On the agenda: Watertown Watertown Free Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting — facial recognition (Oct 6)

Board of Library Trustees Meeting
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Raya Stern Trustees Room - Watertown Free Public
Library
123 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts 02472
Agenda
ACCESS INFORMATION:
A.

This meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 7:00pm. Location: Raya
Stern Trustees Room - Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main Street, Watertown,
Massachusetts 02472

B.

Please Visit the Board of Library Trustees Website here:
https://www.watertownlib.org/203/Trustees

1.

Call to Order

2.

Roll Call

3.

Secretary’s Report
A.

Minutes of September 10, 2026 Meeting

4.

Public Forum

5.

Financial Report
A.

FY27 Budget

B.

Burke Fund Report

C.

HATCH Financials

D.

Consideration and Action on Acceptance of Donations

6.

Chair’s Report

7.

Director’s Report
A.

8.

Old Business
A.

9.

General Updates
No Old Business to Discuss

New Business

10. Requests for Information and Responses
11. Date of next meeting
12. Adjournment

Page 1 of 22

Board of Library Trustees Meeting
Thursday, September 10, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Lucia Mastrangelo Meeting Room - Watertown Free Public
Library
123 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts 02472
Minutes
Documents used and/or referred to during this meeting include the following: July 2026 Board
of Library Trustees Meeting Minutes, FY27 Year to Date Budget Report, FY27 Funds and Grants
Spreadsheet, Griffin and Burke Fund Reports, FY27 Hatch Summary, Memo from Director Long
listing Donations received in July and August 2026, Director’s Report dated September 10, 2026,
Library Director Evaluation, Proposed Revised draft of Borrowing and Returning Policy, Memo from
Director Long dated September 8, 2026 re: Closure Request for October 13, 2026, Draft of
Proposed Security Camera Policy, Memo from Director Long dated September 10, 2026 re: Art
Donation, Copy of WFPL Collection Policy for Art and sculpture. This meeting was recorded by
Watertown Cable Access
Corporation.
1.

Call to Order: Chair Young called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.

2. Roll Call. Present by roll call: Director Long, Assistant Director Maturevich, Trustee Owens,
Trustee Kokoros, Trustee Peng, Chair Young, Trustee Hammonds. Trustee Murphy-Holroyd arrived
to the meeting at 7:13.
3.

Secretary’s Report
A. Minutes of July 7, 2026 Meeting. Chair Young made a motion to approve the minutes for
July 7, 2026. Trustee Peng seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
4.

Public Forum: No members of the public present.

5.

Financial Report. Trustee Kokoros presented the financial report as follows:
A. FY27 Budget. Year to date expenditures are $685,590, encumbrances are $261,136.
Available Budget is $3,353,289 and percent of budget used is 22%
B. Burke Fund Report. Available budget is $25,852
C. HATCH Financials. Available budget is $20,942
Trustee Peng noted that one fifth of the annual budget is spent just two months into the year and
asked if this is typical. Trustee Kokoros responded that much of the budget is encumbered in
advance for fixed expenses such as reginal library services. Director Long reiterated that many
expenditures are paid or encumbered at the start of the year.
Trustee Hammonds made a motion to approve the financial report as read. Chair Young seconded.
The Motion passed unanimously.

Page 2 of 22

D. Consideration and Action on Acceptance of Donations. Trustee Kokoros made a motion
to accept the donations outlined in the packet. Seconded by Trustee Peng. Motion passed
unanimously.
6.

Chair’s Report. No updates.

7.

Director’s Report
A. General Updates. Director Long highlighted updates from her Director’s Report.
• She reported a slight drop in circulation numbers last year that was mirrored across the
Minuteman system. Some of the drop can be attributed to a very stormy winter season. In
Watertown, our circulation could be down compared to previous years because the new
Belmont Library opened. We also lengthened our loan periods for some materials which
could have affected circulation stats as well.
• The Bookmobile was at Treaty Day in July and Director Long attended a dinner with city and
tribal leaders.
• Planning for the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Watertown’s founding have begun and
our local history librarian is attending the planning meetings.
• 450 people attended the World Cup Watch Party in July! The library would like to do
something similar for the Women’s World Cup next summer.
• Summer reading was a huge success with a lot of positive feedback on the challenge cards
and Claudia’s designs. Teen decided not to hold an auction this year but will likely bring it
back next year. We may try tracking teen reading next summer as well. Adult summer
reading was very well received.
• Two circulation staff ran popular programs in the teen department this summer, a creative
writing program and a crafting program. Both will continue in the fall.
• HATCH is holding laser cutting trainings on Saturdays now that Seth’s hours have increased.
• Friday morning singalongs were very well attended this summer
• The MASSArt event on July 31st and August 1st was very successful. 185 teens, tweens and
adults were able to create metal casts. Public Works was very helpful at the event. Allie
may present about this program at an MBLC conference in May.
• Project Literacy classes start next week. Nancy Kleinrock, a citizenship tutor, went above
and beyond to assist a citizenship student last year. After he passed his test she advocated
with Rep Katherine Clark for him to get his citizenship. His citizenship ceremony was
yesterday and he received a citizenship commendation from Rep Clark.
• Trustee Hammonds asked if the classroom space for PL was adequate. Director Long said
that Janet worked hard to find appropriate classrooms for the program. She has made good
connections with the school employees which is really helpful.
• There was a delayed opening on July 14 due to an alarm issue. George Proakis was able to get
on the phone with the security company and arranged for someone to come and turn off
the alarm and reset it. Trustee Peng asked if the public works department will be able to
reset the alarm if this happens again in the future. There was a communication issue this
time, but now they know who to contact and how to report the problem. Theresa mentioned
that the patrons out front were very patient throughout the morning while waiting for the
library to open.
• There’s a new leak near the front book drop. Water appears to be seeping in through the old
stonework when it rains. We’re looking into how to address it.

Page 3 of 22

• There’s a sanitation issue near the book drop too. Someone is using the area as a restroom.
Chair Young asked if we could shine light there. Director Long noted that it is already lit up
but the spot is hidden in the hillside to the right of the library entrance. We have signage
saying there’s a port-o-potty nearby in Saltonstall and will continue to work to address the
issue.
8.

Old Business
A. Action Plan Update: HATCH at North Branch Library. Finding a permanent home for
HATCH has been one of our strategic goals. This past year a plan was discussed to move HATCH to
the former North Branch library site. Director Long recently received an inquiry from a community
member about the status. However, the City has paused discussion on this as the City has not yet
determined what will be done with the building, nor how they will decide. The process is likely to
seek public input on how to develop the site and utilize the property. Trustee Kokoros asked where
the money to renovate the North Branch would come from if the library was going to utilize it- the
library budget or the city’s. Director Long noted that if we were to move forward in the future, we
would apply for CPA funds for the project. Chair Young noted that the space is not accessible by
public transportation. Trustee Peng stated that the neighborhood would welcome having HATCH at
the North Branch because it would provide a community gathering space within walking distance.
Director Long added that the current HATCH space is about 1/3 of the size of the North Branch
building and she would like to see HATCH move there and will continue advocating for it. Trustee
Owens asked if the former police station is still a possibility. Director Long responded that the
former police station is not habitable and will need to be demolished. The North Branch building is
structurally sound. Trustee Hammonds added that moving to the North Branch would allow
HATCH to grow while we wait for an eventual library expansion that could be many years down the
road. The Trustees expressed support for the idea overall and the Director will continue advocacy
towards this goal and report back when the City has determined their process for deciding what to
do with the North Branch.
9.

New Business
A. Library Director Review. Chair Young noted that the director’s compiled evaluation is
included in the meeting packet and it is a very positive—Director Long received an average score of
4 (outstanding) on each of the evaluation criteria. Chair Young commended the director on her
successful advocacy in getting funding for 82 additional staff hours over her tenure as director. She
also noted her flexibility and ability to pivot when needed. Trustee Kokoros commended Director
Long for handling so much at one time and appreciated that she and the City manager have a very
good rapport. Trustee Hammonds noted that Director Long is very team oriented. She encourages
her staff and makes sure to give them credit for their hard work. Trustee Murphy-Holroyd added
that she is impressed with the director’s ability to handle day-to-day issues that arise while still
focusing on long term plans and goals. Trustee Owens was also impressed with the director’s
ability to keep on top of everything from facilities, to programming to advocacy and handling public
inquiries. Trustee Peng appreciated the director’s support of new trustees and her staff. As a
frequent patron he can see how the library staff love their jobs here. Director Long thanked the
trustees and said that it takes a village and she especially appreciated her immediate village—
Theresa and Natasha. She is able to hand things off readily and they are working to build more
agency at every staff level and reinforcing department heads as the go-to people for things that
come up day-to-day. She could not do this job without the staff and she appreciates having such a
strong team.

Page 4 of 22

Chair Young made a motion to accept the compiled director evaluation. Trustee Kokoros
seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Consideration and Action on Borrowing Policy and Loan Rule Updates. Director Long
explained the change in policy is to account for a new loan rule that would govern the lending of the
new book club kits. The loan period for the kits would be six weeks. There is also a change to
remove the option for patrons to replace a lost or damaged book instead of paying for the cost of
replacement. Kim explained that the library would prefer to decide whether to replace a lost copy
or spend the money elsewhere. Trustee Murphy-Holroyd asked if the book kits are for private
citizens or other libraries. They are for both. Trustee Peng asked how many books are in each kit
and could patrons request extra copies. Director Long replied that the kits would have only a set
number of books. Trustee Owens asked about the deleted sentence that the library assumes no
liability for damage to equipment. Director Long thinks this sentence was a holdover from when the
library was lending out a lot of tapes, CDs etc. Theresa further explained there used to be stickers
on these items that would come off and get stuck in patrons’ home audio equipment. This is no
longer a problem.
Trustee Hammonds made a motion to approve the revisions to the borrowing and returning policy
as set forth in the packet. Trustee Kokoros seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Consideration and Action on Closure Request. Director Long requests that the library
close on Tuesday, October 13th for a remote staff day and to allow for the demolition of the
circulation desk. The new desks will be installed easily once the current desk is gone. The work
should take no more than a day, with minimal disruption on Wednesday morning after the library
opens though there may be a need to have patrons check out materials at other service desks
while the new desk is set up and equipped.
A motion was made by Truste Murphy-Holroyd to approve the closure of the library on October 13,
2026. Trustee Owens seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
D. Consideration and Action on Security Cameras Policy. Director Long explained the
context. Back in early 2023, the previous library director and IT director started the conversation
about installing security cameras at the library. IT had money for security upgrades in different
buildings and funds were set aside for the library. Director Long continued planning with the former
IT director during 2024. The plan was paused when the new IT director first came on board, but
things have picked up again this year. Kim surveyed all 36 of the public libraries in Minuteman (all
but one responded). Five have no cameras currently, including Watertown (and one of those is in
the process of installing them). The other 30 libraries have security cameras—so Watertown is an
outlier on this. The number of cameras varies across the libraries from 4 to 57. We have 44,000
square feet at WFPL, 36,000 sq feet of public area (as opposed to staff area). We have nine points
of entry on the first floor alone, with five to get to the second floor. Security recommendations, per
Kim’s research, would be 34-40 cameras is within best practice for our space. However, she is
recommending a more conservative 24 cameras total, with 11 on the first floor and 13 on the
second floor. This would be a closed-circuit security system with footage stored locally only. There
would be no outside access without authorization from the library director.
The proposed policy was agreed to by the union in bargaining. There is one additional update that
Trustee Hammonds requested earlier today to make the language more explicit with regard to

Page 5 of 22

patrons’ intellectual privacy. Kim reviewed the new sentence with legal today. She also noted that
intellectual freedom is protected by state law and we adhere to all laws. Director Long was
surprised to find that many Minuteman libraries do not have security camera policies at all. Many
allow other departments to have access to their security camera footage. This would be
unacceptable. She added that the proposed policy protects staff and patrons from unreasonable
invasions into their privacy but allows library staff to more effectively manage and verify incidents
that take place in the library. Often library admin relies on staff members’ recollections of an
incident and identification of the patron. There were about 169 incident reports last year. This year
already there are 127. Staff description of the person(s) involved in incidents can sometimes be
inadequate. It is hard to follow up if you can’t identify the patron(s).
Trustee Owens asked if the policy language can still be changed after the union agreed to it.
Director Long said yes, it can still change through impact bargaining with the union. Trustee Owens
asked about the timing for installation. Director Long does not have a set date yet and is dependent
upon IT for the installation. The cameras are on order and she wants to have a policy in place by the
time they are installed. Chair Young asked how the public will be informed of the cameras. Director
Long replied that signage will be posted at the library and the new policy will be posted on our
website. Director Maturevich noted that the cameras will be obvious to patrons, not hidden.
Trustee Hammonds asked if the new sentence added today will need to go to the union for their
approval. Director Long said no because this language is just making more explicit what is already
in the policy and law elsewhere. Trustee Ownes asked where the servers storing the camera
footage would be. Director Long replied they would be kept here at the library. Trustee Owens also
asked if this could be documented in the policy. Director Long wouldn’t put that in the policy
because it could change. Trustee Owens asked how we know that appropriate security safeguards
will be used. The director is responsible for putting into action all policies and overseeing facilities.
The idea here is that you need specific authorized access and that might look different depending
on what is happening in the building. For instance, if there were an active shooter situation on a
Saturday and the director was not in the building, she could grant the police access to the live feed
so that they could respond accordingly. After such an event the password would be changed and
access would cease. Trustee Kokoros asked what happens when the director is on vacation. When
Kim is away Theresa acts in her stead in all matters pertaining to the library. Trustee Kokoros asked
if the library was a mandatory reporter. Kim replied that we are not. Trustee Owens asked what
happens if there is a request from federal law enforcement to view footage to determine whether a
certain person were in the library or to use facial recognition, etc. That is covered by our other
policies and practices. Law enforcement would need a subpoena or court order. It would be a
violation of Mass Law Chapter 78 to give information to law enforcement without a court order.
Trustee Kokoros asked about the Protect Act. It does not apply to libraries, but Chapter 78 covers
us.
A motion was made by Chair Young to approve the Security Camera policy, as amended. Trustee
Murphy-Holroyd seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
E. Consideration and Action on Artwork Donation. Director Long noted that the library has
been offered a painting from artist Anjing He. She showed the painting to the trustees. It is a
landscape painting with white, light gray, blue and purple colors. Mr. He is currently a Project
Literacy student and is a well-known artist in China. Janet would like to hang the painting in her
office. The library has a specific policy related to donations of artwork, but it is not listed on our
policies page on the website. It is more of an internal procedure than a public facing policy.

Page 6 of 22

Director Long plans to do an audit of policies in the future since this one was unknown to her
before this. The policy states that the trustees can vote to accept individual art donations. While
this is not a practice that Director Long wants to encourage going forward, she noted that this is a
well-known artist with a connection to Project Literacy and therefore a good fit. Janet would like to
display the painting in the Project Literacy office and Kim is recommending that the Trustees
accept the donation.
Chair Young asked why Director Long does not want to encourage art donations to the library.
Director Long explained that it is because we have limited space for permanent art displays and we
could get more donations than we can handle- or that we want to hold onto and take care of
indefinitely. Decisions about which art to accept could become difficult. We do have a policy
though and in this instance, Director Long would like to accept the donation. We can review and
update the policy later. Trustee Hammonds noted that she only recalled voting on two previous art
donations during her time as trustee.
Chair Young made a motion to accept the art donation. Trustee Owens seconded and the motion
passed unanimously.
10. Requests for Information and Responses. None
11. Date of next meeting. October 6, 2026
12. Adjournment. Trustee Hammonds made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Kokoros seconded and
the motion passed unanimously. The meeting ended at approximately 8:50.

Page 7 of 22

FY27 YEAR TO DATE BUDGET REPORT
% USED
ORIGINAL APPROP TRANFRS/ADJSMTS REVISED BUDGET YTD EXPENDED ENCUMBRANCES AVAILABLE BUDGET
2,561,002
-2,000
2,559,002
568,355.33
0.00
1,990,647
22.20
718,915
0
718,915
134,200.60
0.00
584,714
18.70
24,000
0
24,000
10,267.96
0.00
13,732
42.80
23,409
0
23,409
5,246.26
0.00
18,163
22.40
250
0
250
0.00
0.00
250
0.00
0
2,000
2,000
0.00
0.00
2,000
0.00
0
3,327,576
718,070.15
0.00
2,609,506
21.60
3,327,576

ORG
0161051
0161051
0161051
0161051
0161051
0161051
0161051

OBJ
510111
510112
510130
510143
510146
510148

ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION
FULL TIME SALARIES
PART TIME SALARIES
OVERTIME
LONGEVITY
CPR STIPEND
BILINGUAL STIPEND
Total 0161051 LIBRARY - PERS. SVCS.

0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052
0161052

520211
520213
520240
520241
520244
530327
530342
530383
540421
540422
540425
540430
550511
550512
570710
570720
570730
570735
570785
570786
570787

ELECTRICITY
GAS
OFFICE EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
BUILDING MAINTENANCE
COMPUTER MAINTENANCE
REGIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES
COMMUNICATIONS - POSTAGE
PROGRAM SERVICES
OFFICE SUPPLIES
PRINTING & FORMS
PROGRAM SUPPLIES
BUILDING MAINTENANCE SUP.
BOOKS
BOOK PROCESSING
IN STATE TRAVEL
OUT OF STATE TRAVEL
DUES & SUBSCRIPTIONS
PROJECT LITERACY/TOWN
COMMITTEE EXPENSES
CONFERENCE EXPENSES
STAFF DEVELOPMENT
Total 0161052 LIBRARY - EXPENSES

0
0
20,800
10,300
69,040
93,290
2,100
18,800
14,630
14,000
2,500
3,090
516,000
53,500
500
4,000
1,530
11,500
2,600
3,130
3,130
844,440

26,537
13,245
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3,633
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
43,418

26,537
13,245
20,804
10,300
69,040
93,290
2,100
18,800
14,630
14,000
2,500
3,090
516,000
57,133
500
4,000
1,530
11,500
2,600
3,130
3,130
887,858

12,906.03
0.00
2,733.47
0.00
5,291.91
87,733.00
0.00
1,333.10
997.91
2,392.00
637.04
286.58
129,298.12
9,162.89
0.00
0.00
295.00
696.56
0.00
2,065.00
760.00
256,588.61

13,630.50
13,245.23
5,361.12
0.00
32,975.03
0.00
0.00
350.00
6,422.09
4,784.00
326.44
544.29
198,405.36
10,656.23
0.00
0.00
825.00
2,827.98
420.00
0.00
0.00
290,773.27

0
0
12709.04
10300
30773.06
5557
2100
17116.9
7210
6824
1536.52
2259.13
188296.52
37313.5
500
4000
410
7975.46
2180
1065
2370
340496.13

100.00
100.00
38.90
0.00
55.40
94.00
0.00
9.00
50.70
51.30
38.50
26.90
63.50
34.70
0.00
0.00
73.20
30.60
16.20
66.00
24.30
61.60

BUILDING RENOVATIONS
REPLACEMENT OF EQUIPMENT
Total 0161058 LIBRARY - CAPITAL

51,000
77,000
128,000

28,494
21,367
49,861

79,494
98,367
177,861

27,514.20
2,489.55
30,003.75

12,452.00
18,981.02
31,433.02

39,528
76,896
116,424

50.30
21.80
34.50

4,300,016

93,279

4,393,295

1,004,662.51

322,206.29

3,066,426

30.20

0161058 580840
0161058 580870
0161058

Grand Total

Page 8 of 22

WATERTOWN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY EXPENDITURE BREAKDOWN FY27

FY27 1st QUARTER YTD BUDGET BREAKDOWN
0161052 520240 EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
VENDOR
AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES
CANON SOLUTIONS AMERICA
COMCAST
GRAINGER
THERESA MATUREVICH
CHERYL MOREAU
ALLISON MORROW
RICOH USA INC
DORIE ZACKIN

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
686.70
$
63.86
$
943.80
$
33.43
$
44.94
$
526.96
$
68.95
$
284.83
$
80.00
TOTAL $
2,733.47

ITEMS/COMMENTS
HATCH SUPPLIES
PHOTOCOPIER CONTRACT
HATCH INTERNET
HATCH SUPPLIES
HATCH REIMBURSEMENTS
HATCH REIMBURSEMENTS/INSTRUCTION
HATCH REIMBURSEMENTS
STAFF PHOTOCOPIER CONTRACT
HATCH INSTRUCTION

0161052 520244 COMPUTER MAINTENANCE
VENDOR
CANVA
CONSERV
GOVCONNECTION INC
MAILCHIMP
SIDECAR PUBLICATIONS LLC
T-MOBILE
WB MASON INC

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
119.99
$
1,505.00
$
1,331.04
$
110.00
$
384.00
$
882.00
$
959.88
TOTAL $
5,291.91

ITEMS/COMMENTS
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
ANNUAL RENEWAL
PUBLIC PC OFFICE LICENSES
MAILCHIMP SUBSCRIPTION
GIMLET 1-YEAR SERVICE
HOT SPOT SERVICE
SUPPLIES

0161052 530383 PROGRAM SERVICES
VENDOR
JULIE HARROLD
DARREN LIEBMAN INC
TALEWISE

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
258.10
$
650.00
$
425.00
TOTAL $
1,333.10

ITEMS/COMMENTS
TEEN PROGRAMMING
CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING
CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
138.00
$
154.42
$
550.00
$
80.43
$
75.06
TOTAL $
997.91

ITEMS/COMMENTS
HYGIENE STATION SUPPLIES
OFFICE SUPPLIES
FOR FREEDOMS PROJECT
OFFICE SUPPLIES
OFFICE SUPPLIES

0161052 540421 OFFICE SUPPLIES
VENDOR
AD SUTTON & SONS INC
AMAZON.COM
CAREY CONKEY
STAPLES ADVANTAGE
WB MASON

Page 9 of 22

WATERTOWN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY EXPENDITURE BREAKDOWN FY27

0161052 540422 PRINTING
VENDOR
MINUTEMAN PRESS

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
2,392.00
TOTAL $
2,392.00

ITEMS/COMMENTS
NEWSLETTER PRINTING

0161052 540425 PROGRAM SUPPLIES
VENDOR
AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES
KELLY DENEEN
KIRSTEN HANSEN
KIM LONG
PAULI STERN
WB MASON

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
126.38
$
63.84
$
170.33
$
208.50
$
56.45
$
11.54
TOTAL $
637.04

ITEMS/COMMENTS
BOOKMOBILE SUPPLIES
TEEN PROGRAMMING SUPPLIES
BOOKMOBILE SUPPLIES
WATCH PARTY SNACKS
LIBRARY INSIDERS REIMBURSEMENTS
PROGRAMMING SUPPLIES

0161052 540430 BUILDING MAINTENANCE SUPPLIES
VENDOR
AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES
GRAINGER
TRICOR DIRECT INC
WB MASON

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
80.98
$
51.18
$
138.50
$
15.92
TOTAL $
286.58

ITEMS/COMMENTS
SUPPLIES
SUPPLIES
SIGNAGE
SUPPLIES

0161052 570730 DUES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
VENDOR
AMOUNT TO DATE
NEW ENGLAND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
$
295.00
TOTAL $
295.00

ITEMS/COMMENTS
STAFF MEMBERSHIPS

0161052 570735 PROJECT LITERACY
VENDOR
D2G GROUP LLC
WB MASON

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
480.10
$
216.46
TOTAL $
696.56

0161052 570786 CONFERENCE EXPENSES

VENDOR
KIM LONG
NEW ENGLAND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
TOTAL

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
493.00
$
1,572.00
$
2,065.00

ITEMS/COMMENTS
DISPLAYS
SUPPLIES

ITEMS/COMMENTS
CORE FORUM REGISTRATION
NELA CONFERENCE REGISTRATIONS

Page 10 of 22

WATERTOWN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY EXPENDITURE BREAKDOWN FY27

0161052 570787 STAFF DEVELOPMENT
VENDOR
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
JOE FERREIRA

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
89.00
$
671.00
TOTAL $
760.00

ITEMS/COMMENTS
PAULI STERN WEBINAR REGISTRATION
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT

0161058 580840 BUILDING RENOVATIONS
VENDOR
DEMCO

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
27,514.20
TOTAL $
27,514.20

ITEMS/COMMENTS
SHELVING/CIRC DESK

0161058 580870 REPLACEMENT OF EQUIPMENT
VENDOR
B AND H PHOTO
DEMCO

AMOUNT TO DATE
$
88.56
$
2,400.99
TOTAL $
2,489.55

ITEMS/COMMENTS
MICROPHONE BATTERY AND GRILL
MUSIC SCORE SHELVING

Page 11 of 22

FY27 Funds and Grants

Fund or Grant
Book Funds

Available to
spend balance
7/1/2026 as of 7/1/2026 Deposits YTD

Pratt (includes Pratt Stock)
Whitney
Mead

154,912.26
2,255.83

Charles

3,190.32
2,568.90
3,964.28
28,943.55
11,276.63
12,538.90
4,471.85
6,541.05
2,754.68
3,119.71
4,983.04
3,585.56
98,136.78
7,383.22
1,000.00
7,724.30
8,476.99

2,255.83
4,269.82
2,990.32
2,568.90
2,964.28
8,943.55
6,276.63
12,038.90
4,471.85
5,541.05
1,154.68
2,119.71
3,983.04
3,585.56
98,136.78
7,383.22
1,000.00
7,724.30
8,476.99

Masters
B. Pierce

44,687.78
4,971.78
856.40

16,316.29
2,264.78
856.40

LIG/MEG

667,687.62

667,687.62

Revolving Printing Account
Friends of Project Literacy Fundraising
McCall Gift Fund

15,023.73
72,647.60
39,523.31

15,023.73
72,647.60
39,523.31

Barry
McGuire
W. Pierce
MacDonald
O'Reilly
Stone
Campbell
Santoro
Brown
Keith
Drucker
Special Gifts
- Cohen Fund
- Makerspace Fund
- Bookmobile Fund
- Gallant Fund
Other Funds & Grants
Kaveny

7,269.82

12,038.76

2,378.01
56.28
151.94
63.39
89.95
98.67
594.36
242.23
249.17
88.85
129.99
54.74
63.12
99.02
71.25
3,456.95

-

888.01
98.79
27.72
4,499.40
-

Expended
YTD

3,281.69
32.29
2,819.65
-

Current
available
balance

Notes

12,038.76 80% of int on periodicals
2,312.11 book purchases only
4,421.76 book purchases only
3,053.71 Armenian History books
2,658.85 book purchases only
3,062.95 book purchases only
9,537.91 book purchases only
6,518.86 Grief related books
12,288.07 Fiction
4,560.70 book purchases only
5,671.04 Large print books
1,209.42 Art books only
2,182.83 Sci-fi books
4,082.06 Wat history books
3,656.81 Humanities books
98,312.04 Unrestricted
7,350.93 Cookbook and Mysteries
1,000.00 Makerspace expenses
4,904.65 Bookmobile expenses
8,476.99 Children's dept

-

17,204.30 Benefit of the library
2,363.57 Trustees discretion
884.12 Trustees discretion

2,401.72
485.98
-

667,687.62
17,121.41
72,161.62
39,523.31 For children's dept only

Page 12 of 22

Burke
Teen Materials
Teen Programming
Children's Materials
Children's Programming
Adult Materials
Adult Programming
Museums
Movie Licenses

Allocated
Expenditures Available
$
3,216.00 $
$
3,216.00
$
3,372.00 $ (1,915.73) $
1,456.27
$
1,608.00 $
$
1,608.00
$
10,489.00 $ (2,188.96) $
8,300.04
$
1,608.00 $
$
1,608.00
$
4,870.00 $ (2,012.20) $
2,857.80
$
5,000.00 $ (1,425.00) $
3,575.00
$
2,000.96 $
(481.49) $
1,519.47

Total

$

32,163.96 $

(8,023.38) $

24,140.58

Page 13 of 22

FY27 HATCH Summary
Special Gifts
LIG/MEG
Building Committee
Watertown Commuty Foundation Grant
City Budget: Equip. Maint.
Burke

July 1 Allocation
Adjustments (new funds added)
$
1,000.00 $
$
$
$
14.92 $
$
$
$
15,000.00 $
$
$
-

Encumbrances
Expenditures
Available funds
$
$
$
1,000.00
$
$
$
$
$
$
14.92
$
$
$
$
2,831.40 $
(3,115.81) $
9,052.79
$
$
$
-

Totals

$

$

16,014.92 $

-

2,831.40 $

(3,115.81) $

10,067.71

Page 14 of 22

TO:

Library Board of Trustees

FROM:

Kim Long, Library Director

DATE:

October 2026

RE:

Donations

The following donations were received in September:
Journalistic research involving the Boston Marathon bombers and the murder of Gail Miles from
Bruce Gellerman from his time at WBUR
9 historic Watertown postcards from David J. Russo

Page 15 of 22

TO:
Library Trustees
FROM: Kim Long, Library Director
DATE: October 6, 2026
RE:
Director’s Report
General Highlights
• The library will be closed on October 12 for the holiday, and on October 13 for
construction combined with a staff development day. Staff will spend part of the day in
the building working on projects and then each department will tour another library or
business to see how they operate. Visiting other spaces is crucial to remaining on par
with our surrounding communities and their libraries. We are almost never encountering
an interest or concern first- most libraries deal with similar demands and constraints
and have different ways of handling them to provide great services and showcase
materials, etc.
• After October 13, the library will have an open holds system. When patrons put
something on hold, we will find the material and put it on the hold shelf like usual- but
when the patron comes to the library to pick up that hold, they will be able to get it from
the hold shelf themselves. They will then be able to check out entirely on their own
within the MLN app or at a self-checkout if they desire that level of privacy, or with a staff
person at the desk like usual. Staff will be close by to help retrieve holds if needed.
Patrons desiring an additional level of privacy can speak with staff about using a Pickup
Alias. That way, your alias will be printed on the slip we put in the books and shelve them
with. This, combined with using self-checkout or mobile checkout, is the most private
way to use the holds system.
• A new volunteer form for teens is live on the website. Carey worked with Theresa to craft
the questions.
• At Hatch, Alice has been working with Gabe to get a new 3-D printer training workshop
operational. Several staff members attended and evaluated Gabe's first training and a
second one is to be scheduled in October to finalize the lesson plan. We look forward to
offering this to patrons soon. Gabe hosted a trial 3D printing class on September 21.
Four library staff members took the class, which covered the basics of using a 3D printer
and creating a model with the 3D modeling software TinkerCAD, and gave very positive
feedback. Plans are in place to do a second trial class with library staff in October to get
the timing and curriculum down before opening the class to patrons.
• Hatch started a project to digitize patron waivers on September 8. Seth volunteered to
take on the project and as of this writing over 1,300 waivers have been digitized, or about
30% of the total.
Page 16 of 22

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With school back in session, there’s been a shift in patron traffic at Hatch. Significantly
fewer people are coming in during the week, and more are coming in on the weekends.
Sundays have been particularly busy, and it will likely get busier as Halloween
approaches. Alice has been able to shift some volunteers to cover Sundays and
continues to monitor traffic.
Michelle brought intern (and Watertown resident) Ben Peters aboard to complete 90
hours of archival work with us as part of his degree program with San Diego State. Ben is
working on accessioning and processing the collection of photos, programs, and
ephemera recently donated to us by Watertown High School staff.
Michelle also completed the internship proposal for Simmons for the Fall Semester, and
Emily Downs has been assigned to us. These interns are helping us to make great
progress in Local History.
Allie landed some WFPL coverage in the September 9 edition of The New York Times! “A
Yo-Yo Ma concert is never just a concert. Even something as conventional as a recital of
Bach's complete cello suites, which he performed at Symphony Hall in Boston last fall,
extended out into the world. It was simulcast to public libraries, nearby and into
Massachusetts. In Watertown, where the screening room was at capacity and there was
a waiting list of nearly 500 people, families gathered with cookies and apple cider from
the cafe, and explored an exhibition upstairs. One mother referred to it all as ''a gift.''
Kirsten is piloting a new collection of age/dementia accessible books. The books are
from a company called Reading2Connect and feature large print age-appropriate
content in untearable, washable, spiral-bound books. In combination with her outreach
to senior living residences and memory care programs in Watertown — this is a great
example of recognizing a community need and where the Library is poised to help.
Theresa worked with Jenna Bancroft to get a new supply of Narcan for two of the library’s
public service desks, replacing our expired stock.
Ryan and Joe worked to simplify the Library of Things use agreement and waiver. It’s
been reduced from three pages to two pages and there is now just one signature page
instead of two. Laptops are now included in the LoT while board games and children’s
items no longer require signing the waiver.
The Club de Lectura / Spanish Book Club Kits are ready for circulating! This represents
the hard work of Ryan, Kate, and Claudia. Claudia and Allie had the chance to “preview”
the kits at the Esta Isla screening on Sept. 29, 2026. Filmgoers, including Watertown
residents who are on Claudia’s book club email list but can’t typically make it to the
club meetings, were thrilled by them. The film directors recognized the difficulty of
procuring Spanish language books and were very impressed. Claudia and Allie are very
excited to showcase the kits at NELA later this month.
In the Children’s Room, a large portion of suggested Summer Reading books have been
converted back to Storage until Summer 2027! Children’s Staff are manually changing
these items which takes a lot of time – thank you for your quick work!

Page 17 of 22

•

•

Michelle and Jill have completed an initial review of a stash of uncatalogued books in
the Local History Room. We are going to accession a small handful, and the rest will be
offered to the communities they document.
This month Children’s will have D&D returning for kids, plus our popular Monster Mash
Dance Party is coming!

City/Community Meetings and Collaboration
• The bookmobile was a huge success at Fair on the Square! We had 667 visitors during
the event, and lots of library enthusiasm. Keep an eye out around town for the t-shirts,
bookmobile stickers, and bookmobile temporary tattoos that we gave away during the
event. Library swag like this helps keep the library at top of mind for Watertown (and
surrounding communities) residents! Theresa, Kirsten, and Steph S worked on the
bookmobile during the Faire. Theresa and Kirsten put together a pirate-themed
scavenger hunt for Faire on the Square.
• Several staff attended the Watertown High School grand opening and toured the
building: Kim, Theresa, Janet, Kelly D, and Natasha.
• Theresa met with the city’s Events Team along with several other department and
division heads to discuss public parking and other logistics for Faire on the Square. She
also met with Tammy and Tracy a second time to review the scavenger hunt plans as
well as parking for the bookmobile.
• Theresa met with a Massachusetts College of Art and Design student to speak about
makerspaces and the history of Hatch.
• Kirsten’s Outreach is keeping us in great stead with the community. When Jamie
reached out to Mount Auburn Cemetery to arrange a development day visit, our contact
replied by saying, “Thank you for reaching out! We would love to meet – Kirsten has been
so lovely to work with and we were just brainstorming ways for us to work with the
Watertown Library more!!”
• Kirsten and Kelly McCollum, the librarian at Lowell elementary, have been trying to plan
bookmobile visits to the Lowell School. Kelly is interested in having the bookmobile visit
after school but is having a hard time getting administration to block a suitable parking
spot for the bookmobile, so we are at a standstill. I am working on connecting with the
Principal to see if we can get movement here.
• Kim attended an MLN Board of Directors meeting on September 9 and our full
membership meeting on September 16.
• Kim attended a City Department Head meeting on September 24 and met with the City
Manager and Deputy City Manager afterwards for our regular meeting.
Program Highlights
• On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, WFPL partnered with Ágora Cultural Architects to screen
Esta Isla. This screening welcomed Lorraine Jones Molina and Cristian Carretero from
Puerto Rico and approximately 80 viewers for a packed screening followed by a bilingual
Page 18 of 22

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Spanish/English Q&A. The crowd was primarily Spanish speaking. Elsa Mosquera, Ágora
Cultural Architects’ Co-Founder and Executive is a Watertown Resident and introduced
the event and the mission of BoriCorridor, a project of Ágora Cultural Architects and the
Melon Foundation to connect cultural workers in the archipelago and the diaspora to
reach out, collaborate, and showcase their work. Thank you to Allie and Claudia for
making this program happen!
Kirsten resumed after school visits at the Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools.
Many of the students recognized her and were excited to enter the bookmobile again.
The Extended Day Program students were particularly excited, and their visits went very
smoothly, a testament to the power of consistent, year-round visits.
Sean McCauley’s 4-week beginner ASL class kicked off on September 11, 2026 and has
seen great attendance each week. Students report enjoying his class. Sean, longtime
page at Watertown Free Public Library, is deaf and has been signing since he was a
baby. He is both an ASL instructor and tutor.
Patio Sensory Play wrapped up for the season on September 24. This is a fun, messy
program that brings lots of young children to the Library Patio. Sensory play has many
benefits: language skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, cognitive growth, and
social interactions.
The Mighty Squirrel Book Group is holding strong at 10 attendees each outing – though
not always the same 10. This book group seems to have found its audience, and Kelly
and Liz are doing a wonderful job maintaining excitement with the group.
Kazia used paper plates, yarn, and other materials to make a cute Jellyfish craft on
September 10. There were 20 people in attendance.
We are running into an attendance issue with the Book Club for 7/8 year olds. In
September we had 3 registrations, and none came. This program is being offered again
in October.
Megan offered a DIY Sticker Workshop to the Library Insiders with planning help from
Pauli, and they had an absolute blast with it! We are so grateful to Megan for her
creativity and enthusiasm in offering this craft. The program had 25 attendees.
The bookmobile and/or outreach librarian attended fourteen visits/events in September,
despite several weather-related cancellations.
We co-hosted Recovery City with the Human Services Dept and featured the director (a
Watertown resident) in a panel discussion.

Project Literacy
• Theresa, Kim, Janet, and Erin met with Tammy at the Commander’s Mansion to discuss
potential plans for a 40th anniversary celebration of Project Literacy celebration. We are
currently planning for May 20, but will have more information as we work out a few
details.

Page 19 of 22

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•

Kim and Janet have a meeting scheduled with the Friends of Project Literacy to discuss
the event. The Board was not interested in putting on an event themselves, so the library
will take it on. The FPL Board has committed to some fiscal sponsorship of the event.
We expect the event, and lead up to it, will be a good time for fundraising.
Project Literacy classes started the 2 nd week of September. This year we have 14 classes
taught by 13 paid teachers, as well as beginner through advanced classes led by our
volunteer team throughout the week. Our evening classes are back at Hosmer this year,
which works out well for many of our families because it’s walking distance from their
homes.
The office received a lot of positive feedback from our summer program. We had a
strong team of teachers, including Watertown’s ELL Instructional Assistant, Beth
Wobbe, who trains WFPL multi-lingual teachers, and Laura Dzuiban, a former PL
teacher and now ELL trainer & teacher for Harvard’s extension program. These teachers
along with our veteran team of teachers had a successful summer of ELL classes where
students continue to talk about the positive impact their summer classes have had on
them.
Project Literacy has been
incredibly proud of its PL
learner, Baidy Diaw, who
became a citizen on September
9th after having to wait for almost
a year to take his oath after
passing his exam and interview.
Diaw said the moment he
became a citizen a huge weight
had been lifted and he ‘felt
incredibly light.’ He said this
with a huge smile across his
face as his two young children
and wife gathered around him.
There has been a shift in the
placement of students coming
in for classes these last 2 years.
Prior to 2 years ago, the beginner
level classes had a waiting list before classes started in September. Opening a morning
and evening class to get students off the waitlist happened regularly. However, the
advanced level classes filled up first last year and this year, the intermediate classes are
all at capacity. It’s been trickier to predict space in classes and when & where we should
be creating classes.

Page 20 of 22

•

•

The office is working on opening another class to meet the demand. In addition, the
teachers and office are staying on top of attendance and following up with students who
miss more than 2 classes in a row. There is a lot of movement in the first month of
classes. Some students realize their schedule is too tight for class, or their schedule
changes and they need to change the day/time of class, and some students move up
and down in levels. The office will be following up with attendance, students and
teachers to determine whether additional classes should be opened.
Janet met with Lauren at Wayside. She’ll be leading a training on Trauma and its impact
on learning. This training will be October 19 via Zoom for our volunteer and paid teaching
team.

Facilities/IT
• There is a ceiling leak in an aisle of non-fiction behind the reference desk. They are
working to understand where the leak is coming from.
• Kim and Theresa met with members of the Department of Public Buildings, including
Denise, Bob and Chris as well as Don from TruBuild to review the circulation desk
demolition project. Work will begin on October 11 and wrap on October 13. The library
will be closed for a holiday on October 12 and closed for the work being done and staff
development on October 13.
• Theresa worked with Eddie from Shanahan sound to have them repair an issue with
connectivity to the projector in the WSBR.
• Theresa attended the MHEC Expo in Worcester on September 24.
• Alex worked with Dell to have 3 of our grant laptops repaired/replaced in the past
month.
• Michelle L set up the new Conserv equipment in Local History which allows use to track
and get notifications about temperature and humidity levels in areas that house historic
documents.
• Signs have been added to the trash bin in the café so patrons stop putting trash into the
recycling bin.
• Alex completed cleaning out the tech supplies we no longer use and worked with
Maurice to get a quote on a new switch.
• Kirsten was able to diagnose and repair a bookmobile issue that was causing the lift to
not work!
• Safety tape was added to the privacy pod and it’s been working well so far.
Personnel
• Kelly Champine will begin in a full-time librarian position as of September 31.
• Jamie returned to work and is beginning to get up to speed on Department Head projects
and Outreach Department Supervisor responsibilities.

Page 21 of 22

•

Two new Circulation substitutes have been trained to replace the substitutes who left
our pool last year.

Page 22 of 22