Access Arvin A

     2008 has been another busy year at the Arvin A. Brown Library. We increased our number of programs this year to over 100. We offered activities and storyhours for different age groups over school breaks and twice a month offered Saturday Celebration programs which focused on favorite characters, authors or illustrators, or celebrated a special event such as National Dance Week. We brought back the ever popular “Backpack Players” to kick off all our summer events with a performance at Town Hall. Assistant Librarian Kelley Sullivan also presented programs every day of Richford Summer Day camp, reading stories, offering crafts and snacks and playing games with campers of all ages. The library hosted special guest performers at the Summer Camp including Rusty Dewees (co-sponsored with Day Camp), Lisa Sammet, the Tale Singer and Jerry Schneider, the “Bug Guy”. In August the Fleming Museum presented a program on Ancient Egypt at the library. Kelley also visited the Richford farmer’s market in the fall to read stories at Applefest. Mrs. Hazen’s and Mrs. McGraw’s second grade classes visited the library on a field trip. Wednesday story hour continues with Terri Mercy reading stories and leading activities with the youngest of our patrons and their parents. Regular story hour attendance increased in Fall of 2008.

     We have offered an array of programs for adults as well. On Town Meeting Day we held an Open House to invite all voters in for a warm drink and sweet snack and a peek at our slideshow of ads taken from the Richford Gazette of 100 years ago. This is a part of our continuing effort to digitize the microfilm copies of the Gazette and make them accessible to more people. We began a monthly Mystery Book Discussion group, occasional Scrabble nights and even a Theraband exercise workshop and “Maintain Your Brain” program. In partnership with VSAC we offered a four part “Career Focus” series for adults looking for a change of direction in their lives and to help set and achieve career goals. We had many visitors and shoppers at our book sale before and after the parade on July 5th during Old Home Days. As a part of the “Vermont Reads” Grant (through the Vermont Humanities Council) we received 25 copies of “A Restless Spirit” the Robert Frost biography by Natalie Bober and held a book discussion led by former RHS English teacher Jim LaClair. In October we hosted Joe Citro at Town Hall, speaking on “Spiritualism in New England”. We hosted an Apron Show as part of the Richford “History Around Town” Weekend which included a Quilt Show and Doll Show at other locations.

    Our fundraising efforts included a 50/50 raffle, selling goodies at intermission of Hometown Follies, Fudge and Apron sale, an “Antiques Roadshow”, fall bulb sale and a multi-prize raffle to benefit the children’s program. We were awarded a “Picturing America” grant which is comprised of 40 reproductions of American Masterpieces as part of an effort to illustrate America’s history. We also received a grant from the Children’s Literacy Foundation. Duncan McDougall, the CLiF’s director, presented 108 new books to the library during an assembly at Richford Elementary School. A local day care center and the Headstart program also received collections of books as a part of this grant. All of the books received have been donated to the children of Richford in memory of Sheila Bovaird and in honor of Drummond Birks’ 90th birthday with love from their sister, Willa B. McDougall.

     This year the outside of the library received a fresh coat of white paint and our chimney was rebuilt, thanks to the Town of Richford. The Beautification Committee contributed the trim color to our new paint scheme and was also responsible for summer landscaping and outdoor Christmas decorations.

     The library is a vital resource in our community, never more so than in these difficult economic times. You can borrow books, audio books, magazines and movies for free, use our computers and wireless access for free, access Heritage Quest genealogy database, the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and other newspapers and journals through the Vermont Online Library for free and from home! We only charge a quarter for copies or printing from the internet. Shop our ongoing book sale where paperbacks are 6 for $1 and most hardcovers are 3 for $1. We plan to continue to offer a variety of free programs for both adults and children in the coming year. We are always interested in suggestions for new materials and program topics.

     Keep up with our latest news at our website www.aabrown.org. Thank you to our patrons and the voters of Richford for your continuing support.

Hours: Monday and Friday 10 – 5

Wednesday 10 – 8

Saturday 9 – 1

Closed Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

Phone: 848-3313

Email: arvinabrown@gmail.com

Respectfully Submitted

Susan Smolinsky, Library Director

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2008 Library Statistics

Total Circulation for the year: 13,885

Number of patron visits for the year: 8,063

Number of active patrons: 776

Accessions to the Collection: 771

Books borrowed through inter-library loan: 118

Books lent through inter-library loan: 116

Average number of people who use the library each week: 155

Holdings at the end of the fiscal year:

Books (volumes):

Adult: 7,482

Children’s: 5.313

Audio materials: 413

Video and DVD materials: 1,394

Periodical subscriptions (purchased): 52

Periodical subscriptions (donated): 30