“What’s happening at the Whitefield Library,” you ask.
It has been a sensational summer as we learned how to operate our beautiful new library space, serve our growing population of patrons, and keep the energy running on “high” with our dynamic weekly children’s program.
As we make the leap into fall, it appears the exciting work our fantastic volunteers have been doing is not going to let up any time soon. We are getting ready for our fourth annual Fall Festival fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be toe tapping music once again by local favorite Rusty Hinges, free games, crafts, and pumpkin painting for the children, raffle prizes, lots of delicious baked goods, chili, Bailey’s Orchard’s delicious cider, and popcorn for sale. There will be a used books sale with a table featuring Stephen King novels in the spirit of Halloween!
All of you gardeners will once again want to pick up our beautiful heirloom bulbs for fall planting, and don’t forget, this will be everyone’s first chance to purchase the Whitefield Library Calendar. It’s awesome; just like last year’s and it makes a great Christmas gift. Come on out to the library Saturday, join in the fun, and support the library. All donations will help support our operating expenses.
More super news to share is that we “listened” to our patrons. Remember our summer survey? One of your overwhelming responses was that we needed to add another day (one that was a little more convenient for patron usage), so we have added Wednesdays from 1:30-6 p.m. to our open hours.
With much appreciation to our new Library Administrator, Shawn Gallagher, and volunteers, we are able to offer our community one more day open and different hours that might accommodate more completely. We’re hoping that our community will take full advantage of this extra day and longer hours.
Growing is what we are doing right now in Whitefield Library. Generous grant funding from the American Library Association has allowed us two significant start up staffing positions. We will be working very hard throughout the year to establish permanent funding for these positions.
Being able to add two part-time staff positions is changing how we are able to operate our library. On day one, Shawn dove into researching other Maine rural libraries to begin to understand how they serve their communities better. He helped us create and redesign policies which will allow us to function more efficiently, and he joined in our effort to become part of the Maine State Library network.
Shawn’s efforts are drawing us much closer to that goal. We feel very fortunate to have his energetic force at the center of our library management.
The second staff position, filled by Emma Nelson, our new children’s program coordinator, brought much enthusiastic energy to the sometimes quiet library this summer. To be a kid again, and to be able to visit Ms Emma every Saturday morning at the library, would be a gift a thousand times over.
October is filled with “delight” that you won’t want your child to miss. Spiders, fall leaves, hibernation are just a few topics shared in storytime this month.
On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Halloween Craftacular occurs between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. This event is recommended for ages 4-10. Come make some creepy craft that includes witches, monsters, ghosts, skeletons, and bats. Of course, there will be healthy spooky snacks as well.
We are always anxious for volunteers. We need your support to help us with so many functions as we continue to spread our wings, create “library,” and renovate our cherished building. We assure you, training to be one of our librarians is easy, rewarding, and fun.
We also would love to have a program coordinator who could organize a few adult programs for us such as an author’s chat, a book club, or a cribbage match. We have many “helpers”, but we need an “organizer.” Isn’t it your time to help us? Please get in touch with Julie, our volunteer coordinator at volunteer@whitefieldlibrary.org or call the office when we’re open.
Stop by whenever you see our “open” flag flying. We welcome your help and we are proud to show you our library. We freely serve all of the residents of not only Whitefield, but our neighbors in Windsor, Somerville, Jefferson, Alna, and Pittston as well.
Become a free library member, pick up your library card, borrow our books, bring the family to storytime, join our volunteers, and help us grow. Our contact is: 1 Arlington Lane, Whitefield, P.O. Box 5, Whitefield, ME 04353; call 549-0170, email info@whitefieldlibrary.org, or go to whitefieldlibrary.org.
We are so very grateful for all of the generous support we continue to receive.
