Members of the Lynnfield Library Board of Trustees hosted a celebration to honor the tenures of three people who recently left the board, at the Meeting House.
Robert Calamari served on the board for 17 years, Russell Boekenkroeger for 10 years, and Andrew Kenneally for four years.
Board of Trustees Member Richard Mazzola was one of the organizers for the event, and commended the three for their hard work and dedication to the Lynnfield Library.
Fellow Member Faith Honer-Coakley said that the three men represent a combined 30 years of service, and that it was their greatest pleasure to serve the town with them.
“We’re a tight group of trustees working towards a common cause,” Honer-Coakley said. “The new library was a dream since 2014, we can feel proud of how hard we worked together.”
A representative from the offices of state Sen. Brendan Crighton and state Rep. Brad Jones also handed out citations to Boekenkroeger and Calamari during the event. Residents, Library employees, members of the Lynnfield Public Library Foundation and the Friends of the Lynnfield Library were in attendance. Also, Town officials such as Select Board Members Dick Dalton and Phil Crawford, Town Administrator Rob Dolan, and Asst. Town Administrator Bob Curtin attended.
Calamari said that the most impactful work he’s done during his 17-year tenure is the establishment of the Library Foundation, and the expansion of the hours of service even at the time of the financial crisis.
“The idea is to make it kind of a lasting financial legacy for the institution going forward, whether there’s a new building, or renovating a building, or not…and be able to raise some additional money for some long term needs for the facility,” Calamari said of the Foundation.
Calamari now appreciates having more free time.
“It’s occupied a lot of our time,” Calamari said. “The last couple of years got very intense in the latter stages of 2023, early 2024. So it’s kind of been a breath of fresh air to have more free time on my hands.”
Boekenkroeger shared the same feelings as Calamari, with regards to more free time, and said that he will spend his free time starting to read more books again.
“I’ll be reading more myself than I’ve been able to,” Boekenkroeger said. “I’ve always been a reader, but for the last year, it’s really ramped down with everything that was going on with the building program.”
