PUBLIC COMMENT

Transcript (~10 min @ 16:19)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 15:41 Devin Romanul: I'd like to call in response. The time is 7:03 PM on Thursday, May 21st, 2026. This is a meeting of the Appropriations and Oversight Committee. My name is Devin Romanul. I'm the chair, and joining me this evening are Vice Chair Vandiver and Counselors Chen, Finocchiaro, Jamaleddine, Karemčadi, Kowal, Park, President Freeman. This serves as a quorum for the record, and in accordance with the open meeting law, this meeting is broadcast and recorded live on MMTV. At this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to approve without reading the minutes from our most recent meeting on Monday, May 18th. Seeing no objections, those minutes are now approved. I will now motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment. Seeing no objection, we are now open for public comment. This is the portion of the meeting where members of the public may join us and speak on any item on tonight's agenda, and comments expressing any other viewpoints on other matters are also welcome. Anyone here for public comment? All right. Please join us, and please feel free to have a seat and state your name and address for the record. I would love to. Hello.

▶ 16:47 Speaker 7: Wonderful. Hello. Hi, my name is Heather Norcross. I live at 91 West Highland Ave, and I'm here to speak on the library budget. I just want to share some of my relationship with the Melrose Library as a somewhat passive patron recently. When I moved to Melrose, the library renovation had just begun, so I started taking my kids library hopping, both in and out of our network, to explore other towns' libraries. It was a lot of fun and gave me a broad perspective on books, toys, and activities that are available to children. Each visit set my expectations higher for the reopening of the Melrose Library. I couldn't wait to see a brand-new, up-to-date children's library in my own city. However, on opening day, I was underwhelmed, disheartened, and frankly stunned by the sterile and stiff nature of the space. Sure, the space was visually clean lined and beautifully streamlined with new furniture and plenty of windows with natural light, but nothing for pre-reading kiddos to engage in, save for one small bin of soft blocks. I figured there was another room I wasn't aware of, or maybe they hadn't put everything out yet because it was the first day. Maybe things would be refreshed within a couple of weeks. No. When I returned, they were the same. No coloring station, no snack area, no train table, no imaginary play items, no pre-literacy items, no fun and bright decor beyond the style and color of the furniture. I was totally perplexed and quickly learned that that's how a lot of parents felt. It was pretty uninviting and stayed this way for months with no official comment from the library that it was temporary or unfinished.I did hear at one point that the children's room seemed so empty because the library reopened before they were ready so that patrons didn't have to wait any longer. Again, there was no formal comment in this regard. It would have alleviated so much uncertainty and answered many questions to post an update about expectations like, "We didn't want to delay opening anymore, but that means things might look a little stark. All our books are here, but we're still working on activities and toys and are taking the unique opportunity to see how the space is used before purchasing lots of items. If there's something you'd like to see, please let us know." That would've been great. When community members started asking questions, they were repeatedly met with silence or empty generalities like, "We're working on what's best for the space." In addition, after the community survey results were collected, the library continued to stand still on many upgrades despite hundreds of unified and specific requests for change. This kind of response personally has felt disingenuous and untrustworthy, which truly damages the relationship between the library and the community. Over the past year, I've brought my family to check books out from Melrose, but if we are going to spend time at a library, we go elsewhere. I hate that. We can walk to the library. I want to be able to do that. I want to feel proud of my library. I want to teach my kids all about the resources it has to offer. My kids are under five. They're going to grow up here, and I want them to think of the library as a place for books and reading, but also a place to be curious, to discover, to make friends, and to have fun. Encouragingly, there have been many changes and additions the past few weeks, which is great. We are so excited and thankful, but I still can't help think, "Why did it take so long? Are they only getting around to it now because we've been nagging them so much? Are we always going to have to remain this vigilant to ensure the library is using funds in a way that represents public interest and is consistent with what other libraries in our network offer?" I apologize for these somewhat misplaced frustrations, but the library of trustees still does not allow public comment at their meetings, and I know this is being voted on soon, as I requested it to be allowed. And many of us feel like we are hitting dead ends when we reach out to the library. So for now, we must resort to using any public platform we can until we feel heard and respected. What is the plan for improved communication, transparency, and community engagement? Maybe a simple suggestion box in the children's library to request books, materials, and activities, and then maybe a fun voting board of some sort, like a would you rather. Maybe a quarterly meeting with the librarians in surrounding towns to brainstorm and share ideas. Maybe a more engaging social media presence that includes the librarians themselves as another avenue to connect with the public. Can we see more child-friendly decor, like stuffed animals on top of the shelves or character posters on the walls? Can we have a coloring station? Can we get Tonys to borrow? Can we see more self-guided activities regularly available, like scavenger hunts or take-home crafts? Can we request specific books to increase our catalog size? Please, can the library consider gently used donations for the play area? And if the answer to any of these questions is no, please, respectfully, why not? The bottom line is that the library is requesting more money, and patrons deserve a space for their ideas to be heard and genuinely considered, as well as a formal way for the library to communicate their specific intentions with funds as they pertain to improved patron experience and access to education, materials, and activities. Many community members have shared what they would like to see in the library directly to library staff or in the community-wide survey. With more money on the line, we want to ensure a plan is in place for the library to be held accountable to openly communicate with the community about the use of these funds. Thank you.

▶ 21:48 Speaker 6: Thank you, Heather. Anybody else for public comment?

▶ 21:55 Speaker 6: Good evening. Hi. Hi.

▶ 21:58 Speaker 1: Good evening.

▶ 22:02 Speaker 1: I'm Martha Evinchack. I live at 17 Grant Street in Melrose. I'm also here to discuss the children's section of the Melrose Public Library. As tonight is the Appropriations and Oversight Committee, which looks at the financial matters in the city, I want to spend a little time advocating for the public library to take donations, specifically for the children's room. As mentioned, when I came to talk to city council in November, 100% of the libraries surveyed in the NOBLE network and surrounding networks take donations for their children's rooms. I spent time talking to the children's librarians that we surveyed, and they mentioned that they have procedures in place to review these donations, figure out whether or not they can incorporate them into their children's rooms, and have a procedure to decide if this works for them, or if not, then they decline them. They take these donations to save hundreds of dollars for their libraries and put them in circulation. The money then can be invested into their programming or into investing in library books or other media to make their collections more robust. Everything from train tables to play dinosaurs, the librarians were proud to talk about how their communities chose to give back to their library in this way and to further enhance their library space. While it's nice for our library to order all new items, some of these items come at a high cost. One of the first things the library had ordered for the children's space were two teal fabric dinosaur floor lamps. Back in March, I was curious on the cost of these floor lamps because there was two of them there, and I saw that one of them had required repair, as one of the feet of the lamp had appeared to be damaged and had been super glued to the base. The reverse image Google search of this lamp came back to a listing on Amazon for $381.62, with two lamps costing the library a grand total of $763.24. While it's not clear or transparent what the library actually spent on these lamps or what vendor was used to acquire these lamps, the point is that a decent amount of money was utilized to purchase these two lamps, both of which have been intermittently pulled out of circulation due to the need for repair and replacement parts. Last time I was at the library, there was the lamp there with a new lampshade in place.The most recent addition of a make-believe farm stand is listed on the website on reverse Google search for $835.23, which only currently has make-believe bread in circulation. No fruits, no vegetables, which goes against the public health interest of promoting healthy diets and nutritional choices for children. While I know that the understanding is the library is planning on using this as a flexible style to allow for different themes at different times, this particular item is marketed to encourage dramatic play, which is hard to do when it's bread and nothing else. For a cost of $835, that seems like an unusual use of resources. I've attended several of the library board of trustees meetings this year on my own time. I'm not able to do public comment because we don't have public comment available yet. I'm hopeful that will be passed in the next couple of meetings. I want to see this library thrive. I've spent hundreds of hours at libraries growing up, and I've spent a lot of time going to our library in town, and I'm hoping that they can use their financial resources to do what makes sense for the community, especially for kids ages zero to five. One way the library can invest in their community is to continue to solicit feedback, and that's whether it's a Google Form, whether it's a box at the library, so patrons are able to say, "Hey, we would love to see more than just bread. We would like to see fruits and vegetables at the market stand." And be willing to take donations from the community, as so many other libraries have been able to make that work for their communities as well. Thank you.

▶ 26:09 Devin Romanul: Thank you so much. Do we have anybody else for public comment?

▶ 26:14 Speaker 6: Anybody online?

▶ 26:15 Speaker 3: No one online.

▶ 26:16 Devin Romanul: All right. Seeing no other commenters, I'll offer by unanimous consent to close public comment. Seeing no objection, public comment is now closed. Thank you all for joining us.