The Trustees of the Hubbardston Public Library are delighted that the Town of Hubbardston fully funded the Library’s operations for Fiscal Year 2010 at its Annual Town Meeting in June. So now that they are able to devote their energies to something other than simply trying to keep the library open, they’re addressing an issue that has been on the back burner for the past couple of years—the state of the library hedge.
The barberry shrubs that define the front yard of the library building were originally donated by a group of Hubbardston residents and teachers at the beginning of the last century. They were designed to be a living fence to separate the Library grounds from the foot traffic from the newly built school building. The barberry species surrounding the building have since been classified an invasive species by the United States Department of Agriculture. Gaps have formed in the shrubbery, but because it is an invasive species it is not possible to purchase replacement plants. It therefore seems prudent to get rid of this hedge, since without ongoing maintenance it quickly becomes an eyesore.
Having voted to remove the hedge, the Trustees are open to considering various landscaping ideas that Town residents may have for the front of the library. The next Board of Library Trustees meeting will be at the Hubbardston Public Library on Monday, July 27, at 7:00 pm and the public is invited to attend. The Trustees welcome any suggestions on possible solutions to establishing a border around the front lawn of the library, whether it will be plantings or donated decorative metal fencing. It is important to note that any expenditure toward landscaping of the library grounds would come out of an existing special trust fund to be utilized for this purpose, not from the funding voted for library operations under the town budget.
So if you’d like a say in what the Hubbardston Public Library should look like, please attend the next meeting of the Board of Trustees on July 27.
The barberry shrubs that define the front yard of the library building were originally donated by a group of Hubbardston residents and teachers at the beginning of the last century. They were designed to be a living fence to separate the Library grounds from the foot traffic from the newly built school building. The barberry species surrounding the building have since been classified an invasive species by the United States Department of Agriculture. Gaps have formed in the shrubbery, but because it is an invasive species it is not possible to purchase replacement plants. It therefore seems prudent to get rid of this hedge, since without ongoing maintenance it quickly becomes an eyesore.
Having voted to remove the hedge, the Trustees are open to considering various landscaping ideas that Town residents may have for the front of the library. The next Board of Library Trustees meeting will be at the Hubbardston Public Library on Monday, July 27, at 7:00 pm and the public is invited to attend. The Trustees welcome any suggestions on possible solutions to establishing a border around the front lawn of the library, whether it will be plantings or donated decorative metal fencing. It is important to note that any expenditure toward landscaping of the library grounds would come out of an existing special trust fund to be utilized for this purpose, not from the funding voted for library operations under the town budget.
So if you’d like a say in what the Hubbardston Public Library should look like, please attend the next meeting of the Board of Trustees on July 27.
