John ‘Jay’ Foley to challenge for library trustee seat

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Submitted by Jay Foley

I am announcing my candidacy for the Canton Board of Library Trustees.

Local libraries are one of the few institutions in a community that benefit residents of all ages. As a lifelong, avid reader, I appreciate and support how libraries serve diverse interests and groups and offer unfiltered access to books and information. Now that I am retired, I have time to devote to the important position of library trustee.

I have experience as a library trustee, having served on the board of trustees in Block Island, Rhode Island. While serving in that position, I was instrumental in recruiting a new director and additional staff. Building maintenance and computers were continuing issues. It was important to keep the PCs and laptops up and running, because many of the town employees and students on Block Island did not have computers.

The building seemed to always need work, and preventive maintenance had not been done. We worked diligently with local tradespeople on a wide variety of maintenance issues. I would bring these skills and experiences to the Canton Public Library.

My company was located in an older, 20,000-square-foot building in Worcester. It, too, had its maintenance issues that needed to be dealt with on an ongoing, cost-effective basis. Again, I would bring these maintenance skills to the Canton Public Library.

While running my company, we had a successful internship program. It was a win/win for my company as well as for the interns, who gained extensive experience. Likewise, our high school students are serving in an internship capacity by running the ongoing book sale and participating in other library activities.

My partner, Sherry Alpert, and I are proud to be Patrons of the Friends of the Canton Public Library. We were thrilled to attend the recent Comedy Night sponsored by the Friends. Not only was the event financially successful, but I suspect that it attracted people who would not normally come to our well-maintained and magnificent library. As a library trustee, I would encourage future fundraising events like this.

I am very impressed with the library’s active acquisition of new books as well as its access to books both inside and outside the Old Colony Library Network. Recently, our librarians quickly secured for me an out-of-print book, which was the only copy of its kind in Massachusetts.

Finally, people remind me of the time when our library was open on Sunday afternoons. While I recognize that this is a budget issue, I would work hard to secure funding to reopen the library on Sunday afternoons. Our library is too valuable a resource to sit idle on Sunday.

Although I am a newcomer to Canton’s local elections, I now have the time, energy and experience to devote to the Canton Board of Library Trustees. I hope to earn your vote on April 4. Thank you for your consideration.

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