The following appeared in the January 11th edition of the Lincoln County News.
“What’s happening at the library?” you wonder. The list would roll down Grand Army Hill and over the bridge, but we’ll spare you that! Let’s just say, every day, there’s something new and exciting, and we invite you to come in and take a look for yourself!
We’re celebrating! January 14th marks our 2 year anniversary of the day that we opened our doors and welcomed our community and friends back in to use our beautifully restored 1st floor library space. The good news is that we not only survived the “terrible two’s, we grew! We are celebrating with an Open Invitation Anniversary Party, and we’d love to share the joy with all of our friends who have been with us from the start and with friends we have yet to meet! We are truly thankful and proud of all of our progress. We’ll be scooping up ice cream, serving hot chocolate, reminiscing, and peeking at the future on Sunday, January 14 from 2-4pm. Please come by to get a glimpse of what we’ve done and what we’re doing!
Experts in the field will tell you that some of the challenges that parents face with toddlers are “developmentally normal”. However, speaking as a parent, I can attest that comment oftentimes didn’t help one bit! There has been very little “normal” feeling about some of the challenges we’ve faced. However, one of the biggest is now behind us. We’ve had an eager eye on becoming part of the Maine State Library network from the birth of our association in 2018, from the moment of purchasing this old historic Grange building in 2019, and throughout the difficult years of building “library” and renovating our 1st floor space. This past March, we met all of the necessary criteria, and we officially joined other Maine libraries to begin receiving the many resources available to us.
Our Library Director, Suzanne Balbo, is guiding our toddler steps as we learn how to navigate resources such as Interlibrary Loan, Cloud Library, the training of new circulation volunteers, and the managing of an ever-expanding list of program offerings. Suzanne and our Youth Services Coordinator, Hayley Parlin, have organized nearly “something for everyone” throughout the coming months with author visits, book clubs, art shows, family game nights, Aging Wisely workshops, and even music for toddlers. We have many programs occurring every week; such as storytime, knitting, and yoga. I’m sure that you can see that there’s a whole lot more to our story, than just our fabulous shelves full of books! We feel very fortunate that we haven’t had to face these terrible twos alone. Both of these staffing positions have brought us an amazing growth spurt!
Unlike many established libraries that you may have visited, ours is still “establishing”. Our brain is still growing, and we get frustrated sometimes when we discover that there’s still more to do, but we have the most generous community of volunteers who come together to resolve and accomplish what needs to be taken care of. From book circulation to restoring our old building, the expertise steps up to help. These jobs are all the “nuts and bolts” of creating a community library. It’s been the year of “committees”, all of which are filled with volunteers! We won’t have a temper tantrum if you say “no”, but we would love to have more help. Just ask us how you can help with children’s and adult programming (we desperately need a program coordinator), the Book Committee, planning events, media, grant writing, maintenance, renovation, and technology. We have many hats waiting to be worn.
Another major highlight of our year has been that the renovation committee has finally been released from “time out” by the Maine Fire Marshall’s Office. This has been a fussy and obstinate phase, but we’ve learned compromise. We now have our Permit to proceed with renovation of our 2nd floor, and the rewards for waiting are streaming in! With tremendous appreciation to the Niki Janus family, the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, and some rather “anonymous” donors, we are moving forward. Our 2nd floor belongings are in storage, our beautiful historic stage curtain is rolled and waiting to be restored, the arched ceiling is being scraped, the globe lighting is going off for restoration, the new electrical wiring is in, the emergency stairway is nearly complete, and we’re mapping out “what’s next?”. A little deep breathing will help us put the contractor pieces together, but we know our Geezer 2 gang will always step up to help with anything we ask of them. It’s going to be a wonderful space for children and adult programming and much much more!
Looking back, despite the unpredictability of a 2 year old’s nature, we have had some FUN at the same time! We’ve had Festivals, Yard Sales, Woods Walks & summer field trips, Documentary showings, Puppet Shows, Movie Nights, Parties for Littles, Craft Fairs, Parades, and Open Mics. All of these have given us opportunities to bring our communities together. Suzanne, Hayley, and the Events Committee continue to set dates for the months ahead in 2024. Get ready for our monthly Art Shows, the Chili Cook-off, more Drum Circles, Guest Authors, Paint Nights, and of course our Anniversary Party! All of these fun events should help fade the memories of the roller coaster ride of our “terrible twos”.
Dr. Spock would have loved this one…”always reward positive behavior”. You, our friends and neighbors, have done just that. It is with sincere appreciation that we say “Thank You” for your tremendous response to our Annual Appeal. Every donation is greatly needed and greatly appreciated! Every penny (nearly $10,000 this year) goes towards the Operations of the library. Whitefield Library could not be where it is without you! Please come enjoy what we have to offer.
- Every Wednesday Yoga (all levels) 10-11
- Second Wednesdays Any Book Book Club 2-4
- First Thursdays Music & Movement for Littles 11-12
- First Thursdays Teen Led Enchanted Pages Book Club 4-5
- Every Friday Storytime for Littles 10:30-11:30
- First Friday Art Night Showing 6-8
- Second Friday Game Night 6-8
- Every Saturday Knitting Circle 10-12
We’re OPEN: Wed/Thurs 1-6 and Fri/Sat 10-1. We serve (free of charge) all of the residents of Whitefield, Windsor, Somerville, Jefferson, Alna, and Pittston. Become a free library member, pick up your Library Card, borrow our books, bring the family to Storytime, come to our programs, join our volunteers, and help us grow.
Our contact info is: 1 Arlington Ln, Whitefield, PO Box 5, Whitefield 04353, 207-549-0170, info@whitefieldlibrary.org, and see our informative website: https://whitefieldlibrary.org and follow us on Facebook
Sunday, January 14, join us for our 2 Year Anniversary Party (2:00 – 4:00 )