Library Staff Undergo Training

In order to better prepare the staff to deal with a wide variety of situations, a series of trainings will be held over the next few months at the Lynn Public Library, during which times the library will be closed to the public. The topics of the trainings include de-escalation, Narcan training, mental illness, crisis situations, and working with special populations.

 Public libraries have evolved over the last two decades as the ways in which people access information has changed significantly. While providing books for the public to take out and read will always be a staple, libraries have expanded their scope to include access to Wi-Fi and computers, Chromebook lending and homework help.

Another area in which libraries have adjusted to the times is the increased interactions between library staff and members of the public who come in with issues beyond the scope of library services.

According to Theresa Hurley, chief librarian at the Lynn Public Library, she and her staff have always dealt with a vulnerable population to some degree, but it has increased markedly since the library reopened after the pandemic.

“Librarianship and social work go hand in hand,” said Hurley, who has been at the Lynn Library for 29 years, starting as a branch librarian. “Librarianship has evolved to meet the needs of the community.”

In order to better prepare the staff to deal with a wide variety of situations, a series of trainings will be held over the next few months. The topics of the trainings include de-escalation, Narcan training, mental illness, crisis situations, and working with special populations.

“We’re providing training in how to deal with traumatic situations,” Hurley said. “It’s essential to give the staff the tools they need to safely deal with the public.

All 18 library staff members will participate in the trainings.

“We’re pleased to offer this professional development opportunity to the library staff, who play an important role in the community,” Mayor Jared C. Nicholson said. “Receiving this training will benefit them and the residents they interact with on a daily basis.”

Hurley noted the word “public” in the name of the library.

“Anybody can come in. We don’t judge,” she said. “People come in for a variety of reasons: quiet space, Wi-Fi, fax/print/scan, computers. Sometimes they have no place else to go.”

Regardless of the situation, after completing this training, the Lynn Public Library staff will be better prepared to deliver the services and programs the library offers.

Source Elimination is Ongoing for King’s Beach

Work is ongoing to target potential sources and solutions for the issues forcing the frequent closing of King’s Beach due to elevated bacteria levels.

In recent weeks, closed-circuit cameras were temporarily placed inside 21 miles of storm drains for inspection and cleaning.

“Most of these pipes were installed in the late ’90s or early 2000s, so cleaning wasn’t excessive,” said Lynn Water and Sewer Commission Executive Director Daniel O’Neill. “We put the camera through, cleaned it and took out anything that shouldn’t be there. It’s kind of like a colonoscopy for the pipes.”

O’Neill said they were able to pull out five small connections between people’s sewer drains and the beach, but they didn’t uncover “any glaring issues.”

Prior to 1985, when Lynn’s $65 million wastewater treatment facility opened, sewer pipes and storm drains were connected to Stacey’s Brook, which emptied into King’s Beach. That is no longer the case, but the city is doing its due diligence to make sure no other sewer-to-pipe connections were missed.

“We’re pursuing treatment options, but source elimination is still the main priority right now,” said O’Neill.

The commission has been working with Environmental Partners, an environmental engineering consulting firm. Consultants from the firm have been addressing infrastructure improvements to the city’s sewage and storm drain system.

The beach has continuously been an area of focus for state and federal agencies, Lynn and Swampscott officials, and nonprofits such as Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach. Kleinfelder, a company of engineers, scientists and construction professionals who provide solutions to improve water, energy and other infrastructure, has been working for the Town of Swampscott on the King’s Beach Water Quality Engineering Study, which identifies and analyzes alternative approaches to alleviate the water quality issues. The company is receiving technical assistance from both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The EPA and DEP agree that Lynn is doing everything it should be doing to identify and eliminate illicit discharges, O’Neill said. While extending the outfall deeper into the ocean may be a long-term solution, a possible short-term improvement could be disinfection with ultraviolet light.

“The state of King’s Beach is entirely unacceptable and we’re doing everything we can to work with the many stakeholders to fix it, which includes repairing the sewer pipes and identifying illicit connections,” said Mayor Jared C. Nicholson. “According to our environmental regulators, that is proceeding as quickly as possible in Lynn given that the pipes are relatively new and we’re looking for hard-to-find missed connections. We are also exploring complementary solutions such as ultraviolet technology, which according to our environmental regulators will be necessary even once the pipes are fixed to keep the beach open an acceptable amount of time.”

“For far too long it has been unsafe for families to swim at King’s Beach. While we have made significant progress in recent years, we share the frustration and sense of urgency that our community collectively feels,” said Sen. Brendan Crighton. “We will continue to work tirelessly and collaboratively to take every possible action to correct this environmental injustice.”

Crighton noted that the state delegation secured $5 million dollars in ARPA funding – one of the biggest earmarks across the state that came from ARPA – to help with the King’s Beach clean-up, funding that was directed to Lynn and Swampscott for that purpose.

“Swampscott continues to work closely with the City of Lynn to advance a more aggressive IDDE effort to address the impairments to Kings Beach,” said Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald.  “The Town has outlined a plan to invest $7 million over the next two years to dramatically enhance the work to mitigate sewage infiltrating into the drainage pipes that lead to Kings Beach. We need our state and federal partners to help find additional funding to protect the health and safety of our region and our Commonwealth.”

The water quality at King’s Beach is currently tested daily and an interactive data dashboard provides results at mass.gov. Daily samples are collected at three sites on the beach: Kimball Road, Pierce Street, and Eastern Avenue in Lynn. A weekly sample is collected at one location in Swampscott, which is managed separately by the Town of Swampscott, not by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Stacey’s Brook generally has the highest levels of bacteria, and beachgoers are advised not to swim or wade in the brook. On the beach itself, the DCR posts daily flags for “safe to swim” (blue) and “not safe to swim” (red).

Providing a Pathway to success

Pathways has been providing adult education and training in Lynn for more than 45 years. With the demand for English language classes increasing, the agency is expanding its scope, in partnership with the City. Lynn provided Pathways with $50,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding that is supporting a new ESOL class (English for Speakers of Other Languages) for 15 young adults, age 17-24. The class, which started June 3 and runs for 35 weeks, meets three times a week for three hours at the Washington Elementary School. It is taught by a Pathways instructor and aide.

“As the city changes, we change,” said Pathways Executive Director Josh Shepherd. “There are more newcomers who have little or no English skills. We help young adults better integrate into the community, grow in their jobs and be ready for bigger, better opportunities. That helps them and it helps the city.” “We understand the importance of this English-language training, which will provide valuable skills to a population eager to learn,” Mayor Jared C. Nicholson said.

“The City is pleased to support Pathways in the important work it is doing.” In addition to the class for adult learners, for the second straight summer Pathways is holding a class for unaccompanied minors who are preparing to enter Lynn Public Schools for the first time in the fall.

In addition to English, the class includes instruction in practical skills that would be second nature for established students, but unfamiliar for newcomers. The class, which started July 8 and runs for eight weeks, is also three hours, three times a week.

“Lynn Public Schools is excited for this collaboration to address a visible need in the city,” said Deputy Superintendent of Schools Maricel Goris. “Washington Elementary is a community school and our intention is to offer resources that support the community. A sought-after resource in Lynn is access to English-language classes for youth ages 17-24. Increasing English-language fluency for this age group opens additional opportunities to training, college, and employment.”

“The need is staggering,” Shepherd said. “With the adult classes, these are people who want to be here, want to work and they have ability. They need English and support. We help them get a better job, get into college or a training program.” Pathways, which is primarily funded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, offers 18 classes for adult learners throughout the academic year. The students come from more than 40 countries. Pathways has four levels of ESOL classes, as well as GED (General Education Development) and HiSET (High School Equivalency Test) classes.

There were 64 graduates in the class that finished in June. “Our goal is to get them into better jobs and careers,” Shepherd said, “good jobs with good pay and benefits.”