[MassHistPres] ("legal") advice sought

[Anne Forbes]

I am not close to this issue at all, but in our town, the "disposal of surplus library materials" (or some such wording), appears periodically on the Selectmen's agenda.  It seems like this would mean that the Board of Selectmen, representing the Town, must approve sales of the type you are dealing with, even if the items are "owned" by the library.

So I would think that working with and through the Selectmen on this may be llikely to produce the best results.

Anne Forbes
Acton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: jlennerton at aol.com 
  To: mdstarkey at crocker.com ; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu 
  Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2014 1:21 PM
  Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] ("legal") advice sought


  You are correct. There is virtually no paperwork on gifts to the museum. We have in some of the town reports form the late 1800's, early 1900's some descriptions of gifts to the museum (all items that have long since gone missing), but also in the same reports that certain citizens would give gifts to the library and the museum separately, also supporting the fact that although in one building, they were separate entities. 


  We have to meet this afternoon to determine what they plan on trying to sell, but about 90% of the collection has been gifted before the 1980's.


  We're working on library incorporation paperwork. Many years ago, our chair read in a town report that the duties of the library trustees was limited into managing the collection of books. We're not certain if that would still be the case. 

  I'm not certain if we would be able to go so far as to obtain a court ruling on ownership. The library plans the sale for October 2nd, which gives us little time (municipal government is shut down on Friday;s in Leicester, which doesn't help)
  Although it does go back to the issue of disposal of surplus property


  Joe Lennerton
  LHC


  -----Original Message-----
  From: Marcia Starkey <mdstarkey at crocker.com>
  To: JLennerton <JLennerton at aol.com>; masshistpres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
  Sent: Thu, Sep 25, 2014 9:28 am
  Subject: RE: [MassHistPres] ("legal") advice sought


  I gather that there is no paperwork on the gift, either with the Town, Commission, Library or donor (organization or individual). Or in the newspapers covering Leicester since the gift date.  Or details on the library incorporation  and its relationship with the town or its legal position. 

  If there is no record of legal transfer, do the museum contents need a court ruling on ownership?  

  Marcia Starkey 
  Greenfield   


  From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of JLennerton at aol.com
  Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2014 4:32 PM
  To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
  Subject: [MassHistPres] ("legal") advice sought

  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


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  ******************************
  For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE WHOLE LIST.
  MassHistPres mailing list
  MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
  http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
  ********************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20140925/eecc002b/attachment.htm>