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Lakeville Library director reports expansion of digital resources, steady program attendance and increased study-room use
Summary
Library Director Danica Jones told trustees the library added several digital resources, saw strong program attendance this month and is tracking heavy use of study rooms; staff are also migrating museum-pass services and preparing FY26 budget discussions.
Library Director Danica Jones told the Lakeville Library Board on Dec. 18 that the library has added several digital resources, is adjusting physical collections to reflect changing circulation patterns and is seeing increased demand for study and tutoring space.
Jones said the library added Mango Languages and Auto Repair Source to its digital offerings and is working to list all digital resources on a newly updated home page. She also reported continued donations of DVDs and steps to pare back disc collections that no longer circulate as they once did, while maintaining standing audiobook orders to ensure access to new best sellers.
On programming, Jones said fall story hours concluded and holiday story hours began in early December; music time ended for the season and will return in February with a six-week rotation intended to refresh programming. She noted a well-attended author talk by Ted Weinstein (55 attendees) and a large turnout for the library's gingerbread-house event ("close to 200," as reported during the meeting). The library will host a New Year's Eve program Dec. 31 at 11 a.m.; Jones said Teresa secured pizza from Fat Cousin's for that event.
Jones said the library is partnering with a statewide reading challenge managed by the Massachusetts Center for the Book for 2025 and has begun a newsletter through LibraryAware. She also said the museum-pass system is being migrated to a new interactive platform (described in the transcript as "ACSAVA interactive") and that staff are working to integrate barcodes and partner information on the library website; Jones said the migration should be complete by Dec. 31.
Staff are tracking meeting-room and study-room usage more closely because study rooms are in heavy demand, Jones said. She reported study-room reservations are occurring daily, often for tutoring, private Zoom calls and test-taking. Jones told trustees she will capture these statistics to inform any future space reconfiguration.
Jones also noted IT upgrades underway: installer Bob McNally is scheduled to add Wi-Fi access points and coordinate with Verizon to upgrade the library's internet speed to about 1 gigabit per second; Jones said current service is roughly 35 megabits per second and the upgrade will support higher-bandwidth programs.
The director also briefed trustees on FY26 budget work coming from a department-head meeting and said staff will return with more detailed line-item proposals at the next meeting.
Small donations were recorded this month: a $100 general donation from Christine Weitemeyer and a donation from Woods Edge Condominiums, which frequently uses the library for meetings. Jones said she will follow up with the new accountant, Michael, about state-aid deposits and other fund balances.
Trustees did not take a vote specific to these items; Jones' progress updates and requests for budget planning were accepted for follow-up at the Jan. 13 meeting.
