Past news: Meeting Minutes

May 17, 2024

• Save the date: Farewell to Ms. Cindy, Tuesday, July 23rd, 5:30 pm, at the branch. 

• This month’s big news is that Ms. Cindy, our beloved children’s librarian, is retiring in July. The Friends are collecting reminiscences - please email us with your message or story for Ms. Cindy. We also welcome photos and ideas for party activities. We’ll organize the photos and tributes into a keepsake book. Please mark your calendar to come to her farewell party (or stop by earlier that day if more convenient).

• Renovation updates:

  1. We expect an update from BPL some time in July

  2. Notice emptier shelves? Branch staff have been doing the difficult work of weeding the collection in preparation for the move. 

     1. For the adult section, what you see on the shelves now will be retained. (The books will go into storage during the renovation; when the new branch building opens, they’ll be back on the shelves alongside a bunch of new books.)

     2. For the children’s books, weeding is ongoing - Ms. Cindy has a cart of books to give away, come take a look!

     3. This might be a good moment to remind ourselves that we will have plenty of books in our new branch building, thanks to all of the community advocacy in favor of a large on-site collection! Weeding is a necessary part of maintaining a dynamic library collection - two blog posts we’ve found helpful are Demystifying the Library: Weeding, and Weeding Is Fundamental: On Libraries and Throwing Away Books.

• The Friends will not meet in June; our next meeting is July 16. We also plan to host an ice cream social later in the summer: stay tuned for details (and send us any ideas!).

• Also, messages to our Friends who use Comcast email addresses have been rejected. If you're one of those people, please let us know. We want to stay in touch!

April 16, 2024 (Annual Meeting)

• Annual meeting highlights

  • For the 2023-2024 year, the Friends of the Fields Corner Library concentrated our energies on advocating for our community’s needs for the imminent branch renovation, and on well-attended and beloved events. We hosted or sponsored over six events, including Brunch at the Branch and Hella Black Trivia. We hosted an info session about the new library building, participated in the community meeting hosted by BPL, and collected over 150 signatures on our petition asking the BPL leadership for a temporary branch during construction. 

  • We have more than 200 names on our mailing list, and more than 10 dues-paying members. Three of our members are board members for the CityWide Friends. 

  • The group’s current officers are able to continue through April 2025: if you are a member and would be interested in serving on the board, we look forward to hearing from you about it!

• Upcoming events

  • The Friends are co-sponsoring Bilingual Tales: A Vietnamese Storytelling Event, 12 pm on 5/18

  • A potential environmental fair is postponed for now; the future date remains to be determined

• Renovation updates

  • The Fields Corner renovation is on the city budget for fiscal year 2025, which begins July 2024

  • The branch closure date remains TBA, and likely still several months off. There are still several steps to be completed before demolition can start, including a call for proposals, consideration period, project award, permitting, etc.

• A representative from Councilor Henry Santana’s office was in attendance to better understand the group’s interests and needs

March 19, 2024

Five members attended the meeting. 

• Events: The March 10 Black Trivia Event was a success, we’ll plan to continue this annual tradition, attempting to plan and publicize further in advance. The Branch Librarian and the Codman Square Branch Librarian will visit Melville Park Neighborhood Association meeting in April. We hope to work with Little Saigon on an event in May for AAPI month.

• Future planning: continue generating generating ideas for a “Grand Closing” bash to say goodbye to the branch building and celebrate our wonderful staff. Continue our conversation about the Friends' focus during the construction phase

february 20, 2024

Nine members and the Community Librarian attended the meeting. 

• We celebrated the success of our February 3 brunch, discussed plans to connect with other Friends’ groups, and heard from Branch staff about their closure planning.

• The Branch’s librarians will hold regular pop-up programming during the closure, including children’s events and regular office hours. Chill on Park, ADSL, and the new bookstore have generously offered to host events. Special thanks to Chill on Park for committing to the weekly office hours!

• Notably, Branch staff do not have access to a large no-cost space in the neighborhood, which highlights the general lack of community spaces in Fields Corner and may limit what the librarians can do in terms of winter pop-up planning.

• Early summer is our current best guess for a Branch closure date: we will plan the “grand closing” celebration for late June. In the meantime, our group continues to advocate for a temporary space.

January 13, 2024

Five members and the branch librarian attended the meeting. 

• Events

  • Shout-out to Ms. Cindy, who stayed to tell extra stories for a late-arriving family at Story Hour @ Chill on Park!

  • Jan 27 - Tết Celebration: Vietnamese Lunar New Year

  • Feb 3 - Brunch at the Branch, organized by the Friends of the Fields Corner Library

  • Read the World Winter Reading Challenge - complete your log by February 28th

  • March 10 - save the date for Black Trivia Night at Chill on Park!

• Renovation

  • We anticipate that the actual closure date will be later than April (the date cited at the last community meeting)

  • We’re hoping to hear soon about the next community meeting date

• Our Work - upcoming priorities for the Friends of the Fields Corner Library Group

  • We are generating ideas for a “Grand Closing” bash to say goodbye to the branch building and celebrate our wonderful staff

  • We will continue to discuss and refine the group’s focus for the closure period

December 19, 2023

Five members and the branch librarian attended the meeting. 

• The library staff don’t have much new information about the date for closing. 

• Planned upcoming events include 

  • a Lion Dance in March (library organized with Little Saigon)

  • Friends Brunch 2/3

  • Black Trivia in February 

  • Earth Day program in April 

  • Hope to have a closing party and a celebration of Cindy’s career

• Book donations are going to Worlds of Words and to the prison system. 

March 21, 2023 Meeting

Seven members of the Friends attended, along with the Branch librarian.

There was a lot of praise for the performance of Flawed and Whole, along with the discussion session following. 

The member organizing the Climate Resiliency Fair to be held on April 29 reviewed her plans. She has funding from the Mass Clean Energy Center. She hopes that the Fields Corner Library will become an access point for energy efficiency and resiliency. Members offered ideas and resources for the event. She asked for help making a flyer.

Our next event will be a family activity run by Speak for the Trees on April 22. The Friends will provide snacks.

We are waiting for confirmation about working with Little Saigon on an event for AAPI month in May.

A member asked if anyone had been in touch with At-Large Councilor Erin Murphy who had posted in support of libraries on NextDoor.

February 21, 2023 meeting

Seven members of the Friends attended, along with the Branch librarian.

Recent events

Despite the cold, approximately 20 people attended the Brunch, and we owe a big thanks to Jack Wu and his wife for opening home.stead to supply us with coffee and pastries. Another big thanks to one member for baking cinnamon rolls!

Our third Black History Trivia competition was attended by about 16 people. A big thanks to Hella Black Trivia and to Chill on Park!

Upcoming events

A member is working on an event in April to mark Earth Month and has received a grant from the Mass Clean Energy Center to support her efforts.

Renovation  

The group discussed how to engage the community in conversations about what is needed for a renovated branch. We decided to draft a petition to request support for a temporary location during construction.

Next steps

We are hosting a performance of Flawed and Whole on March 7. Our next meeting will be March 21.

January 21, 2023 Meeting

Four members of the Friends attended along with the Branch librarian. The December 2022 meeting was cancelled due to illness.

Discussion

Mass Audubon will present a talk on Urban Wildlife talk on Saturday, January 21. There is no charge for the talk is free, so the Friends can donate to Mass Audubon. 

Moving forward with plans for the Brunch on Feb. 4: home.stead is willing to cater and can deliver pastry and coffee, while American Provisions can only provide pastry for pick up. We will move ahead with home.stead and bring our own tea and kettle.

We can provide tea and a tea kettle. 

Black History Trivia Night will be February 12th at Chill on Park. A member is working on a flyer. No one has approached Fields Corner Main Street about co- sponsoring. Total cost for trivia host and the ice cream will be ~$400-$500. We will provide prizes, suggestions are $25 gift cards, $10 gift cards to Chill.

Another member is working on the Earth Month event for April. She has submitted a grant application to the Mass Clean Energy Center for the program. One program idea is for a speaker to talk about clean energy and another for a program with Bsafe program for kids. She envisions a discussion group and hopes for the library to be a clean energy center for people with questions. 

Action: 

The president will reach out to Speak for the Trees who have asked about presenting a poetry event in April.

March 7th - a performance of Flawed and Whole at the library is confirmed. 

The president will ask Little Saigon about co-hosting a program for AAPI month. :

The president will confirm catering order with home.stead and let American Provisions know that we have alternate plans. 

When is the next meeting re: library renovation? Not clear at this time. 

A member to follow up with Priscilla Foley about community meetings. 

November 15, 2022 Meeting

Seven members of the Friends attended, along with the Branch librarian.

For most of the meeting, we discussed our reactions to the architects’ presentation for a rebuilt Fields Corner library. The group expressed concerns about 

• architecture: site layout, under utilized space due to mezzanine, high ceilings, balcony, west-facing with lots of windows

• collection: reduced holdings, fewer foreign language items

• temporary location during construction

We agreed to focus on what area we could make the most impact and what is most important to us as a community.

The Mayor has announced priorities for library activities: early literacy, workforce development, youth engagement. We considered how our programming can fit into these categories.

We will try to connect with other neighborhood organizations to gain support for renovation needs and our programming. Our next meeting will be Dec. 20, at which we will set the 2023 meeting dates.

October 18, 2022 meeting

Five members of the Friends attended, along with the Branch librarian.

We spent the meeting reviewing recent events and planning upcoming events.

• July: Ice cream social

• August: table at Peace B Que

• September: Bicycle maintenance talk, Beekeeping info

• October: talk by Mike Ritter

We discussed ideas for upcoming events and when to schedule. Considering that scheduling will be difficult in November with holidays and we are already meeting as Friends and for the renovation community meeting, we decided not to schedule an event in November. We will plan:

• December: handcraft and baking

• January: urban wildlife talk

• February: Brunch at the Branch, Black History Trivia event

• March: Flawed and Whole

• April: Earth Day activities 

• May: AAPI event?

September 20, 2022 Meeting

Eight members of the Friends attended. 

Updates on Renovation

Priscilla Foley, Director of Neighborhood Services for the Boston Public Library, gave us an update on the upcoming renovation of the Fields Corner Branch Library. She says that next month the design process will start, with the goal to complete in September or October of 2023, at which point the project will go out to bid, and the existing branch will close in January 2024. Demolition then construction will take 18–24 months. She reviewed the decisions made as a result of the programming study, which was completed in 2019: the library will be two stories, on slab construction, net zero energy consumption, construction expected to cost $20 million, Oudens Ello will be the architect, and the collection will be reduced by approximately 50%. (The programming study, meeting minutes, and community feedback is available on the Fields Corner project section of the BPL website.

Over the next year, there will be three or four community meetings held over zoom, with connections in the library’s Community Room and simultaneous translation for those who register and request (the meetings will be recorded and available from the BPL website). She will also provide periodic updates to the Friends group. 

Before construction begins, the Fields Corner staff will work with their union to determine temporary work locations. During construction, it is expected that the staff will offer programming in the neighborhood, cooperating with local businesses or other venues.

The group had many questions, mostly about establishing a temporary location for the library during construction. Priscilla stated that the city does not do that and it will not be offered. There were also many concerns that the collection will be reduced so much. The members stated that they want the new building to “look like Boston”, not like the other Oudens Ello library projects, and that walls of glass are distracting and prevent efficient use of space for furniture, art exhibitions, bulletin boards, and bookshelves. Again, the group stated that the Fields Corner community needs space for after-school programs, computer and internet access, and collection materials in multiple languages. We said that the design and progress updates should be made to the group who agreed to serve on the Community Advisory Committee, not to the Friends.

Event update

On Sept. 24, Dorchester Ave. will be shut down to street traffic from Gallivan to Freeport as part of Boston’s Open Streets. We will host a local beekeeper to discuss the beneficial effects of bees on our environment. She will be accompanied by an assistant, and the Friends will not need to do much to support this program. Also, Mike Ritter will be taking free photo shoots as part of his Beautiful Dot project. On October 4, Mike will give a talk about his work and this project at Fields Corner. 

We decided to try for a talk on urban wildlife in November. Our next meeting will be October 18.

July 16, 2022 meeting

Updates

Our Vice-President has been elected to the Board of CityWide Friends. He brought two pieces of news, first the sad news that David Vieira, former president of the CityWide Friends, died last weekend. David had been the Branch Liaison and had been supportive in our efforts to work on the branch renovation, on membership recruitment, and on fundraising. The group asked about memorial events, which have not yet been announced. We also learned that our grant application to the CityWide Friends was successful; we will receive $2000 to use for programming and events on a roughly monthly basis. Our proposed events for the year include

• July 16: Ice cream social

• August 20: Picnic at Town Field

• September 24: Beekeeping talk 

• October 4: talk by Mike Ritter, local photographer

• February: Black History Month event

• March: Women’s History Month event

• April: AAPI event

Other potential program events are local author readings, a talk on bicycle maintenance, and a lecture on local wildlife from the Audubon Society.

Future plans

A member of the events committee updated us on the September 24 event which will be held during the Dorchester Open Streets event. A local beekeeper will give a talk outside the branch and a display about bees will be set up in the Community Room. The same member offered to organize purchase of drinks and desserts for the August picnic. The group discussed possible programs for November.

We adjourned for ice cream.

June 7, 2022

Past business

We reviewed the notes from the Annual Meeting held on May 7. The members who hadn’t been at that meeting paid their annual dues. The president reported that she had updated the Friends brochure and info sheet and would be sending to the librarians for distribution in the branch. The Children's Librarian reported that she is organizing Lego activities and groups to play chess. All expressed concern at the small number of members who participate actively in meetings and events.

Activities

Two members asked that an Events Committee be established to help advise those who are organizing events so that organization doesn’t always fall to the same individuals. All those attending agreed to serve on the Events Committee.

The president described the grant opportunity from the City-Wide Friends and the group decided that it doesn’t make sense to apply for equipment or book funding when the branch is slated for renovation but instead to ask for funding for the planned ongoing events series. She will write up the proposal and share with members. The group reviewed the list of National Months and past activities and decided to host 

• Friends Meeting and Ice Cream Social, Chill on Park, Saturday, July 16, 2:30, Friends to cover the cost of ice cream

• Potluck Picnic in Town Field, Saturday, August 20, noon, Friends to provide dessert to attendees

• Lecture on bees, beekeeping, and honey for National Honey Month (September, date and time to be determined), hoping to have a giveaway from a local vendor

The president will approach Chill on Park for date and location approval for the July event and will ask ADSL for guidance on using the park for an August event. A member volunteered to work on planning the Honey event in September.

Future Plans

The Friends will continue to meet through the summer, trying to build connections to the community. Other possible theme events were discussed including Earth Day events and writing or poetry workshops.

March 8, 2022 meeting

We were very pleased to be able to meet again and hope that the covid restrictions continue to retreat. Kevin Tran, liaison from the Mayor's Office, joined us and provided updates that the branch renovation is still in the city's  plans and that the Design Phase is expected to begin soon. The group discussed community hopes for the renovation and asked to be kept involved with discussions.

A member reported on her efforts to screen Equal Means Equal, a documentary about the ERA, and to organize a discussion series on the 1619 Project. 

Another member reported the success of her application to create a community resource for home energy renovation information. A Mass Clean Energy Center Award will provide funding for a program to be run out of the Fields Corner Branch. 

We hope to schedule the postponed Black Trivia Night soon.

Our Annual Meeting will be Saturday, April 30, 12:00–1:00.

December 21,  2021 meeting

A small group of Friends met in the Community Room where we discussed plans for upcoming events and what potential impact the omicron variant will have. We are hoping to hold a Trivia Night for Black History Month, potential date 2/13/22 at 6:30 at Chill on Park, co-sponsored by Fields Corner Main St. As the situation evolves, we will confirm. In place of our usual Friends Brunch at the Branch, we plan to distribute flyers about the Friends and coupons for Chill on Feb. 6; plans for this event will also be confirmed as the date approaches. 

The carpet and ceiling in the Community Room are both in bad shape, and to allow the library to make repairs, the used books and shelves must be removed. The Friends will meet on Dec. 30 to sort and pack —  please spread the word and encourage others to pick up books and DVDs at no charge. 

November 16,  2021 Meeting

The Friends were joined by Kim McCleary, Head Librarian of the Fields Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library, and Cindy Dye, Children's Librarian, who provided updates. Adult programming has restarted, for groups of no more than 15, all wearing masks. Children's programs cannot be held indoors, but Cindy and volunteers have creatively developed outdoor programs and kits that are sent home.

The Friends have committed to sponsoring another Trivia Night for Black History Month, hoping that Chill on Park will host. We continue to look for other opportunities to sponsor activities and opportunities to partner with other neighborhood organizations.

Our next meeting will be Dec. 21, at which we will set dates for 2022 meetings and make plans for winter programming.

October 19, 2021 Meeting

Eight members of the Friends met in the Community Room, joined by Kim McCleary, Head Librarian of the Fields Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library. We had a productive conversation about the group's hopes for activities and outreach, taking into account the city's guidelines for pandemic precautions and individual concerns. The group hopes to connect with other organizations and sponsor a Black History Month event, similar to that in 2020, and to host a 1619 event. Other suggestions were for a Workshop on Climate Resiliency, a handcraft event, and a Fix-It session. The group agreed to suspend the ongoing booksale in order to allow upgrades to the Community Room. Further discussion will continue. 

September 21, 2021 Meeting

The Friends were able to meet in the Community Room of the Fields Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library, for our first in-person, indoors meeting since February 2020. 

May 25, 2021 Meeting

Several Friends gathered in the parking lot behind the library for our first meeting in over a year; as the pandemic forced us to cancel our Annual Meeting in both 2020 and 2021, this meeting served that purpose. Dues will be collected at a later date. 

March 7, 2020 meeting

The staff kindly answered questions about circulation, deaccessioning, collection policies, limits on numbers of items that can be borrowed, cost to catalogue an item, the Jordan Collection, and more. There are many factors that make the BPL a world-class organization, but the collection heads the list.

We voted to work with a neighboring organization to hold discussion sessions of the New York Times 1619 Project. Dates will be announced later.

We had an update on use of funds from Love Your Block. We will continue to apply for funds for beautification inside and outside the branch.

Since this meeting, COVID-19 has affected all aspects of life in the area. Our March 21 program on Lucy Stone is cancelled; we hope to reschedule it for the fall. We are unsure if we will be able to hold our April meeting. I want to emphasize how much I appreciate all the staff of Fields Corner Branch — the librarians, the circulation desk workers, the security staff, and the custodial staff are all welcoming to and supportive of our community.

Feb. 4, 2020 Meeting

At the meeting, we reviewed the Brunch at the Branch, our annual event for community members who are interested in learning more about the Fields Corner Library and Friends activities. The event went very well, and thanks are in order to the Friends who organized catering, ordered flowers, tidied the Community Room, picked up the catering order, set up the room, and were great ambassadors for our group.  Thank you all!

We decided to reschedule our March meeting for Saturday, March 7, 11:00 a.m., which will not interfere with the primary election. This time may be more convenient for some interested community members who have not been able to attend evening meetings. At this meeting, we will make final arrangements for the Lucy Stone event on March 21. Please mark your calendars.

We scheduled a spring book sale for May 2. Dates for organizing and shelving donations will be announced closer to that date.

One member proposed sponsoring a Trivia Night activity with a Black History Month theme. We hope to announce a date and location soon.

We also reviewed planned support for library facilities. A Love Your Block grant will support some interior and exterior beautification (plantings, for example) and the Friends will cover other costs. 

jan. 7, 2020 meeting

Our first order of business tonight was to consider another date or time for the remaining spring meetings: on Tuesdays, there are conflicts with Fields Corner Main Street meetings, the Fields Corner Library Book Club, and other civic associations and member obligations. We agreed to stay with the dates selected and adjust for the fall.

At the meeting, we agreed to support two more sessions of dance/movement sessions for toddlers ($70 total, sessions on Jan. 16 and Jan. 24). We agreed to support the Lunar New Year celebration ($100, event at 5:00 on Jan. 28), we agreed to ask Coco Leaf to cater our Brunch at the Branch (Feb. 1), and we discussed how to promote the Lucy Stone event on March 21 at noon.  Afterwards the conversation turned to hopes for the renovation and how to continue to express interest and opinions to BPL leadership.

Dec. 10, 2019 meeting

We were joined by David Leonard, President of the BPL, Julia Blake, Assistant Manager for Neighborhood Services, and members of the Community Advisory Committee.  We discussed the pros and cons of the potential plans that had been presented at the November renovation meeting (minutes).

Nov. 12, 2019 Meeting

We invited the Community Advisory Committee to join us to discuss issues related to the upcoming renovation (minutes).

Oct. 1, 2019 Meeting

We had a very enthusiastic conversation about the upcoming branch renovations, and we are grateful that staff representing Councilors Baker and Campbell were able to attend to hear our feedback.

Updates on upcoming events:

Oct. 5 will be the Book Sale for the City Wide Friends of the BPL, at Copley. The City Wide Friends share proceeds from their sales with the branches, and we are benefitting this month. Please spread the word and go enjoy their sale!

Oct. 26 is the Annual Dorchester Storywalk. The Friends have sponsored and participated in this event in the past—readers are spaced throughout Town Field, reading the same story to participants as they walk. The Friends are providing financial support for a puppet show following the reading. To learn more or volunteer, contact Cindy.

Nov. 12 will be the next Friends Meeting. See you then!

SEPT. 10, 2019 Meeting

At our Sept. 10 Friends Meeting, we met the new library staff, discussed future programming (Cooking Demos, Computer Help Sessions, a program about Lucy Stone to commemorate the 100th anniversary of U.S. Women's Suffrage, Story Walk in November, and Hallowe'en storytelling).

We finalized plans for the upcoming Booksale.

We discussed future Friends activities.