Welcome!

The Board of Trustees of the Newbury Town Library would like to welcome you to the library’s website and hope that you will come in soon to visit our facility.

The Newbury Town Library is a public institution supported by public funds and under the leadership of a locally elected body, the Trustees of the Newbury Town Library. The facility, personnel, equipment, computer network, operating hours, collection, supplies, and basic services are all provided through municipal dollars. Additional resources used by the Newbury Town Library, like the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (state library agency), regional library system, interlibrary loan, and reciprocal borrowing programs, are all provided by public dollars through the state. The Newbury Town Library relies on the generosity of public dollars to provide basic library services. Separate private endowment funds, including the Lois W. Smith Fund, enhance the long-term development of the Library infrastructure and services, while funds provided by the Friends enhance annual library programs and collections.

The Board of Trustees fulfills ethical, legal, and fiduciary responsibilities in governing the Newbury Town Library for the benefit of our whole community.

We:

  • Employ a qualified library director and understand the director’s roles and responsibilities
  • Set service-oriented library policies, which uphold the principles of equal access to information and the free exchange of ideas
  • Guide the management and maintenance of library facilities and assets and expend financial resources judiciously
  • Work to secure an appropriate funding level for facilities, technology, hours of operation, collection and staff
  • Know and observe applicable municipal, state, and federal laws and regulations
  • Work with the community to identify information needs and to develop and implement a written plan for the maintenance and improvement of library services

The mission of the Trustees is to generally oversee the management of the library, including the selection of the Library Director, the approval of the budget, administration of invested funds and the establishment of general policies. The five trustees are elected and serve a term of three years. The current trustees are:

  • Dick Passeri, Chair
  • Richard Ravin, Secretary
  • Terry Litterst
  • Beth Cennami
  • Patty Olson

If you’ve never been in to the Newbury Town Library before, we invite you to come tour our beautiful building and familiarize yourself with our collections, services, and programs.

If you haven’t been in for a while, we welcome you back; there’s always a lot going on and many new items in our various collections, whether books, DVDs, CDs, audio books, or periodicals. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, just ask. There’s always a knowledgeable librarian close at hand.

Meetings

Meetings usually occur monthly. Check our calendar for the next meeting date.