Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Partnerships And Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Russell Library to pilot outreach with Wesleyan students; referendum timing pushed to 2026
Summary
The committee discussed a proposed collaboration with Wesleyan professor Mary Alice Haddad and her students to support stakeholder mapping and data collection, tentatively scheduling a Sept. 23 class visit and a December deliverable. Members also noted the library referendum is being targeted for November 2026 due to the city's prioritization of urgent infrastructure needs.
Ramona told the Russell Library Strategic Planning Committee on Aug. 21 that Professor Mary Alice Haddad of Wesleyan University offered to involve her public‑policy students in the library's strategic‑planning outreach. Haddad's upper‑level comparative urban policy class could help with stakeholder mapping, focus groups, door‑to‑door interviews and synthesizing results; Ramona said the students could produce a draft report by early December, with their class visit to Russell Library tentatively set for Sept. 23.
Committee members welcomed the proposal but voiced two caveats. First, several members emphasized the need to protect patron privacy and to keep strategic‑planning outreach distinct from any advocacy for a library referendum. Ramona and others noted state statute protections for patron records and the committee agreed to verify what cross‑referencing of voter or patron data is permitted before pursuing targeted door‑to‑door outreach.
Second, members discussed community perception of students as outsiders. Chair and others said they had confidence in Professor Haddad's supervision and recommended providing a careful briefing to students and, where possible, including local committee members in initial meetings.
On scheduling and broader civic context, committee members agreed to move their September meeting from the 18th to the 25th so some members could attend the Wesleyan class briefing. Committee members also acknowledged the library referendum is likely to be delayed: city leaders have prioritized urgent road, water and public‑works repairs, and the committee said the vote is now being planned for November 2026 rather than this year.
Next procedural steps include clarifying legal limits on patron-data use, drafting a briefing for the Wesleyan class, and coordinating meeting notices with the town clerk.
