Page 144 - Microsoft Word - Annual Report 2016

BOXFORD TOWN LIBRARY

2016 Annual Report

The Boxford Town Library is a resource for residents of all ages. The Library supports emergent and
developing literacy; promotes lifelong learning; encourages all ages to engage in recreational reading;
bridges the technology knowledge and access gap; and provides a space for the community to interact and
exchange ideas.

The Boxford Town Library is governed by an elected board of seven trustees known as The Library
Board of Trustees. The Library Board of Trustees is a town agency, established by vote of a special town
meeting on December 17, 1965. It is governed by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 78 and other
pertinent statutes. Staff and Trustees are committed to providing personal and professional attention to
each person using library services.

Facilities and Operations

The Boxford Town Library began the year 2016 having successfully operated ten months in the east wing
of the ground floor of Town Hall. The Library was in operation 6 days, and 50 hours a week. Being in the
Town Hall building has been a positive experience for the library with circulation and patron count
numbers surpassing pre-closure numbers by the end of 2016. The meeting rooms in Town Hall are great
spaces for library programming and the wide hallways allow for periodic art displays. The buildings that
housed the Boxford Town Library, at 10 Elm Street, are still in the care and custody of the Library Board
of Trustees.

In May of 2016, Selectmen Chuck Costello sponsored a Town Meeting warrant article to expand library
services to encompass the entire ground floor of Town Hall. Article Twelve passed with a majority vote
and funds were secured to renovate and expand the library in Town Hall. M.E.D. Architecture and
Design was contracted to develop plans to relocate the Town Clerk office to the second floor and renovate
and expand the library creating a new Children’s Room, Adult Non-fiction Reading Room, and relocate
the Staff workroom within the ground floor library footprint. Construction began November 14 and was
completed one month later by the end of the week of December 12. The renovation and expansion allows
the library to modestly expand our services and program offerings with the understanding that it is a
temporary solution. Even with the expanded space the library is still unable to offer spaces for small
group work and tutoring, adequate comfortable seating, dedicated PC’s for children, and access to the
entire collection for visual browsing by both children and adults.

With the limited space available in the Town Hall location for shelving the book collection, two thirds of
the collection remained in storage in the former West Library, 188 Washington Street. Boxford residents
and consortium patrons continued to access the stored materials through the requests process. After the
expansion and renovation, completed in December, the percentage of books in storage fell from 66% to
just around 40% of the overall collection. The greatest increase in the browse able collection was seen in
the Children’s Collection, rising to 70% available in the main library.