Elina Shneyder, welcomed April’s First Monday guests with delicious cookies, teas and coffee, and an open discussion about the New Hartford Public Library.
The “new” library was built in 1999 with funds raised by the local community of 22,000 residents. Recently, the library applied to be blanketed under school district funding but it failed to pass vote.
Two steps forward…
The library is the community center of the town and volunteers are the core. Over the years, staff has been reduced from 40 to 17 (almost all part-time) and many of the programs and the maintenance of the garden is run by local volunteers. Raffles and fund-raising events for all types of fun things are essential in raising money for programming, collection development and children’s services. The “bookstore” sells items for .25 and is stocked with donations.
A Tree for Growth is “planted” in the center of the library. Patrons donate money toward the purchase of materials. Their name in then hung on a leaf on the tree in recognition of their contribution in growing the library.
The teens have a pretty cool area – comfy bean bag chairs, silk screened pillows, shelves of graphic novels and a neon sign designed by local students.
The library has a “living room” where you can cozy up by the fireplace in comfy Harden wingback chairs or lounge on the blue leather couch. It’s a very inviting area, especially with a good book and a cup of tea from the café station.
The main focus in the children’s area is the iPad kiosk. This was purchased with a generous donation and has four mounted iPads, loaded with 50 children’s educational apps. It was great to see that each pad was being used when we toured. Ruth Cook, the children’s services librarian, spoke about the pros and not-so-pros of the kiosk and gave us a handout of the installed apps. (Contact Ruth if you have any questions.)
Our last stop was the garden. We had to dig deep into our memories to stir up images of multi-colored flowers and warm sunshine (it was April 6, after all) but the gazebo and outdoor seating area are lovely places none the less.
Stop by the library sometime. Grab a book or your nook and grab a seat, inside or out.
Visit the CLRC Facebook page for more pictures.
Next First Monday – May 4 – Noreen Reale Falcone Library, Lemoyne College. Register here.
