On April 5, Friends of the Newton Library gathered in the Library’s lobby to celebrate its 150th anniversary and the beginning of National Library Week. They gave out candy bars to a steady stream of people passing through, and balloons to children. The occasion marked the presentation of a check for $16,150 to Jill Mercurio, the Library’s Director, and Jean Notis-McConarty, president of the Library’s Board of Trustees.
Alice Fink, the Friends President, explained that the check reflected gifts from a wide range of the Library’s friends, including people who made cash contributions, people who purchased books from the Friends Book Sale to support the library, people who bought Friends canvas bags and Pooh Bear notecards, and those who bought tickets to the Mini Golf event.
“These are love notes from the Community to our Library. We love this Library. And with things that we love, we need to continuously care for it. There’s a lot happening outside of the Library these days, but community still happens here, learning still happens here, and the sharing of ideas still happens here,” Ms. Fink told assembled Friends and Trustees.
Sharon Stout, Vice President of the Library’s Board of Trustees, said, “We are very proud of the Friends of the Newton Free Library’s continuous support. This is an amazing way to kick off National Library Week.”
Among the things that are happening outside the library are Executive Orders, including the one from President Trump on March 28 reducing the funding for the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) , thereby threatening a range of services that local libraries receive from the $3.6 million that the IMLS awards the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). On April 1, the entire IMLS staff was placed on administrative leave, and it is unclear if they will return to work. According to the Newton Free Library website, cuts to IMLS will be felt across the entire state, including in Newton. Federal funds support the state’s Library eBooks and Audiobooks (LEA) platform. They fund research databases, including the Boston Globe, Britannica Online, Peterson’s Test Prep. And they also fund the Commonwealth Catalog for those requesting materials beyond the Minuteman system.
Director Mercurio told Fig City News, “We’re following this situation closely. The MBLC has assured libraries that our access to state-provided, IMLS-funded resources are secure through June 30.” At the same time, she noted, “With Attorney General Campbell joining other AGs across the country in suing the Administration, we don’t know how this step might slow or thwart defunding the agency.”
Within the Library, the staff, Friends, and Trustees are looking forward to the year-long celebration of its 150 years serving readers from Newton and surrounding communities. Director Mercurio promises an array of celebratory events, among them “a community contest to design a limited-edition library card, a literary walking tour with Historic Newton, behind-the-scenes tours of the Library, displays from the Library’s archives, and a major celebratory event in November to mark when a legislative act passed the Newton Free Library to the control of the City of Newton for ‘the free use of the citizens forever.’ ”
