Town of Bennington 1998 Annual Report

The book collection now totals 16,281 books. A total of 943 volumes were added; 679 adult, and 264 juvenile. New acquisitions included donations, gift books, and purchases from book sale profits. There were 801 discards to make room for new items. The Large Print collection has been expanded, as has the audio-visual collection which now totals 169 pieces in both juvenile and adult collections.

Circulation remains strong. Total circulation was over 16,000 with almost fifty percent from the juvenile collection. Average circulation per month was over 1,300.

Interlibrary loan continues as an important service. McCullough patron requests for 93 items were filled through ILL, and139 ILL requests were filled by McCullough Library. Once again, McCullough Library has met standards with the Vermont Department of Libraries.

Programs for young patrons included the seasonal Stow Time for pre-schoolers, the Summer Reading Program "Books Ahoy", the Mark Twain Club, after school programs like Board Games, Red Clover book discussion and Scary Stories at Hallowe'en time, Reading with Partners of Juvenile Classics, and "Bedtime for Bears" for toddlers in the summer time.

Programs for adult patrons included Winter Chamber Music concerts, Wednesday Night Specials such as Readings by local authors, and a lecture/slide presentation by Charles Burroughs, and a workshop on miniatures led by Elsine LaCroix. Book sales were held in June and in September.

McCullough Library is a recipient of a grant for a Compaq computer with accessories to provide public access to the Internet. This service will be available in early 1999.

Carol Gaillard has joined the staff as the New Children's Librarian. The library schedule continues to offer service for 26 hours per week: Mon. and Wed. 2:30-8:30 P.M.; Tues. 10 A.M.-12 noon; Tues., Thurs., Fri. 2:30-5:30 P.M.; Sat. 10 A.M.-1P.M.

Respectfully submitted,
Guli Hendrickson, Librarian