Around Town

Watertown Library’s Survey Will Help Plan for the Future

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Watertown LibraryThe Watertown Free Public Library. The Watertown Library wants to hear from the public as it plans for the future. A survey has been posted on the Library’s website and is also available at the Library in seven languages. The survey includes a number of questions and comment boxes. Some of the topics covered in the survey include the following:

Evaluating StaffRating the Building and FacilitiesGeneral Services and Experiences Most Important to the Survey TakerRating Collections and ServicesWhat would you love to see at WFPL?

Around Town

Drainage Installation at Mt. Auburn St. & Arlington St. Intersection to Begin This Week

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Work on the Mt. Auburn Street reconstruction project will restart in the New Year. See details in the announcement from the City of Watertown. Drainage Installation Work ContinuesNewport Construction is continuing to complete the drainage installation work along Mount Auburn Street, next beginning their work at the Arlington Street intersection and moving toward Watertown Square on Monday, January 6, 2025. Work will happen between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday.

Around Town

Community Preservation Committee Recommends Funding Affordable Housing Project

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A rendering of the proposed Willow Park Housing development. An affordable housing project got a boost from the Watertown Community Preservation Committee, which voted to recommend that Community Preservation Act money be used to help fund the project in East Watertown. CPA funds come from a surcharge on Watertown property tax bills, and the money can be used for historic preservation, open space and outdoor recreation, and affordable housing projects. See details in the announcement from the CPC, below. At a special meeting on Dec.

Around Town

See What Title the Library Selected for the 2025 One Book, One Watertown

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The Watertown Free Public Library revealed the title for this year’s One Book, One Watertown. See the announcement below. What happens when we study delight? This year’s One Book, One Watertown selection, Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, invites us to do just that. We hope you’ll take part in the Watertown Free Public Library’s annual community read! Ross Gay is many things – a New York Times bestselling poet and writer, a winner of prestigious awards, a teacher, a gardener, a skateboarder, a Midwesterner, a partner, a friend, a son, a pick up basketball player, a loiterer, a lover of high-fives, and a student of delight.

Around Town

Diaper Drive Being Held for Watertown Housing Authority Families

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The Watertown Housing Authority seeks donations of diapers to assist residents of families in WHA housing. Watertown Housing Authority social worker Maeve Kennelly said she has seen a need for diapers since she arrived in September. “Throughout my time here it has been brought to my attention that many WHA families are seeking resources for diapers, and although there are many diaper banks in surrounding areas, there are few resources readily available for our residents,” Kennelly said. “To better serve our residents and help them meet their immediate needs, we will be hosting a diaper drive for the month of January.” WHAT: Watertown Housing Authority Diaper Drive

DATE: January 6, 2025 – January 31, 2025

LOCATION: WHA Main Office Lobby, donations can be dropped off M-Th 8:30-4:30

WHAT’S NEEDED: New, unopened diaper packs (any sizes welcome)

Around Town

Watertown Day Care Trying to Preserve Historic Building as it Creates a New Home

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The University Prints Building on Boyd Street has much history, and is now home to First Path Day Care. (Courtesy of First Path)

The new home of a Watertown day care center will be in a building off Galen Street that’s full of history, from the architecture to the former uses, which includes being a cookie factory to a printer of textbooks and one of the nation’s largest providers of checks. First Path Day Care Center moved to 13 Boyd St. in November after many years sharing the Watertown Boys & Girls Club facility. When First Path learned it would need to find another location, the search led them to purchase the building on the Southside of Watertown in 2017.