Lawrencetown library to reopen in new year as independent entity

Thanks to volunteer efforts, the new year will bring a new, independent library to the Village of Lawrencetown.

Lawrencetown village commission vice-chairperson Jane Baskwill said officials will probably wait until January before having an official opening, recognizing that volunteers will be busy celebrating the holidays with their families.

There may be a soft opening later this fall to show people what has been accomplished as part of efforts to re-establish the Dr. Frank W. Morse Memorial Library, a former Annapolis Valley Regional Library branch, as an independent entity.

Baskwill said she thinks the volunteers are beginning to feel a real sense of ownership for the new library because of all the hard work they’re putting in. She said volunteering is perhaps the best way to support the library at this point.

She said they’ve been learning a lot. The volunteers are starting to have fun because of the social aspect involved and are enjoying seeing the wide range of books that have been donated. For example, some feature inscriptions from past owners that are interesting to read.

Baskwill said it’s fun to see what particular interests people have, and this certainly shows in the books they donate.

“Everybody has their interests, and that’s what they’re sharing with us,” she said. “We’re really, really thrilled to have all of that because it’s like they’re sharing a part of themselves with us, and I think that’s pretty amazing.”

Baskwill said that when they first took the project on, critics said they would only get romance and mystery novels and the library would look like a used bookstore. However, she’s impressed with the wide spectrum of subjects covered by the books they’ve received.

She said they put out two calls for donations about a month apart and were receiving donations from other sources in between. They’ve received “a tremendous number of books” and will be able to build a rather eclectic collection, which is exciting.

For example, the Royal Canadian Legion in Wolfville donated several titles from the Roger Prentice Memorial Library that they had in duplicate, so the Lawrencetown library will be able to offer an expanded military collection.

They had a musician who donated several books on musical theory and a collection of sheet music, and a quilter donated several books on that subject.

“A reader of fantasy donated his collection, and it is amazing,” Baskwill said, pointing out the books for both adults and young people are pristine and include complete sets from some authors.

One of the volunteers went to visit family in Quebec and returned with a truck load of donated books, some in English and some in French.

Baskwill said they’ve also received an invitation from the Friends of the Annapolis Royal Library to visit at the end of their fundraising book sale, which takes place Nov. 7 and 8, to see if there are any titles they’d like to have for the Lawrencetown library.

Although they haven’t turned down any offers, Baskwill said they’re reaching a point where they’d have to start being more selective in what they accept. One example of a genre they would like to see more of is fiction published within the last five years.

She said that as of Oct. 8, they had cataloged 4,376 books. They wanted to build an initial collection of about 5,000 titles, and there are many books that haven’t been cataloged yet, so it looks like this goal will be exceeded.

There is plenty of room on the shelves, but Baskwill said they may keep some of the books in storage after they’ve been cataloged so they can switch some titles out. This would help keep the library experience fresh for returning visitors.

Baskwill said the volunteers were delayed slightly waiting for computers to be set up so they could begin cataloging the books. There are some training sessions for volunteers that have yet to be held, and they have yet to establish a schedule for the volunteers.

She thinks they’ll have enough help to make operating an independent library feasible. While some volunteers have been busy cataloging, others have been working in the background on potential programming and events for the library to offer.

Baskwill said 31 volunteers have been busy processing books. There are usually at least eight volunteers working on the project at any given session, and they’ve been cataloging three times a week for two hours at a time. They also have a student from the Lawrencetown Education Centre who is volunteering as part of a co-op program.

Baskwill said the library would have a section devoted to local history, and they’re still accepting donations of historical items. They’ve received a generous donation of materials from a local historian, as well as other items relating to genealogy and the history of the Annapolis Valley and Nova Scotia.

Because some of these items are quite fragile, people won’t necessarily be able to borrow them from the library but will be welcome to visit and view them there.

She said they’re still in the process of applying for charitable status so the library can issue tax receipts for monetary donations.

In the meantime, they are collecting smaller monetary donations through the local Enviro Depot, where people can choose to support a variety of good causes when returning refundable bottles or cans for the deposit. The library also has a donation jar at the Bee’s Knees General Store and Bakery, which is across the street from the library, where people can give their spare change.

She said that in the next phase, they hope to connect with various groups in the community about using the library as a venue to offer programs and events.

Baskwill said anyone wishing to donate books or other resource materials to the library, or who wants to reach out about using the venue for programs or events, can contact them via email at library@lawrencetownnovascotia.ca.

Up until July 18, the Dr. Frank W. Morse Memorial Library in Lawrencetown was an Annapolis Valley Regional Library branch.

When Lawrencetown village commissioners saw a report from the Annapolis Valley Regional Library board in January requesting increased funding from municipalities to avoid potential closures, they noted the Dr. Frank W. Morse Memorial Library in Lawrencetown had the lowest circulation rate of the regional library branches.

They realized that if this metric were to be used to determine which branches would remain open, they would have a difficult time increasing circulation given their hours of operation as a regional library branch and a general lack of programming being offered.

Feeling a sense of responsibility to the Morse family that bequeathed it, the village commission didn’t want to see the library close and started exploring the possibility of operating it independently.

Over the winter and into the spring, they put together a possible governance structure, considered policies, and determined how many volunteers they would need.

By the time the regional library announced in early June that five branches would close, including Lawrencetown, the village commission had already done a lot of research and decided to operate the library independently.

Even though the Annapolis Valley Regional Library board granted a temporary reprieve for the branches that were set to close on July 20, this didn’t change the village commission’s decision.