Wellesley trustees approve private-portion budget item and forward FY27 request to foundation

Wellesley Free Library Board of Trustees members approved a private-portion budget item and voted to forward an FY27 funding request to the library’s foundation at their March 31, 2026 meeting in WHS Room #146.

The trustees reviewed the FY27 Branch Budget draft that was presented March 30. Ann Howley, vice chair, moved and Maria Ashbrook, trustee, seconded a motion recorded in the minutes as approving the "FY26 Private Portion of the Branch Budget" totaling $14,603 and a requested amount to the Foundation of $4,000; the motion was recorded as approved unanimously. The minutes show trustees were reviewing the FY27 draft, and the motion language in the minutes appears to reference FY26, which the board may clarify at a future meeting.

Separately, trustees reviewed a proposed FY27 Annual Request to the WFL Foundation. The request as presented includes a base FY27 ask of $80,000 plus Special Requests totaling $154,500. Ann Howley agreed to do a final edit of the written request; Marla Robinson, chair, and Library Director Jamie Jurgensen will present the proposal to the Foundation in May and the Foundation is expected to vote in June. Diane Savage, secretary, moved and Aunoy Banerjee seconded the motion to approve the FY27 request (base $80,000 and the $154,500 in Special Requests); the minutes record the motion as approved unanimously.

The board did not record numeric vote counts in the minutes; motions are described as approved unanimously. The trustees listed the FY27 draft and the accompanying Foundation request among the meeting’s documents for follow-up and implementation steps.

Next steps: trustees will finalize the written request for the Foundation, which will consider it at a meeting expected in June. The board also intends to clarify the budget-year labeling at a subsequent meeting if needed.