Bennington Free Library

Bennington Free Library is a public library located at 101 Silver Street in Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont. The library director is Lynne Fontenaut McCann.[1]

Historical background

The library was established in 1865, by Trenor W. Park and Seth B. Hunt, on the corner of Main and Silver Streets. It originally was a room on the second floor of the building, "fitted up as a library," and run by the Young Men's Association.[2] In 1897, the Town of Bennington voted to appropriate funds in support of the library, making library materials available and free of charge. In 1936 a new library was constructed adjacent to the original. Donated in memory of Trenor W. Park by his son, Trenor L. Park, the new library was built on the Park family land. The architect for the 1936 library was Herbert Turner. In the late 1980s, the library went through significant renovations, including the construction of a bridge between the nineteenth and twentieth century buildings. The space afforded by the renovations made room for adding the children's library, a central circulation area and entry, meeting rooms, and handicapped access to the library building.[3]

Statistics

According to 2000 Census figures as reported by the Vermont Department of Libraries, Bennington Free Library serves a population of 18,661, with staffing hours equivalent to 10.77 full-time employees. Recent newsletters indicate three employees with an American Library Association accredited Masters of Library Science. Volunteers provided an average of 24 hours of services per week.

In 2004 the 11,511 square foot (1069 m²) library reported having a collection of 55,202 books (38,219 adult books, 16,983 juvenile books), or about 2.96 books per capita. In addition the library had 2601 videos and 3968 audio items, for a total collection size of 61,771. The library subscribed to 161 periodicals, 15 of them juvenile. Patrons visited the library a total of 87,742 times, or 4.70 visits per capita. It circulated 77,679 books (50,195 adult, 27,484 juvenile) or 4.16 items per capita. A total of 10,677 reference transactions were also handled. 406 items were requested from other libraries through inter-library loan, 376 lent to other libraries. The library offered 8 adult programs and 170 juvenile programs. Total program attendance was 350 for the adult programs, 10,326 for the juvenile programs. The library was open 48 hours per week. The annual budget was $389,224. $296,010 of this was raised by local taxes — $15.86 per capita, additionally $7891 was obtain in grant money, $100 from the state and $93,114 from other sources. $264,980 of that was spent on staffing, $54,280 on book purchases, $726 on electronic materials and $69,134 on other expenditures.'

Currently, the library attracts over 1,500 patron visits each week. It houses over 65,000 books, periodicals, and research materials in a variety of formats.[4] Dedicated in 1996 by local business Hemmings Motor News, the library has a Vermont History room for unique historical materials relating to the history of Bennington, to the surrounding region, and to the state of Vermont.[5] The library also holds copies of the Bennington Banner on microfilm back to 1903.

According to the US Institute of Museum and Library Services Public Libraries Survey from Fiscal Year 2013, the library reported having 66,952 books in print, or approximately 3.39 books per capita. They have 122 subscriptions, 7,905 audio materials, and 3,094 video materials in their lending collection. Patrons visited the library 77,948 times, or 4.20 per capita. Reference transactions were 13,364.[6]

In 2015, the library announced that volunteers had contributed 1,992 hours in Technical Services, the Children's Room, Adult Reference Services, Circulation, Interlibrary Loans, Administrative Services, the Vermont History Room, BookFest, and as Directors and Trustees of the Library.

Networks

As of the 2004 data, the library offered high-speed Internet access. The library owned 21 computers of which 7 were available for public use. It does use content filtering (2006), but the filter can be disabled upon request for those who have proof of adult age. Users logged an average of 163 signups per week.

In January 2014, the library became a part of the Catamount Library Network.

Services and Outreach

Children may check out two different Sherlock Holmes inspired backpacks, thanks to a donation from the Baker Street Breakfast Club. The backpacks contain Sherlock-inspired sleuth books by Nancy Springer, Shane Peacock and Irene Adler, as well as games and puzzle books.[7]

The Bennington Free Library has a resident library cat mascot named Pete.[8]

Free passes to a range of local sites are available to library community members: Vermont State Parks Day Areas,[9] Vermont State Historic Sites, Bennington Museum, Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Clark Art Museum, Hildene, One World Conservation Center, ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, Southern Vermont Natural History Museum, and Vermont History Museum (run by the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier).

The library usually holds a large Book Sale each May, with proceeds to benefit the library. In 2016 the book sale was held at the First Baptist Church of Bennington, and sponsored by the Bennington Banner.

References

  1. ↑ http://benningtonfreelibrary.org/pages/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Nov2015Newsletter.pdf
  2. ↑ http://benningtonfreelibrary.org/wordpresshome/about/history/
  3. ↑ http://benningtonfreelibrary.org/wordpresshome/about/history/
  4. ↑ http://benningtonfreelibrary.org/wordpresshome/about/
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  6. ↑ https://harvester.census.gov/imlssearch/library_detail.asp?ID=VT0014&ThisType=LS&LibraryName=&LibraryID=&Address=&City=&State=&Zip=05201&Distance=&County=&PhoneAreaCode=&Phone=&ResultSetNumber=1&LibTypes=LS%2CCE%2CBR%2CBS%2CBM&StateSelectedIndex=%5B%5D
  7. ↑ http://benningtonfreelibrary.org/pages/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Nov2015Newsletter.pdf
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-08-25. Retrieved 2013-08-18.

Coordinates: 42°52′40″N 73°11′37″W / 42.87783°N 73.19368°W / 42.87783; -73.19368

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