The Wayland Free Public Library Board of Trustees is celebrating the recent enactment of Bill H.4137, which officially establishes the Millennium Fund of the Wayland Free Public Library. Gov. Maura Healey signed the bill into law on June 30, 2026.
To mark the milestone and thank the community, the trustees and library staff are offering a complimentary warm beverage at the library’s new beverage station on the main floor through June 30, 2027.
Bill H.4137 ensures that donations made to the library — along with all past and future investment earnings — will remain in a fund dedicated to supporting the library for generations.
The Millennium Fund began in the early 1990s as the Library Endowment Fund through the efforts of Library Trustees Perry Hagenstein, Jerrold Mitchell, Ann Flowers, Rosamond Swain, and Jack Wilson, working with the Trust Fund Commission, the town finance director, the town treasurer, and outside attorneys. Donations dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s formed the basis of the fund. The Trust Fund Commission managed the assets while the Library Trustees determined and directed their use.
As the new millennium approached, trustees expanded the fund. In 1997, they renamed it the Millennium Fund of the Wayland Public Library and established a committee dedicated to building it.
The committee’s honorary co-chairs were Archibald Cox, former U.S. solicitor general, and Cile Hicks, Wayland’s state senator. Chaired by former children’s librarian Ann Flowers and supported by library advocates, former trustees and current trustees, the committee helped grow the fund to more than $340,000 within its first year.
In recent years, questions arose about the state law governing the fund. Current trustees Aida Gennis (chair), Leah Hart (vice chair), Anna Blazier, Candace Hetzner, Emily Weintraub, and Win Treese determined that Bill H.4137 was necessary to affirm the fund’s original purpose and ensure that donated funds and their investment growth continue to support library programs, collections, services, and future generations of readers and learners.
The bill passed with strong support from Wayland residents, town boards and officials, and legislative representatives. Article 11 at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting authorized the creation of the Millennium Fund and helped secure the future of private giving to the library. Town Manager Michael McCall and his staff, the Select Board, Bill Whitney, the Finance Committee, the Trust Fund Commission, Sen. James Eldridge and Legislative Aide David Emers, and Reps. David Linsky and Carmine Gentile were instrumental in the legislature’s approval and the governor’s signing of the bill.
The fund creates a lasting legacy for the Wayland Free Public Library.
