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On Tuesday the Trustees of the Goodnow Library met for their first meeting of 2024. Two items stood out as noteworthy for residents.
First, the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School and Ephraim Curtis Middle School yearbook digitization project is complete, and all the yearbooks are available here. As their meeting packet noted: “Not only are the yearbooks scanned, but the text is also fully transcribed.” Here’s a sampling of cover art therein:
The Goodnow Library worked with the Boston Public Library to complete the project. The fine folks at the Boston Public Library encouraged the Goodnow Library to send additional digitization projects their way, so there’s a possibility the community could see more additions to Goodnow’s digital archive in the future. We got in touch with Esme Green, Director of the Goodnow Library, to provide more background on the genesis of the project and what we might expect to see in the future:
“Way back in 2015 we heard about a grant received by the Boston Public Library to digitize and upload MA yearbooks to the Internet Archive for free and perpetual access. However the project was stalled for some time, and so I started exploring other options, including applying for CPA funds. But in doing research, I found that the BPL had restarted its program. So we collected them all and delivered them to BPL in person in October. By November, they were done! The work is beautifully done and the platform they used is really user-friendly. Not only do we have high resolution images of each page, but the full-text, making it word-searchable. Yearbooks are one of the most accessed collections in Local History, as they are often consulted by researchers and genealogists. But they are also of great interest of those experiencing nostalgia or curiosity. We will be sending more items to the Boston Public Library in the near future, so stay tuned for more information.”
Esme Green, Director — Goodnow Library
Next up, we turn from digitization to electrification. A grant to fund a portion of the cost to install electric vehicle charging stations at the library fell through last year. The Trustees reviewed a draft warrant article that would seek to fund the installation and completion of the project, citing multiple possible funding sources including the Solar Energy Revolving Fund, Free Cash, and the Town Manager’s Capital Budget:
During the meeting, the Library Director, Esme Green, noted that she spoke with Town Manager Andy Sheehan, and relayed that he felt the article might be a hard sell given how many grants are available for projects like this. (13:39)
“That was really the only thing is he thought it might be a hard sell because he thought people would think that there should be free money out there for it and we shouldn’t have to pay for it.”
Esme Green, Director — Goodnow Library
During their discussion, several Trustees agreed that they felt the library was a uniquely compelling location for a charging station, noting that the library is a good place to spend time while charging an electric vehicle. Another Trustee mentioned that the Dunkin’ Donuts was nearby as well. The chair of the Trustees, Katina Fontes, told Sudbury Weekly:
“With the increased number of electric vehicles, people in the community have been asking about charging stations–Where are they? Why doesn’t Sudbury have more of them? When are they coming?–so, the loss in grant funding was disappointing, to say the least. Charging stations are currently located at the DPW, and while these may benefit Town-owned vehicles, they are not convenient for town residents. The library is the ideal location for this broader need, and we hope voters will support this effort at Town Meeting.”
Katina Fontes, Chair — Trustees of the Goodnow Library
There will be plenty of discussion among boards and committees about warrant articles and capital projects in the weeks and months ahead. For now, the Trustees made some minor edits, approved the article, and agreed to send it off to Town Counsel for review.