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An Amusing Story

Sometimes, you get an email that you know you have to keep forever. So it was with this one. It remains, to our knowledge, the only recorded instance of one of our library loans exploding:

Dear Justin,

I hope that you are well! I have a staff member who checked out “Now 46” — 30466080320937 and found out that it did not work. The staff member who works in our Technical Services Department took it upon herself to buff the disc in our buffing machine and well… “the disc blew up” and is now in several pieces. First, I would like to apologize that your disc was buffed in our machine without your permission. How would you like to resolve this? Do you want payment for this? Do you want me to send it back to you as is? Please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to send you a picture of the broken disc.

Pop-Up Art School: Clay Yeti Luminaria

On Thursday, March 30, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, kids ages 8 to 12 are invited to come craft a cute yeti with air dry clay. Make the body from a pinch pot and then handbuild arms, horns, and a toothy smile. Glowing from within is a battery operated candle that illuminates the face. Patrons will paint the yeti before they leave the program.

Email Miss Deb ([email protected]) to register. Space is limited, so register today! This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Upcoming Book Clubs:

-March 9, 4:00pm -- Book Wizards: Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen

-March 14, 4:00pm -- Young Reader's Club

-March 14, 6:30pm -- Intrepid Readers: Sailing Alone Around the World by Captain Joshua Slocum

-March 28, 3:30pm -- Book Bunch

-April 4, 6:30pm -- Scifi Book Club: Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey

-April 6, 6:30pm -- Greatest Book Club Ever: I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

See our calendar for more events and more details!

Douglas Writes!

Are you looking for fellow writers to share camaraderie, ideas, works, and more? The Library will be hosting a new writing group starting on March 23 at 6:30pm. Our goal will be to meet on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month, welcoming writers, poets, songwriters, bloggers, dungeonmasters–literally anyone involved in creative writing.

This is an 18+ group as potentially mature works may be shared for critique and read aloud. A “nope” button will be readily available for anyone to mash if they are uncomfortable with where the conversation is headed.

Please email Eli Haas at [email protected] for more information. Better yet, just come and ask in person!

Building Funds are now at $157,941.58

Annual Report for the Calendar Year of 2022:

We remain committed as always at the Library to providing Douglas patrons with free access to as much literature and information in its myriad forms as possible. We also remain committed to doing so as economically as we can. If I had to sum up 2022 for the Library in one word, it would be growth.

In 2022, we issued 270 new library cards, bringing us to a total of 3,279 registered patrons. We added 3,233 items to our physical collection, including 2,600 books, 255 DVDs, and 179 music CDs. Our physical collections now include 26,284 items valued at $550,635.23. Our digital collection of e-books and e-audio in Libby has grown to include access 486,968 titles.

Circulation grew robustly as well. Douglas patrons borrowed 18,931 books, 301 CDs, 856 magazines, 4,170 DVDs, 607 miscellaneous items (wifi hotspots, passes, etc.), and 14,220 digital loans. Our adult programs reached 398 attendees and our youth programming reached 905.

According to the American Library Association’s Library value calculator, the Library provided the town with services valued at $596,976.55 on a budget of less than half of that. And that is still with a fraction of the town choosing to borrow rather than buy, use Libby over Audible, and Kanopy over cable. If you aren’t a Library patron, what are you waiting for? Seriously, I want to know! My email is below, and I welcome conversation.