The Board of Trustees have approved a 2024 budget for the Roxbury Library.

The Roxbury Library is pleased to announce that our staff of dedicated volunteers have taken on a new project for themselves!  They are creating ten pillowcases in conjunction with Ryan’s Case for Smiles to Albany Medical Center pediatric patients.  Sewing began on January 3 and will continue until all pillowcases are completed.  Ryan’s Case for Smiles (formerly ConKerr Cancer) was founded in 2007 to bring comfort and support to young patients and their families in hospitals around the globe.  They started with a simple goal:  to create and distribute whimsical pillowcases that give children an emotional boost and remind them that they are not defined by their illness.  Today, Ryan’s Case for Smiles programs have expanded to include the children’s entire families so they can better navigate and cope with a very difficult experience and avoid long term emotional trauma.

Volunteers involved in this project were Sarah Porter - organizer, Maggie Pebler, Kathy Zummo, Roxanne Lindner, and Chris Durham (not pictured).

Bloom of Margaretville, owners Lori and Katie Rosa, will be distributing the completed pillowcases to Albany Medical Center.

For more information, consult https://caseforsmiles.org/miles-of-pillowcase-smiles-2023/

We’re in a clearing-out mood!  We’ve started with Adult Fiction, beginning with “A” authors.  Get ready for the winter by beefing up your reading material.  And what a bargain:  fill a bag for $1.00!!

Thank you for your support today and every day.

The Roxbury Library staff, volunteers, and Board members recently attended a meeting of the Roxbury Town Board and made the following presentation:

The support of the Town Board is vital to the day to day operations of the Library, and we could not function without these funds.  We are here tonight with our volunteers, staff, and Library Board members to ask that the  Town contribution to the Library be increased from the proposed $20,000, which would represent $8.90 per capita annually.  While we deeply appreciate the contribution, our operating costs have increased along with the cost of living.  The Town’s previous contribution has been $17,500 since 2019 with total tax income per capita chartered to serve at $7.79: at this rate, we rank #37 of the 42 libraries within the Four County Library System in terms of local government contribution.

The Roxbury Library is unusual in what we offer to our community at large.  In addition to the usual library services we offer free WiFi, four patron computers, printers and copiers including a wireless option, and a fax.  Many local residents who don’t have WiFi at home use ours for free and a large number of people come in to print various papers:  return shipping labels, DMV and DSS paperwork, etc.  We have a Notary Public on staff, services free of charge.  We now have a lighted front outdoor area for WiFi users as well, creating a safer space after dark.  We are the only source of public computers, printing, and WiFi in town.

During COVID we were open for abbreviated hours as well as for curb-side service, which we still offer.  This was extremely important during the pandemic:  when so many businesses in town were closed - we were available.  We’ve since reopened with expanded hours including an early start on weekdays of 8:30 which has been convenient for many of our patrons.  We’ve hosted Tuesday Forums throughout the year, a Summer Reading program in conjunction with RCS, a Saturday presentation for First Time Home Buyers, a Breast Cancer Survivors Support Group, school groups, a new Toddler reading group, a non-fiction reading group, and a poetry group is being organized by Writers in the Mountains.  We are also the major collection point for the local food pantry donations.

There are four major sources of income besides the Town contribution for the Library, including the Thrift Shoppe, Silent Auction, Holiday Bazaar, and the Annual Appeal letter is sent to all postal customers in the RCS district of Roxbury, Grand Gorge, Denver, Vega, and Halcottsville.  We watch every penny spent, and we are careful stewards of funds.

The Thrift Shoppe income is a crucial part of our financial picture and during 2022 provided approximately 25% of our total income.  The Thrift provides an invaluable service to the Roxbury community by offering low-priced quality items to all and also donating clothing to families in need and to school children at RCS.

We’ve recently been awarded two grants - one primarily to update a dangerous electrical situation and the latest one will provide us with six new computers.  But, without additional assistance for operating expenses:  heating oil, utilities, salaries, snow plowing, etc., new technology and safer electrics will not keep our doors open.

The Roxbury Library is the hub of our community: it’s the one place where all can gather - long term residents, new residents, visitors, and those passing through.  Thank you so much for your support.

As you drive by the Roxbury Library between dusk and dawn, you’ll see our Library looking friendly and light!  The Library offers free WiFi, so users after hours will now have a lighted, safer outdoor area to use.  In addition to the outside lighting, we were also able to update our interior electrical outlets as well as new fan/lights in our rest rooms.

Earlier this year, we were also able to purchase a wireless copier, allowing our patrons to print directly from cell phones or tablets.  We are the only source for this service in Roxbury, so offering the ability to print was very important to residents as well as visitors.

All this work was made possible by a grant from the Community Fund for South Central New York.  Our sincere thanks to all at the Community Fund, as well as a big thank you to Jeff Haynes of Haynes Electric.

Ellen Stewart leads a group of non-fiction book lovers that meet monthly.  Please contact Ellen at 607-326-4340 or email at peacebaby@catskill.net.  The next meeting will be September 28, location to be announced, so contact Ellen to find out!  Below are the titles of upcoming books to be discussed:

September:  Empty Mansions by Nina Sankovitch

October:  Daisy Bates in the Desert by Julia Blackburn

November:  Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman

December: South to America by Imani Perry

January:  Deep by James Nestor

February:  Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky

March:  Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley

April:  The Flag, The Cross, and the Station Wagon by Bill McGibbon

May:  Life with Picasso by Francoise Gilot

June:  Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch