Dear Friends of the Vassalboro Public Library,
Greetings! The Library has had a fantastic and fruitful year due to your interest, participation and generosity in 2022. Thank you! We would like to keep this momentum going into the new year and are sending this Annual Appeal Letter to request your continuing support. We appreciate any and all support either through volunteering and/or financial support. In this past year, YOUR support and generosity has helped result in:
- A much-appreciated increase in the Town’s contribution to the Library budget. A big thank you to all who brought this about by voting for it at the annual Town Meeting, and by making the Town office staff and select-board aware of your support of the library.
- Well-attended STEAM programs utilized by area home-schooled groups, and a well-attended weekly Storytime for area preschoolers.
- A number of well-attended speaker and author events for adults, and the addition of a new Hands-on program which occurs once a month.
- Very well attended programs from Northern Star Planetarium, Chewonki, LC Bates and the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers. We also sponsored Mad Science of Maine for both our homeschool groups and a school-wide assembly at Vassalboro Community School.
- Books and Bikes Summer Reading Program that resulted in 1622 hours of reading time and the award of 12 bicycles to well-deserved readers. We again thank the local Masonic lodge who funded the purchase of these bikes.
- In May we worked with the school librarian to organize a field trip for students to learn about alewives.
- A great turnout for the Vassalboro Days Book and Bake sale. A special thank-you to the numerous bakers in the community that donated the baked goods. And thank you to the book donors and buyers for your generosity as well.
Other welcomed changes and improvements included the hiring of a new Library Assistant, Marisha Bernard, at the first of the year. We also increased our Library hours to include open hours on Tuesdays. A number of altruistic donations were also received through the library which allowed us to sponsor many programs in the past year and in the years to come. Through these generous donations we will update our website, repave our driveway and make a large purchase of books to supplement our collection.
In addition, improvements were made to our library building including;
- Moving the children’s section to the front of the Library, resulting in a warm, welcoming area used by families for play and Story-Time. We ultimately maximized our open indoor space, for community gathering, by moving our book stacks.
- Improving the lighting through newly installed fixtures and LEDs.
All these positive improvements have helped make our library into a community hub. We have seen our circulation and patron numbers increase, and many families have utilized and enjoyed the new children’s space. We have welcomed tutors, students and local groups to utilize the library. It is so nice to see families gather and play inside the library and see our space being used. All these changes are in a big part due to YOU, our patrons and volunteers. We hope you can support the library, and its staff, through an Annual Appeal Donation so that we can welcome the new year with more positive growth. Thank you again for your continued generous donations and patronage!
Respectfully,
Denise Fournier Behr, Member
Vassalboro Public Library Board of Trustees
The Vassalboro Public Library is a non-profit organization under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). Your donation may be tax deductible. For your benefit and as required by law, we state that the Vassalboro Public Library did not provide any goods or services in consideration, in whole or in part, for this contribution.
