Dear Morrisville Residents,
This Monday evening, the Selectboard voted to not fund the library without a budget in place. This means that the library currently has enough money to operate until September 30th. After that time, the library will have to close. Our six employees will not be paid after September 30.
This is heart wrenching. Working at a library is a labor of love. Because we are a nonprofit public library our employees are not employees of the Town. We don’t receive the benefits of Town employees, nor their pay levels. We work at the Library because we care for this community and believe deeply in the work we do.
Our staff have worked tirelessly to create a vibrant space that supports and welcomes all members of our community. This past year, Morristown Centennial Library offered more programs than any other library in the state- including libraries in Burlington and Rutland. This is not due to an increase in our budget, but rather the creativity of our staff and our commitment to pursuing grants. This is something our Town should be proud of- instead we may be forced to close. Last week we helped people who lost their homes to flooding fill out forms for monetary support, helped multiple patrons navigate the DMV and unemployment websites and made 13 new library cards.
But we are more than that. In June, we had an average of 200 visitors a day. That’s 200 people in our community who used our resources; older folks who took free yoga classes, kids and teens who participated in programs, and adults joining our book club. Morrisville is the 79th largest city in Vermont, but our library is the 9th busiest.
This library has served the town of Morrisville since 1891 with the mission “to disseminate useful knowledge and to contribute in every proper way to the literary, moral, and educational welfare of the community.” Aside from a brief closure during our renovation in 2014 and during Covid, the library has fulfilled this mission for the last 132 years. We function as a safety net for our most vulnerable residents, a place of connection for our eldest residents, and a place of opportunity and enrichment for our youth.
Please tell the Morristown Selectboard to fund the Library now with the same monthly appropriation that we received last year and that is necessary to keep our doors open.
Thank you,
Kendra Aber-Ferri
Library Director
This Monday evening, the Selectboard voted to not fund the library without a budget in place. This means that the library currently has enough money to operate until September 30th. After that time, the library will have to close. Our six employees will not be paid after September 30.
This is heart wrenching. Working at a library is a labor of love. Because we are a nonprofit public library our employees are not employees of the Town. We don’t receive the benefits of Town employees, nor their pay levels. We work at the Library because we care for this community and believe deeply in the work we do.
Our staff have worked tirelessly to create a vibrant space that supports and welcomes all members of our community. This past year, Morristown Centennial Library offered more programs than any other library in the state- including libraries in Burlington and Rutland. This is not due to an increase in our budget, but rather the creativity of our staff and our commitment to pursuing grants. This is something our Town should be proud of- instead we may be forced to close. Last week we helped people who lost their homes to flooding fill out forms for monetary support, helped multiple patrons navigate the DMV and unemployment websites and made 13 new library cards.
But we are more than that. In June, we had an average of 200 visitors a day. That’s 200 people in our community who used our resources; older folks who took free yoga classes, kids and teens who participated in programs, and adults joining our book club. Morrisville is the 79th largest city in Vermont, but our library is the 9th busiest.
This library has served the town of Morrisville since 1891 with the mission “to disseminate useful knowledge and to contribute in every proper way to the literary, moral, and educational welfare of the community.” Aside from a brief closure during our renovation in 2014 and during Covid, the library has fulfilled this mission for the last 132 years. We function as a safety net for our most vulnerable residents, a place of connection for our eldest residents, and a place of opportunity and enrichment for our youth.
Please tell the Morristown Selectboard to fund the Library now with the same monthly appropriation that we received last year and that is necessary to keep our doors open.
Thank you,
Kendra Aber-Ferri
Library Director