Southborough trustees approve summer diaper drive space at library

The Southborough Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously June 9 to sponsor space at the library for a community-run diaper drive through Sept. 30.

The drive will collect diapers on an empty bench in the library’s front room; donated diapers will be transported to the Worcester Area Mission Society (WAMS) in Worcester, which distributes diapers to migrant families. "I wanted to just discuss with you, the drive the diaper drive in Worcester," said Raquel Morales, who described volunteering at WAMS and said more than 300 families had attended recent distributions. Morales told trustees she would pick up donations and could ask volunteers to help with transport.

Library Director Ryan said staff would provide a donation bin and an ancillary office for overflow if needed. He said the library has previously hosted occasional donation efforts and that staff would monitor storage and scheduling. "If we get inundated, Raquel has offered to come pretty frequently to do pickups," Ryan said.

Trustees discussed concerns about setting a precedent for other donation requests and the library’s limited space. Several trustees said the board could treat the arrangement as a pilot and reassess in September. "We can also approve this as a test case and keep track of how well it went," a trustee said.

Marguerite Landry, board chair, moved that the trustees "agree to sponsor space for the diaper drive through September 30." The motion was seconded and carried unanimously. Roll-call votes recorded Landry, Eckberg, Tinti, Yazdani, Mayney and Davis as voting "aye." Trustees asked staff to coordinate pickup logistics and publicity; Morales and Ryan will handle operational details.

The board and library staff clarified storage plans for donors: boxes are preferred to loose "sleeves" of diapers because sleeves can spill. Trustees also discussed partnering informally with the Rotary Club for additional collection points at community events, including the library’s Heritage Day, and noted the library would not commit to running concurrent drives because of space limits.

The board emphasized the trial nature of the approval and said the trustees would revisit the arrangement after the trial period. "I promise they won't be sitting around," Morales told the trustees when describing pickup plans.

Votes at the meeting also covered routine business (minutes approval) and personnel/goals matters (see separate "Votes at a glance" article).