Holley library continues to look for ways to best serve the community

Editor:

The annual budget for New York State was passed on May 2, and once again funding for public libraries has suffered. In the previous year, New York State allotted just under $134 million to the New York Public Library System. This year, the monies allotted have been reduced to a total of $110 million—an 18% decrease of nearly $24 million dollars.

At the Holley Community Free Library, the staff and Board of Trustees strive to live up to the library’s mission statement by offering “effective, expanding and free library services” to its patrons in both Holley and the surrounding towns. We continue to offer programs for all ages, including the Wacky Wednesday craft programs for youth and adults alike, the weekly children’s story hours with their accompanying activities, monthly book clubs for both young adult and adult readers, and free computer and internet access for the community.

Over the past year we used our “fine-free” return week as an opportunity to collect non-perishable food items, and the donated “decorations” on our annual holiday Hat and Mitten Tree were given to the Holley Community Center.

We’ve delivered library materials to house-bound patrons and held a Christmas Cards for Vets program that sent more than 500 holiday cards to the Veterans Home in Batavia. We also rotate the lending library at Holley Gardens on a regular basis and have acted as a sponsor for Boy Scout Troop 59’s Easter Egg Hunt and their Blue and Gold Dinner.

As we move forward, we are continually on the lookout for new ways to improve our offerings and services to the community. After the years of quarantine, we were able to reinstate our annual Wine Tasting fundraiser over this past weekend, and we welcomed the chance to spend time with our patrons in a purely social setting.

We are also currently collaborating with the GO ART! program out of Batavia and will soon have a wonderful town mural on the back of our building for everyone to enjoy, painted by beloved former teacher, Tony Barry.

And as of our last meeting, we have purchased licensing rights to show free movies in the library, and we look forward to reinstating movie nights at the library in the near future. All of the aforementioned activities are being provided with no tax increases to the community.

As we continue to serve the community, we are both working with local organizations and writing grant applications in order to keep our expenses down. This year, the library has proposed a modest budget increase of 3 percent that will be spent predominantly on staff salaries, and we currently are in the process of scheduling interviews for our open children’s librarian position.

As president of the Holley Community Free Library’s Board of Trustees, I urge the Holley community members to remember to go out vote on Tuesday, May 16. Voting will be held in the foyer of the Holley Middle/High School, and the polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Jillian S. Hazzard

President, Board of Trustees

Holley Community Free Library