Friends of the
Weeks Public Library
The Friends File
April Friends File: Support Our Library – in Concord Today!
Our own Marcia McLaughlin, who along with her husband Craig, was voted Greenland Person(s) of the Year in 2021, urges those of us who love libraries to take legislative action pronto. Marcia, in her role as President, of the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association, recently shared this letter of concern on a bill before the legislature:
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NHLTA strongly opposes HB 456, a bill that threatens free speech and limits the ability of municipalities -- including public libraries -- to advocate for the needs of their communities. While aimed at the New Hampshire Municipal Association HB 456’s sweeping restrictions have far-reaching impacts on organizations like NHLTA, which provide advocacy, training, and support for library trustees across the state. The bill’s vague and arbitrary distinction between “providing information” and “lobbying” will have a chilling effect on the ability of trustees and this association to speak out on policy matters, cutting off communication between local trustees and lawmakers in Concord.
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Moreover, HB 456 is not about fiscal responsibility or government transparency -- it’s about silencing local voices and weakening the ability of communities to shape the policies that affect them directly. We urge all New Hampshire residents to contact their representatives and demand a NO vote on HB 456. Public libraries thrive when trustees can advocate for them -- this bill would take that right away. The bill is going to the House floor on Wednesday, March 26, or Thursday, March 27, with a 7-4 recommendation of ought-to-pass (OTP) from the House Legislative Administration Committee.
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We are urging everyone to contact their representatives in the House now and tell them to VOTE NO on HB 456. Marcia McLaughlin, President, NHLTA Board of Directors. This is all taking place fairly quickly! The mission of the Friends of Weeks Library is “to generate public interest in and support of the library and to support and enhance the library’s connection with the wider community”.
The Friends is not a political organization; we take no part in public political debate. This is not that. This is a bill that will directly affect our library and libraries across the state by potentially limiting our trustees and our staff’s ability to deliver the kinds and qualities of programs and services that meet the needs of our Greenland community. And in many ways our library lies at the heart of Greenland.
In Greenland our representatives are: Dennis Malloy, Jaci Grote, and Peggy Balboni.
-David Phreaner, Chair
The Friends File
Archive:
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Information about the Friends:
The Friends of the Weeks Public Library is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization comprised of volunteers dedicated to encouraging and promoting our beautiful new library and enhancing its many services.
We cordially invite you to join the Friends. We meet the second Monday of every month (except for July and August), at 6:30 p.m. in the library’s Conference Room.
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The Friends of the Weeks Public Library provide:
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Museum passes
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Annual Summer Reading Program and reading incentives
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Youth programs and holiday events
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Adult programs that contribute to Greenland’s educational and cultural life
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Ongoing book sale
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Public support and good public relations for the library
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We are independent of the library’s Board of Trustees and focus our energies on providing financial support for items not covered in the town budget for the library. Since our beautiful new library is now four times larger than before, those needs are greater than ever. Please help us ensure that the Weeks Public Library delivers the services, resources, and programming that we have all come to enjoy. Won’t you become a member?
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Would you like to join the Friends? To view our brochure, click here.
Previous Posts:
National Library Workers Day
We recently celebrated National Library Workers Day on April 25th, and the Friends of the Weeks Public Library presented our staff with a nice plant and a gift card! We cannot thank our beloved staff enough for their loyalty & dedication to our library, and we're "Forever Grateful" to the Friends for their continued support & recognition of our wonderful staff!
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Awards
On Nov. 17, 2022, Katrinka Pellecchia of the New Hampshire Library Trustee Association presented the Friends of the Weeks Library with the 2022 Sue Palmatier Award for Friends Group of the Year. Friends Stuart Bauder, Debra Miesfeldt, and Phyllis Picha gleefully accepted the award. This award was in recognition of the Friends' successful "Bookmarking the Future" Campaign to raise funds for the renovation and addition to the Weeks Public Library in Greenland, NH. The reception was held in the living room of the library's newly renovated historic building.
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Fundraisers
We are Forever Grateful! The Friends of the Weeks Public Library are pleased to announce that we received a February grant of $6,156.78 from The Fabulous Find in Kittery! We were thrilled to be the recipients of such a generous donation which will be used to provide enhanced library services to the Greenland community. The Friends of the Weeks Public Library is so grateful for this amazing grant and honored to be part of The Fabulous Find’s long tradition of giving back to the community. We cannot thank them enough for selecting our library as a grant recipient and know that our library patrons will also be thrilled.
Fabulous Find is a boutique-style resale shop at 139 State Rd. (Route 1) in Kittery that identifies non-profits to support with the boutique’s income. All profits from the boutique are donated each month to local non-profits. The busier the month, the greater the donations back to the community. You can learn more about The Fabulous Find at their website: http://www.thefabulousfind.org.
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The Weeks Public Library is located at 36 Post Rd. in Greenland and offers a wide array of library materials, programs and ever-increasing services to Greenland’s youth and adults. We have recently greatly expanded our facility and are expanding services and programming to satisfy the growing need. Our grant received from The Fabulous Find will assist us in those efforts. Please stop in soon or visit us 24/7 at weekslibrary.org.