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May 25 Newsletter

May 25 Newsletter

HPL Newsletter May 25

May 01, 2025

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What’s new at the library?

Cooking with Caleigh

Upcoming Programs

Calendar of Events

Art Exhibit

Friends of the Library

Be on the lookout for literary quote bookmarks coming soon,

courtesy of the Friends of the Library!

Wellness reads for May

Slow Productivity: the lost art of accomplishment without burnout by Cal Newport
Beyond Anxiety: curiosity, creativity, and finding your life’s purpose by Martha Beck
Dopamine Nation: Finding balance in the age of indulgence by Anna Lembke, MD
Your Brain Needs a Hug by Rae Earl
On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety by Andrea Petersen
Why has Nobody Told Me This Before by Dr. Julie Smith
Atomic Habits by James Clear

Recommend a Book

Read a really good book recently that you think other people should read as well? Let us know and we’ll share it in a future newsletter!

Request a Recommendation

Want a personalized recommendation? Fill out the form to let us know what kind of book you’re looking for!

Suggest an Item for purchase

Want to read, watch, or listen to something the library doesn’t own? Let us know and we will consider purchasing it for our collection.

New Books

From the Director

Before we begin talking about initiatives that exist beyond our budget, I just want to remind you to vote on the Library’s annual tax levy increase at the Hamilton Central School on May 20. This levy funds more than half of our annual budget, and it keeps our lights on, fills our shelves with a high-quality collection of materials, and ensures that we have a full roster of wonderful staff members to help you with all your library needs. Maintaining that budget and its annual increase is paramount to our success as an institution.

But what if we want to try something new? The budget that we have is great, but it only accounts for existing library programs and services. If we want, for example, a SmartBoard, we need to think more creatively about how to fund a project of that magnitude. Speaking of our new SmartBoard…

In February 2022, a local public librarian (Liz Metzger from Canastota) secured funding for $50,000 for all Madison county libraries to spend on “technical equipment.” This grant was awarded through State Senator May’s office and the State and Municipal (SAM) Facilities Capital Program. As there are ten public libraries in the county, we were awarded $5,000 towards this project.

Once we determined our project (to purchase the SmartBoard), all we had to do was wait for the grant to process. After two years, the SmartBoard was finally ordered! Of course, with that long delay, the price increased, and the $5,000 grant was now mostly funding the project. In addition, we needed to order a $600 stand, as mounting it on the wall turned out to be a less viable option. Luckily, we have a community that is full of people and organizations willing to help out. The Friends of the Library, our go-to source for out-of-budget funding, purchased the stand and part of the remainder of the cost to the Board, and the Rotary Club of Hamilton contributed the remaining funds after using it as a karaoke machine during an event for Rotary Exchange Students here in February. Thanks to these two groups, we’re now equipped with a much more elegant and simple presentation tool for everyone in the community to use!

Another new initiative we explored this year was StackMap, which is software that integrates with our catalog to create a “treasure map” for every item in our building. If you search for something in our 20,000-piece collection, now there is a small button that points you to its location on the shelf! Of course you can still ask a staff member to help if you need it, but this will save many of our patrons time and energy looking for some of the more difficult-to-find items. This initiative was supported by the Hamilton Community Chest. This organization has helped the library fund many fun projects during my time here, and it is always wonderful to collaborate with them on new projects.

Lastly, a project that has only just been announced, the expansion of our outdoor recreation equipment library funded through Hamilton Chamber of Commerce 5K! The proceeds of their run on June 21 will now go to benefit a collection of items to encourage folks to get outside and stay active year-round. Snowshoes, binoculars, hiking poles, hammocks and more will soon be available through this partnership right here at the library! Sign up for the 5K here, and if you’re not sure if a 5K is for you, then join us for a training run every Tuesday at 6 pm and see what the course is like! Still don’t like running? You can volunteer to help with the 5K by sending me an email at [email protected].

Thank you so much to the Hamilton Community Chest, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, Hamilton Rotary Club, and the Friends of the Hamilton Public Library for your continued support. Thanks also to all of you that donate to those wonderful organizations, and for visiting our library. It is a pleasure working with you all to improve our community one grant at a time.