Reports
Community Reports
2023 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library has been a bustling hub of activity in our community throughout 2023. We continue to expand our services and offerings to meet the evolving needs of our valued patrons.
Programs and Events
The library has hosted a wide array of engaging programs and events throughout the year, with more total attendees than ever! Here are a few highlights:
- Spring Into the Arts: This grant-funded program offered various new ways for the community to express themselves creatively under the instruction of professionals, including watercolors with Mary Ann Delaney, mosaics with Carol Stuff, song writing with Cosby Gibson & Tom Staudle, and basket making with Colleen Mosenthin.
- Summer Reading Program: Our annual Summer Reading Program, themed "All Together Now," was a huge success. We hosted over 30 events, including a visit from a beekeeper, presentations by miSci, and a dinosaur dig, all culminating in a big bubble party in the Fonda park.
- Adult Crafting Classes: Our free adult crafting classes have been one of the library’s most well-received programs ever, providing opportunities for creativity and socialization among the community.
Fundraising
We are grateful for the generous support of our community through various fundraising initiatives.
- Taste of Chocolate: Our annual Taste of Chocolate event raised a record-breaking amount, and we are looking forward to this event continuing to grow along with the library.
- New Fundraisers: We explored new fundraising ideas, such as a storybook character fundraiser, to engage a broader audience, as well as subscription-based models that would offer rewards for prolonged patronage.
Community Outreach
The library values its partnerships with local organizations and businesses, and would like to work towards becoming a centralized hub for activities in the community.
- School Collaboration: We have established a partnership with the local school district, providing a Game Design Workshop for students after school, and Pre-K story hour.
- Community Workshops: We held multiple community workshops facilitated by MVLS with groups like Glen Mohawk Seniors and the Fonda-Fultonville Community Foundation to gather input and create a practical, transparent, and well-researched long range plan for the library.
Technology Initiatives
We are committed to providing access to technology and digital resources.
- Wifi Hotspots: We have invested in wifi hotspots to provide free internet access to our patrons.
- Digital Services: Our eBook and digital magazine services continue to grow in popularity, offering a convenient way for patrons to access a wide range of materials from home.
- Grow with Google Partnership: The library partnered with Google to begin offering workshops, certifications, and scholarships for fostering in-demand technical skills in 2024.
We are proud of the progress we have made in 2023 and look forward to continuing to serve our community as a vibrant and essential resource. We extend our sincere gratitude to our dedicated staff, volunteers, and community members for their unwavering support.
2020 Community Report
Another year has come and gone, and what a year it has been. Not much has been very normal for anyone during Covid-19, but here and everywhere people have been making the best of it. During 2020 we still were able to connect with our community of readers through the Summer Reading Program “Imagine Your Story.” A total of 86 people participated in the program. We used an on-line platform called Read Squared.
Read Squared is a wonderful resource for adults and children to log and critique what they read. We will use the platform once again this year. The sign up information is : http://frothinghamlibrary.ny14.readsquared.com/ Please make sure to use this log in.
We will be using this format and are planning on premises programming for the summer reading program “Tails and Tales.” We will be maintaining all state covid-19 protocols. Remember, seating will be limited.
Watch for our programs list in June. Already, we have exciting events planned. Our normal fundraisers could not happen this year either. We especially missed everyone at the Taste of Chocolate. We still raised funds through direct mail. The little library cannot thank all of you enough for making sure we had the operational funds we count on through fundraising. Thank you all.
For several years now the Little Library has not increased our tax levy. We have supplemented the cost of operations expenses with endowments. Our Little Library cannot remain solvent if we continue this practice. This year we will be asking for a substantial tax increase, this is just a step in a series of adjustments the library must make to remain a viable resource in our community.
We are looking forward to the day when we may all be together again. Please watch our website and Facebook at Frothingham Free Library for updates.
Cheers, Frothingham Free Library
2018 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was a busy and active part of our community in 2018. Our eBook and digital magazine services are very popular. Patrons enjoy being able to check out eBooks, audiobooks, and magazines anytime from the comfort of their own homes.
The library offered 115 programs with overall attendance of 897 people. Book discussions and an adult craft group were offered for adults. Story hours, children’s programs, and summer reading programs were well attended by children and their families. The summer reading program participants read 1349 books during our eight week program. We circulated 19,876 books, audiobooks, cds, dvds, and ebooks in 2018.
We continue to showcase an artist each month in our mini gallery at the front
of the library. We have had many talented artist’s work displayed in 2018.
We began a new program – Read With Me in 2018. This program is for elementary age children to encourage reading and introduce new books at the library.
The board of trustees and staff strive to listen to our community and enrich our library each year.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2017 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was a busy and active part of our community in 2017. Our eBook and digital magazine services are very popular. Patrons enjoy being able to check out eBooks, audiobooks, and magazines anytime from the comfort of their own homes.
The library held 103 programs with overall attendance of 990 people. Book discussions, an adult craft group, and lunchtime concert were offered for adults. Story hours, children’s programs, and summer reading programs were well attended by children and their families. The summer reading program participants read 843 books during our eight week program. We circulated 18,312 books, audiobooks, cds, dvds, and ebooks in 2017.
We continue to showcase an artist each month in our mini gallery at the front
of the library. We have had many talented artist’s work displayed in 2017.
The library was closed for six weeks during the summer due to fire and flood damage. We were able to continue our summer programs at the Fonda Reformed Church. We are very thankful for the community support we received during our restoration.
The board of trustees and staff strive to listen to our community and enrich our library each year.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2016 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was a busy and active part of our community in 2016. Our eBook and digital magazine services are very popular. Patrons enjoy being able to check out eBooks, audiobooks, and magazines anytime from the comfort of their own homes.
The library held 103 programs with overall attendance of 1324 people. Book discussions, a winter craft group, and lunchtime concert were offered for adults. Story hours, children’s programs, and summer reading programs were well attended by children and their families. Our local summer recreation program visited the library. The summer reading program participants read 1723 books during our eight week program. We circulated 24,643 books, audiobooks, cds, dvds, and videos in 2016.
We continue to showcase an artist each month in our mini gallery at the front of the library. We have had many talented artist’s work displayed in 2016 including students from Fonda-Fultonville Central School.
The library received a special donation of an oversized chair for the children’s area from the Lions Club in memory of Paul Luft. Parents, grandparents, and children are enjoying the use of this wonderful memorial gift.
The board of trustees and staff strive to listen to our community and enrich our library each year.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2015 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was a busy and active part of our community in 2015. Our eBook service is very popular. Our library system added digital magazine to our services in the end of 2015. Patrons can now enjoy being able to check out eBooks, audiobooks, and magazines anytime from the comfort of their own homes.
The library held 100 programs with overall attendance of 1419 people. Book discussions, a winter craft group, and lunchtime concert were offered for adults. Story hours, children’s programs, and summer reading programs were well attended by children and their families. Our local summer recreation program visited the library. The summer reading program participants read 2009 books during our eight week program. We circulated 26,451 books, audiobooks, cds, dvds, and videos in 2015.
We continue to showcase an artist each month in our mini gallery at the front
of the library. We have had many talented artist’s work displayed in 2015 including students from Fonda-Fultonville Central School.
The board of trustees and staff strive to listen to our community and enrich our library each year.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2014 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was a busy and active part of our community in 2014. Our eBook service is very popular. Patrons enjoy being able to check out eBooks and audiobooks anytime from the comfort of their own homes.
The library held 95 programs with overall attendance of 1786 people. Book discussions, a computer class, and lunchtime concert were offered for adults. Story hours, children’s programs, and summer reading programs were well attended by children and their families. Our local nursery school and summer recreation program visited the library. The summer reading program participants set a new library record by reading 3175 books during our eight week program. We circulated 31,843 books, audiobooks, cds, dvds, and videos in 2014.
We continue to showcase an artist each month in our mini gallery at the front of the library. We have had many talented artist’s work displayed in 2014 including students from Fonda-Fultonville Central School.
The board of trustees and staff strive to listen to our community and enrich our library each year.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2013 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was a busy and active part of our community in 2013. Our eBook service is growing by leaps and bounds. Patrons enjoy being able to check out eBooks anytime from the comfort of their own homes.
The library held 90 programs with overall attendance of 1877 people. Book discussions and computer classes were offered for adults. Story hours and summer reading programs were well attended by children and their families. Our local nursery school and summer recreation program visited the library. The summer reading program participants set a new library record by reading 2775 books during our eight week program.
We continue to showcase an artist each month in our mini gallery at the front of the library. We have had many talented artist's work displayed in 2013 including students from Fonda-Fultonville Central School. A much needed painting and stenciling project was completed in the children't area of the library. A photo of the work can be viewed on our blog and Facebook page.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2012 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library is thrilled with the new railroad bridge and road work in Fonda. When construction was completed, many of our patrons found their way back to the library. Our patrons and staff are very happy that the construction is done.
We offered 97 free programs to the public with attendance of 1681 people this past year. Computer classes were popular in 2012. Story hour continues to grow every Tuesday morning at 11am. The FFCS Key Club held two special story hours at the library. Our local nursery school visits the library several times a year. The summer rec program also visits the library. 177 children and teens participated in our summer reading program. These awesome young people read 2514 books during the eight-week program.
Our fourth annual Taste of Chocolate Fundraiser was held in October at St. Cecilia's hall. We needed to move to a larger hall for this event. The music and chocolate treats were fantastic. We even had chocolate-covered pineapple and chocolate-covered bacon. We were overwhelmed at the generosity of the community.
The board, staff and volunteers continue to make improvements to the library. We have special work days in the spring and fall.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2011 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was finally able to have our new roof done in March 2011. With all the storms that followed we were very thankful to be dry. We had flooding issues three times during 2011. We were very fortunate to have had only exterior damage. The staff, board and volunteers dealt with huge amounts of mud, gravel, and debris. We assisted our fellow community members by providing flood relief information and faxing paperwork.
The road work in town made getting to the library challenging at times; however, our patrons often took an extra book for their wait in traffic.
We offered 96 free programs to the public with attendance of 1809 people during 2011. Our knitting classes were very popular. Story hour continues every Tuesday morning. The Key Club had two special story hours at the library. The local nursery school visits the library several times during the year. We offer programs during school breaks for families to attend. 176 children and young adults participated in our summer reading program. They set a new library record by reading 2580 books.
Our third annual Taste of Chocolate fundraiser was held in October. The music and chocolate treats were fantastic. We were overwhelmed at the generosity of the community.
The board, staff and volunteers continue to make improvements to the library. We have clean-up days in the spring and fall.
We would like to thank our dedicated volunteers and everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vibrant place in our community.
2010 Community Report
The Frothingham Free Library was a bustling hub in our community during 2010. We offered twenty nine adult programs including book discussions, a memoir writing workshop, and a Save Energy, Save Dollars workshop. During the summer reading program we offered thiry one programs with 922 people in attendance. 184 children and young adults participated in the summer reading program. They read a record number of 2141 books. We continue to have a weekly story hour every Tuesday morning. During the year, we also had special Key Club story hours, a music program with Gary Van Slyke, Halloween entertainment, a children's Christmas party, a magic show and visits from our local nursery school. Our artist of the month provides the community with a mini art gallery.
We participated in the FONDA Community Pride Day in August. Each person who stopped by our booth received information about the library and was given a gently used book.
Our second annual Taste of Chocolate fundraiser was held in October. Everyone enjoyed the music and the great chocolate treats.
The board and staff continue to make improvements to the library. If you drove by on Memorial weekend you probably saw us painting the trim on the front of the library.
We would like to thank everyone who generously supports the library. We appreciate your help in making the library a vital place in our community!