Library Director Seeks Funding for Three New Hires

At their January 14 meeting, Jones Library Director Sharon Sharry presented the Board of Trustees with three possible budget scenarios for Fiscal Year 2027, reflecting the hiring of one, two, or three new staff, depending on the availability of funds.  Sharry opted not to consider a scenario that left staffing at the level that it has been for the past seven years because, as she has told the Budget Committee on January 13, “I do not believe that’s actually an option.”

Sharry recommended that the trustees budget for the most aggressive scenario supporting three new full-time staff.  These hires would be an additional Young Adult Librarian, an additional Special Collections Librarian and an additional maintenance worker. All three positions are driven by new support needs in the expanded and renovated library expected to be opened in early 2027.

Sharry assigned the highest priority to the Young Adult Librarian. She explained that the new library would feature a teen room that is open seven days a week, and that current Young Adult librarian Cecilia Jezek could not handle the workload alone.

Sharry ranked a new Special Collections librarian as the second most important position, augmenting the one full-time and one part-time positions currently staffing the department. The new Special Collections area will be much larger and its patrons require individual attention, she said.

Trustee Nat Larson commented, “I feel a bit less motivated about Special Collections.” He said that his impression is that the patrons would be “non-Amherst people coming in to do research.”

Trustee Lee Edwards thought that a new Special Collections person would be needed to provide programming around the town’s Civil War Tablets which will be housed nearby in the new building’s lower level. Sharry corrected her, explaining that “as of right now [the tablets] are not under the Library’s control and not under Special Collections.”

The director also raised the need for a new maintenance person to clean the additional 15,000 sq. ft. of space in the new building and several additional restrooms.

Sharry proposed paying for the new hires by increasing the draw rate from the library endowment which has been limited by trustee policy to 4% since 2015.  She estimates that three hires will require a draw rate of 5.7%; two hires will require 5.2% and one new position will require a draw of 4.7%.

An endowment model presented by Town Manager Paul Bockelman to the Town Council to demonstrate the viability of the library financial commitment to the $46.1 million renovation-expansion showed the library limiting its draw to 2.9% in 2026 through 2028.  This draw reduction was necessary to preserve the endowment after the withdrawal of $4.3 million to cover the library’s share of project costs.

See related As Library Project Funding Details Emerge, Concerns Grow

By the Library’s own accounting, its commitment to the project totals $15.8 million, while it has contributed $4.3 million to date.

Sharry justified the more aggressive use of the endowment saying, “I have said many times before, we’re going to have this incredible library, and the town wanted this incredible library, and the town wants the trustees to pay for this incredible library.”

The trustees are expected to decide on an endowment draw rate and present an FY27 budget request to the town over the next two months.

Austin Sarat Elected to Eighth term as Trustee President
All six Jones Library trustees were elected without opposition last November.  The election of board officers was conducted at their January 14 meeting.

All officers were elected unanimously.  The results were:

President – Austin Sarat.
Vice President – Tamson Ely
Treasurer – Lee Edwards
Vice Treasurer – Nat Larson
Clerk – Eugene Goffredo

Sarat, who has been a constant force behind the renovation-expansion project has served as board president since 2012 and now begins his eighth two-year term.

Unlike the town council where the Charter Review Committee has recommended term limits of four consecutive one-year terms for officers, the library trustees represent a private, non-profit corporation, Jones Library, Inc., and are immune to policies set by the town.

While the costly library building project has generated its share of controversy among town residents, the trustees’ corporate mission and Sarat’s monopolization of the presidency have meant that arguments that the renovation-expansion is unaffordable and comes at the expense of other town priorities have gained little consideration on the board.