Library says food purchases on revolving account stopped after guidance; future use to cover copiers and supplies

The Lawrence Public Library provided a written statement explaining 13 expenditures totaling $2,938.11 charged to its revolving account between July 2024 and January 2025. The library said the purchases were food and refreshments for community programming and were made to boost attendance at workshops and youth programs.

The council read a memo the library director submitted, which said the purchases supported local vendors (Sal—s Pizza, Bridal Subs and Pizza, Lou's Cafe and Heavenly Donuts) and that the city—s instruction following a budget hearing in February 2025 was to stop processing food purchases through the revolving account. The director informed the council that, out of respect for that direction, no food charges have been made to the revolving fund since January 2025.

The library said it consulted Kate Merlin of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (state aid program director), who confirmed that food purchases may be allowable under state aid to public libraries; the library said it will charge future food-related programming costs to state aid project 1961 (project number 82600) rather than to the revolving account.

Library clerk Janelle joined the council by phone and the director later appeared via Zoom to confirm the written statement and to accept the council's request for additional detail. Councilor Luzon asked that the library provide the name of each event tied to the date on the revolving-account report so the council can cross-check attendance and social-media posts. The director agreed to supply a dated event list and said she would provide the requested memo the next day.

The council also confirmed that copying and printing fees (collected from patrons) are deposited into the library's revolving account. The director said the current copy fees are 15¢ per page for black-and-white and 30¢ for color copies; the library said those revenues support copier supplies and related services and will remain a revolving-account use going forward.

Why this matters: The library used the revolving account for light refreshments tied to programming but stopped following guidance from the comptroller and city attorney. The library is shifting food costs to a state aid account while retaining the revolving account for operational supplies and copier services. Councilors asked for more transparent line-item reporting that links expenditure dates to named events.