Christine Barbera, director of the Hubbardston Public Library, presented the library’s December report and a FY27 budget submission during the Jan. 8 trustees meeting.

Barbera gave a line-item rundown of December activity and programming: "We had 0 curbside pickups, 261 patrons," she said, and reported 8 classes that produced 234 student visits, six story‑time sessions with 98 adults and 127 children (225 total attendees), one Dungeons & Dragons event and several book‑club meetings. Social‑media reach included 2,949 Facebook viewers and 1,108 page followers; website visits totaled 737 with a noted spike from foreign bot traffic that is falling after analytics fixes.

Barbera also reported closures for weather and holidays and that the Hoverston Public Library received an AED donated by the Hoverston Board of Health; staffers Tricia and another employee completed CPR and AED training with Harbison Fire Department.

On finances, Barbera said she submitted a FY27 budget request totaling $95,396, with a $56,000 payroll line (covering Chris, Ann and Tricia) and a proposed increase for Tricia to 20 hours (noted in the materials as a 5.2% increase). She cautioned trustees that current financial figures are estimates because the town accountant, tax collector and assistant tax collector have all given notice; final FY25 closing figures are pending.

Trustees asked for clarifications on the calendar‑year ROI figures Barbera provided (the director used MDLC and Department of Revenue figures to estimate $4.26 returned to the town per $1 spent) and agreed to treat numbers as provisional until the town hires replacement finance staff.

The trustees did not take formal action on the budget request at the meeting; Barbera said she will follow up with corrected wording on personnel hours and provide updated budget detail when the town’s accounting closes.