Ayer Library board tables director evaluation debate, hears virtual summer reading recap

AYER — September 17, 2020 — Ayer Library trustees heard a detailed recap of the town's first-ever virtual summer reading program and tabled a dispute over the director's evaluation process at their September 17 meeting. Head of Youth Services Amy Leonard and Head of Adult Services Barbara Cheeks described how staff rebuilt the "Imagine Your Story" program in under a month, delivering 73 juvenile virtual offerings, 22 young adult offerings, and 29 adult offerings after 84 in-person programs were canceled, while reaching 12,691 people on Facebook and fulfilling more than 700 curbside bags in July alone. Library Director Tim Silver proposed shifting his annual evaluation from September to spring to align with town budget timelines, but trustees disagreed over whether the attorney general's open-meeting guidance barred sharing evaluation results before a public session, and the discussion was tabled to the October 15 meeting. Silver also announced Wednesday hours would shift to noon to 7 p.m. the following week and that an 8-by-10-foot outdoor shed had been ordered to serve as a permanent curbside pickup point, expected by end of October.