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Wilmot Public Library
11 North Wilmot Road
Wilmot, NH 03287
603-562-6804
2004 Report of the Library Trustees
Looking back over the activities of 2004, one thing jumps out: generosity. Wilmot residents have been so very generous with their time, talents, energy and money. The number of volunteer hours for coverage of the front desk, children’s program, making and fixing things around the library is awesome. In fact, volunteers cover over 70% of the front desk open hours, freeing up our librarian, Barbara Faughnan, to help patrons out and handle the many time-consuming details of keeping our library current and inviting. Last year, the number of patron visits to the library was up an amazing 38%, a similar increase to the number of items circulated. The librarian’s available hours are posted each week, but Barbara invites you to stop anytime you see her car out front, even if the library isn’t
officially open. We are fortunate to have a great combination of long time and new folks who continue year after year to generously give their time to the library and we encourage you to get involved too.
Once again, we were the recipients of some very generous donations, allowing for continuous updating of our collection and this year, the library itself. We have new window boxes and library signpost thanks to Don Novak. We have some updated computer hardware from Brian Faughnan. Becky Irving built us a new Book Drop Box. John Taylor advised us on how to rework the youth area’s shelving and Walter Patterson rebuilt them. The Wilmot Garden Club makes sure that our window boxes and gardens look great. Things were beginning to look a little drab around the front section of the library (the original old schoolhouse), so we decided to repaint and brighten things up.
This year we asked for public input on how you would like us to use any unanticipated donations to the library and an informal survey was sent out to Wilmot residents asking what you wanted to see more of at the library. We heard that you want Audio Books on CD and Movie DVD and have acquired more.
The Summer Reading Program once again a huge hit, this year entitled “Flights of Fancy”. The Little Red Wagon theatrical troupe from UNH presented “Dancing Spider” and Barbara utilized the talents of many volunteers to help her out each week. We are so fortunate to have people who are willing to help make the library come alive for the children of Wilmot.
We were fortunate to have some great programs; Professor Jere Daniell spoke on the history of townships in New Hampshire. Bjarne Holmes and Kelly Faughnan presented a program on their wilderness experiences and Dr. Allen Koop presented the “Hut Systems of the White Mountains” at the Friends of the Wilmot Public Library (FOWPL) Annual Meeting in May. For the holidays, an Open House was held with refreshments and gifts for the children. Santa was there for visits, photos and a reading of The Polar Express, and each child left with their very own Christmas bell.
The Children’s Story Time held every Tuesday at 10:00 am has been very popular with up to twenty children participating on a regular basis, and wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Lynn Solomon and Debbie Ransom. A monthly book club for adults continues strong with the current book posted and available at the library. Anyone is welcome to join.
Barbara makes a point of reviewing the New York Times Best Seller list and choosing those she thinks our patrons would enjoy. As always, if there are any books you would like to have added to the collection, let Barbara know and she will take care of it, either as a permanent purchase or arrange to get it thru ILL (Interlibrary Loan). Thanks to some huge help from Brian Faughnan, the collection of the library is now on a database where patrons can look up books by title, author or topic. This project has been in the works for almost five years and was finally accomplished through the diligence of Barbara and her many volunteers.
Don’t forget that we have the World Book Encyclopedia, the America the Beautiful series and free high speed internet in addition to our regular collection for students doing research for school projects. We have made a point of opening the library weekdays at 3:00 so that children can get off the bus and come right in. Note: Any day the KRSD closes school, the library will be closed but if there is just a delayed opening of school, the library will be open as usual.
For any patrons who cannot get out to the library, we offer Books on Wheels and will deliver books to your home. All you have to do is call and talk to Barbara. Whether you stop in to use the copier, check out the Internet, see what’s cooking at the Best Seller’s table, read the local paper or check out a current magazine or perhaps take in one of our programs, we hope you agree that, thanks to our librarian and all her great volunteers, the Wilmot Public Library keeps getting better all the time.
Respectfully submitted,
Wilmot Public Library Board of Trustees
Carla Marshall, Chair
Anne Moodey, Treasurer
Pat Novak, Secretary
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