Southwick Library Secures Level Funding, Drops Curbside Pickup Service

SOUTHWICK -- May 5, 2026, Southwick Public Library Board of Trustees learned the library will be level-funded for fiscal year 2027, walking back a proposed 10 percent budget cut that would have threatened the library's state certification. Library Director Lynn Blair told the board that conversations with the chief administrative officer and Finance Committee Chairman Joe, held in part by a trustee, persuaded town officials to leave the library budget intact at roughly $95,075 in operations expenditures, approximately $2,000 short of the 19 percent municipal spending threshold required for certification; the library will cover that gap using reserves from its state aid account. Blair reported a second state aid award from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners totaling $15,294.26, most of which will go toward programming. She noted that 80 percent of libraries in the CW Mars regional consortium would refuse to lend to a non-certified community, making certification loss a serious service threat. The board voted 4-0 to approve April minutes and agreed to skip August, holding its next meeting June 9. Blair disclosed she will begin approximately 12 weeks of medical leave in late May, with Assistant Director Heather Dunphy serving as acting director.