Letter to the Editor

Please Take Action

Dear Editor:

We, the furloughed staff of the Winthrop Public Library, are writing to urge the Town to take action to provide more resources to our patrons.  We have written proposals for alternative work objectives, socially-distanced staff scheduling possibilities, and date-specific plans for how we can increase services to the community.  We are asking the Town Manager to honor his word to negotiate terms for the recall of staff to facilitate more comprehensive and equitable hold-pick up services.

This closure is hurting our town’s most vulnerable populations.  Children, seniors, and people who live alone need more virtual programming and other ways to connect with the wider community. As we have suggested in our proposals, our team of eight furloughed staff could be offering storytimes, book clubs, interviews with authors, and much more online, if we were recalled.  We want to serve out patrons and help rebuild our community as we struggle through and past this pandemic together.

Sincerely,

Rich Allen

Tammy Cody

Domenic DeMasi

Katrina Donovan

Arthur Languirand

Ellen Nickerson

Pete Solomon

Alyssa True