Ayer Library Board Appoints Two Permanent Trustees, Orders Faster Reopening

AYER — April 15, 2021 — Ayer Library trustees unanimously seated two permanent members and demanded the library director accelerate a COVID-19 reopening plan at the April 15 board meeting. The board voted 5-0 to appoint Treasurer Sue Kennedy and, in absentia, Sharon Salosky to permanent trustee seats on the nine-member board, which has struggled to maintain quorum. Trustee Deborah Faust Clancy led a sharp challenge to Library Director Tim Silver's phased reopening timeline, naming more than 20 area libraries — including Acton, Groton, Littleton, and Lowell — that she said had already reopened under state guidance permitting limited in-person access since early March. "The board is telling you open the library — that's what you should listen to," Faust Clancy said. Silver, who said staff vaccination appointments were being scheduled for that weekend, walked back a July projection, suggesting May or June as a more realistic target and said he planned to record a public service announcement for APAC and Facebook to update residents on reopening plans.