Government

Temporary Home for HATCH Found, Library Officials Seek Permanent Spot for Makerspace

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Watertown’s HATCH Makerspace has a temporary home when it loses its space in the Arsenal Mall, but library officials still need to find a permanent home. 

Leone Cole, director of the Watertown Free Public Library, said officials are close to finalizing an agreement with The Residence at Watertown Square to move the makerspace into a vacant commercial space on the ground floor of the assisted living building at Spring and Summer streets. That combined with the hiring of a full-time coordinator for HATCH will expand the offerings of the makerspace. “We will be able to have more hours and better classes,” Cole said. The space in The Residence is 1,200 square feet, but it will need to be completely outfitted inside, including a handicap bathroom and enough electrical service for all the equipment at HATCH. Assistant Town Manager Steve said that The Residence has agreed to split the cost of the renovations for the HATCH space.

Entertainment

At the Library in May: Learn to Brew, Nature Walks, Stress Reduction

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The Watertown Free Public Library is always filled with activities, and here are a few of the offerings in May. Some events require registration, so be sure to check with the Library if there is space available by calling 617-972-6436 or going to wfpl.eventbrite.com

Learn to Brew! Saturday 5/6 | 3-4:30 p.m.
Learn how to make your own beer and participate in National Homebrew Day! Randy Baril, author of Hosting Cask Ale Events, will go over necessary ingredients as well as provide a step-by-step walk-through of brewing your own beer. *Registration is required at the Reference Desk, 617.972.6436 or wfpl.eventbrite.com

The Birds and Bees: How We Love Them, Why We Need Them
Wednesday 5/3 | 7 p.m.
Come join us for a colorful and informative multimedia presentation illustrating the beauty and wonder of our winged creatures, their interdependence with other living things, and how we can help to protect them from population decline.

Around Town

Project Literacy Celebrating 30 Years of Teaching English to Immigrants

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Project Literacy, the Watertown group that offers free help to adults seeking to learn to read, write or speak English, will celebrate its 30th anniversary on April 30. Executive Director Philippa Biggers said that the celebration will take place on Sunday, April 30 from 1:30-4 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main St., Watertown

Project Literacy provides free classes taught by professional ESOL teachers, as well as, one-on-one and small group tutoring by trained volunteers, and conversation circles led by native English speakers. To become a student, make an appointment to register. Contact Philippa Biggers at pbiggers@watertown-ma.gov or 617-924-8797 to schedule an appointment. Once registered, students go on a waiting list.

Fiscal 2018 Budget

Town Manager Unveils FY2018 Budget Which Includes Five New Positions

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The Fiscal Year 2018 Watertown budget presented by Town Manager Michael Driscoll is nearly 4 percent higher than Fiscal 2017 and includes a 5 percent increase for the Watertown Public Schools and new positions for a handful of municipal departments, including the Police Department and Library. Tuesday night Driscoll presented the budget to the Town Council for the 25th time, see the presentation here. The town budget totals $132.6 million, which is $5 million more than the previous year. Local real estate and personal property taxes total $94.8 million and State Aide accounts for $12.1 million. Local receipts – inspection fees, motor vehicle excise taxes and hotel excise taxes – provide $11.9 million for the budget.

East Branch Library

Town Council to Consider Sale of Watertown’s East Branch Library

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The long vacant East Branch Library may be sold by the town, if the Town Council approves the proposal on Tuesday night. 

The 2,684-square-foot building at 481 Mt. Auburn Street was built in the 1920s and closed in 2006 after the main branch of the library was renovated and expanded. Now the town is considering selling the building and .28 acres of land to St. James Armenian Church for $1.2 million. The town put out a call for bids, which had to start at $1 million, and received just one bid.

Around Town

Watertown Library to be Closed Two Days This Week

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The Watertown Free Public Library will be closed on April 6 and 7 so carpet replacement work can take place. Other sections of the library have been closed during the the project, but the building will be closed on Thursday, April 6 and Friday April 7 for the whole day, the library announced. The library has more than 30,000 visitors a year, and more than 3.5 million since the renovated library opened in 2004. Find out more about the project here.  

Around Town

Learn About Watertown Citizens Who Made History at New Library Display

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The portraits of eleven prominent figures from Watertown’s history have hung from street lamps along the town’s main thoroughfares since last July. Now, visitors can learn the stories behind the faces on the banners by exploring a new interactive digital display at the Watertown Free Public Library. In the display, photographs and documents from the library’s local history collection combine with biographical information to create a more complete portrait of each of the eleven banner subjects. The wide-ranging influence of these artists, entrepreneurs, activists, inventors, and explorers extends from patents to pulpits, architecture to abolition, Common Street to the U.S. Supreme Court. Some of their works—handwritten manuscripts, larger-than- life sculptures—are too fragile to touch, but all can be “handled” in digital format on the library’s interactive display.

Around Town

Watertown Library to Close for 2 Days During 4 Weeks of Carpet Replacement

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The carpets at the Watertown Free Public Library will be replaced beginning Monday, March 13 and installation will continue until Friday, April 7, library officials announced. This four week project will impact access to certain parts of the building. We will remain open for the duration of the project with the exception of Thursday, April 6 and Friday, April 7 when the library will be closed both days. During the installation patrons can expect limited access to areas of the building on weekdays from opening at 9 a.m. until around 3 p.m. after which all areas of the library should be accessible. Library staff will do as much as possible to help retrieve materials from any areas that are affected.