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Library director outlines tricentennial history-talk series; Friends group to fund Gravestone Girls lecture
Summary
Library Director Ryan Donovan told the tricentennial committee the Friends group will fully fund a tailored "Gravestone Girls" lecture priced at $750 and discussed companion exhibits, ticketing, and volunteer needs for history programs during the Town of Southborough’s tricentennial year.
Ryan Donovan, the library director, told the Town of Southborough Tricentennial Committee on July 15 that the library plans a series of history talks tied to next year’s tricentennial and that the Friends of the Library have agreed to fully fund a tailored lecture by the Gravestone Girls program.
Donovan said the Gravestone Girls quoted $750 for a locally tailored presentation—“higher than about double what we normally pay for a program like that,” he said—but the Friends group has offered to cover the cost, allowing the committee to include the talk as part of its history series at the library with the potential to stage companion programs at the senior center.
Committee members raised practical concerns about scale and logistics. Donovan and Patty (a committee member) noted that a revived strawberry social would require many volunteers for food preparation and distribution and that attendance for tricentennial events may be “many hundreds of people,” meaning organizers are considering registration or ticketing—even if free—to cap attendance and plan staffing.
Patty said the Friends prefer events be free, but she and Donovan discussed ticketed registration so organizers can estimate attendance and determine whether additional funding will be needed. Donovan offered the lecture and related programs as a potential pilot: “This can also be a potential, like, beta, to see if you like these women,” he said.
Committee members also discussed possible scheduling conflicts with an independently organized historical reenactment slated for November; the group agreed to avoid duplication by scheduling the Gravestone Girls lecture in early spring. One member noted that gravestone etchings are illegal in Massachusetts and emphasized the lecture should focus on history rather than physical rubbings.
Donovan said the library would coordinate calendars with tricentennial planners, provide notices and advance registration where helpful, and return to the committee with updates on bookings and budgets. He also reported preliminary dates for a related exhibit series, "History in Bloom," set for April 15–17, and encouraged the committee to review program descriptions before final commitments.
The committee asked Donovan to provide follow-up details—including budget requests for Friends funding—so the tricentennial calendar can be finalized.
