Boston Public Library Trustees Finance and Audit Committee Meeting

I.    Call to Order 

Evelyn Arana, Committee Chair

A.    Welcome Remarks

B.    Acknowledge Reaffirmation Statement 

C.    Roll Call

D.    Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2025

II.    FY27 Budget Update

Emily Tokarczyk, Chief Financial Officer

III.    Review and Approval of Votes

Emily Tokarczyk, Chief Financial Officer

A.    E-Rate Contracts

          Keith Gillette, Chief Technology Officer

1.    Network Backbone Bandwidth Expansion (10Gb/s)

VOTED: “that, the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee of the Public Library of the City of Boston recommend approval of a one-time contract not to exceed Sixty-Four Thousand Forty-Three Dollars and Forty Cents ($64,043.40) with ePlus Technology, Inc. of 13593 Dulles Technology Drive, Herndon, VA 20171 to provide 60 of Cisco C9300-NM-8X Network modules as specified with the BPL.”

B.    Bibliocommons Contracts

    Michael Colford, Director of Library Services

1.    Bibliocommons In-App Reader Development

VOTED:  “that, the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee of the Public Library of the     City of Boston recommend the Board of Trustees approve the contract with Bibliocommons Corp of 119 Spadina Ave, Suite 1000, Toronto, ON M5V2L1 Canada in the amount not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($100,000) for development work on an in-app eBook, e-Audio reader.” 

2.    AI Pilot 

VOTED:  “that, the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee of the Public Library of the City of Boston recommend the Board of Trustees approve the contract with Bibliocommons Corp of 119 Spadina Ave, Suite 1000, Toronto, ON M5V2L1 Canada not to exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents) $50,000 for development work on an AI pilot around reader's advisory. This will introduce patron assistance in the catalog for finding books to read by working.” 

IV.    New Business

Evelyn Arana, Committee Chair

A.    Recommendation to accept Open AI Gift 

Jessica Chapel, Chief of Digital & Online Services

V.    Public Comment

“Please sign up for public comment the first 30 minutes of the meeting to support effective time management. On occasion, additional public comments on matters formally on the agenda may be allowed at the discretion of the Chair, and if time permits. Comments may alternatively be submitted in writing to the Clerk of the Board for distribution to the Trustees. Please submit no later than 24 hours in advance.”

VI.    Adjournment

Evelyn Arana, Committee Chair

*Next meeting is May 12, 2026.  Please see the website for Details (subject to change)

                  Trustees Finance and Audit Committee 

Evelyn Arana, Committee Chair, John Hailer, Jeff Hawkins, 

Sen. Mike Rush, and President David Leonard

Clerk of the Board, Pamela Carver

This is an open meeting; the public is welcome to attend.

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