Easthampton Public Library News
December 2023

From the Director:

Dear Library Friends and Followers,

Wow. There's no doubt that the Easthampton community loves the Library. People came out in huge numbers to our Book Sale and to our Community Forums, and over 400 of you have filled out our Building Survey and shared your ideas for our future. A humbling number of you responded to our fundraising call with generous gifts that will enable us to improve the Library experience for all. Most importantly, as the graphics above (created at the beginning of November) show, you have been using the Library--volunteering and attending programs and borrowing books, DVDs, and streaming content of all kinds.

This December, as we work to turn all your ideas and your support into concrete action, we have heard loud and clear your calls for clearer communication and increased transparency--we now post Board Meeting minutes on our website, and will shortly be adding budget updates.

We're also planning a lot of fun this month (and putting a lot of new titles out on the shelves)! The Book Sale shelves are also being restocked with great holiday buys!

Yoga for adults will be going on hiatus for a time after the session on December 11--a heartfelt thank you to Brian Mulligan for volunteering to offer this beloved program! Sit and Write will meet only once in December, on December 13. We are excited to announce that starting in January, we will be offering access to Ancestry Library Edition for genealogical research, and we will also be offering one on one help sessions (info coming soon) to get you started with this resource.

Calling all bakers and tasters to join us for our Winter Solstice Cookie Swap, on December 21 from 4:30-5:30pm. Registration is encouraged. If you'd like to bake for the swap but need materials, please contact us directly!

If you need some festivity sooner rather than later, please join us today, December 1, at 4pm for a Festive Friday Afternoon making paper garlands. The party continues on Friday, December 6th, at 1:30pm with a Storytime from local author Peter Rosnick, and on December 19th at 4pm as we celebrate the release of book #5 in the sweet and mushy Heartstopper graphic novel series for teens.

For our full lineup of December activities, check out our Calendar. We'll see you soon at the Library!

As the year draws to a close, we want to offer one more heartfelt thank you to all of our dedicated staff and volunteers of all ages (including our hardworking Board!), and to the community partners and City workers who help us serve the community--so much work goes into making the Library work, and we do it together.

Happy reading,
Katya