Recently, five members of a long-standing book club pooled their resources to make a $1000 donation to the 1000 Homes Campaign.

“The Library is so much more than a book repository,” said group organizer Anita Amos, citing the special speakers, study hours for students, and assistance with on-site computers she has witnessed over the years. Member and retired Reading teacher Pat Maestranzi echoed Amos’s sentiments, adding museum passes and meeting spaces to the list of the library’s assets she appreciates.

It was Amos’s idea to make the collective donation. The others, all fans of the Library, readily agreed.

Karen McKenna, a retired 3rd grade teacher from the Abbot School, praised library staff member Charles Schweppe for going above and beyond to recommend and procure books for the group. Retired Math professor Nancy Harrington recalled the generosity of library staff who supported her mission trip to Africa by donating children’s books that were being removed from circulation. Barbara Menzie, who taught 5th grade at the Abbot School until 2015, remembers the previous library renovation in the late 80s, and what an impact it made. Frayda Viera, retired Roudenbush Preschool teacher, said she enjoys using the library’s Libby platform to borrow books to read on her Kindle, especially when she is going on vacation. (Viera made her own separate family donation to the 1000 Homes Campaign.)