Category: Tips and Tricks

First Amendment Auditors

Town Hall received visits from “First Amendment Auditors” last Thursday. This is happening here and in surrounding towns. The best approach is to remain calm and professional. Please review this presentation from KP Law addressing these visits.

The goal of these individuals is to provoke employees into unlawfully detaining or otherwise violating their First Amendment rights. Employee response should be calm and consistent. The library is a limited public forum, “First Amendment Auditors” are allowed to videotape while in the building. They may not go into the clearly marked staff-only work areas.

Following up on our staff meeting from last week, please contact EAP if you have an upsetting interaction. RPD has also made Taunya available for any of our employees that would like to speak to her.

Access for All

I’ve been attending the Perkins Access webinar series and it’s really good! Each session includes a list of resources to check for and improve access for people with a variety of disabilities. I’m collecting the links in a folder on the G-drive–check them out!

Perkins Access Series: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rlYWWqnPwYE9JEfU9CM8Wc2H7zojYv26?usp=sharing

Locations Taking Book Donations

Here is a brief list of locations in the area that are currently taking book donations! If a patron asks about donating books, feel free to direct them to the following:

Goodwill – Drop off at HomeGoods, Main Street, Reading

More Than Words – Drop Off 48 Stevens Street Stoneham, MA

Used Book Super Store – 149 South Main Street, Route 114, Middleton MA, 978-304-0345
*They are only taking books that are in excellent condition, and donations are limited to two boxes or bags*

Used Book Super Store – 256 Cambridge Street, Burlington, MA, 781.272.6650
*They are not accepting encyclopedias, magazines or VHS tapes*

Vending Machine Refunds on Trial Basis

We are going to try an experiment and have an envelope of money labeled GBL Vending Refund available at the Borrower Services desk to provide change for those who have lost money in the vending machine. This does not mean that we will be contacting Carmen about any vending issues and if this becomes time consuming, we will stop providing the refunds and revert back to having people contact Carmen directly. Please let me know if you have any questions.