Library Board Spends Money It Doesn’t Have…oops

Dedham’s MA Library Board of Trustees made an embarrassing confession last week: They never had $40,000 they thought they had to cover the Main Library staying open for 25 Sundays.

The money also was supposed to go toward hiring three library helpers, or pages, and for overtime.

As a result, the Main Library will close Sundays, starting Dec. 19, after being open for eight Sundays this fall. The Main Library already is closed on Saturdays.

“We can’t add or subtract properly; I’m sorry, folks,’’ said board member Mike Chalifoux. “We were looking at money that didn’t exist. It was an error. . . . We thought we had money, and we didn’t.’’