton made a motion to support L.
O’Neill in the request to hire either Michael Finkle or
Allison King for the 2026 Community Reads, up to $10k, to be paid from Beyond Books. P.
Ivanovskis seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0-0.

2026 Community Reads Author:

L. O’Neill is considering either The Art Thief by Michael Finkle or The Phoenix Pencil
Company by Allison King for the 2026 Community Reads. There are some other options for the
same rate, but have fewer programming opportunities. The date for the event will be either
March 24th or 31st. L. O’Neill will follow up with the authors’ agencies to confirm pricing and
availability before making a final decision between these two authors.

Community Bulletin Board Policy:

L. O’Neill proposed changes to the Community Bulletin Board Policy. The amendments include
adding “and Library Grounds” to the title of the policy, and specifying that signs unrelated to the
Library and flags of any kind are not permitted on Library ground. Any flags or signs placed on
Library grounds will be removed and disposed of by Library staff.

After discussion, it was agreed that the policy should state that signs may only be placed on
Library grounds by Library staff or the Town. J. Ooi made a motion to approve the policy as
revised after discussion. P. Ivanovskis seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0-0.

Visual Exhibit Policy:

L. O’Neill proposed changes to the Visual Exhibit Policy to clarify that exhibits may not
installed, removed, or accessed if the Community Room is in use. Additionally, item five under
section III was amended to state that the Library Director will coordinate the display schedule
rather than the Department Administrator.

A. Clement made a motion to approve the Visual Exhibit Policy as amended. S. Halton
seconded, and the motion passed 5-0-0.

Adjournment

Respectfully submitted,
Renee Spinner