Public hearing on agreement between Concord, Library Committee continued

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To give the public more time to review recommended changes to the agreement between the Town of Concord and Concord Free Public Library, Select Board Chair Michael Lawson opted on Aug. 3 to continue the public hearing until Aug. 10.

The Library Committee submitted numerous recommendations that were first made available during the Board’s virtual meeting.

Changes submitted by Library Committee Chairperson Tara Edelman include:

• The Library Committee requests that the language be changed to include reference to the Library’s Administrative Code which appears on the Town website and more specifically describes the Committee’s longstanding mandate.
• Recommendation for the roles of the library director and town manager be clarified in terms of policy making.
• Suggestion the agreement include that the Library Corporation will be offered an invitation in the agenda for all Library Committee meetings for providing updates and participating in policy discussions. Recommendation that the Trustees extend a standing invitation to the Library Committee to appoint a member to attend Trustee meetings in order to stay up-to-date on Corporation activities, as they relate to Library services and facilities.
• In Section 3, describing Town and Corporation responsibilities, there’s a list of five items on which the Town may make decisions and establish procedures, but no mention of staffing levels and supervision of staff. The Library Committee suggests that an item 6 be added that includes language to that effect.
• In order to avoid the appearance of conflicts and to ensure compliance with M.G.L. c. 268A, the Library Committee suggests that the Select Board recommend to the town manager and Town Counsel that the draft agreement and the relationship it describes be reviewed by the State Ethics Commission.
• Among the list of items owned by the Town that is included in Section 5, the Library Committee recommends adding all intellectual property, branding materials and logos developed using Town funds.

Edelman said the committee will review its administrative code, which was adopted in January 1981 and last revised in April 1997, and which appears on the Town website, to determine whether it might require updating in relation to the agreement or in response to any changes in the community’s needs since its last update. An initial review will take place during its August meeting, after which they will update the Select Board on the next steps.

The Library Corporation was created by Chapter 99 of the Acts of 1873 which provided that “Ebenezer R. Hoar, Grindall Reynolds, George M. Brooks, George Keyes and Henry F. Smith, and their successors, are made a corporation by the name of the Concord Free Public Library” for the statutory purpose of forming and maintaining a public library in Concord. The Town transferred the Town library to the Corporation on Oct. 1, 1873.

The Library Corporation today operates as a Massachusetts 501 (c) (3) charitable corporation.