October has been a busy and productive month at Abbot Public Library. Here are a few of the things we’ve been working on:
The League of Women Voters partnered with us to offer an Introduction to Intellectual Freedom on Oct. 4, featuring guest speakers Marblehead High School English teacher Jennifer Billings and Susan Caulfield, the co-chair of the Massachusetts Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom/Social Responsibility Committee who has served on it since 2017.
Less than two weeks later, on Oct. 15, Assistant Director Morgan Yeo and I told the story of “Renovations in Progress: Historic New England Town Saves its Library” at the New England Library Association Conference in Springfield.
On Wednesday, Oct. 18, we hosted a group of students from Marblehead High School who volunteered to do some gardening with the guidance of Lisa Bigio and Heather Malin of the Driftwood Garden Club. Two students also helped install some solar pathway lights with our custodian Dick Leahy.
Abbot Public Library now offers a new program-registration and room-reservation software.
Meanwhile, the renovations are coming along nicely at 235 Pleasant St. The HVAC equipment was delivered to the roof and rough mechanical work continues. The duct work is nearly complete, the courtyard garden is undergoing a transformation and the drywall is going up on newly created walls. Wayfinding signage and paint colors have been chosen and we will be ordering furniture soon. Most importantly, we are on schedule for a spring 2024 completion.