Would you like to be involved in the future of the Royalton Memorial Library?
Thank you for your support and interest in the library’s expansion and renovation! We would love to talk with you to share more information about the plans and the fundraising efforts. You can get in touch with Library Director Greg Tisher by calling 802-763-7094 or emailing librarian@royaltonlibrary.org
What We Do
The Royalton Memorial Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has provided library services and programs for the people of South Royalton, Vt., and surrounding rural communities since the 1920s.
We run youth summer reading programs, story times for toddlers and preschoolers, book discussion groups, and other literacy, educational, cultural, scientific, historical and artistic programs and community events; offer public computers and free internet access; provide a safe and welcoming public place for children, teens and adults to read, study, work and learn – and, yes, we maintain a robust lending library of great books for all ages.
Demand for and use of library services continues to increase. In fiscal year 2015, for instance, 7,029 people visited the library, a 9% increase over the previous year, and circulation of books and other library materials increased 12% to 9,698 total items borrowed. Last year we provided 175 juvenile and adult programs, which attracted 2,669 people (a 46% increase). Our eight-week- long youth summer reading program in 2015 saw participation by 388 – a 63% increase over 2014 – with 16,935 total summer reading minutes recorded by elementary-school-aged children.
Why We Need to Grow
Unfortunately, in its current shape our 90-year- old building is increasingly unable to accommodate this rising demand for library services. Its most troubling feature is its lack of handicapped accessibility. It also suffers from a deteriorating heating system, electrical deficiencies, lack of adequate secondary fire egress and other life-safety failures – a situation which almost had the state building inspector close us in late 2014. Additionally, the building’s cramped, 1,100-square- foot finished spaces do not provide the physical room necessary to meet existing, much less future, needs of modern library users.
We want to preserve and restore the historic aspects of our town’s public library while providing much needed handicapped access as well as additional space for books, media, juvenile and adult programs, and places to read, study, work and learn. We have engaged the services of architect Jay White, of Montpelier, and Upland Construction, of Woodstock, and have embarked on Building the Next Chapter, a campaign for preserving, renovating and expanding our historic library. We will need to raise $700,000 to make the essential and urgent updates needed to make the library accessible, improve energy efficiency and provide the space that will serve our community’s current and future needs.
We look forward to hearing from you!
