June 15/04 gotta take 2 weeks ... 2 KIDS’ PROGRAMS THIS SUMMER !!! : Children’s Librarian Janet Johnson and Student Assistant Kaily Post have outdone themselves - this summer they are presenting not one, but TWO programs for our young patrons! Summer fun: Now in year 17, it will be run by Kaily on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from July 6 to August 27. Children ages 4 - 6 will meet for crafts, games and stories from 9 - 11 am, and kids ages 7 - 11 from 12 - 2 pm. No registration is needed, and craft donations or potential volunteers are welcome to contact Kaily at the library on Saturdays between 11 - 4 (395-2837). Week 1 is DINOSAURS. Week 2 is BALLOONS. Week 3 is INSECTS. Week 4 is SPORTS. Week 5 is NATURE. Week 6 is PICTURES. Week 7 is WATER. Week 8 is SCHOOL. TD Bank Reading Club: New this year Kaily and Janet will be presenting the TD Bank Financial Group-sponsored summer reading club. TD Bank is supplying every reader with a full-colour dragon poster and a well designed reading booklet. Kids will earn nifty dragon stickers (I’ve already appropriated mine) as they progress through the summer. This program will be held on Tuesdays, starting July 6, from 2:30 to 4:30 in the Children’s Department of the library. Volunteers Keeping Library Spiffed Up: Maintaining our library is truly a community effort. Once again Joan and Monte Moorcroft have landscaped our grounds to a professional level. Last week Friends of the Library members Liz Coxwell and Jean and Doug Kane painted our library board room/art gallery a relaxing grey to better complement the monthly art exhibits they arrange. John Docherty provides help with genealogy research every Wednesday night from 6 to 8:30 pm. Friends Jess Bond, Madeline McIntosh, Isabel Maguire and LeeAnne Bryant visited the May board meeting to present suggestions for improving our lobby. The first preparations for this have begun: Sue has moved the boxes from under the sale table to the stockroom, and Lewis and I have packed up the Ned Potts’ collection so the book sale can be relocated. Teen Time: Assistant Librarian Sue Winfield attended a workshop in Wellington last week on attracting teens to the library. Janet has been upgrading the teen book collection with new items, and Sue purchased several decks of cards to encourage teens to hang out. I donated my old backgammon set, and donations of other games of interest to teens would be appreciated. New Board Member: We are pleased to have a new addition to our library board. Denyse Mouck has kindly volunteered to fill a recent vacancy. Denyse is an avid library user and a very active participant in the Stirling community. She already serves on the Township Planning Committee, and her participation on our board is eagerly welcomed. Centre Hastings & Quinte West residents welcome: Both of these townships have a contract with The Stirling-Rawdon Library to provide their residents with full free library service. If you live in either of these communities you are most welcome to visit our library, get a card, borrow items and enjoy our many programs. The library provides 5 free public internet stations to the public. Many seniors are learning what a great way this is to connect with the world (& e-mail is a lot cheaper than long distance phone bills). ... & have a fine vacation ... Chris
April 13/04 DRAGON ALERT!!! New volunteers: If you’ve noticed the library shelves looking neater and the shelving truck emptier, it’s thanks to our 2 new volunteers, Tanya Gibson and Madeleine Goodkey. Tanya has begun volunteering on Tuesdays, and Madeleine is coming in several times a week to keep libraryland shipshape. Many thanks to both Tanya and Madeleine. Dragons convening this summer: Dragons from all over the planet will be convening at the library this summer as part of our summer reading program. This very librarian saw a "North of Seven Sheep Snagger" cleaning his cave and packing his bags in preparation. Children’s Librarian Janet Johnson and Student Assistant Kaily Post are sorting through the excellent material on dragons prepared for the T-D Bank sponsored Summer Reading Program for kids. Thanks to John Docherty for arranging computer donations: Local Historical Society volunteer John Docherty recently arranged the donation of 2 pentium 2 computers to the library’s local history & genealogy room. Last Saturday John, Lewis Zandbergen, and Pat Marshall were busy drilling holes and running lines for the new additions. The first order of 19 microfilms has arrived, and Society members are arranging their availability to the public. Most Wednesday evenings John is available to help people research their family history. Volunteers are also available most Saturday afternoons between 1 and 3 pm. Friends lobbying: Our Friends of the Library group is starting to schedule volunteers to act as greeters in our lobby. Jess Bond, Madeleine MacIntosh, Margaret Woods and LeeAnne Bryant recently arranged to have student Aaron Whalen do a professional- quality floor plan of the library to aid them in helping visitors. Aaron’s colourful plan is now hanging by the elevator in the lobby. The Friends also plan to send a delegation to the next library board meeting on April 27 to discuss ideas for sprucing up the lobby area. Congrats to our students: Assistant Librarian Sue Winfield has completed her 10th and final provincial library course. Sue will soon receive her EXCEL certificate. Desk Assistant Kathy Lutz has completed her 4th course, Children’s Collections. James Dutrisac, our "retired" student volunteer whom we sponsored for a substantial ongoing Millennium Scholarship, has completed his 2nd year at University of Guelph. Congratulations to all our library students for keeping up their grade point averages! It’s a great feeling to finally be able to garden, instead of just to read about it : ) Chris the librarian
March 9/04 Library Marching into spring break Spring break programs : Children's Librarian Janet Johnson and student assistant Kaily Post are planning a full week of activities for our young patrons. Kaily will be presenting programs every day from March 15 th - 19 th from 9 to 11 am for kids ages 4 to 11. Kids will enjoy crafts, stories and games. Monday kids will be making MONSTER MASKS ! Tuesday popular performer MAGOO visits & plays guitar and mandolin from 10 to 11 am. Magoo's latest release, Mars Rocks, won the Children's Album of the Year at the Canadian Indie Music Awards. (This will be the only program on Tuesday.) Wednesday is EXPLORING SPACE ! Thursday is VEGGIE ART! Friday is PUPPET TIME! Local history/genealogy centre popular : Our new centre is proving popular and busy. Volunteers are scheduled to help interested people learn how to research their family history and to use the many tools in our facility. John Docherty is available most Wednesday evenings from about 7 to 8:30 pm. Volunteers are also available Saturday afternoons from 1 - 3 pm: March 6 was Pat Marshall; March 13 will be Bob and Barb Dawes; March 20 will be Lewis Zandbergen; and March 27 will be Pat Marshall. Special arrangements can also be made if these times aren't convenient by contacting Lewis Zandbergen at lewzan@reach.net . Friends of the library : Our Friends are planning to schedule volunteers for the lobby to give it a friendlier ambience and to direct visitors to our different departments. Marg Wood and Madelaine MacIntosh are having a floor plan drawn up to assist with this. New computers provided by CAP grant: Brian Kerby of Quinte Business Systems has just installed two new pentium 4 computers courtesy of our most recent Community Access Program grant for $4,000. The support of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Culture and the Government of Canada through Industry Canada is most gratefully acknowledged for this funding. This is the third of these grants the library has received, and without them we wouldn't have been able to start up our free public internet stations 5 years ago. We now have 4 stations upstairs and one downstairs in the local history research area. Thanks also to electrician John London for doing the cabling and wiring for the new terminals. Enjoy the puddles & thawing doggy deposits - Chris
Feb 13/04 (Frrriiday the 13 th ) New Board : Stirling-Rawdon Council has appointed our new board for the next 3 years. Welcome back Lewis Zandbergen, who was elected Chairman for his third term at the January meeting. Also welcome back Mary Hykin and Ian Geerkens. New members are former Stirling Mayor, Marian Bastedo. Marian is the Council representative. Other new members are Martha Robertson, Travis Shalla and Pat Marshall. This looks to be an excellent team, and the next term should be as productive for the library as the past several years have been. Kids' programs : Our student assistant, Kaily Post, is organizing a VALENTINE'S DAY program for tomorrow, Feb. 14, from 2 to 3 pm. Kids ages 4 to 11 are invited to make crafts, participate in games and listen to stories. Performers Magoo and Patricia are featured in a special SPRING BREAK event on Tuesday, March 16, from 10 to 11 pm. Magoo is a popular singer/songwriter/juggler/recording artist. He will be playing mandolin and guitar and telling stories for the whole family. Magoo's latest release, MARS ROCKS , won 2003 Children's Album of the Year at the Canadian Independent Music Awards. We are pleased to be able to present this talented & award-winning performer for our community! Jailbirds freed ! : The Lions "Jail for Bail" fund raiser held at the library on Friday, January 30 th , was a real success. Approximately $2,500 was raised for community support in a few short hours. The sight of Dave Potts in a flowing wig and gown (oops, this wasn't the male beauty contest) was worth the cost of bailing out a few local miscreants, including the library's own Lewis Zandbergen. Somehow our Chairman Emeritus, Jack Doran, escaped arrest and is still at large on an outstanding warrant. Cindy Gray of Platters Restaurant supplied chili, rolls and hot coffee for everyone, and Cathie Linn has reported the Lions plan to make the Groundhog event a feature again next year. Friends of the Library : Jess Bond has organized a meeting of the Friends on Tuesday, Feb. 24 th , from 7:30 to 8:30 pm in the local history and genealogy room downstairs. Since their founding a decade ago, the Friends have organized dozens of events for area residents. The Friends are hoping to recruit some new members to carry on their good works. Jess reminds any new writers who may have moved to the area recently that there is a writers group which meets on a regular basis. Jess can be reached for info on either event at 395-3880. Stirling-Rawdon Historical Society : The Society has been holding regular meetings in its new home in the library's local history & genealogy centre. Member John Docherty has been attending the room every Wednesday evening to assist interested researchers with their family trees. Members are also in the room most Thursday evenings. For more info call Lewis Zandbergen at 395-3022. XXXOOO Chris the librarian
Jan. 13/04 STIRLING-RAWDON PUBLIC LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORT 2003 Chris Faiers, CEO We celebrated the library's 100 th birthday with style. At our Open House on October 18, Board Chairman Lewis Zandbergen recalled the vibrant and ever-expanding role the library has served in our community. With well over 100 supporters and visitors attending, we cut the ribbon for our newest facility, a local history and genealogy centre. The new centre was created in the under-used room next to the Children's Library. A $10,600 Trillium grant purchased the new microfilm reader/printer, and a Community Access Program grant paid for the new public internet site. Money raised during two previous fund drives paid for painting both the centre and the Children's Library and the construction of a beautiful new circulation desk. Thanks and congratulations to all the Board members, volunteers, Friends of the Library, Stirling Legion and Lions, staff and area businesses who made this special year so magical and our centre a reality for posterity! BOARD : Second term Chairman Lewis Zandbergen continued to be the Board's heart and soul. Mary Hykin was recruited in the early spring to bring the board up to its full membership of seven. Many thanks to the other Board members who oversaw the many successes our library enjoyed during their tenure: Lynette Thibeau (Vice-Chair), Ian Geerkens (Policy & Personnel Chair), Dale Grant (Council liaison), Deb Troy (fund raising) and Melanie Linn (fund raising). STAFF : Sue Winfield completed her second productive year as Assistant Librarian. Her enthusiasm, dedication and competence freed the CEO to oversee the extensive renovations to the Children's Library and the construction of our new centre. Sue completed her ninth EXCEL library course, and now requires only one more course to receive her diploma. For the past five year Sue has been our liaison with the preschool program. Sue's annotated weekly new book lists published in the local papers have become very popular with patrons. Children's Librarian Janet Johnson, working with Student Assistant Kaily Post, oversaw an excellent year of programming for our young members. Special programs were held for Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas. Janet was in charge of the busy summer program for the first time. Kaily Post organized the daily programs andrecruited her friend Harrison Hellyer to assist as her volunteer. Desk Assistant Kathy Lutz completed her first full year, and she has quickly mastered all our standard procedures in the adult department. Kathy served more of her "apprenticeship" by ably filling in for other staff members during vacations and illnesses. Kathy also completed her third EXCEL course, and is now enrolled in her fourth course, Children's Collection Development. The CEO was as busy as a one-armed paperhanger in 2003 ... he drafted plans for the new centre and oversaw their implementation with local tradespeople. As the downstairs projects neared completion, the Chairman and the CEO organized our highly successful open house to celebrate the library's centennial. They selected a full slate of speakers, including Mayor Peter Kooistra, Ken Bird, Executive Director of the Ontario Genealogical Society, SOLS rep Peggy Malcolm, Friends of the Library leader Jess Bond and many others. FUND DRIVE : Lewis kicked off the fund drive with a mailing of postcards to last year's donors. Our third drive very quickly shot over its goal of $4,000 in three weeks, thanks in large part to Stirling & District Lions President Dave Potts' presentation of a cheque for $1,000. The centennial logo book bags were a great success, and the 50 bags were snapped up by the first donors of $40 or more. Every year a new board member rises to the challenge, and this year Deb Troy led the fund drive with local businesses. SERVICE CONTRACTS : Stirling's central location and excellent library facilities have caused the neighbouring townships of Centre Hastings and Quinte West to purchase service contracts. In 2003 we received $3,000 from Centre Hastings and $3,500 from Quinte West for providing library services to their residents. A huge increase in registrations from Quinte West residents resulted in a renegotiated contract for $5,000 for 2004. Almost daily residents of these municipalities are learning of the "free" library service available, and the popular use of our facility continues to climb. ACTIVITIES & CIRCULATION : The large increase in registered members is reflected in our steady increase in statistics. Our circulation has climbed from 25,213 in 2000 to 25,554 in 2001 to 29,738 in 2002 to 30,560 in 2003. Over a dozen community groups use our public meeting room. These include Weight Watchers on Monday nights, the Baha'is, Parents of Children with Special Needs, the Ladies Fair Board Planning Committee, our weekly pre-school program, led by parent Nathalie Lacroix, Three Oaks Foundation and monthly art displays and cabinet exhibits organized by Liz Coxwell and Jean Kane. The library is increasingly used as a meeting place, both formally and casually, by thousands of area residents on a regular basis. Many shoppers perceive the library as an "anchor store" type of destination. With the creation of our local history centre the library will see this community role expand even further. OUR FRIENDS GROUP AND VOLUNTEERS : Special mention must be made of the contribution of Jackie McFee, who was honoured at our open house as Volunteer of the Century! Thanks also to Children's Department volunteers Jessica Johnson and Brittany Kooistra and Adult Department volunteers Nancy and Pearl Stone, Hana Scholz and Ruth Tanner. Heather Hawkes, Jackie McFee and Kathy Lutz arranged the great display of historical pictures for the open house. Founding Friends activist Jess Bond listed the dozens of events the Friends have organized in their 10 years of support. In 2003 the Friends continued their support by organizing literary events at Coulter's Book Shop and monthly book club meetings. COMMUNITY GROUPS & BUSINESS SUPPORTERS : Thanks to NetReach for providing ongoing free public internet access, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 228, Stirling & District Lions, the Ladies Fair Board, Brian Kerby of Quinte Business Systems, tradespeople extraordinaire painter Clint Tracey, carpenter Jeff Fockler, electrician John London, our caretakers Garry Finch and Bev Barry and Stirling-Rawdon Council for the lion's share of budget support. "Jail for Bail" @ library Jan. 30 Cathie Linn and the Stirling Lions are hosting one of this year's GROUNDHOG FEST functions at the library. Friday afternoon, January 30 th , will be a "Jail for Bail" - that is, you can have anyone arrested and placed in the stockade (our board room). Then the jailbird has to raise his or her bail to escape. I've placed a warrant with Cathie (395-6058) for the arrest of the library's Chairman of the Board, Lewis Zandbergen (I also promised a donation to bail Lewis out, but don't tell him that). Cindy Gray of Platters Restaurant is donating "knock-out drop" coffee, "rasp"berry pastries and other "big house" specialties to keep all the miscreants well fed while they do hard time. There are many other community activities for this year's Groundhog Fest, including a Yuk Yuks at the Lions Club, a dinner at the Legion, music at the Stirling Festival Theatre and tons of other creative ways to spend the deep dark days of midwinter. Be there or be square!!! Chris the librarian
@ your library: LIBRARY SUPPORTERS ONLINE #28 Nov. 4/03 "Bagged out" Fund drive tops goal in 2 weeks ! : Library supporters shot this year's fund drive over its goal of $4,000 in only 2 weeks! The very generous donation of Stirling & District Lions Club of $1,000 was a major factor in the success. Special thanks to their President, Dave Potts, who several years ago volunteered to paint our public meeting room. The 50 centennial logo book bags have all been given out to the first donors of $40 or more, and we are looking for suggestions for next year's donor gift. Suggestions so far include coffee mugs or silver dollars with a draw for a $100 gold Royal Canadian Mint coin. The speedy success of this year's drive can also be attributed to donors being able to see and use the results of our first 2 drives - our new Local History & Genealogy Centre and major renovations to the Children's Library. Board member Deb Troy also pounded the pavement collecting from at least 12 local businesses. Supporters can of course still contribute to this year's drive, although we are out of the bags. Tax receipts are available for all donations of $5 or more. Friends thriving : Our Friends of the Library group held an Open House at the library on October 21. Four or five prospective members attended and enjoyed the delicious fruit and cheese tray from Platters Restaurant. Chair Jess Bond circulated sheets detailing the dozens of events the Friends have organized since their founding a decade ago, and encouraged the new members to think up suggestions for their own for activities. Local authors reading : The Friends are holding a local authors public reading at Coulter's Bookstore in downtown Stirling on Sunday, November 16, at 2 pm. It is amazing the amount of writing talent in this community, and fiction, poetry and nonfiction will be featured. As always the Friends will supply delicious refreshments. Bahai's devotional : One of the dozens of groups who use our meeting room on a regular basis is the Bahai's of Stirling-Rawdon. Their devotional meetings are held on the first Thursday evening of each month at 7:15, and all are invited. For more info contact Dan at 395-4728 or Mary at 395-5398. Centennial blast in the past : Our Open House celebration for the library was a super success, and you've read about it in all the local papers. Many of you haven't visited our township website, though, to see Bob (of Tanapics) photo gallery of the day. Take a few minutes and visit http://www.stirling-rawdon.com/ . Kaily's kids' programs well attended : Our student assistant, Kaily Post, held very popular programs for our younger patrons for both Thanksgiving and Halloween. Every Saturday afternoon (when no special programs are scheduled) Kaily reads to children between 2 -3 pm in the Children's Library. Politics (?!): The huge victory over the incumbent provincial party recently should bode well for libraries. In their two terms the incumbents had first reduced provincial library funding by 40% and then frozen grants at this level when public outcry prevented the complete removal of funding. The library community is hoping for a more positive attitude from the newly elected party. Next Monday, November 10, is the date for municipal elections. Be sure and vote, and make sure your candidate is a library supporter. It is interesting that library support has become an issue in political campaigns, which shows the strength of library support. Yer librarian, Chris
Hooray! We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of community library service with the grand opening of our local history & genealogy room on October 18. The room has already provided dozens of hours of relaxed research facilities for visitors this summer, and we will continue to add and upgrade our current services of free public internet, a base collection of 200 books, microfilm and microfiche readers and displays of paintings and memorabilia. Thanks are due to many people. The room would never have materialized without the vision and unflagging enthusiasm of local historian Lewis Zandbergen. Board member Ian Geerkens kept us encouraged and fund raised a substantial amount, as did our other board members and Friends. And I never would have undertaken the project without 100% confidence in Assistant Librarian Sue Winfield’s willingness to deal with daily library operations, freeing me to coordinate the many aspects of the project. As with most renovations, things spilled over into other areas, resulting in a major sprucing-up of the Children’s Library room as well. Painter Clint Tracey did a great job brightening both downstairs rooms. Carpenter Jeff Fockler took my drawing of a half-eaten donut and created a beautiful wood circulation desk - it often seemed Jeff could read our minds, if not our "blueprints". Brian Kerby of Quinte Business Systems provided computers, cabling and software which were obtained through a government CAP grant, and electricians John London and Don Stewart got us wired. Melanie Linn of Signs of Expression created the beautiful antique-looking sign over the centre’s entrance and the sandwich display board for outside. Children’s Librarian Janet Johnson patiently put up with months of inconvenience and selected the bright colours for the kids’ room. Bob and Barb Dawes visited and are setting us up with an automated cemetery search system, CemSearch. And finally the whole project wouldn’t have seen the light of day without the thousands of dollars in donations by library supporters and local businesses to the fund drives during library week for the past two years. Thank you all! The centre is here - enjoy it! Chris Head Librarian/CEO
100TH BIRTHDAY BASH Oct. 16/03
Birthday Bash this Saturday: We keep getting more and more good news for our program for the 100th birthday Open House this Saturday. Our recently re-elected Member of Provincial Parliament, Leona Dombrowsky, will speak around 3 pm. Other politicians presenting best wishes include Stirling-Rawdon Mayor, Peter Kooistra, and the Deputy Reeve of Centre Hastings, Larry Mitz. President of the Stirling and District Lions Club, Dave Potts, will present the library with a cheque for $1,000. This generous donation helps kick off our third annual fund drive - generous public support in the first two drives has enabled us to renovate the Children’s Library and to build our new Local History & Genealogy room. Chairman of the Library Board, Lewis Zandbergen, will present volunteer awards to Jackie McFee, Volunteer of the Century, Joan and Monte Moorcroft, improvement to the library grounds, and to Jess Bond, representing our Friends of the Library group, for 10 years of fund raising, program organizing and support by the Friends. Other visiting speakers include Ken Bird, Executive Manager of The Ontario Genealogical Society, and Peggy Malcolm, Southern Ontario Library Services (SOLS) representative. Peggy will introduce Ontario Public Library Week, which begins October 20. Mayor Peter Kooistra will speak on the value of the library to our rural community. Peter will also present Township pins to library volunteers and staff, including his granddaughter, Brittany Kooistra, and to Jessica Johnson, Kathy Lutz, Kaily Post, Harrison Hellyer, Ruth Tanner, and Pearl and Nancy Stone. Board member Ian Geerkens is arranging refreshments for the event, which will include snack platters, birthday cake and punch. Several staff members and volunteers are promising to dress in period costume to liven up the afternoon. Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 100 years of community service by our library. Tours of the new Local History & Genealogy room will be available, and Bob and Barb Dawes will be demonstrating CemSearch software. During your visit try to find time to inspect the display of 26 historical photos in the board room organized by Heather Hawkes, Kathy Lutz and Jackie McFee. Heather has also done an excellent job of organizing an historical display in the foyer display cabinet. See you between 2 and 3:30 on Saturday - BE THERE OR BE SQUARE! -as most of us won’t be around for the next big bash in 100 years. Ontario Public Library Week: The third week of October is always library week - this year October 20 through 26. This year’s theme is "Communities Alive", which is exemplified by the exciting activities happening daily at our library. Our annual fund drives are held to coincide with library week. Assistant librarian Sue Winfield has obtained 5 adult and 2 kids’ T-shirts with the slogan "Get Caught Reading" on them. Sue got the shirts from the Canadian Publishers’ Council, and we will be holding a draw for all visitors to the library during library week. There are also great fridge magnets and bookmarks. So come on in and fill in a ballot. Book bags in: Rez Cresting has printed 50 heavy-duty cotton book bags to celebrate our centennial. The bags are a natural cotton colour with dark green trim and book logo with the library name and our centennial dates 1903 - 2003. Everyone donating $40 (or more) to our fund drive will receive a complimentary bag (& if you already have a good book bag, think Christmas present). Friends Open Meeting: Next Tuesday, Oct. 21, our Friends group is holding an open meeting in hopes of recruiting new members. I’ll be there to lead a tour of the library and to discuss our services and ideas or suggestions. Refreshments will be served at the meeting, which is between 7:30 and 8:30 pm. Chris
Sept. 24/03 LIBRARYLAND ROCKIN’ AT 100!!!
Open House/ Grand Opening/ 100th Birthday Party : The library board will be celebrating many things at our open house on Saturday, October 18th at 2 pm. We will be holding a ribbon cutting to open our new local history & genealogy room and to admire the renovations to our children’s library. Everyone is invited to help us celebrate 100 years of providing literacy and information services to our rural community, and we will also be honouring the 10th anniversary of our Friends of the Library group. Special presentations will be made to several volunteers, including our "volunteer of the century" Jackie McFee. Everyone is invited to attend, and snack platters, cake and punch will be served. Tours of the new centre will be given to those wanting more information. Several board members have promised to dress in period costumes, Heather Hawkes, Kathy Lutz and Jackie McFee are organizing a display of historical pictures and there are other possible surprises in store ... The open house will kick off Ontario Library Week, and also our third annual library board fund drive. Very successful fund drives for the past two years have provided funding for the local history room and children’s library renovations. We are keeping fingers and toes crossed that we will receive in time a shipment of 50 heavy-duty cotton book bags with the library name and 100th anniversary dates imprinted. And we are hoping that we will receive good news from the Ontario Trillium Foundation regarding our application for a grant for a state-of-the-art microfilm reader and printer. Mark October 18th on your calendar and we’ll see you there to celebrate our first 100 years! Friends rockin’ too: Our Friends of the Library group held a very well attended meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 23. I’m glad to see Jess Bond and several other Friends in better health and eager to breathe new energy into the Friends. In their first decade the Friends organized dozens of events for the library and fund raised many thousands of dollars. On Tuesday evening, October 21, the Friends will be holding an open meeting to recruit new members. It is supporters like the Friends who have kept the library energized through its first hundred years, and they would greatly appreciate some "fresh blood" to keep going. On Sunday, November 16, they will be holding another Authors’ Night at Coulter’s Book Shop. These readings are a chance to listen to local authors in the cozy setting of Nancy Coulter’s and Peter Wilson’s store. On a sad note, past Chair of the Friends, Liz Blakely, is moving to the artistic community of Bloomfield in Prince Edward County. Thank you, Liz, for your friendship and support. Pre-schoolers wanna read & rock: For the 16th year parents will be organizing the pre- school program "Read with Me". Nathalie Lacroix has agreed to coordinate the programs for a fourth year, and Sue Winfield will again be our library liaison. For information on these Wednesday morning sessions please call Nathalie at 395-4103. Reading with Kaily: Our student assistant, Kaily Post, will again be reading to youngsters on Saturday afternoons between 2 and 3 pm. Boogey down! Chris *** local history room updates
Our new local
history and genealogy room is now open for limited use. We have installed
a fourth free public internet station behind the privacy screen built
by I have developed
a base collection of 200 books on Stirling and area history and books
on doing genealogy research. Please visit our new centre and see what Alan Coxwell
recently donated two computer stands to the centre, saving the library
hundreds of dollars and making the use of our new computers much more Local sign maker
Melanie Linn has installed a beautiful historic-looking sign for the
room and a sandwich board for outside the library advertising the centre
and our There is still some work to be done on the room but we are now open for use. Please visit and sign the guest book and take a trip down memory lane. Chris
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