Article 11 asked the Town to petition the state legislature to increase the size of the Acton Memorial Library Board of Trustees from nine to 12. The added three trustees would be the Citizens’ Library Trustees, elected at Town Meeting as usual.
In her presentation, Select Board Member Alissa Nicol said that the small West Acton Citizens’ Library “was gifted to the town in 1962 and a Board of Trustees was established. No specific powers or authority were set forth in the Town Meeting warrant or accepted deed.” At the 2023 Town Meeting, an article was considered in an attempt to define the Board’s authority. That article was set aside. In early 2024, a Citizens’ Library Governance Advisory Committee was formed that included trustees from both library boards, community members, and staff. The committee’s mission was to find a solution that would protect services, support staff, and ensure that the library stayed open. It considered and rejected an independent entity or a nonprofit operating the library.
Select Board Member Alissa Nicol described the present article as “the story of two libraries, once distinct and now finding shared purpose.” Combining the two boards would “protect both libraries, amplify staff support, and eliminate redundancies.” She said the last year was spent “listening, debating, working, and finally, agreeing,” and that unifying the boards was “not just feasible, but inspiring.” Since last summer when the two boards began meeting together, she said, “understanding grew, decisions got smarter, operations became smoother, the libraries both got stronger. This isn’t theory; this is already happening.”
Ms Nicol touted some of the advantages a unified board would have for the Citizens’ Library, such as resources and support from the Memorial Library, potential growth and improvement of the library, expanded and consistent hours, reliable services, a shift from a part-time to a full-time position, and membership in the Minuteman Library Network. “These aren’t just costs,” she said. “They are commitments to better service, broader access, and a future-ready library.” She said costs have risen, but no more than in other departments.
Terra F. made a motion to amend Article 11, to remove Section 2 in its entirety. Section 2 (page 32 of the warrant) required that the added three members be the Citizens’ Library Board members. She said that there were many volunteers who couldn’t make it to Town Meeting, including key supporters who were sick. Terra said the article is unlawful. She said that if Section 2 is removed, that would erase the impetus for a court action regarding the article. She said it is also confusing to ask the state legislature to make it mandatory for a publicly elected Citizens Library board to serve on a different board. “Current Citizens’ Library trustees may want to serve on the Memorial Library’s board, but what about 50 or 100 years from now; they may not want to.” She said it seems more collaborative to remove the Citizens Library references from this home rule petition.
A series of speakers to the amendment disagreed. After the Select Board voted 5-0 to not recommend the amendment—the Finance Committee did not huddle nor make a recommendation—they spoke against the amendment.
Lauren Rosenzweig Morton said, “As far as I know, it’s really working well. People are working together. What a concept.” She added that if people who care about the Citizens’ Library don’t like how things are turning out or are concerned that the character of the library is not staying the same, there are a lot of opportunities to point out what’s not going well.”
Ann Chang, the current president of the Acton Memorial Library Board of Trustees, said, “The last nine months or so, the two boards have been meeting together in cooperation…They speak up, they talk about everything, and when something comes up that deals specifically with the gift fund of the Citizens’ Library, only the Citizens’ Library trustees vote on that, but they do have a chance to talk about programming, books, interact with the staff. It’s something that is working. To take it out would destroy that cooperative effort which we have worked so hard to build.”
Linda Vieira, a Citizens’ Library Board member, talked about the change from meeting as just three Citizens’ Library trustees to meeting with the Memorial Library board. “We are benefitting from the experience of trustees who have served for many years and everyone is contributing their expertise and ideas as we work together for the improvement of both libraries. It makes fiscal sense for the libraries to operate under a unified system with the same policies for both with exceptions if either library has a unique need.” She said she believes the change will move forward the task of making the library fully handicapped accessible.
Citizens’ Library Board Chair Annie Channon said, “I have never felt any pressure or anyone trying to force changes on the West Acton Library.”
The amendment failed 222-18.
The Moderator then invited discussion of the original article. June Leslie recalled the legacy of the Citizens’ Library’s original librarian, Clara Hapgood Nash, a suffragette and the first woman lawyer in New England. “I represent Citizens’ Library volunteers ‘fired by the staff, keys taken away’”, Ms. Leslie said. “The volunteer service was so important to the community for decades that they were trusted to deliver books to bedridden people. Some people who did this to them bring you Article 11…Don’t fix what’s not broken.” Like Terra F., she said the article was unlawful.
Nancy Lenichek, a citizen of Acton for 40 years who lived across the street from the Citzens’ Library, read a statement from one of the library volunteers. “How would you feel if you had dedicated decades of time as a library volunteer for your town and suddenly you were told that you were no longer needed. This happened to Citizens’ Library volunteers. We were ordered to return our keys immediately. We were fired without any recognition whatsoever of our many hours of serving the people in the town. It became a hardship for those who were homebound and needed assistance with receiving and returning their books. They were left stranded. Then we were told volunteers are not to be trusted to keep information private, or to access books off hours anymore, or even to deliver for others going forward. Imagine how this change affected the self respect of these community volunteers…It’s OK to have two types of libraries…one with all professionals, and a smaller one which uses volunteers too.” She urged voters to say no to Article 11.
Article 11 passed, 204-40.
Franny Osman is the Editor-in-Chief of the Acton Exchange, and writes on a variety of community topics.
