[MassHistPres] ("legal") advice sought

[JLennerton at aol.com]

Hi  folks- 
The  Leicester Historical Commission is in some dire need of  
advice/information. 
The  town of Leicester has for many decades (since the 1890’s actually) 
operated a  small museum on the second story of the Leicester Public Library. 
It has a  collection of artifacts donated to the town to be put on display.  
Currently, the library is seeking to raise money for a sizable  addition to 
the building. The library trustees have decided to start selling the  
historic artifacts to help fund the addition.  
The  historical commission is naturally 100% in opposition to this.  
It is  our opinion that these belong to the town and that as such, they 
must be  declared surplus by the board of selectmen and disposed of following 
the normal  legal process for surplus property. (Not that we want this to 
happen) 
The  trustees claim that these belong to the library and not the town and 
since they  are in charge of the library, they can do with the items what 
they please.  
The  library trustees are elected public officials, and the public library 
is funded  by the town of Leicester, so in no way is it a private library.  
Although this has been planned for some time, the trustees never  informed 
any other town agency, including the historical commission. They did  
however, offer the first right of refusal on buying the items to the local  
private historical society. 
What  are people’s thoughts on this? What are some ideas on how we can 
prevent the  sale of artifacts from occurring? Time is of the essence here, so 
any advice is  greatly appreciated. 
Thanks- 
Joe  Lennerton, Leicester Historical  Commission
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