By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Public Library is looking to hire a teen librarian in the fiscal year 2026 operating budget, Director Abigail Porter said during the Select Board’s Feb. 10 meeting.
Porter said the library is requesting a $1,116,608 operating budget for FY26, represents a 5 percent increase over the current fiscal year’s $1,063,591 appropriation.
“We don’t know our staff salary increases because they are under negotiation, so I can’t swear to that number,” said Porter about the proposed $1.1 million operating budget for the library.
Porter said the proposed new department head teen librarian position’s price tag totals $54,558.40 plus benefits. She recalled that the library has requested hiring a teen librarian in the past, but the town has not funded the position.
“We really need this,” said Porter. “Eight out of the 17 public
NOBLE (North of Boston Library Exchange) libraries have teen librarians. We have been counting, and we average at least 16 teens every day even though we don’t have a teen room. It really is an incredible number considering they really don’t have their own space and only have a table.”
Porter said she hired a part-time unpaid intern last fall who worked with teenagers at the library.
“She had to do a social studies and library internship for her college program,” said Porter. “She worked three days a week, and she managed to triple programming. We saw an increase of 200 percent in kids over the course of those three months. If we could get a full-time person dedicated to teens, we would be able to do so much more for the teens in town.”
Porter recalled that A Healthy Lynnfield’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey that was administered to Lynnfield Middle School and Lynnfield High School students last year revealed that over 50 percent of students reported they “have a trusted adult in the schools.”
“Libraries often have that trusted adult for teens,” said Porter. “Having a teen librarian who is there for them, answering their questions and building relationships would be really key to helping them.”
Select Board Chair Dick Dalton asked if the new teen librarian would be a full-time or a part-time position.
Porter said the job would be a full-time department head position.
“We went back-and-forth between full-time and part-time,” said Porter. “I started as a teen librarian for my first job in libraries. Having the full-time position allows that person to be there when the teens are there, but also do the program planning when they are not there. They could also help cover the desk, and fill in a lot of the holes that we are experiencing. I only see value in having a department head level teen librarian. It’s a tough job to connect with teens. To truly build a great collection and a great program for them, we need a full-time position.”
Dalton asked Porter what kind of “real advances for the teens” would be implemented if the new position were funded in the next fiscal year.
Porter said the new teen librarian would be able to offer different programs about topics such as paying for college, study sessions, book clubs and other programs that would “teach them real skills and also help them bond with their peers at the same time.”
“I think there are a lot of teens who are on their devices a lot, and are not connecting with other teens,” said Porter. “These programs are a great way to make that happen. We did a book subscription kit with some swag in it with Sarah, our intern. We had 16 kids coming in every month to get their bag of stuff, and they were posting about it on social media and they were talking to all of their friends about things they got at the library. They were coming in to talk to the staff about the books. That level of engagement is wonderful.”
While Porter said children visit the library for Story Time or come to study, she said teenagers “start to lose interest” when they “get busy in high school.”
“This is a real way to build teen community in town, especially for the kids who are not as involved with sports,” said Porter.
Porter said the library is working with the high school on launching a writing contest and is putting on a community play that a freshman wrote this spring.
“We are hoping to really just keep expanding those programs,” said Porter.
Select Board Vice Chair Phil Crawford asked what space in the library would be used for teen programming.
Porter said teenagers would use the library’s existing spaces such as the Mezzanine or would use the Meeting House. She said the Manga Club for Teens currently uses the Mezzanine.
“That has been hugely popular,” said Porter. “I have been doing a board game hangout on early release days. We have averaged about 12 kids at that every single time. The spaces are the spaces, so we would make it work.”
Crawford asked Porter if there is an opportunity for the library to hire another unpaid intern if the town can’t fund the position this year.
“That was sort of magical because she was a social worker who also wanted to focus on literature,” said Porter. “It came together really nicely. There are not a ton of library grads looking for internships, but you never know.”
Porter said she was informed about the intern from a colleague she serves with on the NOBLE Executive Board.
“She was great,” said Porter. “She was so consistent and was so good at connecting with the teens.”
Select Board member Alexis Leahy, who called into the meeting because she was out of town for work, said she didn’t have any questions for Porter.
Dalton asked Porter if the Meeting House would need to be set up if teen programs were held there.
“Potentially, but it depends on the program,” said Porter. “I think a lot of these are more interactive, so hopefully we could have them sit around the tables rather than the lecture style that we often do for the adults over there. There is real potential there. We would also be doing a lot more things after-school, whereas the adult programs are in the evening.”
Porter noted that the library has budgetary requirements in order to be certified by the state.
“We have to hit the MAR or the Municipal Appropriation Requirement, which is the average of the last three years plus 2.5 percent,” said Porter. “Sixteen percent of the operating budget also has to go to materials. The budget that I am proposing very comfortably hits that without too much of an increase.”
Porter said the library does not have any capital requests for FY26.
“We will be hitting you up next year for those,” said Porter.
Library initiatives
Porter also gave an overview of the initiatives the Lynnfield Public Library undertook last year, which included starting a Seed Library with grant funds and donations.
“It has been really popular and we have had to replace the seeds multiple times,” said Porter. “We are hoping to make it sustainable with people donating seeds from the plants that they grew using the seeds from us over time.”
Porter said the library issued 750 museum passes last year, which was funded by the Friends of the Lynnfield Public Library.
“That saved Lynnfield families roughly $15,000,” said Porter. “Museums have gotten really expensive. Those museum passes were paid for by the Friends, so they don’t cost the town any money.”
Porter said the library issued 680 library cards last year.
“We were really honored that the schools reached out about putting them in the welcome packet, so the applications went home to every student,” said Porter. “We saw a really big uptick in kids coming in.”
Porter said there were 95,655 physical items checked out of the library last year. She said there were 44,956 digital items checked out.
“We had 2,321 books logged during Summer Reading last year,” added Porter.