To the Editor:

I am often asked about the various types of support and expenditures that the library cycles through each year, and I hope this letter to the editor underscores the importance of the library’s annual appeal and its other private fundraising efforts.

The municipality provides much of the financial support the library relies on, for which we are extremely grateful. This town support comes in the form of a grant.

Like many New England towns, Newtown’s public library operates with a budget gap of 12-15 percent per year. Municipalities base library services with such a gap in order to assess the strength of community support, and to encourage individual contributions.

This is why the library depends on healthy contributions to the Annual Appeal. It is distinct and completely separate from other revenues, some of which are earmarked for specific programs.

The Friends of the C.H. Booth Library have been absolutely magnificent in their support of the library. The Friends know and recognize the library as the essential agency that it is and fund educational programs for children, art lectures, and so much more. Friends funding also helps with physical library materials that support learning, with library technology initiatives, and with many of the databases that patrons find useful, such as Consumer Reports Online, Ancestry.com, and Mango Languages. The Friends revenue also comes in the form of a grant.

The library circulated almost 210,000 materials during 2018-2019. There were over 125,000 visits to the library, over 18,000 program attendees, and the library was open 61 hours per week 52 weeks of the year. Digitally, of course, content is available 24/7.

For all this, per capita, the library’s cost to taxpayers is $47.74 — among the lowest in Fairfield County. Considering all the services that the library returns to the community (circulating materials, educational programs, computer use, Wi-Fi usage, technology, databases, etc), for FY 2018-2019, the value of services that C.H. Booth Library provided our community was over $4.7 million.

Individual contributions to the library help us to maintain level services and to offer more new books and films, the digital content that has been so necessary during COVID-19, and huge amounts of educational programs. The library needs the assistance of the community so that we can help build a healthy future for Newtown.

“Newtown loves its library” — I hear that everywhere I go. Residents’ private, individual support helps to attract and retain talented staff members, to maintain a wide range of print and digital media, and to fund diverse educational programs. This private support is absolutely necessary for the library to operate and supplements the public grant from the town. Where else can a person find so much information, content, and learning for a better value than our public library?

To donate to C.H. Booth Library, go to https://bit.ly/2UZXaOS.

Douglas Lord, Director

C.H. Booth Library

25 Main Street, Newtown June 19, 2020