The library experienced a successful year with the addition of new cardholders and new books and the successful undertaking of numerous events for youth and adults.

The library wrote and received a state grant for a “diversity audit” with the goal of adding diverse books to the library collection.

“We analyzed the population of Limestone County and focused on adding books in the areas of Adult Fiction, Adult Non-Fiction, and Easy Readers (Picture Books),” Jen Baxter said. “As a result of the state funding, we added 1,352 new books to the collection, which not only strengthened our library collection, but has strengthened our understanding of the available collection, its current gaps, and how to be more inclusive in future collection analysis and development.”

The library added 2,752 books, bringing the total to 77,399 books in its physical collection and 68,946 digital books (ebooks & audiobooks) in it digital consortium.

1,779 new cardholders were added during FY22, 1,621 cardholders expired with a net of +158 (Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022). As of today, the library has 7,762 active cardholders.

The library expanded its adult programming in 2022 after hiring a part-time position to focus on adult programming and library outreach.

“With this key position in place, we expanded our adult offerings to include off-site book clubs at local businesses, a weekly story time for Birdie Thornton, weekly library programs at the Athens Activity Center, author talks/book signings, and adult color & coffee,” Baxter said. “We’ve also teamed up with external groups who host some great programs for us, including Digital Literacy Classes with Calhoun Community College, a genealogy class series by a local volunteer, ‘Book Club @ Athens Alehouse’, library yoga with AHEC, and our very popular tax program hosted by RSVP.”

Programs will continue to expand for adults in 2023.

“This year, we’re going to expand our yoga classes to include an after-hours ‘night yoga’ hosted by AHEC, our ‘Tennesee Valley Literary Festival’, a ‘Newcomer Series’ which allows those moving into the area a chance to meet and hear from local leaders,” Baxter said. “This year, we also rekindled our previous partnership with the Limestone County Council on Aging to provide books alongside their ‘Meals on Wheels’ Program. So far, the partnership is going smoothly, and we hope to see that continue to grow over time.”

She went on to say, “we recently started a crochet club on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, and we’ve added various adult craft programs as well, including hosting a local farm who taught us how to make pumpkin flower arrangements this last October.”

Programs for youth were in no shortage at the library in 2022.

“We offer weekly baby and toddler story times, a monthly family story time, and sometimes special story times such as ‘Polar Express’ pajama story time this last Christmas. We offer weekly STEAM programming for elementary aged children to include LEGO club, craft club, and story lab,” Baxter said. “We have a writing program for teens called ‘Ink Slingers’ that offers teens the opportunity to learn the craft of writing from our Youth Services Coordinator who has published books of her own. And, of course, our Annual Summer Reading Program.”

The library will continue its core programming during 2023, with the addition of other offerings for youth.

This includes a program in conjunction with Therapy Partners, Inc., “which brings dogs into the library for children to read to has expanded to include teens this year, and we’re really excited about that.”

“We held a ‘Pippa Park Escape Room’ recently, which the kids loved. We’ve had a special Babysitter Club program, a Cryptid Club program focusing on Alabama lore, and we’ve created a writing club for younger children ages 8-11,” Baxter said.

Family program days will be moved to Wednesday in Summer 2023.

“We feel the community responds better to this day, and we’ll bring in people who will offer some great programs for families,” Baxter said. “We’re always excited about working to build our annual Summer Reading Program. This year’s theme is ‘All Together Now’ and our staff has come up with some great ideas! We’re excited, and we hope families will enjoy the offerings this year.”

With an average of 4,000 people seeking services at the library monthly last year, the local library is a fixture of the community.

“The library is here and available to the entire community for whatever they need at any given moment. Some people come to the library to do family research … Some people come to print something they can’t print at home or to use the computer for various reasons,” Baxter explained. “We keep a lot of statistics as our state library agency requires a lot of data from us on an annual basis.”

Last year the library answered more than 20,000 questions from patrons.

“That’s a lot of answered questions – and honestly, we enjoy it. We learn alongside our patrons, and we all love helping people,” Baxter said.

“The library is most definitely a unique place, we offer books, resources, podcasting equipment, historical information, and programs for the public – and the more programming we put out there for our community, the more reasons everyone is going to have to come to the library,” Baxter said. “This past Valentine’s Day, a surprise to us, our notary services legally married 7 couples at the library! We thought that was wonderful and really didn’t see that coming. We think next year we might have a balloon arch and cupcakes, too.”

The library is a place for local students to go and find resources to enhance their education.

“We offer digital resources to our community, including the Alabama Virtual Library and free tutoring via alabamahomework.com. We also offer resources for school projects, reading for pleasure, and an array of programs, to include writing programs for ages 8-11 and 12-18,” Baxter said.

“We have a vision to offer access to our community, and we’d love to see a makerspace for students of all ages inside the library. While we currently offer the ability to record podcasts in our podcast room, we’d love to see that expand to offering 3D printing, maker equipment, and perhaps, one day, a library of things,” Baxter said. “Libraries are absolutely more than a warehouse of books – libraries of the 21st century are focused on creating community spaces where their local patrons can access information, resources, experiences, and a sense of community.”

Whether you need access to Ancestry or a qualified notary to marry you, the Athens-Limestone Public Library answers the call to serve Athens-Limestone in whatever way it can.