Page 231 - BOXFORD

188 Washington Street. Boxford residents and consortium patrons continued to access
the stored materials through the requests process. After the expansion and renovation,
completed in December, the percentage of books in storage fell from 66% to just around
40% of the overall collection. The greatest increase in the browse able collection was
seen in the Children’s Collection, rising to 70% available in the main library.

Through year’s end, the Boxford Town Library was under the leadership of Kevin
Bourque, Library Director, Josh Kennedy, Children’s Librarian, Beth Safford, Head of
Reference, and Darsana Barua, Head of Circulation. The library also had a full
complement of staff, two Library Assistants for Circulation, Library Assistant for
Administrative Services and a Part-time Library Assistant. With this full complement of
staff, the Library is able to be open to the public 50 hours per week.

Library Services and Programs

In 2016, the Boxford Library offered a variety of children’s programs, implemented by
Children’s Librarian Josh Kennedy. These ranged from preschool storytimes and the
monthly Lego building club for older children, to seasonal events such as the annual
Halloween party, and the Spring Egg Hunt. The Friends of the Library generously
supported these events.

The library’s annual Summer Reading Program for children featured the fitness theme
“Ready, Set, Read!” There were 301 participants who earned free admission and ride
passes to the Topsfield Fair, as well as free books, provided by the Friends of the Library,
for meeting reading goals in the summer. In addition, the Library hosted five special
summer youth events, including “Ready, Set, Show,” featuring Caravan Puppets, and
“Woodland Wonders” featuring Michelle’s Menagerie.

Adult programs and events are planned and implemented by staff members and
complemented by offerings from volunteers and the Friends. The Cookbook Club
continues to be a very popular adult program which meets at the Town Hall location in
Meeting Room One on the second Friday of the month. Participants choose a recipe from
the featured cookbook, prepare and bring it to the luncheon, where it is shared by all.
One addition to Adult Programming was the Wednesday Night Book Discussion Group.
The group became so popular a daytime book discussion group spun off as a result.

The Library continued its commitment to borrowable technology. We expanded our
collection of Playaways, with more offerings for older children. The number of Kindle
titles continues to grow on a quarterly basis. In the fall, our Overdrive collection was
merged with the consortium shared collection as part of the Merrimack Valley Library
Consortium’s continued effort to bolster shared access to the entire consortium’s
collection, digital and print.

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