By Reporter Staff
The Reporter has learned that Boston Public Library officials are organizing a meeting for this Monday, May 24, to form a task force as they move forward with their plans to close the Lower Mills Library. The meeting is slated for 6:30 p.m. on Monday at Carney Hospital, in the president’s board room.

Koren Stembridge, the BPL’s chief director of partnerships, said Wednesday that the meeting would discuss “transitioning services from the library.” The meeting, she said, is open to the public, although the Reporter had not been officially notified about the meeting as of press time this week. Stembridge said that the meeting was announced at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Lower Mills Civic Association.

Richard O'Mara, vice-president of the Lower Mills Civic Association, said that he encourages all concerned residents — even those opposed to the planned closing— to attend Monday's meeting.

"It's a great forum for us to go to and be very firm in our position that we don't want this branch closed," O'Mara said.

Neighborhood activists and local merchants, along with state lawmakers, are opposing plans to close the Lower Mills library. Boston Public Library trustees, with Mayor Thomas Menino’s support, voted last month to close the library and three others across the city, citing financial constraints and a new “vision” for how the entire library system would operate. The mayor’s fiscal 2011 budget, which includes the closures, is before the City Council.