2001 Annual Report - Town of South Windsor

T O W N O F S O U T H W I N D S O R
www.southwindsor.org
L I B R A R Y D I R E C T O R
The American Library Association has launched a
five-year publicity campaign, @your library.
What would you find @ your South Windsor
Public Library during 2000/2001?
PEOPLE! Over 166,700 visits by our patrons,
bringing us over 13,000 reference questions and
borrowing 214,600 items (2,867 requested from
other libraries). Nearly 6,000 people attending
279 programs. Authors, musicians, artists, and
performers, sharing their talents, challenging us
with new ideas, and introducing unfamiliar cultures.
Volunteers and benefactors, helping our
library grow; weaving it into the fabric of community
life by participating, enhancing our collections,
and contributing new ideas.
PROGRAMS! Our Children’s Department offered
programs for tots as young as one, and expanded
programs for older children with a facilitated
book discussion series sponsored by the CT
Humanities Council and Time for Ideas in
Libraries. Visits from local school classes and
daycare centers increased, and we expanded
participation in the orientation sessions for parents
of kindergarten pupils provided by the South
Windsor Public Schools. Meetings were held
with reading teachers and staffs of the school
media centers, and we participated in service
learning activities. The Children’s Library
Sculpture Fund and the Ila Barbanell Alexander
Collection, intended to provide original works of
art and an expanding collection of lively, inviting
children’s literature, were established with gifts
from our patrons.
The Adult Department strengthened Senior outreach
programming at the Village at Buckland
Court and Summerville with the help of a donation
in memory of Dottie Faust Kaczynski.
Through the generosity of the Friends of the
Library, our museum pass program was greatly
expanded, and we joined the CT Center for the
Book’s annual World of Words celebration, bringing
a month-long series of programs on African
culture to the Library in April. Three monthly
book discussion groups sponsored by the
Library, several community book discussion
groups supported by our staff, and an active
local Writer’s Group gave credence to the belief
that the printed word is anything but passe!
Enthusiastic audiences met authors Charles
Morse, Michele Jacklin, Ellen Catala, John
Sutherland, Raouf Mama, Okey Ndibe, Jeff
Hutton, Jerry Labriola, Miriam Therese Winter,
Richard Slotkin, Christina Shea, and Denis
Horgan. Professor James Coleman led readers
through an exploration of Cultures in Collision.
A second season of Winter Pops Concerts, cosponsored
with South Windsor Cultural Arts and
Wood Memorial Library, brought us Hand-Crafted
Swing, The Hurdy-Gurdy Family Band, and
Connecticut Brass. Visitors to the Children’s
Department included yo-yo artist Eric Girardi, Jay
Mankita’s Amazing Time Travel show, and Rocky
the Rock Cat.
CONNECTIONS ! Friends of the Library offered
varied opportunities to participate in activities
from computer classes to museum trips and
"baking opportunities" to book sales. Their
efforts in support of our activities are invaluable.
It’s no surprise that they are called upon to assist
new library Friends groups being formed in other
communities.
Have you visited us on the web?
brings you
to the South Windsor Library 24 hours/day, and
includes links to the South Windsor Schools, the
Town’s website, iConn.org (the CT Digital Library),
many of our licensed databases, and our electronic
reference service. 2000/2001 saw the
beginning of our Hartford-area network’s migration
to the SIRSI library system: watch for a
much "livelier" electronic face for the Library in
the future.
What is @ your library in South Windsor?
Excitement!
MARY J. ETTER, LIBRARY DIRECTOR
36 2000-2001 ANNUAL REPORT