8686-R1_ML&P_BuxtonAnnualReport_2022-2023_Web

The West Buxton Public Library traces its beginnings back to 1925 when it was organized in the West Buxton Baptist Church on the hill on River Road by the dam. The Masonic Building, also on River Road in West Buxton, was its second home until 1953, when service to the community went dormant. The Library emerged from its five-year dormancy in 1958 under the leadership of Edward M. Elwell. Its third and current home is the former District #12 Schoolhouse (circa 1853) keeping its location in the West Buxton Village area and still on the Saco River at #34. The resurrection of the Library resulted from the perception that such a facility was needed by the residents of the village area on both sides of the Saco River: Buxton and Hollis. Now, Buxton, Hollis, Standish, and Limington residents utilize The Library. The West Buxton Public Library’s operating budget is funded by the appropriations of the Town of Buxton and supplemented with book sales, memorial gifts and many monetary donations. I implemented more programs during 2023. I started a drop-in weekly Lego Club with weekly Lego challenges on Sundays from 1-3pm in April. I implemented a summer reading program from Tuesday, July 11-Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Youth, teens, and adults could earn raffle tickets to try to win a $10 Amazon gift card and/or a $10 gift certificate to Low’s Variety by reading and/or completing a Bingo board of reading and kindness-themed activities. Due to the large amount of interest for a group for knitters and crocheters on the Mainely Buxton Facebook page, a new resident and patron, Patty Pittala, reached out to me and she and I started a drop-in biweekly Crafters Group in December. Eight adults attended the December Crafters Group Meet and Greet, and two of the participants said they were thrilled the library was hosting this program, as they were crafters and were looking for a way to meet other people who enjoyed crafting. Valerie, the Berry Memorial Library Director, and I began collaboration on a community wide program called “One Book, One Community” in December. We brainstormed a list of fiction and nonfiction titles that we thought would appeal to adults and young adults and selected three titles from our list. We will be asking for people to vote in person or online in January 2024 for their favorite title to be the winning book read by patrons and community members at both town libraries starting in February 2024. Since the Library’s change of hours on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, several patrons have said Sunday works better to visit the West Buxton Public Library than Saturday. Also, Story Time was moved from Saturdays to Tuesday mornings in April 2023, and has been consistently attended almost every week by patrons until October 2023, in contrast with the former Story Times on Saturdays which were attended only once since July 2022. Overall patron attendance increased at the West Buxton Public Library from last year between March and September. The Board of Trustees and I thank our library volunteers for donating their time to enrich the West Buxton Public Library’s operations. We also thank Sargent Brother’s Handyman services for landscaping and snow shoveling, and Peter Mills for helping with lawn mowing. We greatly appreciate the generous support of the Town of Buxton and the surrounding neighborhood. The West Buxton Public Library traces its beginnings back to 1925 when it was organized in the West Buxton Baptist Church on the hill on River Road by the dam. The Masonic Building, also on River Road in West Buxton, was its second home until 1953, when service to the community went dormant. The Library emerged from its five-year dormancy in 1958 under the leadership of Edward M. Elwell. Its third and current home is the former District #12 Schoolhouse (circa 1853) keeping its location in the West Buxton Village area and still on the Saco River at #34. The resurrection of the Library resulted from the perception that such a facility was needed by the residents of the village area on both sides of the Saco River: Buxton and Hollis. Now, Buxton, Hollis, Standish, and Limington residents utilize The Library. The West Buxton Public Library’s operating budget is funded by the appropriations of the Town of Buxton and supplemented with book sales, memorial gifts and many monetary donations. I implemented more programs during 2023. I started a drop-in weekly Lego Club with weekly Lego challenges on Sundays from 1-3pm in April. I implemented a summer reading program from Tuesday, July 11-Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Youth, teens, and adults could earn raffle tickets to try to win a $10 Amazon gift card and/or a $10 gift certificate to Low’s Variety by reading and/or completing a Bingo board of reading and kindness-themed activities. Due to the large amount of interest for a group for knitters and crocheters on the Mainely Buxton Facebook page, a new resident and patron, Patty Pittala, reached out to me and she and I started a drop-in biweekly Crafters Group in December. Eight adults attended the December Crafters Group Meet and Greet, and two of the participants said they were thrilled the library was hosting this program, as they were crafters and were looking for a way to meet other people who enjoyed crafting. Valerie, the Berry Memorial Library Director, and I began collaboration on a community-wide program called “One Book, One Community” in December. We brainstormed a list of fiction and nonfiction titles that we thought would appeal to adults and young adults and selected three titles from our list. We will be asking for people to vote in person or online in January 2024 for their favorite title to be the winning book read by patrons and community members at both town libraries starting in February 2024. Since the Library’s change of hours on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, several patrons have said Sunday works better to visit the West Buxton Public Library than Saturday. Also, Story Time was moved from Saturdays to Tuesday mornings in April 2023, and has been consistently attended almost every week by patrons until October 2023, in contrast with the former Story Times on Saturdays which were attended only once since July 2022. Overall patron attendance increased at the West Buxton Public Library from last year between March and September. The Board of Trustees and I thank our library volunteers for donating their time to enrich the West Buxton Public Library’s operations. We also thank Sargent Brother’s Handyman services for landscaping and snow shoveling, and Peter Mills for helping with lawn mowing. We greatly appreciate the generous support of the Town of Buxton and the surrounding neighborhood. Sincerely, Caroline Nickerson, Library Director

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