FRIENDS OF SOLDIERS MEMORIAL LIBRARY

Programs

1. Public library services for our community. The most important program service accomplishment for this year is our work to provide public library services for the Town of Hiram. This service is provided in the Soldiers Memorial Library building, a century-old historical building owned by the Town. Although the town owns the building, we own all of the furnishings and equipment. We provide the collections of books and other materials, five computers for public use, Internet services for the public, printing and copying services, and assistance with whatever needs have brought visitors to our facilities. We maintain hired staff to have the Library open to the public for 19-hours-per-week, with some of the open hours maintained by volunteers. The staff also hosts a children's story hour, and provides a venue for groups such as the "Knotty Knitters" (a knitting club), and for other programs and events. The Library has a collection of more than 6,000 items for loan, and has a web site where the collection can browsed using the Library World on-line catalog. On any of the four days each week when we have open hours, we may host a number of patrons varying from just a few to as many as…

   $31,117 spent$452 earned by the program
   31% of program spending

2. Providing the Arts Center building for many public uses. Maintaining and providing for public use a building that we own and manage in Hiram village is another important public service for our community. This building, the Arts Center at 8 Hancock Avenue, is a former church that has been renovated and improved to make a comfortable and attractive function space. The building has two floor levels: the lower floor has space for groups of up to 30 to 40 persons, while the main floor has a space that is suitable for up to 75 to 80 persons. The public library next door is also available for use for some purposes, but the size of that building limits groups to about ten persons, and the uses must avoid disrupting the public library facilities. The Arts Center is more flexible and recent uses include: (1) as a site for many adult education programs such as yoga classes, crafts instructions, and other courses that are offered by the local adult education organization, (2) the space for an increasing number of children's and family programs organized by the public library staff and volunteers, but needing a larger space than that available in the Library building (3) use as space for…

   $4,990 spent$3,026 earned by the program
   5% of program spending

3. Providing programs and events for public entertainment and education. Even before the acquisition of the Arts Center building in 2012, the Friends of Soldiers Memorial Library (FoSML) had endeavored to provide public events at the Library building. We had excellent successes with some Maine author book presentations and some other library-related programs. However, space in that historic building is very limited, so the variety of possible events was also limited. In 2016, after acquiring the building that became the Arts Center, we worked to make this much more spacious building into a comfortable and attractive events venue. The variety of uses of the Arts Center is described in the previous section, but our most important use is to have the building as a space for public events and educational programs. During 2012 to 2019 we had been working to expand the variety of these events, and to increase our publicity efforts to attract larger attendance. However, in the same way that the pandemic interrupted and limited many types of public events all around the world, our Arts Center also suffered from the necessity of limiting public gatherings. Now that the pandemic risks have been…

   $9,037 spent
   9% of program spending

4. Other Program Service Accomplishments: Our facilities also serve as emergency shelters in times of need. During times of emergency or important community needs, each of the buildings that we manage have been used for temporary emergency shelter for members of our community. Some of these needs are weather-related. Both of our buildings have year-round heating systems, and we have had volunteers keep one or the other of the buildings open at times of winter cold when some households have had inadequate heat. To alert to the availability we have announcements on our road-side sign board and, sometimes, notices on our Internet web-site and/or the web-site of the Town of Hiram. Since the installation of heat pump systems in the Arts Center in 2017, we have also been able to serve as a cooling center for residents who have had the inability to maintain homes cooled enough for health and comfort. This need has become ore frequent with apparently-increasing duration of above average temperatures during our summers. Finally, we have been able to provide the Arts Center to serve as an emergency shelter for families when extended power outages or catastrophic damage to homes has made…

   $0 spent
   0% of program spending

5. 2024 Project 5. Another major project of the Soldiers Memorial Library during 2024 has been the significant improvements of the facilities and services of the public library for the benefit of remote workers in and near our community and to better serve other workers who may commute and who may need access to support services at our facilities. The planning for these improvements during 2023 developed into a significant grant award of $98,070 managed by the Maine State Library using funding that was made available through a grant of the federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act). During 2024 this project concentrated on the improvement of the public library facilities with two major focus areas: (1) The improvements of the Soldiers Memorial Library building for a more comfortable, healthful and sustainable interior climate by the installation of heat pumps for better and more efficient heating and cooling and by interior wiring improvements for better access to computer work stations. This was an investment of $21,461 of improvements to the building that is owned by the Town of Hiram. Because this building is owned by the Town of Hiram, not owned by our FoSML organization, this…

   $4,072 spentof which $21,461 as grants
   4% of program spending

6. As a continuation of our grant-supported improvements of the public library facilities, we also launched another project to improve the access to library services at times beyond the limited open hours of the public library building. The development of a new, exterior covered pavilion workspace was designed to give a space to visitors which would still allow the use of some Library services, even when the library building is closed. Due to financial and staffing limitations, our library is only open for 19 hours of each week, but we can provide Wi-Fi Internet service that is available 24-hours-a-day across our campus of two buildings and parking spaces. The new 11x17-ft covered pavilion cost $51,479 and provides an exterior space, sheltered from weather, and with power outlets for phone charging, laptops power and other needs. The construction of the new pavilion and the improvement installations in the Library building were all accomplished with the hired services of local contractors, providing... at least... a short-term improvement of the local economy. Improvements of the facilities have provided remote workers and other patrons with better services, more opportunities to…

   $51,479 spent
   51% of program spending

The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $100,695.