Thursday, July 8, 2010

Apalachicola Librarian reports increased activity

At the July 6 regular scheduled meeting, the Apalachicola Board of City Commissioners heard a report of increased activity at the municipal library.

City Librarian Caty Greene reported that the summer reading program has seen a sharp rise in the number of young patrons during the month of June.

Greene told commissioners that children visiting the library last month had checked out nearly 500 books, compared to the 30 to 80 books checked out during prior months.

The librarian also announced the extension of their summer reading program.

Starting July 12, the summer reading program will continue for an additional three weeks. On Monday mornings at Project Impact, the extended program will target four different age groups with reading aloud and crafts and again on Wednesday mornings at the library.

Monetary donations and the contribution of books are also on the rise.

The Franklin County Educational Foundation, the Rotary Club, and the Philaco Women’s Club, donated last month a combined total of $900 to the library coffers, and a grant from the Tapper Foundation, enabled the library to increase its collection of books on Florida.

In addition, Cleo and Dixie Partington generously donated a large quantity of books from the late Rex Partington’ private library collection.

Greene further reported that the library has also seen a boost in income received from user fees.

As with other local businesses, the presence of BP contractors in the community has contributed to a boost in miscellaneous income at the library. The contractors have utilized library resources to make copies, send, and receive faxes and other office type services.

With the extra income, the library was able to fulfill two outstanding requests, the purchase of an outdoor bulletin board and a bicycle rack.

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