Community Analysis for Newtown Connecticut and the C.H. Booth Library
ILS-521 Children’s Services in Public Libraries
Dr. Arlene Bielefield
February 21, 2012
Kim Weber
Community Information of Newtown, CT
The Population:
Newtown is an extremely homogeneous town with a population of 25,031 reported in the last census, 95.1% of them white.[1] The median age is 37.5 with 30% of the population under the age of 18 and 8.7% of the population over the age of 65, making Newtown home to a slightly younger group of people than the national average.[2] The breakdown for the remaining 4.9 % of the Newtown community describes themselves as 1.7% are black, .16% are American Indian, 1.47% are Asian and 2.4% are Hispanic. 7.9% of the population describe themselves as foreign born and speak a language other than English at home. 92.8% of Newtowners have a high school degree and 69% are in the labor force either full or part time. The average family size is 3.14.[3]
Housing:
Newtown, Connecticut is a suburban town of 25,000 people located in the northern reaches of Fairfield County. In recent years dairy farms and huge expanses of forest have been replaced by housing developments of large colonials when it was discovered that Newtown was more affordable than communities along the gold coast. The median home value is $260,900 although houses in the $1,000,000 price range are appearing throughout town. 91% of the population owns their own homes and 8.1% rent.[4] The majority of homes are single family dwellings, although some condominiums for seniors are available, and one of these developments is specifically for those on a fixed income. Although the town has no subsidized housing for families, there are three well designed trailer parks. There are no apartment buildings in Newtown, but there are a small number of duplexes available.
Governmental Structure:
“Newtown operates under a Charter adopted in 1961 and most recently revised in 2008. The Charter retains a limited Town Meeting form of government with an elected Board of Selectmen (3) supervising the administration of Town affairs, a First Selectman acting as the town’s Chief Executive and Administrative Officer, and a twelve member Legislative Council acting as the legislative body, with the exception of those items specifically enumerated on which the Town Meeting is authorized to act. Financial matters are supervised by a Board of Finance (6) and an appointed Finance Director.”[5] Every April the budget must be approved by the tax payers with a town vote. The Board of Education budget and the Selectman’s budget are voted on together and often are rejected the first time around. In past years budget season has been ugly with a lot of tension. The BOE requests larger increases for the education side while the selectman’s budget grows at a slower rate.
Budget and Revenue:
For the 2012-2013 fiscal year the town is proposing a budget of $106,296,430. Of this amount $67,971,427 has been requested by the Board of Education and $38,325,003 has been requested by the many departments on the town side.[6] Looking at past budgets revenue for the town comes principally from taxes and these are mostly from individuals as Newtown has trouble attracting businesses to town. In 2008-2009, 88% of the income taken in by the town was from homeowners.[7] The Board of Education has attracted some grant money but otherwise the burden is largely on the home owners. A huge complaint heard in Newtown is that the taxes paid don’t translate to services especially for those citizens who do not have school aged children.
School Structure:
Newtown has four elementary schools for children grades K-4; one intermediate school for grades 5-6; one middle school for grades 7-8; and a high school for grades 9-12. The town also has several private schools including St. Rose of Lima for grades K-8; Housatonic Valley Waldorf School for grades 1-8; and Fraser Woods Montessori School for grades 1-8. In 2011 the school board proposed an all day kindergarten to be available at all four elementary schools. The proposal was accepted and all day kindergarten will begin in 2013. There are also a growing number of parents who home school their children for a variety of reasons. They are a big presence in the library and some of the most active users of library resources.
There are also several private nursery schools in town: Trinity Day School, Wesley Learning Center and the Congregational Co-op are all affiliated with churches in town. The high school runs a nursery school program in their child development department and there are also three daycare centers with an educational component. For older children Newtown has a for profit tutoring center. Recently there has been talk of building a children’s museum on the Fairfield Hills property here in town as there is currently no museum for kids in this part of the state. A grant has been written and the town is committed to finding a parcel of land.
While there are no Head Start programs in Newtown there is a very active Parks and Recreation Department which provides great programming for kids. There is also a skate park, the Newtown Youth Academy which is a recreational facility providing a variety of indoor playing fields and two town parks with play structures, a swimming pool and playing fields. There are a variety of sports programs children can participate in outside of school including soccer, baseball, track, lacrosse, football, cheerleading, softball, field hockey, and color guard. Of course none of these organizations are free and many of them require hefty participation dues and a huge time commitment on the part of the family. There is no YMCA in town although there are several yoga studios and gyms where parents can use on site babysitting.
As previously mentioned several local churches have nursery schools. Many more have youth and family programs that include recreational fun along with religious training. Trinity, the Episcopal Church, St. Rose, the Catholic church, Beth Israel, the Jewish synagogue, and Walnut Tree, a nondenominational church have especially vibrant programming that attract and serve lot of youth.
Library Analysis: The C.H. Booth Library
Background:
The Cyrenius H. Booth Library was a posthumous gift of Newtown's benefactress, Mary Elizabeth Hawley. It was named after her maternal grandfather who served as a physician in Newtown for fifty years, between 1820 and his death in 1871. Miss Hawley, in addition to donating money with which to construct the building, left a quarter of a million dollar trust fund which was to generate operating revenues from the interest it earned. Until the early 1980s the taxpayers of Newtown paid nothing for the library.[8] The CH Booth Library is the only library in town. There are currently no branches although there is talk of creating a small branch at Fairfield Hills.
Personnel and Structure:
The library is a quasi town agency with a staff of 40; 9 full timers have an MLS degree and 2 part timers hold advanced degrees. 20 members of the staff are adults and 20 are student pages who work in the evenings, weekends, and summers. No one is a member of a union. The student pages make minimum wage and the adults all make well below the CLC suggested minimum.[9] The library director oversees the daily running of the library and she reports to the Library Board of Trustees, a committee of 18 responsible for creating policy. There are five department heads who report to the director the second Tuesday of every month. The department heads a Head of Children Services, Head of Young Adult Services, Head of Technical Services, Head of Reference, and Head of Circulation. The director holds monthly staff meetings for all adult staff which is enormously helpful as so much of the staff is part time.
Hours:
The library is open Monday –Thursday from 9:30am -8pm, Friday from 11am-5 pm, Saturday from 9:30am -5pm, and Sunday from 12-5 pm. From Father’s Day in June until Labor Day in September the library is closed on Sundays. The library follows the same holidays as the town and closes for severe weather only when Town Hall closes.[10]
Policies:
There is a long list of policies posted on the library’s website pertaining to the responsibilities of library users, everything from how to obtain a card, to internet usage, how to become a books on wheels patron, proper photocopying procedure, copyright laws as they pertain to photocopying and downloading materials, reserves, use of meeting rooms, use of display cases, use of exhibit space, use of bulletin boards. There is also a policy on unattended children. Also, posted on the website is the library’s mission statement which embraces the philosophy and purpose of the library in a clear concise way. The C.H. Booth Library supports an informed community, lifelong learning, and the love of reading by promoting access for all town residents to the universe of ideas and information. Our vision is to become the best regional source for satisfying the community's information needs by offering professional assistance in discovering authoritative resources, good leisure reading, and local history.[11]
Budget and Income from the Community:
The CH Booth Library’s operating income is $1,289,050 with 78% or $1,011,562 coming from the town. This translates to a town tax appropriation per capita of $37.69. The library also receives $4,985 from the state but $0 from the federal government. In addition to these monies the library takes in $34,902 from fines, meeting room rentals, and the annual fund drive and receives nearly $100,000 each year from their friends group and a $3,000 grant from GE Capital.
Expenditures:
Running a library is getting more and more expensive with the largest cost going to staffing and benefits or roughly 80%. Materials budgets seem to be cut first and at Cyrenius H. Booth Library this is certainly the case with only $60,000 going for materials. This includes online database subscriptions, reference materials, books, DVDs, etc. The cost to heat, cool, light, clean, and protect the building are fixed expenditures and continue to rise at a rapid rate and often are beyond the control of the director, library board and staff.
Percentage of Population that are Active Users:
Children, Young Adult, adults seniors:
School/Public Cooperation:
The cooperation with the local nursery schools is excellent with nursery schools attending special story times at the library and also inviting staff in for special days. A large mural in the children’s room rotates the art work of the different schools in town, a great way to decorate the room and also encourage new patrons into the library. Fraser Woods Montessori School and the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School present puppet shows and other dramas open to the entire community in the meeting room of the library. Unfortunately the library’s relationship with the public schools is less collaborative. In second grade students do come to the library as a part of their historical walk down Main Street. In 8th grade they visit the library to learn good research skills for a huge grade wide assignment on the Civil War. The children’s librarian also visits the schools prior to the summer reading kickoff to invite everyone to participate in the fun and games all summer.
The cooperation from civic groups is quite good with many using the meeting room for meetings and special programs to which the public is invited. The Historical Society, The Genealogy Club, The Woman’s Club, The Garden Club, SCAN (Society for Creative Arts in Newtown), Scrapbag Quilters, The Flagpole Photographers, Fairfield Hills Authority, Legislative Council, Prevention Council, The Newtowner Magazine, Hadassah, Church Women United, FISH, Meals on Wheels, Newtown Areas Writing Group, and the Junior Women’s Club all meet on a regular basis at the library and all give back to the library in many ways. Other groups such as Rotary and the LIONs Club have book donation policies that greatly benefit the library. Every time a speaker comes to their organization they donate a book in honor of the presenter.
Collection Analysis:
The library is divided into four departments with many collections within each department. The children’s department has toddler books, picture books, easy readers, junior chapter books, juvenile fiction, paperbacks, kits (which include puppets, cassette tapes, and books), audiobooks, DVDs, nonfiction books, online databases including MUZI, a language program, books in Spanish, magazines, puzzles, and a parents’ corner for books on child development and other issues relevant to raising children. There is also a special section for Nutmeg winners. The children’s room is bright and airy with a puppet stage and lots of toys, puzzles and puppets scattered about to encourage creative play with new friends at the library.
The YA section has its own separate area with the collections arranged creatively around comfy chairs and a listening station. The different collection categories in YA include graphic novels, audio books, new books, Nutmegs, fiction, nonfiction, magazines, reference books,online databases specifically for teens, and especially large collection of books on the U.S. Civil War, as this is a huge research unit for 8th graders who attend the public middle school in town.
The rest of the collection is broken into numerous categories arranged by either format or subject and covers most of the second floor and all of the third floor of the library. There are mysteries, fiction, DVDs (general), DVDs (foreign), DVDs (educational), fiction audiobooks, nonfiction audiobooks, biography audiobooks, playaways, MP3s electronic audiobooks (downloaded from the website) eBooks (downloaded from the website), periodicals, genealogical, and a unique local history collection. Also on the second floor are our collection of short stories, book group suggestions, new books (with a shorter borrowing period) and large print books. Phew. Upstairs there are collections on art, drama, music, antiques, nonfiction, business, education, careers, Newtown authors, and a microfiche reader and collection of back issues of our wonderful Newtown Bee.
Programs: community outreach, family literacy, cooperative
The library is very much committed to family literacy from birth to age 90. There are story hours for babies,
Technology
There are 34 computers available for internet access at Cyrenius H. Booth Library, 25 of them in the reference department with no filters and 9 available in the children/YA departments that are formatted with filters. The library also has free wi-fi that is available throughout the building and on the grounds 24/7. Downloadable audiobooks are available through a subscription with Recorded Books and at the end of the month Cyrenius H. Booth Library will have Over Drive, which allows patrons to borrow over 3,000 titles to be used on any type of eReader. There are also LCD projectors, slide projectors and an overhead projector available for groups to use in the building. 10 laptops are also available for presentations and YA writing groups. There is also a listening station for YAs and several computers preloaded with educational games geared for children ages 3-6 years.
Resource Sharing:
As a Bibliomation library Cyrenius H. Booth Library does quite a bit of resource sharing. The recent migration to an open source operating system helps make sharing even more efficient and seamless. With Evergreen the 50 libraries in the Biliomation network, operate in many ways like one big library. Interlibrary loans have expanded to include almost all types of materials including audiobooks, DVDs, and even some reference materials. Subscription costs for expensive databases can be shared as can some newer technologies such as Overdrive. Costs for supplies, block bookings of programs, and technical support all can be negotiated through the consortium, a huge benefit for small libraries who would not have this ability if they were stand alones.
Conclusion:
Newtown is a community with many great services, an active and engaged government, fantastic schools with devoted teachers and high graduation rates, safe neighborhoods, beautiful parks and open space preserves. It is also a town with an enviable geographical location, near to New York City and Boston, but also an easy ride to the beaches of New Jersey and Rhode Island or the woods and mountains of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Still this town has issues that are not always recognized as problems. The homogeneous population is unfortunate, the population is very dissimilar to other towns in Connecticut and in the United States. Raising children in this bubble does not always create mature adults able to work well in the ‘real world.’ The town and more specifically Cyrenius H. Booth Library can play a role in raising awareness of cultural diversity through programs and materials. Although the vast majority of the Newtown population speaks English materials and language programs should be available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin.
Until recently an underserved population in Newtown has been those children with sensory issues. These children are unable to attend traditional story times because they may have trouble sitting still or they may be either over or under stimulated. Providing pre literary skills to these children greatly improves their chances to succeed once they get to public schools. Libraries provide a special service to these children that they can’t get anywhere else. The library has recognized this and recently received a grant for 24 story times a year. With autism on the rise it would be great to see these story times expanded.
Newtown also has some more hidden secrets. An officer from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) recently attended a staff meeting at Cyrenius H. Booth Library where he spoke about domestic violence and child abuse. He reported that his department is called to unusually high number of homes in Newtown, much higher than in Danbury, a city he also covers. Cyrenius H. Booth Library has a responsibility to provide programs and resources on this important topic.
The Library may notice a change in story hour enrollment when the public schools start their all day kindergarten program. Right now there are story hours for 0-24 months, 2-3 year olds, and 3-5 year olds. There are also craft, music enrichment, drama, and science enrichment for 6-11 year olds. The children’s librarian will be watching closely to see if this extended day class changes when and what she provides for the 5-6 year old set.
[1] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtown-information
[2] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtown-information
[3] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtwon-information
[4] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtown-information
[5] http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_WebDocs/about
[6] Annual Budget- Town of Newtown 2012-2013 http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_Finance/FIRST%20SELECTMAN%20BUDGET%202013.pdf
[7] Annual Budget – Town of Newtown 2008-2009 http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_Finance/BUDGETS/2008-2009_BUDGET_DETAIL.pdf
[8] http://chboothlibrary.org.history.php
[9] http://ct.webjunction.org/ct/stats/-/articles/content/130435538
[10] http://www.chboothlibrary.org
[11] http://www.chboothlibrary.org
ILS-521 Children’s Services in Public Libraries
Dr. Arlene Bielefield
February 21, 2012
Kim Weber
Community Information of Newtown, CT
The Population:
Newtown is an extremely homogeneous town with a population of 25,031 reported in the last census, 95.1% of them white.[1] The median age is 37.5 with 30% of the population under the age of 18 and 8.7% of the population over the age of 65, making Newtown home to a slightly younger group of people than the national average.[2] The breakdown for the remaining 4.9 % of the Newtown community describes themselves as 1.7% are black, .16% are American Indian, 1.47% are Asian and 2.4% are Hispanic. 7.9% of the population describe themselves as foreign born and speak a language other than English at home. 92.8% of Newtowners have a high school degree and 69% are in the labor force either full or part time. The average family size is 3.14.[3]
Housing:
Newtown, Connecticut is a suburban town of 25,000 people located in the northern reaches of Fairfield County. In recent years dairy farms and huge expanses of forest have been replaced by housing developments of large colonials when it was discovered that Newtown was more affordable than communities along the gold coast. The median home value is $260,900 although houses in the $1,000,000 price range are appearing throughout town. 91% of the population owns their own homes and 8.1% rent.[4] The majority of homes are single family dwellings, although some condominiums for seniors are available, and one of these developments is specifically for those on a fixed income. Although the town has no subsidized housing for families, there are three well designed trailer parks. There are no apartment buildings in Newtown, but there are a small number of duplexes available.
Governmental Structure:
“Newtown operates under a Charter adopted in 1961 and most recently revised in 2008. The Charter retains a limited Town Meeting form of government with an elected Board of Selectmen (3) supervising the administration of Town affairs, a First Selectman acting as the town’s Chief Executive and Administrative Officer, and a twelve member Legislative Council acting as the legislative body, with the exception of those items specifically enumerated on which the Town Meeting is authorized to act. Financial matters are supervised by a Board of Finance (6) and an appointed Finance Director.”[5] Every April the budget must be approved by the tax payers with a town vote. The Board of Education budget and the Selectman’s budget are voted on together and often are rejected the first time around. In past years budget season has been ugly with a lot of tension. The BOE requests larger increases for the education side while the selectman’s budget grows at a slower rate.
Budget and Revenue:
For the 2012-2013 fiscal year the town is proposing a budget of $106,296,430. Of this amount $67,971,427 has been requested by the Board of Education and $38,325,003 has been requested by the many departments on the town side.[6] Looking at past budgets revenue for the town comes principally from taxes and these are mostly from individuals as Newtown has trouble attracting businesses to town. In 2008-2009, 88% of the income taken in by the town was from homeowners.[7] The Board of Education has attracted some grant money but otherwise the burden is largely on the home owners. A huge complaint heard in Newtown is that the taxes paid don’t translate to services especially for those citizens who do not have school aged children.
School Structure:
Newtown has four elementary schools for children grades K-4; one intermediate school for grades 5-6; one middle school for grades 7-8; and a high school for grades 9-12. The town also has several private schools including St. Rose of Lima for grades K-8; Housatonic Valley Waldorf School for grades 1-8; and Fraser Woods Montessori School for grades 1-8. In 2011 the school board proposed an all day kindergarten to be available at all four elementary schools. The proposal was accepted and all day kindergarten will begin in 2013. There are also a growing number of parents who home school their children for a variety of reasons. They are a big presence in the library and some of the most active users of library resources.
There are also several private nursery schools in town: Trinity Day School, Wesley Learning Center and the Congregational Co-op are all affiliated with churches in town. The high school runs a nursery school program in their child development department and there are also three daycare centers with an educational component. For older children Newtown has a for profit tutoring center. Recently there has been talk of building a children’s museum on the Fairfield Hills property here in town as there is currently no museum for kids in this part of the state. A grant has been written and the town is committed to finding a parcel of land.
While there are no Head Start programs in Newtown there is a very active Parks and Recreation Department which provides great programming for kids. There is also a skate park, the Newtown Youth Academy which is a recreational facility providing a variety of indoor playing fields and two town parks with play structures, a swimming pool and playing fields. There are a variety of sports programs children can participate in outside of school including soccer, baseball, track, lacrosse, football, cheerleading, softball, field hockey, and color guard. Of course none of these organizations are free and many of them require hefty participation dues and a huge time commitment on the part of the family. There is no YMCA in town although there are several yoga studios and gyms where parents can use on site babysitting.
As previously mentioned several local churches have nursery schools. Many more have youth and family programs that include recreational fun along with religious training. Trinity, the Episcopal Church, St. Rose, the Catholic church, Beth Israel, the Jewish synagogue, and Walnut Tree, a nondenominational church have especially vibrant programming that attract and serve lot of youth.
Library Analysis: The C.H. Booth Library
Background:
The Cyrenius H. Booth Library was a posthumous gift of Newtown's benefactress, Mary Elizabeth Hawley. It was named after her maternal grandfather who served as a physician in Newtown for fifty years, between 1820 and his death in 1871. Miss Hawley, in addition to donating money with which to construct the building, left a quarter of a million dollar trust fund which was to generate operating revenues from the interest it earned. Until the early 1980s the taxpayers of Newtown paid nothing for the library.[8] The CH Booth Library is the only library in town. There are currently no branches although there is talk of creating a small branch at Fairfield Hills.
Personnel and Structure:
The library is a quasi town agency with a staff of 40; 9 full timers have an MLS degree and 2 part timers hold advanced degrees. 20 members of the staff are adults and 20 are student pages who work in the evenings, weekends, and summers. No one is a member of a union. The student pages make minimum wage and the adults all make well below the CLC suggested minimum.[9] The library director oversees the daily running of the library and she reports to the Library Board of Trustees, a committee of 18 responsible for creating policy. There are five department heads who report to the director the second Tuesday of every month. The department heads a Head of Children Services, Head of Young Adult Services, Head of Technical Services, Head of Reference, and Head of Circulation. The director holds monthly staff meetings for all adult staff which is enormously helpful as so much of the staff is part time.
Hours:
The library is open Monday –Thursday from 9:30am -8pm, Friday from 11am-5 pm, Saturday from 9:30am -5pm, and Sunday from 12-5 pm. From Father’s Day in June until Labor Day in September the library is closed on Sundays. The library follows the same holidays as the town and closes for severe weather only when Town Hall closes.[10]
Policies:
There is a long list of policies posted on the library’s website pertaining to the responsibilities of library users, everything from how to obtain a card, to internet usage, how to become a books on wheels patron, proper photocopying procedure, copyright laws as they pertain to photocopying and downloading materials, reserves, use of meeting rooms, use of display cases, use of exhibit space, use of bulletin boards. There is also a policy on unattended children. Also, posted on the website is the library’s mission statement which embraces the philosophy and purpose of the library in a clear concise way. The C.H. Booth Library supports an informed community, lifelong learning, and the love of reading by promoting access for all town residents to the universe of ideas and information. Our vision is to become the best regional source for satisfying the community's information needs by offering professional assistance in discovering authoritative resources, good leisure reading, and local history.[11]
Budget and Income from the Community:
The CH Booth Library’s operating income is $1,289,050 with 78% or $1,011,562 coming from the town. This translates to a town tax appropriation per capita of $37.69. The library also receives $4,985 from the state but $0 from the federal government. In addition to these monies the library takes in $34,902 from fines, meeting room rentals, and the annual fund drive and receives nearly $100,000 each year from their friends group and a $3,000 grant from GE Capital.
Expenditures:
Running a library is getting more and more expensive with the largest cost going to staffing and benefits or roughly 80%. Materials budgets seem to be cut first and at Cyrenius H. Booth Library this is certainly the case with only $60,000 going for materials. This includes online database subscriptions, reference materials, books, DVDs, etc. The cost to heat, cool, light, clean, and protect the building are fixed expenditures and continue to rise at a rapid rate and often are beyond the control of the director, library board and staff.
Percentage of Population that are Active Users:
Children, Young Adult, adults seniors:
School/Public Cooperation:
The cooperation with the local nursery schools is excellent with nursery schools attending special story times at the library and also inviting staff in for special days. A large mural in the children’s room rotates the art work of the different schools in town, a great way to decorate the room and also encourage new patrons into the library. Fraser Woods Montessori School and the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School present puppet shows and other dramas open to the entire community in the meeting room of the library. Unfortunately the library’s relationship with the public schools is less collaborative. In second grade students do come to the library as a part of their historical walk down Main Street. In 8th grade they visit the library to learn good research skills for a huge grade wide assignment on the Civil War. The children’s librarian also visits the schools prior to the summer reading kickoff to invite everyone to participate in the fun and games all summer.
The cooperation from civic groups is quite good with many using the meeting room for meetings and special programs to which the public is invited. The Historical Society, The Genealogy Club, The Woman’s Club, The Garden Club, SCAN (Society for Creative Arts in Newtown), Scrapbag Quilters, The Flagpole Photographers, Fairfield Hills Authority, Legislative Council, Prevention Council, The Newtowner Magazine, Hadassah, Church Women United, FISH, Meals on Wheels, Newtown Areas Writing Group, and the Junior Women’s Club all meet on a regular basis at the library and all give back to the library in many ways. Other groups such as Rotary and the LIONs Club have book donation policies that greatly benefit the library. Every time a speaker comes to their organization they donate a book in honor of the presenter.
Collection Analysis:
The library is divided into four departments with many collections within each department. The children’s department has toddler books, picture books, easy readers, junior chapter books, juvenile fiction, paperbacks, kits (which include puppets, cassette tapes, and books), audiobooks, DVDs, nonfiction books, online databases including MUZI, a language program, books in Spanish, magazines, puzzles, and a parents’ corner for books on child development and other issues relevant to raising children. There is also a special section for Nutmeg winners. The children’s room is bright and airy with a puppet stage and lots of toys, puzzles and puppets scattered about to encourage creative play with new friends at the library.
The YA section has its own separate area with the collections arranged creatively around comfy chairs and a listening station. The different collection categories in YA include graphic novels, audio books, new books, Nutmegs, fiction, nonfiction, magazines, reference books,online databases specifically for teens, and especially large collection of books on the U.S. Civil War, as this is a huge research unit for 8th graders who attend the public middle school in town.
The rest of the collection is broken into numerous categories arranged by either format or subject and covers most of the second floor and all of the third floor of the library. There are mysteries, fiction, DVDs (general), DVDs (foreign), DVDs (educational), fiction audiobooks, nonfiction audiobooks, biography audiobooks, playaways, MP3s electronic audiobooks (downloaded from the website) eBooks (downloaded from the website), periodicals, genealogical, and a unique local history collection. Also on the second floor are our collection of short stories, book group suggestions, new books (with a shorter borrowing period) and large print books. Phew. Upstairs there are collections on art, drama, music, antiques, nonfiction, business, education, careers, Newtown authors, and a microfiche reader and collection of back issues of our wonderful Newtown Bee.
Programs: community outreach, family literacy, cooperative
The library is very much committed to family literacy from birth to age 90. There are story hours for babies,
Technology
There are 34 computers available for internet access at Cyrenius H. Booth Library, 25 of them in the reference department with no filters and 9 available in the children/YA departments that are formatted with filters. The library also has free wi-fi that is available throughout the building and on the grounds 24/7. Downloadable audiobooks are available through a subscription with Recorded Books and at the end of the month Cyrenius H. Booth Library will have Over Drive, which allows patrons to borrow over 3,000 titles to be used on any type of eReader. There are also LCD projectors, slide projectors and an overhead projector available for groups to use in the building. 10 laptops are also available for presentations and YA writing groups. There is also a listening station for YAs and several computers preloaded with educational games geared for children ages 3-6 years.
Resource Sharing:
As a Bibliomation library Cyrenius H. Booth Library does quite a bit of resource sharing. The recent migration to an open source operating system helps make sharing even more efficient and seamless. With Evergreen the 50 libraries in the Biliomation network, operate in many ways like one big library. Interlibrary loans have expanded to include almost all types of materials including audiobooks, DVDs, and even some reference materials. Subscription costs for expensive databases can be shared as can some newer technologies such as Overdrive. Costs for supplies, block bookings of programs, and technical support all can be negotiated through the consortium, a huge benefit for small libraries who would not have this ability if they were stand alones.
Conclusion:
Newtown is a community with many great services, an active and engaged government, fantastic schools with devoted teachers and high graduation rates, safe neighborhoods, beautiful parks and open space preserves. It is also a town with an enviable geographical location, near to New York City and Boston, but also an easy ride to the beaches of New Jersey and Rhode Island or the woods and mountains of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Still this town has issues that are not always recognized as problems. The homogeneous population is unfortunate, the population is very dissimilar to other towns in Connecticut and in the United States. Raising children in this bubble does not always create mature adults able to work well in the ‘real world.’ The town and more specifically Cyrenius H. Booth Library can play a role in raising awareness of cultural diversity through programs and materials. Although the vast majority of the Newtown population speaks English materials and language programs should be available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin.
Until recently an underserved population in Newtown has been those children with sensory issues. These children are unable to attend traditional story times because they may have trouble sitting still or they may be either over or under stimulated. Providing pre literary skills to these children greatly improves their chances to succeed once they get to public schools. Libraries provide a special service to these children that they can’t get anywhere else. The library has recognized this and recently received a grant for 24 story times a year. With autism on the rise it would be great to see these story times expanded.
Newtown also has some more hidden secrets. An officer from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) recently attended a staff meeting at Cyrenius H. Booth Library where he spoke about domestic violence and child abuse. He reported that his department is called to unusually high number of homes in Newtown, much higher than in Danbury, a city he also covers. Cyrenius H. Booth Library has a responsibility to provide programs and resources on this important topic.
The Library may notice a change in story hour enrollment when the public schools start their all day kindergarten program. Right now there are story hours for 0-24 months, 2-3 year olds, and 3-5 year olds. There are also craft, music enrichment, drama, and science enrichment for 6-11 year olds. The children’s librarian will be watching closely to see if this extended day class changes when and what she provides for the 5-6 year old set.
[1] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtown-information
[2] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtown-information
[3] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtwon-information
[4] http://www.americantowns.com/ct/newtown-information
[5] http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_WebDocs/about
[6] Annual Budget- Town of Newtown 2012-2013 http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_Finance/FIRST%20SELECTMAN%20BUDGET%202013.pdf
[7] Annual Budget – Town of Newtown 2008-2009 http://www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_Finance/BUDGETS/2008-2009_BUDGET_DETAIL.pdf
[8] http://chboothlibrary.org.history.php
[9] http://ct.webjunction.org/ct/stats/-/articles/content/130435538
[10] http://www.chboothlibrary.org
[11] http://www.chboothlibrary.org