S. WHITE DICKINSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY

LIBRARIAN'S ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2007

Statistics:
Circulation: adult and juvenile books, audiobooks, videocassettes, periodicals and dvd's: 8169
Patrons: 884
Collection: 15,987

Reference Questions:
Whately history and genealogy, European countries, invertebrate animals, historical figures.

Popular Authors:
James Patterson, Jodi Piccoult, Karen Kingsbury, Khaled Hosseini, Robert. B. Parker, Nora Roberts.

Summer Reading Program:
2007 theme was "Catch The Beat At The Library" created by the Western Mass. Regional Library system. They provided posters, printouts, booklogs, and bookmarks. A music program, "Rhythms of the World" presented by Davis Bates and Roger Tinkham, funded by the Whately Cultural Committee, was held on June 24. Forty children and adults joined in the fun with refreshments provided by the Friends of the Whately Library. Twelve children completed the reading program and were awarded prizes provided by the Friends of the Whately Library.

Book Sale :
Sponsored by the Friends of the Whately library was held again in conjunction with the Whately Harvest Festival in September. Book sale tables were set up at the Library. Thank you to the Whately Congregational Church for the use of their tables. The proceeds from the sale are being used for the children's room. Thank you to Jeannine Atkins, Jeanne Kocsis, Sara Cooper and family, and Ken Moulton and family for helping with moving the tables, helping with setup, the sale, and moving the leftovers back into the Library. Thank you to all who donated books for the sale and to all who purchased books. We couldn't do this without you!

Craft classes at the library:
KNITTING- classes were attended by a few people who learned basic knitting techniques.
CROCHET-classes were taught by Jean Anne Perrier and were a lot of fun! Thank you Jeanne Anne!

Yoga:
Gentle yoga classes taught by Alexandra Mello have changed to Mon. evenings and are continuing to be popular. Thank you, Alexandra!

Storytimes:
Storytimes led by Gail Tilton have been held on various days and times. There are often crafts related to the stories and always refreshments! The children attending them have a great time. Thank you Gail!

MovieTimes:

Several movies were shown at the Library during the summer months and during school vacations. Thank you to the Whately Elementary School for loaning us their projector and to the Friends for sponsoring the licensing. Thank you to Gwen and Jimmle Thayer, Zack Young, Gail "Tilton, and Carolyn Meunier for helping with this program.

Blood and Guts Program:

This program, sponsored by Baystate Franklin Medical Center, was held on Oct. 25. It was an educational and fun program designed to introduce families to health issues and the human anatomy through the use of a "body map". Each participant visited stations involving hands-on use of x-ray, respiratory, circulatory models and equipment. Over seventy people attended! Refreshments and raffle prizes were donated by the Baystate Franklin Medical center, and treat bags, donated by the Friends of the Whately Library, were given out.

 

Donations:
The family and friends of Sophie and Sabin Filipkowski contributed $5275 to a memorial fund to be used for books for the Library. The family of Ella Fritsch donated her aquarium of fish for display in the children's room. A donation of $100 in her memory was also made by Mr. & Mrs. Paul Gagnon of Sunderland .
LaSalle's donated and maintained the flowers in the flower boxes at the main entrance. The Chamutka family donated fall decorations and Christmas wreaths for the front doors. Martha Zigmont donated apples for our fall Storytimes. Tom Leamon and Marianne Simon donated several hundred books from their collection. Many were added to our collection and others contributed to the great selection for the book sale.
Thank you to the Whately Historical society for donating new copies of the Ena Cane, and J. M. Crafts Histories of Whately for our reference collection. Thank you to our anonymous patron for making our magnets. Thank you to the many patrons and community members who have continued to donate books, videos and DVD's. We appreciate all that you do!

Volunteers:

Thank you to Carolyn Meunier, Martha Zigmont, Gail Tilton, and our newest volunteers, Bryanne McDonough and Bill Saunders. You have all helped to make the Library a warm, welcoming asset to our community.

Thank You:
Thank you to Betsy Cook for her continued support and dedication to helping patrons find the "right book". Thanks to Jim Ostrowski, the "unsung hero" of the Library. Thanks also to Fiona Stryzsko for providing, and Sharon Young for maintaining the beautiful flowers that grace our walkway. Thank you to the Whately Cultural Council for providing the funds for the musical event kicking-off our Summer Reading Program.

Thank you Friends of the Whately Library for providing literary events, funds and promotional items to enhance the Library's significance in the community. Thank you to the Western Mass. Regional Library System for helping us to maintain our level of service to our patrons through Inter-Library Loan, Bookmobile deliveries and the great workshops. Thank you to the Trustees for their continued support and commitment to our goal as a recreational and educational resource in our community.

Thank you again Whately Community for your appreciation and continued support!

 

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Moulton Library Director