Library Trustees Approve Exhibit Policy, Delay Streaming Service Decision

GREAT BARRINGTON -- February 16, 2023, Great Barrington Library Trustees approved a new displays and exhibits policy and tabled a proposal to cancel the Canopy streaming service in favor of an online museum-pass ticketing system. The board voted 5-0 to adopt the exhibits policy, which requires artists to provide biographical information and an exhibit description for library publications, with Director Samara Klein authorized to add a brief bio field to the application form. Trustees then voted 5-1 to delay for one month a proposal to drop Canopy, billed to the library at two to four dollars per patron view, capped at $160 per month, in exchange for Ticket Keeper, a $600-per-year museum-pass reservation system used by the Lenox Library and the Berkshire Athenaeum. Board chair Patrick warned trustees separately that a letter of intent for a Massachusetts state library construction grant, which could cover roughly $3 million of an estimated $5 million Ramsdell Library renovation, must reach the state by April 28, and that a comparable grant opportunity may not return for seven or more years.