The Town of Hubbardston Library Trustees voted to pursue a United for Libraries grant to help reestablish a Friends of the Library group, trustees said at their Feb. 6 meeting.

The trustees discussed two primary uses for the grant: paying legal and accounting fees to establish a 501(c)(3) friends organization or seeding an account at a regional community foundation. "You can apply for $1,000 or $500," Trustee Krista said, summarizing the grant options described in a United for Libraries webinar. Krista added that the application must specify exactly how the funds will be spent and that the group must name a responsible individual to oversee the funds.

Why it matters: seed funding could cover formation costs and initial operating expenses for a new volunteer Friends group, which the trustees said would support library programming and fundraising. Trustees said they want the group to be sustainable and to have options for either formal tax-exempt status or partnership with a community foundation.

Trustees discussed operational details and deadlines. The application must be submitted through "ALA Apply," and applicants must choose a grant category (formation, project, or books) and a dollar amount; awards may be reduced (for example, an applied-for $1,000 award could be reduced to $500). The deadline for submission is Feb. 18 and applicants will be notified by March 10. Grant recipients are asked to submit a short report by July 1; funds do not have to be fully expended by that date but the trustees were told they should document planned spending.

Trustee Alicia, who attended a webinar, said the application requires a project director's first and last name and contact details. Trustee Connie said library staff must be listed as the responsible person on applications if staff will manage the grant. "They want project director information — all fields are required," Connie said.

Trustees agreed to pursue the $1,000 option while gathering estimates for likely uses. Tom offered to contact an attorney who previously helped a local nonprofit to get ballpark costs for forming a 501(c)(3). Krista and Trustee Chris K. said they would contact the Northern/ North Central Massachusetts Community Foundation to confirm whether the foundation could receive and manage the funds if the trustees chose that route. Trustee Morgan said she will reach out to people who previously indicated interest in forming the Friends group to assemble a working team.

Trustees discussed examples of allowable uses: attorney and accountant fees, initial administrative fees for a community foundation fund (the trustees mentioned a figure of roughly $250 for administrative set-up in one example), publicity, and small program or fundraising seed costs. They noted applicants must provide itemized planned spending (for example, "$750 to lawyer, $200 to publicity") in the application.

Next steps: trustees agreed that library staff (Chris Barbera, the director) or a named trustee would register for the ALA Apply platform, that trustee volunteers would be contacted, and that the trustees would try to assemble cost estimates and a point person before the Feb. 18 deadline.

Quotes in context: "You have to apply for a specific amount of money, either the $500 or a thousand, and you have to tell them what you're gonna use it for," Krista said. Connie summarized the application logistics: "You have to put somebody's name individually down as responsible for the funds, and they oversee."

Ending: Trustees said they will pursue the application and report back at the next meeting on progress and on any confirmations from the attorney and from the community foundation.