2016 Annual Report

2016 was a year of new challenges for both the the town of Orange and the Orange Public Libraries. Regular activity at the libraries continued, with the library collections and the public computers seeing steady use not only for pleasure but also for local history research and job hunting. Children’s programming drew even more families into the Wheeler Library, with new Children's Librarian Jason Sullivan Flynn leading the youth of Orange through a successful 2016 Summer Reading program.

The library's on-line presence has continued to expand as well. Our library website, blog, Facebook page, and Virtual Branch Library provide resources such as downloadable audio-books and e-books, digital magazines, various databases, and genealogy resources, and our knowledgeable staff continue to assist patrons in accessing other state resource, such as the Boston Public Library digital catalog and databases.

September of 2016 brought the end of Manuel King's long tenure with the Orange Libraries, when he accepted a position of director at the Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon. He will be sorely missed by both his coworkers and patrons, but we wish him all the best in his new job. January of 2017 brought the retirement of Candace Curran, another longtime employee of the library. 2016-2017 brought several new faces to the library staff as well, as Riana Freytag, Shawnee Shaw, and Todd Ladeau all joined the adult department, and Meghan Doyle joined the Children's department as a student worker.

The Library Trustees assembled a Library Building Committee consisting of the director, Jessica Magelaner, trustees Robin Schtulman and Candace Cross, Victoria Deneault, Deborah Kent, and Joanne Woodcock, in order to apply for a construction grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to address ongoing accessibility and space issues at Wheeler. The Building Committee, working with the Library Trustees and the town Selectboard, hired P3 to serve as the OPM for the project and Johnson and Roberts to draft the initial design. At the special town meeting on April 3, the town voted to approve the application, and the Building Committee and Trustees are looking forward to hearing the state's decision on the grant.

The library remains, as ever, grateful for the continuing support of the Friends organization and our friends in the community at large. Throughout the year the library was able to bring many wonderful programs to the community through the support of the Friends, including the annual book sale and tag sale, the fourth annual Robert P. Collén Poetry Competition, numerous exciting children's programs, and continued outreach to the community through participation in community events.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Trustees

Jessica Magelaner, Library Director