In 2017, Albert Wisner Public Library continued to thrive as the center of our community. Highlights of the year were successes in programming partnerships and in community support of our library.
Central to our mission is reflecting the interests and serving the needs of our community in our collections, services and programming. To this end, in 2017 the Library
- Partnered with the Warwick Historical Society to host a series of popular monthly programs on different aspects of the Village’s history, in celebration of the Village’s sesquicentennial.
- Introduced a new program series, entitled “Civic Engagement,” that focused on presenting topics of local and national interest — including climate change, immigration and non-violent communication. The series was timely, provocative and well-received.
- Collaborated with Walling Road Design to reimagine and re-launch Warwick Commonplace, a Warwick-area social network that promotes dialogue and information exchange among area residents. The Library continues to host and moderate CommonPlace.
- Applied for and was awarded a $5,000.00 grant from Autism Welcome Here to provide programs and support for area teens and tweens on the spectrum.
Another significant, ongoing goal of the Library is to provide well-rounded collections and enlightening programs in a financially sustainable manner. We are gratified that our efforts were rewarded in several ways:
- The Albert Wisner Public Library Foundation had its most successful annual appeal, raising over $70,000 for Library programs, collections and services.
- The Library was awarded a New York State library construction grant of $157,333 in support of outdoor improvements and parking lot expansion.
- The Warwick Children’s Book Festival attracted many out-of-town visitors to Warwick to celebrate children’s literacy and in collaboration with Ye Olde Warwick Book Shoppe, raised over $7,000 for the Albert Wisner Public Library Foundation.
Here are some of the finer points that illustrate how busy the Library is:
66 hours open each week (more than any other library in RCLS)
934 new library cards issued
156,942 patron visits to the library
5,991 volunteer hours donated to AWPL by teens and adults
26,024 reference questions answered
91,348 “hits” on the AWPL website
14,906 logins on AWPL’s public computers
49,201 connections to AWPL WiFi
8,603 attendance at 556 programs for adults, including 8 concerts, 7 drama performances, 61 book discussions and poetry readings, 45 movies, plus 464 museum pass checkouts
12,184 attendance at 578 programs for children
1,482 attendance at 168 programs for teens
17,946 checkouts of digital material (e-books, downloadable audio and video)
263,462 total circulation (all collections)
Countless tutoring sessions, informal meetings and hours spent browsing, meeting, learning, creating and connecting
To cap off the vibrant year, and on the heels of being named the 2016 Best Small Library in America by Library Journal magazine, AWPL Director Rosemary Cooper was selected as one of ten national 2017 winners of the prestigious “I Love My Librarian” award. 2017 was a memorable year at our Library by all counts, and we are working hard to make 2018 equally exciting. Come join us!