More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
Rock on at The Wellesley Free Library on Wed., March 11 with a live band Screaming Sushi followed by the 4-part harmony of Connect 4. Free and open to the public.
EVENT: Wellesley Rocks the Library!
This week’s Wellesley Business Buzz is sponsored by Wellesley Transportation. Owned and operated by Thomas Shinnick since 1995, Wellesley Transportation, formerly known as College Taxi, has been proudly serving Wellesley and the surrounding communities for over 90 years. Originally established in 1926, Wellesley Transportation provides on-time airport, local and long-distance transportation in luxury vehicles. For reservations, call or text 781-235-2200.
Martha Collins, a long-time Wellesley resident and parent of three who have successfully navigated college admissions, is offering her expertise to families of college-bound students through Admit Fit college admissions counseling.
Martha is adept at counseling teens and consulting with parents. She understands firsthand how to shape a positive college admissions experience for students and their families.
As a Vice President of Marketing, Martha led the exponential growth of CollegeWeekLive, one of the world’s largest online college admissions engagement platforms. Through this experience, she developed a multifaceted understanding of college admissions from the university, student, and counselor perspective.
An interview with author Susan Orlean, whose The Library Book is this year’s community wide read selection, will highlight this year’s Wellesley Free Library Foundation gala fundraiser on April 2 at Wellesley Country Club.
The gala, held every other year, raised more than $275K in 2018 for the Foundation, which provides nearly 20% of the library’s annual budget.
Susan Orlean, a longtime New Yorker writer and known for books such as The Orchid Thief, will discuss new work The Library Book and the role libraries continue to play in communities. It’s a good read covering everything from arson to architecture to the inner workings of libraries.
[Read more…]
There will be a two-part screening of American documentary Ex Libris: The New York Public Library at the Wellesley Free Library on March 2 and 9, 6:30pm. The 2017 American film by observational master Frederick Wiseman brings viewers the humor, compassion and soul within the walls of the NYPL. Each part is approximately 90 minutes, followed by discussion and refreshments. Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries.
EVENT: Film Screening of Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
DATES: Part 1 on Monday, March 2 & Part 2 on Monday March 9
TIME: 6:30pm
LOCATION: Main Library Wakelin Room
The Town of Wellesley depends on the active participation of its citizens in governance of the Town. Wellesley has 11 Boards and Committees on the ballot at the Annual Town election each year in March. The 2020 election will be held on March 17.
Ann Rappaport is one of two candidates running for two open positions on the Board of Library Trustees, a six-member board of local residents elected to three-year terms of office. Like other town board members, Trustees receive no payment for their volunteer services. Although the race is uncontested, we’re always interested in the priorities and goals of Wellesley’s elected officials.
We invited the candidates for the two open positions to answer a few questions about their qualifications and their priorities for the Town of Wellesley. Below are Ann Rappaport’s answers. A subsequent post will include a Q & A from Board of Library Trustees candidate Ann-Mara Lanza.
The Swellesley Report: What is your background and what qualifies you for the position?
Ann Rappaport: I am a 35-year resident of Wellesley and proud graduate of Wellesley High School (Class of 1980) and I spent a lot of time at the “old” library when I was a kid, taking out as many books as I could. When I returned to Wellesley when my kids were toddlers, we took full advantage of the story times and other kid-friendly activities. I’ve been a Town Meeting Member for 13 years and spent three years on Wellesley’s Advisory Committee, bringing my physics and electrical engineering background to the task of understanding municipal finance. Becoming a Library Trustee in 2017 was a natural “fit” for my interests and a chance to give back to the library.
SR: Why are you running for a position as Library Trustee?
Ann Rappaport: I’ve been a Trustee for one term (three years) and feel that I’ve gotten a handle on what the job entails and will be able to increase my effectiveness going forward.
SR: What if any changes would you like to see take place at the Wellesley Free Library?
Ann Rappaport: The Trustees are working hard with our Director, Jamie Jurgensen, to bring our renovation project forward. I am excited to see our vision of a library for the 2020s and beyond take shape, bringing patron needs like more meeting spaces, a better bookstore-like browsing area, an updated children’s room, and a place for eating and socializing to fruition.
SR: What are the most pressing needs in Wellesley as they relate to the library?
Ann Rappaport: Over the past decade, libraries have reinvented themselves as civic and cultural centers in their towns —places that residents can go to feel connected to their communities, grow as life-long learners, and access technology and costly materials for free. The divide between digitals haves and have nots is growing, and libraries help level the playing field. The WFL takes its mission very seriously and works to give patrons what they ask for, whether it is access to more databases, better wifi coverage, help with smartphone usage, or ESL classes. Maintaining and expanding services for our patrons is our most pressing need.
SR: When preparing the most recent budget in partnership with the Library Director, what were the biggest challenges?
Ann Rappaport: The library budget is a challenge because there are many fixed costs. More than three-quarters of our budget goes to pay our employees’ salaries as specified in the Library Staff Association contract. Of the remaining (expense) budget, about 80% is also non-discretionary. To maintain our accreditation and receive state aid, 13% of the tax-impact library budget must be spent on materials (print books, DVDs, databases, audio books, e-books, Library of Things, etc.) and we also pay a fee to belong to the Minuteman Library Network, which gives our patrons access to materials from approximately 40 other libraries. This year, the library received a 3.5% budget increase guideline from the Selectmen, which gave us a little breathing room and allowed us to add a part-time technology assistant to help keep up with the ever-increasing technology demands of the library. Like other town departments, our Staff Association contract is under negotiation this year, so our budget is not completely finalized at this point — always a challenge.
SR: What would you like to see achieved in the long-term at the library?
The Town of Wellesley depends on the active participation of its citizens in governance of the Town. Wellesley has 11 Boards and Committees on the ballot at the Annual Town election each year in March. The 2020 election will be held on March 17.
Ann-Mara Lanza is one of two candidates running for two open positions on the Board of Library Trustees, a six-member board of local residents. Like other town board members, Trustees receive no payment for their volunteer services. Although the race is uncontested, we’re always interested in the priorities and goals of Wellesley’s elected officials.
We invited the candidates to answer a few questions about their qualifications and their priorities for the Town of Wellesley. Below are Ann-Mara Lanza’s answers. A subsequent post will include a Q & A from Board of Library Trustees candidate Ann Rappaport.
The Swellesley Report: What is your background and what qualifies you for the position?
Ann-Mara Lanza: I am honored to have been a Library Trustee in Wellesley for almost 12 years. My business background (MBA, The Wharton School) has enabled me to take a leadership role in the creation of the Library’s 5-year strategic plans and the development of the Library’s annual budgets. My husband and I have lived in Wellesley for 25 years. I believe that public libraries are the backbone of our democracy.
The Swellesley Report: Why are you running for a position as Library Trustee?
Ann-Mara Lanza: I first ran for Trustee because I was troubled that the town was unable to financially support its branch libraries. Libraries, which provide free access to information for every resident, are one of the pillars of a strong community. I fought for our full library system. Today, the branch libraries each have a unique way of serving Wellesley, and the future of the Hills Branch has been secured. This year, we will begin reintegrating the Fells Branch, which now serves as an early learning library, into our town operating budget.
I’m proud that I have had a role in safeguarding Wellesley’s library services. At the Fells, we are expanding the imagination space to the outdoors, by creating a children’s garden. At the main, we are moving forward with updating the library’s interior to meet the needs of today’s users. I am excited to continue working to ensure that Wellesley residents have access to exceptional
library services.
The Swellesley Report: What if any changes would you like to see take place at the Wellesley Free Library?
Ann-Mara Lanza: It is extremely important to residents that we complete the renovation project for the main library, which is currently in the design phase. (We anticipate that construction funds will be requested at this year’s Fall town meeting.) The main library, while beautiful, was designed and built for a different generation of residents. This was before the invention of the iPhone and the Kindle, and prior to Apple Music and widespread streaming of videos.
Today, residents turn to the Library for collaborative working spaces, English as a Second Language services, and access to online databases. We need more meeting rooms, increased technology bandwidth and, as simple as it sounds, more outlets. The underutilized media room will be transformed into a community commons area where residents can meet over a cup of coffee. The children’s room will be updated to stimulate imagination and creativity. We will add both meeting rooms and small group workspaces. This internal renovation will enable the Wellesley Free Library to meet the demands of today’s residents, as well as position the Library for the future.
The Friends of the Wellesley Free Library (WFL) held their winter book sale over the weekend. Thousands of gently used hard and soft cover books were available for sale across a broad selection of fiction and non-fiction organized by categories. There were also hundreds of CDs and DVDs for sale.
If you’d like to donate materials to the Friends, bring your items into the WFL and ask for guidance at the circulation desk on where to drop them off (no textbooks, cassettes, or magazines please). The Friends hold an ongoing sale on the first floor of the main library — think of it as Wellesley’s second bookstore. There, you’ll find some great reads including recent best sellers and book club favorites all for $2 each.
Save the dates for the next book sale: April 30 – May 3, 2020.
The main branch of the Wellesley Free Library offers plenty of seating space throughout its two floors. Patrons can choose from comfortable upholstered seating that offers a view of Town Hall and the busy Washington St. scene to individual study carrels to quiet study tables that seat up to six.
For a little more privacy, Study Rooms are also available at no cost and can be reserved online one day in advance, first come, first served. Located on the second floor, and large enough for up to two people, sometimes you can get one of the three Study Rooms on the fly by signing up in person at the upstairs Reference Desk. In our experience, it’s more likely that without a reservation you’ll have to wait awhile for a room to become available. Don’t forget to check in at the Reference Desk before you settle into your room. And forget about overstaying. It’s almost always the case that once your reserved time draws to a close, you’ll hear a gentle knock at the door from the next up in line.
Study rooms can be reserved for up to two hours per day. Room reservations will be held for 15 minutes. If you show up later than that, chances are that an earlier bird waiting on stand-by will swoop in and be nicely settled by the time you make your fashionably late entrance. A convenient feature of the Study Rooms is that you can talk on your cell, as long as you’re not doing the cell-phone shout. Keep it down, people, this is a library.
Small Conference Rooms on the second floor of the Main Library allow for groups of up to eight to hold study sessions or meetings in a private space. To get one of the rooms at a time and date of your choice there’s a $25 charge, and a reservation must be made. A maximum of one reservation per month will be accepted from the same person or group.
There is no charge for a small conference room if you want to take a chance and just show up with your group, and a room happens to be available at that time. If you go this route, you can have the space for a maximum of two hours.
The Wellesley Free Library has rooms available to rent for larger meetings, conferences and programs. When you see the Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild in the Wakelin Room putting together floral arrangements, or a musical recital taking place, it’s because organizers have reserved that space months in advance and paid a room rental fee to secure the spot.
Room fees run from $50 for a non-profit organization expecting no more than 25 attendees to rent out the second-floor Arnold Room for a half day, to $800 for a for-profit that wants the 185-capacity Wakelin Room for a full day. There is an additional cleaning fee if food is served.
Jackie’s Room in the Main Library offers 12 Windows 10 workstations; a networked color printer; a built-in LCD projector; and a workstation for a trainer. The PCs have Microsoft Office 2016 and Photoshop Elements 15 installed, plus all the standard browsers for Internet access. MacBooks and ipads are also available.
The Hills Branch Library can be rented out by groups and organizations sponsoring civic, cultural and educational meetings. It may not be booked by an individual for a private event with the exception of a music recital, but note that there is no piano on the premises.
There are no rooms available for reservation at the Fells Library.
Wellesley Free Library rooms — policies and pricing
Wellesley rocks: local bands won’t get shushed at new monthly library concert series
The main Wellesley Free Library will be closed on Monday, Jan. 20, in observance of Martin Luther King’s birthday. Both the Hills Branch, and the Fells branch are closed every Monday. Regular hours will be in effect for the rest of January 2020.
Monday: 9am – 9pm (closed MLK Day, Monday, 1/20/20)
Tuesday: 9am – 9pm
Wednesday: 9am – 9pm
Thursday: 9am – 9pm
Friday: 9am – 6pm
Saturday: 9am – 5pm
Sunday: 1pm – 5pm
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 10am – 5pm
Wednesday: 10am – 5pm
Thursday: 10am – 5pm
Friday: 10am – 5pm
Saturday: 10am – 5pm
Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 10am – 8pm
Wednesday: 10am – 5pm
Thursday: 10am – 8pm
Friday: 10am – 5pm
Saturday: 10am – 5pm
Sunday: Closed
The Town of Wellesley
will follow a holiday schedule on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Here’s the breakdown:
Tue., December 31: All departments, RDF, Tolles Parsons Center and Town Hall will close at noon.
Wed., January 1, 2020: All departments, RDF, Tolles Parsons Center and Town Hall will be closed all day.
Wellesley Public Schools will be closed for winter break through Wednesday, January 1, 2020. Schools will re-open on Thursday, January 2, 2020.
The main Wellesley Free Library, the Hills Branch, and the Fells branch will close at 1pm on Tuesday, Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve) and be closed on Wed., Jan. 1, 2020 (New Year’s Day).
