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Peabody Institute Library reports high use and expands services; director warns of grant cuts
Summary
Library Director Noelle Monk told the Friends of the Peabody Institute Library annual meeting that the library saw large patronage last year, highlighted new services funded by an IMLS LSTA grant and public-health partnerships, and previewed summer programs and a book sale.
Noelle Monk, director of the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers, told the Friends of the Peabody Institute Library annual meeting that the library saw heavy use last fiscal year and has added several service lines to meet community needs.
Monk said the library recorded roughly 228,455 visits, 324,373 materials checked out and 9,492 program attendees last year, with about half of program attendance coming from children's events. "We are a very well used place," Monk said.
Monk highlighted services the library has added or expanded: American Sign Language interpretation for programs paid for by an IMLS LSTA grant, an expanded "Library of Things" that now includes sewing machines, hot pots, microscopes and blood-pressure monitors, expanded community outreach visits to senior and assisted-living facilities, and on-site Naloxone (Narcan) and fentanyl test strips distributed in partnership with the public health department. "This is provided by a grant," Monk said of the ASL interpretation, adding that patrons should "reach out to your congresspeople ... to support the Institute of Museum and Library Services."
The Friends’ museum-pass program remains heavily used: organizers said the group now offers about 18 passes that cover institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, the New England Aquarium and the Harvard Museum of Natural History; friends reported 1,222 pass checkouts between February and April of this year, up from 1,119 last year.
Monk also previewed the library’s summer programming: children's, teen and adult summer-reading programs will run beginning in June, with weekly raffles and a final grand-prize drawing for adult participants. Meeting organizers announced book drop-off for the annual Friends book sale will begin June 2, members preview on June 10 and the sale will run through June 14.
Monk warned that some services depend on grant funding and urged civic engagement. "That money that we have for this grant to pay for interpreters ... comes from [IMLS]," she said. "It's luckily it's a two‑year grant, so I already have money in the bank for that. But that money affects us directly."
