Trustees review emergency procedures draft; plan police review before adoption

The Lakeville Library Board discussed a staff‑prepared emergency procedures draft during its Oct. 29 meeting and agreed to send the document to local police for review before adopting it.

Library Director Jennifer Jones presented the draft, which addresses fire drills, evacuation responsibilities, who releases people during an evacuation, power failures and active‑shooter response. Board members expressed differing views about how staff should respond to short power outages — whether patrons should be ushered outside immediately or held centrally in the building while staff evaluate the outage.

Trustee Ruth Gross questioned language that recommends evacuation to neighboring homes or buildings in an active‑shooter situation, saying it could expose patrons to danger and might direct evacuees toward unsecured locations. Trustees suggested the policy be reviewed by Chief Perkins and Chief O’Brien and that the library defer to law‑enforcement guidance for active‑shooter and evacuation instructions.

On power failures, trustees discussed battery‑operated emergency lights and recommended a practical time threshold for evacuation. The board settled on a 15‑minute guideline as a trigger to shift from short‑delay sheltering to full evacuation for safety reasons and to account for the typical duration of building emergency lighting.

Staff will send the draft to the police chiefs and to Andrew (town staff) for additional review and bring an updated draft back to the board for formal adoption at a subsequent meeting.