The library’s major achievement in 2010 was completing Phase 1 of building renovations. This involved creating a teen space and upgrading the adult nonfiction book stacks area on the mezzanine and building new stairs. While some indicators of library use declined in 2010, much of this can be attributed to being open fewer hours and construction activities. The library remains a vibrant center of individual and group activity.

The library is very proud of its renovations on the mezzanine completed this fall. Half of the mezzanine houses the new teen space for Wilbraham’s middle and high school age teens. Over 1,200 of Wilbraham’s approximately 1,350 teens have active library cards. This underserved population was previously relegated to a 125 square foot passageway between the library entrance and the children’s area. With the opening of the new teen space, dubbed "The Loft," the library now provides 864 square feet of work space, including areas for group projects, individual study, computer use, reading, tutoring, teen art displays, and an expanded teen collection. The other half of the mezzanine contains the 11,266 volume adult nonfiction book collection. Both sides of the mezzanine now offer comfortable and functional furniture, new carpeting, and improved lighting.

Thanks to the generous donations of many individuals, community groups, and local banks and businesses, Library Improvements Fund for Tomorrow, Inc. (LIFT) provided $83,000 toward renovations. The Town of Wilbraham, through its Capital Improvement budget funded $54,000 for constructing new stairs and some mezzanine renovations. Library State Aid, a portion of a federal grant through the Library Service and Technology Act, and the library operating budget paid the balance of funding. Total project costs were approximately $196,000. The library held a well attended Open House to celebrate the completion of the mezzanine on November 20.

The library completed its major weeding project this summer. At 58,609 items, collection holdings are just 5,000 items over the projected future capacity. Downsizing the collection is necessary to accommodate building renovation plans that provide more space for reading and study seating and more computer use. The goal is to have an excellent, broad, and up-to-date collection that is actively used, with emphasis on materials popular with Wilbraham residents. Requests for special items not owned by the library are quickly and easily filled through interlibrary loan.

During this process professional librarians carefully selected items for deletion across all areas from children’s picture books to adult nonfiction over the past three years. Most of the items deleted from the collection are sold to used book dealers and at the Friends of the Library book sale. Proceeds benefit library programs, collection purchases, and renovations.

The library’s excellent children’s collection holds a wide selection of current materials in nonfiction, fiction and multi-media. This year the Children’s Librarian selected certain topics, such as folktales and the environment, for special emphasis. We expanded our collection of video games with additional titles for the Wii and the XBox 360 and have now added Nintendo DS games. We enhanced the audio book collection by adding more titles in the popular Playaway digital format. The video collection now consists of only DVDs, as all children's VHS tapes were taken out of circulation.

Outreach and collaboration included connections with various daycare providers and schools, most notably the visits to the K – 6 classrooms. Wilbraham United Church Nursery School, 4-year-old classes, visited in November for a storytime and a tour. The staff again hosted a Mitten Tree in November, gathering new winter wear to benefit the Community Survival Center. The Children's Services staff collaborated with the Kiwanis Club and Square One literacy program in Springfield, to donate some deleted books.

School visits and book groups continued to effectively transition children from 6^th grade into the teen section. Our two teen groups (TAB and TOWL) hosted community service projects such as making dog toys for the Dakin Animal Shelter, a teen Christmas tree at the Festival of Trees, and holiday cards for the nursing home. They also raised money for teen activities through a book sale table at the Holly Fair.

The library offered a variety of adult programs in 2010, including the popular monthly Booked for Lunch and Film Movement groups, and a special documentary on the groundbreaking Millennium Trilogy by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. The eight-part Great Decisions series brought people together for lively discussions on world issues, such as the financial crisis, special envoys, and U.S./China relations. On the Same Page featured Dracula, by Bram Stoker, and included a bone-chilling lecture on "vampires" of New England. The American Red Cross even joined the celebration by bringing their mobile unit to the library for a blood drive. In all there were 60 adult programs attended by 814 participants.

The children’s staff conducted 112 programs attended of 2,529 children and accompanying adults in 2010. Storytimes, held in fall, winter and spring, served over 70 children, for children ages one through five. Events throughout the year included The Yo-Yo Show by John and Rebecca Higby, book discussion groups, a visit from Rufus the Therapy Dog, Ed Popielarczyk's Flea Circus and Amazing Animals featuring Debbie O'Carroll.

The teen groups and staff hosted 84 programs in 2010 with a total attendance of 1,130 teens. Popular programs included the monthly anime club, Scavenger Hunt, crafts, cooking and a murder mystery dinner. School visits allowed us to see 450 students.

During the summer the library participated in the state's Go Green at Your Library summer reading campaign. The adult component focused on the use of e-books and digital media and raffling off a new Sony Pocket E-Reader. The library expanded efforts to reach mobile users by promoting apps from Gale and Overdrive to connect to research databases and e-book collections. Staff demonstrated the use of the C/W MARS digital catalog to download e-books and media to portable devices.

335 children, age 2 through 5^th grade, registered for the children’s summer reading club, and the teen’s summer reading program committed 104 teen readers. The library presented Bubblemania, The Spoon Man, storytimes, a concert by Jay Mankita, a painting craft and a LEGOs session. The online component to our summer club, offered by the state and the regional library systems, enabled remote registration.

Most library programs are funded by the Friends of the Library.

With a core of hardworking volunteers headed up by Friends Board members, the Friends of the Library held several very successful projects in 2010. These included two sold-out bus trips, our first Friends Quilt Show, an acclaimed Annual Friends Art Show and the Friends Book Sale. In April art enthusiasts traveled to the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute and the Williams College Museum and in October we traveled to Quincy to the Adams family homes. The Friends Annual Art Show in March had over 40 artists represented, and our first Quilt Show in November had an overflow of specially designed quilts. Finally, the Book Sale reported our highest earning to date for this event. Through the year we avidly encouraged membership. Our projects and dues enable us to continue funding assistance to the Library for programs, DVDs and CDs as well as leasing a new print/copy system and purchasing a cash register for the service desk this year.

Special thanks to the Friends, the Memorial-Endowment Fund, and LIFT for their continued support of library services, programs, collections, and building renovation efforts. Thank you to the 109 volunteers who gave 1,958 hours of their time to help the library in everything from shelving to raising money for renovations. Thank you to Country Bank, Monson Savings Bank, Peoples’ United Bank, Big Y, Wilbraham Garden Club, Community Association, Woods of Wilbraham Condominium Association, Athenaeum Society, Masonic Lodge, Republican Town Committee, and numerous individuals for their generous gifts and pledges to library renovations. And thank you to the Wilbraham Cultural Council, Junior Women’s Club, Friendly’s Ice Cream Corporation and other local businesses that provided support for library programs, collections, and services.

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Bergquist

Library Director