Gale Free Library Impacts
Gale Free Library Impacts
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The loss would be immediate and lasting for all library users - students, families, seniors, and others.
The loss would be immediate and lasting for all library users - students, families, seniors, and others.
If the override fails, the Library will be cut by $300,000 or a whopping 27%!
If the override fails, the Library will be cut by $300,000 or a whopping 27%!
More Than a Building
More Than a Building
The Gale Free Library is one of the institutions that helps make Holden feel like a community. It is where children discover books, students study after school, residents use computers and internet access, families attend programs, and people of all ages borrow materials, do research, and connect with one another.
Part of a Statewide System
Part of a Statewide System
The library is also part of something much larger. Public libraries in Massachusetts are connected through a statewide system that gives Holden residents access to books, eBooks, databases, and materials from libraries across the Commonwealth. Modern libraries are not stand-alone institutions—they depend on that shared network.
What Would Change
What Would Change
Without the override:
Library hours would fall from 54 to 32 per week
Staff would be reduced from 18 employees to about 8
After-school and Saturday access would be sharply reduced
Programs for children, teens, and adults would be cut back
Staff help for research, technology, and public services would be reduced
This would mean a much smaller library serving far fewer people.
The Bigger Risk: Loss of Certification
The Bigger Risk: Loss of Certification
The proposed cut would drop Holden well below the town’s Municipal Appropriation Requirement (MAR) set by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The result would almost surely be loss of certification, which would take a minimum of two years to restore.
That loss would mean:
Loss of state aid (approximately $40,000 per year)
Loss of interlibrary loan and resource-sharing with hundreds of Massachusetts libraries
Loss of automatic borrowing privileges for Holden residents at most other public libraries in the state
Loss of full participation in the CWMARS network and statewide library system
Loss of access to many statewide eBook collections, online databases, and digital resources
It would also make it harder for the library to support school libraries and students across the community.
Why It Matters
Why It Matters
This would not be a minor trimming of services. It would mean a fundamentally smaller library, open far fewer hours, with much less access to the statewide resources Holden residents now take for granted.
For many families, the library is where town life, school life, and community life meet.
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