Eds. note: Beverly Cadigan, one of the Friends of the Library, forwarded to NGX the Library report included in the Town’s latest (224th) Annual Report, covering 2018-19. The report details the library’s programs and activities, circulation and usage data, budgets, and role within the community – topics under discussion as the board of selectmen considers next steps after closing the library.
The board is scheduled to hold a workshop with library trustees on Thursday October 1 at 6 pm on Zoom. Public comment is not permitted at workshops, but to watch the discussion, email Sharlene Myers at smyers@newgloucester.com for Zoom login codes.
The full 224th Town Annual Report is a comprehensive resource that includes the town’s financial statements, updates and data from departments such as Fire & Rescue and the Transfer Station, reports from town committees, and much more. Copies are available at Town Hall.
New Gloucester Library Annual Report
We wish to thank the town, our patrons, our staff, and our volunteers for their help in continuing to make the library a significant resource. We are honored to be recognized by many as being at the center of our community. The library recognizes the importance of community and strives to ensure that we offer services and events to enrich everyone.
As always, the trustees would like to start this report by making special mention of our volunteers. Our volunteers, which include both young adults and adults, donated approximately 1724 hours of their time this past year. Having volunteers of all ages helps the library recognize the needs of and stay connected with all of the different generations in New Gloucester. The library is a better place because of the time and effort all our volunteers expend.
The trustees are pleased to let the town know that the Maine State Library estimates the library provided $241,708 of services to the citizens of New Gloucester on its $99,100 budget. Some of the services included in that figure are:
- 4591 Adult books borrowed
- 8033 Children’s books borrowed
- 304 Audiobooks borrowed from the shelves
- 260 eBooks/Audiobooks downloaded
- 1198 Movies borrowed
- 357 People who signed up to use the computers/internet (does not include people who bring their own devices to use the wifi)
- $1,400 the value of library passes used this year
Another effort to keep costs down is successful because of your donations of books, and movies. This year 446 books and movies that were donated by patrons were placed on the shelves. This added about $11,150 to the library collection without having to ask the town for additional funding. This makes a huge difference in what we are able to offer our patrons because the value of the donations almost doubled our annual book and audio visual budget of $7050.
The trustees continue to build an Endowment Fund to ensure the future of the library. Only a portion of the interest from the fund may be used and the idea behind the fund is that, no matter what financial problems occur, there will always be money for the most important part of the library: the materials we provide to our patrons. The library is grateful for all the donations and the endowment fund balance broke $20,000 for the first time ($20,188.12). The fund balance must grow much larger before it can be used for its stated purpose. Look for information at all library events.
Our web services continue to be a welcome improvement for our patrons. Patrons enjoy being able to check for books before coming to the library, reserving the books so they are available when they arrive, and renewing their items online if they are due and can’t make it to the library on time.
The library has many regular activities each year. These include, weekly story hours, special story hours around holidays, two adult book groups, one young adult book group, a youth advisory group, a summer reading program, the annual pet show, a knitting group, a monthly 4H science night and the Christmas Tree Lighting and Open House every November. The library also produces one play each summer.
The library continues to offer many different types of materials to borrow. In addition to the books, the library has magazines, audiobooks, videos, DVDs, cake pans and puzzles. The library is also a member of the Maine CloudLibrary, which allows our patrons to download Audio and E-Books at no cost. This service gives our patrons access to over 9,500 additional titles. If you cannot find something you are looking for on our shelves, Sue or Carla can often obtain it from another library.
The library again partnered with the Parks and Recreation department to administer the kayaks and canoes program. This program allows people to “check out” kayaks and canoes at the fairgrounds and use them there in the Royal River. This has been a good partnership, which has brought new people into the library.
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of New Gloucester Public Library, the library offered passes to the Wildlife Park, Shaker Village, Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine and State Parks. All passes may be reserved in advance and some passes provide free access while others provide a reduced fee. Please see Sue and Carla with any questions and for reservations.
Each year the library hosts the Kindergarten Kick Off program, funded by the Friends. This brings every kindergartener from Memorial School into the library. While at the library, the students learn about the library, participate in an activity, and experience a story time. The students each leave with their very own book and filled with excitement about their trip to the library. The library will continue this program in the future and hopes it will strengthen its connection to Memorial School.
This year the Friends provided money for 4H supplies, visits from Tom Driscoll and Dana Perkins, Ventriloquist and Magician, funds for the Good Readers Polar Bears (our youth advisory group) to purchase juvenile and young adult books for the library, as well as the passes mentioned before and many other projects.
As indicated above, The Friends of the New Gloucester Library provide a great amount of support the library. The Friends’ projects are funded by the Friends’ Spring and Fall Book Sales. A great amount of time and effort is spent on making these events successful. Unfortunately, in February 2019, the library received notice from the State Fire Marshal’s Office that the basement could no longer be used by the public for the book sale. The Friends, the trustees, and town officials have worked in collaboration with the Fire Marshal’s Office to fix deficiencies and make changes that will allow future book sales to continue. As of this report it is expected that the upcoming fall sale will be postponed one month, but it will then be back to business as usual with the February sale. If you would like information on becoming a Friend of the Library, just stop in and pick up a flyer, or visit us at www.newgloucesterlibrary.org.
The library will continue to offer new and innovative services and events to complement the existing services provided to the residents of New Gloucester. If anyone has ideas or suggestions for services or materials, please let us know. The trustees and staff are always open to suggestions.
The trustees would like to thank the staff and the volunteers again for all their hard work. For those residents who have not yet used the library’s services we encourage you to visit, and for those patrons who already use the library, we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Respectfully submitted,
Robb Cotiaux
Allison Kostovick
Paul Morin, D.C.
CeCe Rohrbach
Timothy Terranova
Trustees of the New Gloucester Public Library
