People Putting Stock in Salem Library
SALEM, Conn. – Set to receive a $100,000 grant in June and with visitors arriving in ever-increasing numbers, the Salem Free Public Library is looking at a bright future despite the recession.
According to statistics released this week by Jackie Hemond, Salem’s head librarian, the library’s patron base has increased by 720 members since July 2008 to 3,232, a 29 percent jump. It has also seen a sizeable rise in the use of the services and resources it offers.
”I’ve been in the library business for quite a long time, and to me this [uptick] is pretty unique,” Hemond said. “I’ve seen use increase before, but this time is different. It’s much more noticeable.”
Hemond believes as the economy continues to slow, people are seeking out inexpensive (or in this case, free) options for entertainment and information, and the library is topping locals’ lists. Computer use at the facility was up 205 percent from September to February, interlibrary loans have jumped 122 percent from July to February and the library’s total circulation has risen by 3,203, or 8 percent, since July of last year.
According to its Web site, Salem’s library used to be housed in an 864-square-foot colonial building with books piled so high they encircled windows and displaced chairs. Since December 2004, when the library moved to its new building, which is roughly 10 times the size of the old one, it has been able to expand its offerings substantially and develop an ambitious vision for the future.
The library is trying to continue to improve the resources and programs and assist the rising number of visitors while operating on a tight budget.
Judy Rabe, the chairwoman of the Salem Library Board, said the library’s operating budget was $19,530 this fiscal year, and the Salem Board of Finance sent letters to all town departments requesting that their budget requests for the upcoming year not exceed a 1 percent increase.
For the library, this means it would be able to add $195 at most, which Rabe said “doesn’t do much.” Fortunately, the library learned last September that it would be getting a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Connecticut as part of the organization’s “Love Our Libraries” initiative.
”We had a couple large gifts in the last fiscal year, and the timing was such that it was our 25th anniversary and we wanted to do something special for the community,” said Jennifer O’Brien, the Community Foundation’s program director. “Our board tried to find something that we could do for every town that would have a nice, wide impact, and the winning idea was to take the 13 libraries in the 11 towns we serve and give them each up to $100,000 to help them.”
The libraries are free to use the funds at their discretion, though the Community Foundation is still reviewing and finalizing the details of the libraries’ individual proposals. The monies will be distributed in June, which is determined to be an ideal time as by then town budgets will likely have been finalized.
The Salem library plans to use the grant to expand its technological offerings, such as paying for the recently installed Value Line system, a powerful financial database and research resource it believes will be particularly useful to patrons in the down economy and will attract new visitors.
The grant also will go toward the implementation of Bibliomation, the library’s new online catalog, and toward improving the programs it sponsors. The library currently hosts a book club, a knitting club and a variety of other events, but the grant money will allow it to branch out.
”We’d love to be able to do outreach programs for people that are homebound and that kind of thing,” Rabe said, “and the grant will make that possible.”
Rabe pointed out how much the library has benefited from Hemond’s work and vision since she took over as head librarian in March of last year. Rabe and Hemond both want to see the library become a top community destination and believe the grant and their continued hard work will help make that possible.
”I think Salem used to be viewed as a small-town library,” Hemond said, “but we’re going to have an online catalog people can access from home, a new Web site … these are things that other libraries have had for years and years but Salem didn’t, and so these kinds of things will really help us move forward.”
This article orginally appeared in the New London Day and is available online here: http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=1963e726-f047-46cb-a437-77434c43d7c4
