Grafton Public Library

Library Updates

Director’s Report for November 2023

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Library Director’s Report for November 2023 

The Library was open 23 days in November and had 4,467 visitors. The library was closed on Veterans Day (November 11) and on November 17 and 18, 2023, due to installation of spray foam insulation. We closed at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22 for the Thanksgiving holiday and reopened on Saturday, November 25, at 10 a.m. with regular hours.

We offered 14 programs for over 30 attendees. We had 134 meeting room reservations for 344 participants. We hosted an additional 18 meeting room uses for staff use (photography, meetings, programs, etc.)

Eight incident reports were filed, including: an accidental triggering of the silent alarm, disruptive teen behavior, misuse of library resources in the Teen Room, a facility event, an unattended child, and first aid.

Administration

Debby Jackson took on many of the tasks left by the director in her absence.  She also worked on scheduling and payroll, Weekly Reports, upcoming social media posts, and Board of Library Trustee tasks. As of the end of November, she is transitioning to her new position as Head of Teen Services. She helped to train Shannon Phelan to take over the role of Administrative Assistant for the library.

Eileen maintained the collection of periodicals, took care of incoming mail, and prepared bills.

Staffing

Several staff members cross-trained to take over new positions, including Debby Jackson as Head of Teen Services, Allison Cusher as Head of Technical Services, and Shannon Phelan as Administrative Assistant.

We recorded at least 17 low coverage instances (others may not have been documented due to short staffing) due to scheduled, earned leave of benefited staff, chronic understaffing in the Teen department, a vacancy in the Technical Services department (since filled by Allison Cusher), and staff out on leave.

The Director is taking an FMLA-eligible leave of absence through the end of the calendar year.

Budget

At the end of October we were at 47% of our budget for the 2024 fiscal year. 90% of those expenses attributed to contracted services billed annually at the beginning of the fiscal year such as Bibliotecha and CWMars.

Building

Assistant Town Administrator William Blake is overseeing building issues and had several meetings with various contractors regarding general maintenance as well as flood remediation.

Construction Update

Insulation has been replaced, walls have been repaired and painted, and flooring has been removed in the Children’s Program Room and Children’s Work Room. No definitive timeline has been provided for completion of construction activities.

IT Update

Staff are working on developing procedures for laptop in-library use.

Volunteers, Outreach and Partnerships

Crescent Manor BookWagon had seven participants, 22 check-outs and renewals, and five requests.  We delivered 16 items to homebound patrons. We had seven volunteers who put in 8 hours of work.

Social Media

We have 1,036 followers on TikTok, 2,234 followers on Facebook, 825 on Instagram, 113 on YouTube, 430 on Pinterest, and 8 on Flickr.

Children’s Services

The Children’s Room staff has continued to work out of the Friend’s Café.  Staff have adjusted to what has become our new normal, but it has been challenging. Children’s Room staff have continued to field near-constant questions and concerns from the public ranging from sympathetic understanding to frustration about the closure of the Children’s Room, our current programming hiatus, and the temporary suspension of the Friends of the Grafton Public Library’s book sale.

Due to ongoing remediation in the Children’s Room, we still don’t expect programming to begin again until the new year. Once construction has been completed, staff will need at least a week to set the room back up, unpack boxes, clean and organize, and set up workstations before we can welcome patrons back into the space. We need a minimum of 4 weeks lead time to plan and advertise any programs.

It seems likely that Community Rooms will be completed before the Children’s Room, so we will be moving into that space to allow the Friends of the Grafton Public Library to reclaim their space. Since the Community Room is larger and carpeted, we will be able to bring in a selection of toys and computers to add to the books we are offering. We will keep the layout flexible so children’s programming can also be held in the space.

Outreach programming continued with visits to NGES, Busy Bee, SGES, and Silver Spruce.

Teen Services

During the month of November, Allison C. (Head of Teen Services) spent about a third of her time cataloging materials for the library, since she prepared to take over the Technical Services position in December. One of the teen programs scheduled for this month (fabric gift wrapping) was cancelled due to the building being closed for spray foam installation. There were no attendees at our monthly Manga and Anime groups this month, and our D&D program reboot hasn’t taken off as expected. With Debby starting in December, this is a great time for the teen department to re-evaluate and try new things to better serve our population.

Borrower Services

Museum Passes

There were 42 museum reservations: 35 were picked up and there were 7 “No Shows.”

Circulation

We registered 64 new borrowers and corrected three accounts for Grafton patrons.

Evergreen

The CWMARS Users Council meeting on 11/14 included a preview of Aspen, the new public catalog that will be debuting in March 2024, and a list of upcoming trainings for administrators and front-line staff.

ILL

We made eight out-of-network requests; three were unfillable. We sent out five items to certified libraries.

Displays

Our main display for November was Native American Heritage Month.  The four smaller displays were: Carnegie Medal, Warm Family Stories, Thanksgiving: Gobble Up a Good Book, and World Vegan Month. A graphic novel display was set up for National Author’s Day.

Programs

Sandhya hosted one daytime “Unplug with Art” program for adults on 11/14: eight people attended. She organized and hosted an evening Stencil Art program for adults on 11/13: ten people attended.

We had a department staff meeting over Zoom when the library was closed for construction on Friday 11/17.

Seed Library

The seed packets program has been closed for the season.

Reference Services

We recorded the following statistics for database uses: Gale 288, PebbleGo 0, Peterson’s 0, Transparent Language 1, Novelist 10, Ancestry 654, ComicsPLUS 4, Pronounciator 1, BookFlix 0, and Teachables 0. We had 93 adults and 2 teens record public computer use. WiFi statistics were unavailable. Staff placed 489 holds for library materials.

Heidi assisted with tech and reference questions as well as circulation and room reservations / check-ins and museum passes.   She also hosted book groups, worked on collection development, program planning, PR, statistics and prepared for Grafton Celebrates the Holidays.

Eric assisted patrons with technology, reference, museum passes, room requests / check-ins and circulation questions. Eric ordered new books for the non-fiction collection, put out new non-fiction materials, planned for December staircase display, organized parts of the new and general non-fiction collection, watched training videos on Niche Academy while the library was closed for repairs, assisted with cataloging and technical services tasks, and worked on monthly statistics.

Displays

Eric made a “Meet Someone New” staircase display. Heidi made an “In Memoriam” end cap display for Henry Kissinger and a Gnomevember display to support the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.

Programs

We held the following in person book discussion groups:

“Not Just for Young Adults” Book Discussion Group: Bittersweet, by Sarah Ockler.

Daytimers Book Group: Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng.

GPL Mystery Book Group: The Ghost of Christmas Past, by Rhys Bowen.

“Reads Well with Others” Adult Book Discussion Group:  The Kitchen Front: a novel, by Jennifer Ryan.

The “Inspirational Book Club” and Guided Meditation: Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: the case for good apologies, by Marjorie Ingall & Susan McCarthy.

Technical Services

Allison Cusher prepared to take over as Head of Technical Services at the beginning of December. Eric Lindstrom and Allison Picone cross-trained to provide uninterrupted service to patrons during the transition. Over 300 items were added to our collections in November.

Friends

The Friends of the Grafton Public Library book sale remains on hold as the Children’s Room continues to use the Friends Corner as their temporary collection location. The next Friends meeting will be posted to the Friends Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GPLFriends

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Holiday Pet Food Drive

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The Grafton Public Library will be collecting pet food the entire month of December in memory of our friend, and frequent library visitor, Toto the Tornado Kitten. Drop off your donation before December 16th for holiday distribution. The Grafton Food Bank especially needs dry cat food and wet dog food. Pet toys are also welcome.

Toto and his human, Jonathan, have visited the library as part of our summer reading program since 2014. We are heartbroken and will miss Toto greatly!

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Library CLOSED Monday October 9 In Observance of Indigenous People’s Day

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The Grafton Public Library will be CLOSED in observance of Indigenous People’s Day, a commemoration of Native American history and culture, on Monday October 9, 2023. No items are due this day. The Library will reopen at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 10 at 10:00am.

Please pick up museum passes for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before the Library closes at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday October 7.

Please visit our online digital branch 24/7 at www.graftonlibrary.org.

For a complete calendar of 2023 Library closings, please visit https://graftonlibrary.org/2023-closings/.

For more information about Indigenous People’s Day, please visit the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness.

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Weekly Report September 11-16, 2023

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This week we circulated 2,400 items, received 660 items in transit, and sent 662 items. We requested 516 items and fulfilled 492 hold requests; registered 20 patrons for library cards, and added 127 new items. The most popular book this week is The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand. We hosted 35 meetings in our conference, study, and tutoring rooms for 150 people including Friends of the Grafton Public Library, Small Stones Festival planning, Democratic Town Committee, Grafton Girls Softball, GPL union negotiations, Girl Scouts, GSC Board of Directors, as well as private work, study, homeschool, and tutoring sessions.

Admin
Beth corresponded with people regarding meeting room reservations, updated the calendar and approved requests, made updates to the Procedures Manual, website, and event calendar, and reviewed and submitted bills. She prepared for the upcoming Board of Library Trustee meeting, worked on the State Aid financial report, prepared new policies to share with staff and post to the Library’s website, and attended the Union negotiation meeting. She shepherded two programs – Grafton Ukulele Musicians and Eric the Plant Guy’s Happy Harvesting program. She covered public service desks all day on Tuesday in Borrower Services, Children’s, and Young Adult due to a staffing shortage. She sent hire letters to two temp staff candidates.

Eileen maintained the collection of periodicals, took care of incoming mail, sent late notices, prepared bills, paid invoices, and assisted with coverage for Borrower Services.  Debby compiled the Weekly Report, covered scheduling gaps in the Teen Room, and worked on payroll, scheduling, social media, and tasks for the Board of Library Trustees.

Borrower Services
Staff managed the adult circ desk, delivery, museum passes, the lobby, room reservations, and Automatic Materials Handling equipment. We assisted patrons, placed holds, performed readers’ advisory, and supervised volunteers.

Kara processed new DVDs and updated displays; ordered requested e-book and e-audio titles; checked CWMars top titles against the collection; reviewed industry newsletters to add upcoming titles to purchase lists; corresponded with volunteer applicants and staff coordinators; placed an order of music CDs; contacted volunteers about skills and interest in a project for the Director; processed new adult fiction and large print fiction. Jane posted the New York Times Best Seller List for print and audio fiction and recommended titles for purchase; corrected patron records with the wrong home library; collected items with alerts from invalid RFID tags; processed pending library card applications; and continued weeding the fiction collection. Ranjita posted the New York Times Best Seller List for print and audio nonfiction and recommended titles for purchase; processed ComCat requests; processed pending library card applications; and performed a routine check of the Library of Things.

Sandhya managed out of network requests for materials; worked on interlibrary loans and followed up with patrons; cleared expired holds from the hold shelf and followed up with patrons; worked on the home delivery service, including ordering items, making calls, processing holds, and coordinating volunteers; attended the MLS webinar “Who to Ask? ILL and Delivery”; prepared the October endcap display; sent reminders to program registrants for Monday and Tuesday programs; hosted the second session of the Diamond Art program for adults; hosted the daytime Unplug with Art program for adults; and prepared for adult programming in November. Allie set up Outlook email signature; emailed a patron about ordering large print book; proofed September events in the September newsletter; removed June New Fiction books; organized the New Fiction display; printed the events calendar and endcap display posters.

Children’s Services
This week the Children’s Room saw so many families coming to enjoy the space and meet up for play dates. Sarah helped cover in the lobby since we were short staffed on Monday, represented the Library at NSS’s curriculum night for 2nd and 3rd grades, met with the town to negotiate the GPL Union’s contract, planned for upcoming outreach visits, worked on collection development, submitted August statistics and narratives, coordinated with local schools, chatted with patrons about upcoming programming, met with staff, and coordinated with Debby to be sure the CR schedule was up to date. Jen represented the Library at NSS’s curriculum night for 4th and 5th grades, worked on the CR newsletter, updated EventKeeper, chatted with patrons about upcoming programming, worked on lesson plans for upcoming programming, and assisted patrons. Cyndi worked on a classroom set of black bird puppets for Toddler Time, met with the town to negotiate the GPL Union’s contract, and caught up on email. Stacie represented the Library at MSES’s curriculum night, decorated the room for fall, chatted with patrons about upcoming programming, planned upcoming displays, and assisted patrons. Kristin worked with schools to begin planning for Grafton History Day.

Teen Services
Allison finalized stats, attending multiple meetings, completed a book order, and attended the Grafton Middle School Open House. Sarah S organized end cap display stickers; tallied Tween program responses; alphabetized new behavior contracts and shredded old ones; changed displays over to Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, deaf characters, and sign language display, noting titles with deaf or hearing-impaired characters to add to the collection. Shawn completely reorganized the Maker Space cabinets and drawers, making room for additional items gifted from the Children’s Room.

Reference Services
Heidi and Eric assisted with tech and reference questions as well as circulation. Heidi also hosted the “Not Just for Young Adults” Book discussion of The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy, worked on collection development and event PR.  Eric ordered new books for the non-fiction collection, shifted around part of the non-fiction collection to make more space, and performed collection maintenance.

Technical Services
This week, Cynthia ordered new books and unpacked items as they arrived; cataloged new audiobooks, video games, adult fiction, and children’s books; added grids to items in Ingram; fixed problem items; and helped cover the desk for Borrower Services.

 

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September in the Children’s Room

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Click here for a copy of our September Newsletter.

 

Dear Patrons,

We regret to inform you that there won’t be any staff-led programs in the Children’s Room this September. We’re still in the process of recovering from an unfortunate flooding incident that occurred on the morning of Friday, August 18th.

Intense rainstorms resulted in significant flooding, with water entering the Children’s Room, the adjacent Children’s Program Room, and other areas on the south side of the building. The Children’s Program Room may require significant remediation to become a usable space again.

Additionally, we’re facing staffing challenges due to recent retirements and illnesses.

 

We understand that the Children’s Room is the heart of our library, and we’re aware of how much our beloved programs mean to you. Rest assured, there’s always plenty to do in the Children’s Room. We offer a wide range of activities, from toys and coloring to our famous in-room scavenger hunt. We’ve got enough fun to keep the kids entertained! Families, children, and caregivers are always welcome to enjoy our space, and we’d be thrilled to host playgroups and meetups in our engaging children’s area. For the latest updates on our programs,including special pop-up events, please visit our website and social media accounts.

We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this situation may cause and sincerely appreciate your understanding during this challenging time.

-CR Staff

We are delighted to see so many students who want to use the Library after school, but must remind parents of our Unattended Child Policy:

  • youth ages 0-7 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian at all times;
  • youth ages 8-12 must be accompanied by parent/guardian remaining in the Library;
  • youth ages 13+ may be unaccompanied, provided your child is able to use Library independently and follow the Library’s Code of Conduct.

September is Library Card Sign-up Month, when libraries nationwide join the American Library Association (ALA) to remind parents, caregivers, and students that signing up for a library card is the first step on the path to academic achievement and lifelong learning.

Libraries play a crucial role in the education and development of children, offering a variety of programs to spark creativity and stimulate an interest in reading and learning. Through access to technology, media resources and educational programs, a library card gives students the tools to succeed in the classroom and provides people of all ages opportunities to pursue their dreams, explore new passions and interests, and find their voice.

Sign Up for a Library Card Online!
Did you know:

  • Library cards are FREE to Grafton residents, students and property owners, and to any MA resident.
  • Did you lose your card? September is the BEST time to replace the card, because the replacement cost is WAIVED every September.
    It takes only minute to set up a library card.
  • Anyone can get a library card-even babies!
  • The Grafton Public Library continues to be FINE FREE.
  • Every two years, your card must be updated so we can confirm we have current contact information for you. September is a great time to update your card!
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Children’s Room to Reopen Tuesday September 5

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We are pleased to announce the upcoming reopening of its beloved Children’s Room to the public on Tuesday, September 5th, at 10:00am. The closure has been due to the unfortunate flooding incident that occurred on Friday morning, August 18th.

During the event, the Library experienced substantial flooding due to a series of intense rainstorms, resulting in water infiltration from the wetlands side of the building. The water flowed into the Children’s Room and the adjacent Children’s Program Room, as well as other areas on the south side of the building, causing damage to materials and necessitating temporary closure.

Town officials have granted the Library the green light to resume operations, acknowledging the diligent efforts put forth to address the aftermath of this natural occurrence. In the wake of the incident, the Library staff has been working tirelessly to restore the space, eliminate damaged materials, and reorganize the returned items received since the temporary closure.

“We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the community for their patience and understanding as we navigate through the challenges brought about by this unexpected event,” stated Children’s Librarian Sarah Banister. “Our primary focus has been on ensuring the safety and comfort of our patrons, especially the young visitors who frequent the Children’s Room.”

The Library team remains committed to providing a welcoming and enriching environment for families and children alike. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to the Children’s Room and reuniting our community in the joy of reading and learning.

For updates and further information, please visit graftonlibrary.org.

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Citizen Input and Volunteers Needed for Strategic Planning Process

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The Grafton Public Library’s Long Range Plan (LRP) expired in December 2020, and we have had an extension due to the pandemic, but it’s time to update, review priorities, and see where we are going, next! Strategic planning isn’t new for Grafton–it is a routine part of running a successful Library, and considered to be a standard of best practices in library management.

We are seeking a community of key stakeholders–Grafton residents, property owners, business owners, and community leaders–to volunteer to serve on a planning committee that will assist in setting Library service priorities for the next five years (2024-2028).

The time commitment is about six hours total; participants MUST attend two evening focus group meetings, one in July, one in August. Meeting attendance is MANDATORY for planning committee members. The successful candidate has a strong working knowledge of the Grafton community, and may or may not be a current Library user. The meetings will be facilitated by an outside library consultant.

Meetings will include: defining a vision for the community served by the Library; brainstorming; and conducting a strengths, weaknesses, growth opportunities and aspirations type analysis, first looking externally at the community, then internally at the Library. The feedback gathered will be used to develop LRP for 2024-2028. This written document provides goals, measurable objectives and specific activities for Library staff to execute.

An LRP spanning five years is required by the MBLC for any library that wishes to apply for—or keep—Library Services and Technology Act grant funding. The plan is due October 1, 2024.

The LRP is reviewed annually by the Grafton Public Library Board of Trustees, and the Library Director must submit an approved, updated a plan of action to the MBLC by December 1 annually. Anyone can review the current LRP and Action Plan online.

If you are interested in participating in the strategic planning process and joining the LRP committee, please contact Beth Schreiber, Library Director, at schreiberb@graftonlibrary.org or 508-839-4649.

Can’t commit? Bored by meetings? You can still provide valuable input! A Community Survey is available online.

Thanks in advance for your continued help and support!

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Library Weekly Report Week of May 8-13, 2023

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This week we circulated 2,380 items, received 469 items in transit and sent 521 items. We requested 473 items and filled 414 hold requests; registered 17 patrons for library cards, and added 65 new items. The most popular book this week is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. We hosted 32 meetings in our conference, study, and tutoring rooms for 134

people including Grafton Democratic Town Committee, Grafton Soccer Club Board of Directors, Small Stones planning, Girl Scouts troop 65197, Girl Scouts Grafton Lakes Service Unit as well as private -work, study, homeschool, and tutoring sessions.

Admin
Beth attended Town Meeting – the FY24 Library budget passed as submitted. She drafted and posted a vacancy notice for the new 18-hr per week Library Associate, Teen Services position so we can have someone start on July 1, 2023. We did not have any other items on the warrant.

The Board of Library Trustees met to approve minutes, bills, and a letter of support committing up to $109,114 for restoration of the cupola. We will seek out additional funding. Beth completed submittal of outstanding items for the MHC preservation grant application; we should get notification of project funding in June. She and William Blake met with architect David L. King to get a better understanding of the plan and scope of work.

Several people have expressed interest in volunteering to help with Library gardens. Beth coordinated training with the head gardener and connected them with Capital Campaign regarding plantings, and is working with a resident to provide a butterfly observation program, since our gardens are host to birds, butterflies, and insects. Of note MA Audubon society’s Bird-A-Thon is this weekend—what can you spot on our site? We’ve seen robins, blackbirds, chickadee, jays, and hawks! https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/activities/birding/bird-a-thon.

Beth attended GUM Jam (focus was on Beatle’s music!); worked on updating the schedule, events, calendar and website; and approved meeting room requests. Our intern worked on promotional posters for our social media accounts and finalized a Library QR code scavenger hunt for displaying photos of the Library before renovations took place, and  made promotional materials for library databases of interest to teens, including Tutor.com and Comics Plus. Beth met with someone who wants to do a facility rental in June, met with IT, checked in with a union steward on outstanding items, and met with various staff. She will be on vacation and unavailable next week; the BoLT chair and Asst. Town Manager have been alerted, and managerial staff received clear instructions for the task delegated to them: call in temps as needed to staff our facility. Thank you again to BoLT for allocating funds to cover service desk during staff leave.

Eileen maintained the collection of periodicals, took care of incoming mail, prepared bills, and send out late notices. Debby compiled the Weekly Report, worked on social media updates, and completed payroll and scheduling tasks as well as tasks for the Board of Library Trustees. She attended the Town Meeting and special meeting of the Board of Library Trustees on Monday evening and filled in gaps in the Teen Room schedule.

Borrower Services
Staff managed service desks, delivery, museum passes, the lobby, room reservations and Automatic Materials Handling equipment. They assisted patrons, placed holds, performed readers’ advisory, and supervised volunteers.

Kara placed the May order of adult CD audiobooks, began working on the June title list for Pride Month, checked CWMars top titles against the collection, reviewed industry newsletters to add upcoming titles to purchase lists, attended the Ingram standing order program meeting for adult fiction, ran a report to weed DVDs and Blu-rays to make room for new donated titles, and ran Evergreen reports for lost, transit, and missing items for April. Jane posted the New York Times Best Seller List for print and audio fiction and recommended titles for purchase, completed the conflict of interest training, provided AV support for a program, collected items with alerts for invalid RFID tags, and continued weeding adult fiction. Ranjita posted the New York Times Best Seller List for print and audio nonfiction and recommended titles for purchase; processed ComCat requests and pending library card applications; performed a routine check of the Library of Things and processed new items, and processed new adult DVDs. Allie researched CW MARS staff guidance on quantity of patron cards, shelved new adult fiction, trained a new hire in room reservations and museum passes, took photos of the “Mind-Body & Spirit” display, and created a music video from the photos for social media outlets. She planned the staircase display for June’s Pride Month, created Spotlight for Fiction content and graphics for different newsletter sections, created graphics for June’s Museum of the Month, and created the June adult events printable flyer. Sandhya managed out of network requests for materials and followed up on open issues; worked on interlibrary loans; cleared expired holds from the hold shelf and followed up with patrons; worked on the home delivery service; created more seed packets and labels for the Seed Library; created graphics and requested titles for the June endcap display; assembled kits for the take-and-make yarn craft program, and hosted the daytime Unplug with Art program for adults.

Children’s Services
Sarah moved surplus shelving, ran two sessions of Toddler Time, ran a session of Preschool Storytime, ran an outreach storytime program at Willard House & Clock Museum, ran three preschool outreach sessions at NGES, discussed final details for summer partnership with Willard House & Clock Museum, and planned for upcoming programs and school visits. Jen worked on the upcoming CR newsletter, updated EventKeeper, finalized the printed summer reading calendar, and ran a session of Library Babies. Jen and Sarah presented a program for the 6th graders at MSES who did not attend Nature’s Classroom. Stacie updated CR room displays, ran two 2 sessions of Drop-In Arts & Crafts, assisted patrons, and prepped for upcoming programming. Cyndi went through the emails she received while she was out, met with staff to get updated on anything new that happened while on vacation, trained a new volunteer, and put together a math book display for K-2 & 3-5. Kristin delivered materials to the local schools. Mare managed volunteers, continued to reach out to new volunteers, worked on the volunteers’ schedules, assisted patrons, tidied up the room, and shelved.

Teen Services
Thank you to staff for continuing to cover shift in the Teen Room in Allison’s absence. Sarah S put up displays for Tiara Day and Sherlock Holmes Day; planned displays for Pride month; kept up with reviews for new YA books, collected a list of upcoming YA nonfiction; and updated the manga release spreadsheet. We had several incidents of teens being disrespectful to the space and to staff which were handled well.

Reference Services
Heidi and Eric assisted with tech and reference questions as well as circulation, worked on monthly statistics, and attended an Ingram meeting.  Heidi helped select books for the next Mystery Book Club; hosted the “Not Just For Young Adults” Book Group discussion of Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira; helped host the Friends of the Library’s Community Read Book Discussion of Love & Saffron by Kim Fay on Thursday, May 11th.  (If you couldn’t make it, but want to discuss the book, we’ll be talking about it at the Daytimers Book Group on Tuesday, May 16th at 1:30pm and at the “Reads Well with Others” Book Group, on Monday, May 22 at 7:30pm.)  Eric refreshed the reception book display and bookends and met with OUT MetroWest for June programming.

Technical Services
Cynthia unpacked items as they arrived; cataloged new young adult and children’s books; coordinated a meeting and met with a Collection Development Librarian from Ingram to discuss our standing order; sent requests for records to the CatCenter; and worked on fixing problem items.

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Storytime Returns in May!

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Check out the May newsletter for children and families.

Drop in and make Star Wars themed crafts. All day. K+ Crafts may contain small parts. While supplies last.

Stop by the Library and pick up your FREE comic book in celebration of Free Comic Book Day!

Comics will be available while supplies last.

For more information on Free Comic Book Day and to find other locations visit: https://www.freecomicbookday.com/

May 6th at 11:00am

Saturday storytime is an all-ages program that repeats some elements from our popular weekday programs. Join Ms. Jen and Ms. Stacie for seasonal stories and songs!

Come dressed as your favorite superhero!

Preschool storytime programs resume this May at the Grafton Public Library! Join us for unique programs for three different age groups starting the week of May 1st! Storytimes will run for 4 weeks until May 25th.

  • Library Babies, featuring songs, bounces, and interactive board books, runs on Tuesdays at 9:15am.
  • Toddler Time, an active program for walkers through age three, is held on Wednesdays at 9:15  AND 10:30am. Join Ms. Sarah to share stories, sing songs and recite rhymes and finger plays.
  • Storytime for preschoolers is held on Thursday at 9:15am. This 45-minute program includes stories, felt board fun, and movement activities. These three programs will run for three weeks in May. Registration is required.

Because the 9:15am programs take place before the library opens to the public, please enter through the children’s program room door on the left side of the library. There will be directional signage posted outside the library on storytime days.  Please arrive on time for these programs. Due to their short run time, we cannot allow any latecomers to enter. 

Also in May is Young Scientists, the STEM storytime for ages three through six. Presented by STEM Beginnings, this 6-week series introduces STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts through hands-on activities, story time and simple experiments. The “Young Scientists” series is sponsored by the YMCA Family & Community Partnership (YFCP), a Massachusetts Coordinated Family & Community Engagement (CFCE) Grant program funded by the Department of Early Education & Care and awarded to the YMCA of Central Massachusetts. Registration is required.

Fridays at 10:30am

May 5th, 12th, and 19th.

On Wednesday, May 10th at 3:30pm, join us at the Willard House & Clock Museum for a special storytime and a tour of the museum’s beautiful grounds. This program is for preschoolers ages three through five and registration is required.

On Monday, May 1st, join Apple Tree Arts for a fun-filled music and movement program for preschoolers ages 2 and up. Siblings are welcome! Parental participation is encouraged. Registration is required.

Drop-in and create some seasonal art. Grades K-5. Craft materials will be available from 5:30-7:00pm.

Tuesdays May 2nd, 9th, 23rd and 30th.

Thursdays May 11th, 18th, and 25th.

 

To sign up or see all Library programs, please visit our online event calendar.

 

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