Swampscott Public Library Director Jonathan Nichols called repeated jokes about toilet paper during the Town Meeting budget debate insulting.

“I found that line incredibly offensive,” Nichols said at a Board of Library Trustees meeting on Monday. 

At the Town Meeting, voters approved a Select Board proposal reallocating $130,000 to the school district, which is partially funded by a $2,000 cut to the library’s budget. Finance Committee Member Erik Schneider suggested at the first night of Town Meeting what this means for the library.

“The proposed cuts are small but numerous,” Schneider said. “To name a few and to get into further detail, they include…cuts to the janitorial services at the library. And just to be clear, that means less toilet paper at the library.”

The toilet paper idea was then brought up a few other times by Town Meeting members.

To address misconceptions, Nichols presented a detailed breakdown of the library’s budget, noting that state aid, which was $43,507.90 for the 2025 fiscal year, covered more than allocated to the library. State aid was used for $56,471.67. 

Some of the state aid went to building supplies, for items like furniture and printer ink “because our revolving fund got tapped out sooner than expected.” Part of the expenses was from Lancelot, which is the library’s janitorial services and supplies. There’s other items like barcode scanners, the fire system, electrical work and maintenance.

“All of that is supposed to come out of the town budget, but my building line was $2,000, so you tell me how I was supposed to pay for all of that out of the town side,” Nichols said.

Nichols had asked for a town budget to increase of $7,000 “to help offset some of that, to maybe just absorb the landscaping.” $111,000 was allocated from the town to the library in the approved budget.

“This is one of the reasons I really wish they would let us talk at Town Meeting instead of a line or just Amy (Sarro) there to talk for us,” Nichols said. “When someone asked what does the building line pay for, her response was it’s for janitorial supplies. I’m like ‘No, it’s not just for janitorial supplies. It’s all we can use it for. That’s all we can afford, but really and truthfully it’s supposed to cover all of this.”

The money also does not account for staffing, which is paid through state aid for the time being. Nichols said this will need to change in the fall.

“That also doesn’t account for the fact that we pay for staffing out of state aid as well for the Saturday coverage and the one-call librarians that we have to make sure that the library can just stay open some nights,” Nichols said. 

Library Trustee Debbie Friedlander also noted that the staid aid can be “capricious.”

“What you’re paying for, you may not be able to pay for the following year,” Friedlander said.