Every year a group of volunteer Friends of the Meredith Library plant and maintain the gardens at the library.
Like the song says, “You Gotta Have Friends.”
The Sue Palmatier Award for Outstanding Support by a “Friends of the Library” Group recognizes the tremendous value of the Friends of the Library. On October 12, 2018, NHLTA board members Ed Moran, Mark Branoff and Conrad Moses presented the award to the Friends of the Kimball Library in Atkinson.
The Kimball Library was established in 1894, but it was not until 1972 that a Friends group was organized. They started off with a bang – building a new library that opened in 1975. The population of Atkinson continued to grow and 33 years later, the Friends did it again: the new Kimball Library opened in 2008. Once the building project was approved, the Friends formed a 501(c)(3) organization; their fund-raising was so successful that the “Legacy Fund” continues to be used for additional enhancements to the facility.
Other accomplishments: the popcorn machine that helps make the library the most popular place in town. Informational packets about Atkinson that are given to all new residents and an electronic sign that keeps patrons informed about current and upcoming library programs. Since the sign has been in place, program attendance has increased significantly. The Friends have also helped make the purchase of a generator possible as well as contributed to the library’s electricity conservation project which involved changing every light bulb in the library to LED bulbs, which has already produced a savings of 15% from the library’s annual electricity budget. Congratulations to the Friends of the Kimball Library – as it states on the library’s website, they could not be more deserving!
The Converse Library Little Free Library in Lyme includes an attached bench for comfortable browsing.
It was designed and built by the Lyme School Principal with materials purchased by the Friends of Converse Library and is located on the Lyme Common.
Every year the Friends Group presents a book to each child in kindergarten.
