Board of Trustees

About

The Board of Library Trustees is a group of nine Bridgewater citizens who are elected individually in the annual town election for three-year terms. The Board is one of three elected town Boards and each Trustee is a representative of the Bridgewater citizens, collectively. The Board volunteers to provide oversight and advisement to the Bridgewater Public Library and Library Director in the pursuit of their mission to educate, inform, enrich, and inspire.

The Board is active in supporting Library and Town events and outreach, in providing recommendations on Town Charter and other policies that govern the Library, and in advocating for resources to support the Library as it supports our community. Public attendance at the Trustees' meetings is both welcome and encouraged.

Trustee Reading Recommendations

A Statement from the Bridgewater Public Library Board of Trustees

Statement on Freedom to Read

Images from the Fall 2023 Library Book Sale

Trustee Tidbits

Board of Library Trustees

Yearly Report for 2025

The year 2025 was once again one of productivity and engagement for the trustees. In January we joined the library staff in welcoming Sy Montgomery, noted American Naturalist and best selling author to our town. Ms. Montgomery and her photographer Matt Patterson presented a program based on her book Of Time and Turtles that featured pictures from their many travels around the globe. Located on the campus of Bridgewater State University, the program was well attended and received an enthusiastic and positive response.

The month of April always brings with it two important events: National Library Week and the Town Election. The former is an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate all the ways the libraries throughout the country enrich our lives despite the many challenges they face everyday. This year National Library Week was observed April 6-April 12 and National Library Worker's Day April 8. Our staff is a dedicated and hard working one that assists patrons in a myriad of ways. The trustees honored their efforts by providing flowers to the staff lounge and coffee, sandwiches and other treats on their special day. Each staff member received a handwritten note of appreciation. At the end of the month, Nancy Sarno, Janet Dye and Danielle Oliari were re-elected to another three year term on the Board. Collectively, we were happy to have their continued, valued participation with our future endeavors.

Each spring Bridgewater Communities for Civil Rights (BCCR) sponsors a celebration of Juneteenth for our town. Once again, the trustees were asked to participate and were pleased to do so. To prepare the community and in particular library patrons, we established a Storybook Trail outside the library along the driveway. The “trail” consisting of poster sized pages tells the story of the origins of Juneteenth and why it is important. It did catch the eye of patrons as they drove in or walked to the library. On the actual date of the celebration, the Storybook Trail was relocated to a lovely, winding pathway at University Park where the event was held. In addition, we set up a table and handed out a variety of Juneteenth activity sheets for children, each set tied together with a colorful ribbon color coded by age level. This was very popular with youngsters and their parents as something they could take and work on at home, thus learning more about the importance of Juneteenth. We were joined in our efforts by members of the Friends group who gave out free books about Juneteenth and related topics.

In the fall, the trustees in concert with the Director started a review of the ongoing policies of the library and suggested clarification where needed. The updated policies were accepted and approved by the Board. The Strategic Planning committee reviewed the overall Five Year Plan to determine progress made in attaining the included goals, sharing their findings with the other trustees.

An activity we look forward to each year is our participation in Christmas on the Common. For the last several years, we have passed out gently used, wrapped books given for free to children of all ages. Despite the bitter cold, trustees braved the elements and distributed several hundred books to happy, delighted young recipients. A week later, the library staff hosted a holiday open house at the library at which more books were handed out. Trustee Nancy Donnelly added to the festivities by playing the piano and leading a sing-a-long.

Overall, the trustees continue to carry out their mission as stated in the Town Charter to provide free access to the public library. In concert with our director Jed Phillips and his talented staff, we continued to support the BPL's stated goal to educate, inform, enrich and inspire. We welcome attendance at our monthly meetings and also may be reached at trustees@sailsinc.org with any comments or questions.

Respectively submitted,

Constance H. Franciosi
Chair, Board of Bridgewater Public Library Trustees

Members of the Board

Jennifer Anderson

Joan Carson

Nancy Donnelly

Stacey DeCotis

Janet Dye

Matthew Gerritsen

Danielle Oliari

Nancy Sarno

Board Members

	Constance Franciosi (sworn in 4/27/2026) BA Ohio Wesleyan University, MA Ohio State University, MAR Yale Divinity School, EdD Boston College Retired Special Education Department Head with Brockton Public Schools When not at the library: I like to travel the country and world vicariously through the magic of amateur radio.

	Danielle Oliari (sworn in 5/5/2025) BA Boston College, MAT Boston College, MA New York University COO, Prinicipal CNT at CNT DEP, Director Little Brick Schoolhouse When not at the library: I enjoy (almost) anything with my family, reading, and dancing.

	Janet Dye (sworn in 5/6/2025) BA Michigan State University, MS Northern Illinois University Retired teacher of children with Learning Differences, current tutor of elementary aged children, mother and grandmother. When not at the library: I can be found reading, gardening, quilting, enjoying physical activity, and volunteering for my community and church.

	Jennifer Anderson (sworn in 6/25/2024 ) BA UMASS Lowell, MA Endicott College Special Education Teacher for Brockton Public Schools When not at the library: I like to go hiking and exploring new places with my son.

	Linda Lundin (sworn in 4/20/2026)

	Matthew Gerritsen BA University of Connecticut, Juris Doctor Suffolk University Attorney When not at the library: I can be found watching soccer games, loiter over coffee, and work on our old house.

	Kerry Lundin (sworn in 5/1/2026)

	Nancy Sarno (sworn in 5/5/2025) BS Ed BSU, Graduate work at BSU and UMASS Boston Retired physical education teacher When not at the library: Retirement has meant more time for reading, gardening, traveling, community service and the grandchildren.

	Stacey DeCotis (sworn in 6/4/2024) BA Ed Stonehill College, MA Special Education Lesley University Middle School English Teacher When not at the library: I am spending time with my family, especially outdoors, volunteering for community events, and writing.