Home › Archive for General

Category: General

Posted on Posted in Adult, Community, General, Kids, Teens

June 17 - August 12, 2023

www.goffstownlibrary.com/beanstack

The 2023 summer experience theme All Together Now celebrates kindness, friendship, and unity with themed programs and activities to support a love of reading and learning. We have an All Together Now program for each age group – Adults 18+, Tweens and Teens ages 10-18, and Children preschool ages and up.

Please join us for our 65th year of providing exciting and fun special summer programs for all members of the Goffstown community.

Summer Experience for All Ages

It’s easy to track your reading and participate in the fun challenges we’ve prepared for you this summer. When you sign up online you can earn raffle tickets to be entered for great prizes.

Registration is required for many events and programs, visit our Library calendar to sign up:

www.goffstownlibrary.com/calendar

a rocket appears on top of a calendar next to EVENTKEEPER text

blue heart beanstack logoJoin the digital event at:

www.goffstownlibrary.com/beanstack

Download & install the Beanstack Tracker app by Zoobean, Inc., and get started today with Challenges and Activities (Beanstack is also easy to use in a web browser).

Summer Experience raffle winners can choose from:

  • Children:
    • Amazon gift card (2 @ $50 each)
    • Chunky’s gift card ($50)
    • Fun City gift card ($50)
    • Bundled prizes with themes of “Pokémon,” “Outdoor Fun” and “Arts and Crafts”
  • Teens:
    • Outdoor discovery basket with a $25 Amazon gift certificate
    • Crafting basket with a $25 Amazon gift certificate
    • Bookworm basket with a $25 Amazon gift certificate
  • Adults: Three tote bags, each filled with goodies including gift certificates from one of the following: Cumberland Farms, Apotheca, and Bookery.

Community Reading Challenge

Calling all kids, teens, and adults – join our “Goffstown Reads: All Together Now” community reading challenge!

We have set a community-wide goal of reading 4,000 hours during our 8-week program. Let’s work together to beat last summer’s record of 3,500 hours!

Kids and teens will count their reading time in hours and adults will earn 8 hours for each book read. This challenge encourages a healthy reading competition between age groups. Who will read the most—children, teens, or adults? To celebrate reaching our goal, the Friends of the Goffstown Public Library are generously funding an ice cream celebration for all participants on Tuesday, August 15 at 3:30 p.m.

All reading logs, activity logs, and prizes will be tracked in Beanstack.

#goffstownlibrary

Read more »

Posted on Posted in Community, General

Thank You!

UPDATE 6/7/2023

We are in awe of the generosity shown to the Goffstown Public Library Foundation during NH Gives during June 6-7.

The Foundation was able to raise $3,090.88* during the 24-hour online event to further their goal of raising money for the renovation and expansion of the Goffstown Public Library (*total includes checks received instead of online giving). Each gift made will play a critical role in allowing them to serve our community and create a larger impact.

“The Foundation is excited to have joined NH Gives to raise much-needed funds for our building addition and renovation project. Every gift is an investment in the Goffstown community, and we appreciate the partnership and support NH Gives has provided.” – Kathy Coughlin, Chair, Goffstown Public Library Foundation

For more information about future opportunities to donate to the Goffstown Public Library Foundation, please visit www.gplnhfoundation.org/how-to-give/

The Goffstown Public Library Foundation is taking part in this year’s NH Gives! Save the Date!
 
NH Gives is a powerful, statewide 24-hour online fundraising event to celebrate and support all the amazing nonprofits in New Hampshire. NH Gives is an initiative of the NH Center for Nonprofits to help raise money and awareness in the 24 hours between June 6 at 5:00 p.m. and June 7 at 5:00 p.m.
 
The Goffstown Public Library Foundation is raising money for the renovation and expansion of the Goffstown Public Library. Please mark your calendars for June 6 – 7, from 5:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
 
Thank you in advance for supporting their work during NH Gives by sharing or forwarding these messages and, if you’re able, supporting them with a gift of any amount, large or small.
 
Thank you for your support!

Check with your employer, they may match your charitable donations to add even more!

INCENTIVES & PRIZES! NH GIVES has incentives for donors during the 24-hour NH Gives event and every donation counts! The Goffstown Public Library Foundation has the chance to win monetary prizes for:

  • Most Unique Donors on Tuesday, June 6 between 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.,
  • receiving the first donation after 5:00 p.m. on June 6, 2023,
  • receiving the first donation at 6:03 a.m. on June 7,
  • as Rookie of the Year raising the most online dollars during the 24-hour event,
  • receiving the last donation before the clock hits 5:00 p.m. on June 7,
  • raising the most dollars online during the 24-hour event in the Manchester region,
  • having the most unique online donors during the 24-hour event in the Manchester region.

Every donation counts! Big or small they count them all, even multiple donations per household to help drive the numbers up! For a full list of possible prizes visit www.nhgives.org/prizes

 
Thank you for your support!
https://gplnhfoundation.org/

Posted on Posted in Adult, Community, General, Kids, Teens
“Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books for young readers, including the Front Desk series: Front Desk, Three Keys, Room to Dream, Key Player and Top Story, New From Here, and Finally Seen. Front Desk won the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and was chosen as a Best Book of the Year by multiple organizations, including NPR, the Washington Post, and the New York Public Library. Kelly’s family immigrated to the United States from China when she was a young girl, and she grew up in California, in circumstances very similar to those of Mia Tang. After attending college at the age of 13, she graduated UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is the founder of The Kelly Yang Project, a leading writing and debating program for children in Asia and the United States. Her writing has been published in South China Morning Post,The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic.” Learn more about Kelly.

There's More to the Story

Most people know about the wealth of stories available at the library, from picture books and large print to audiobooks and e-books. But there’s so much more to the story of libraries.

Libraries are welcoming spaces that bring communities together for entertainment, education, and connection through book clubs, story times, movie nights, crafting classes, lectures, and more. The Goffstown Public Library offers a wide array of programs, classes, and resources, including museum passes, online learning, a telescope, and literacy kits.

And libraries play a critical role in the economic vitality of communities by providing internet and technology access, literacy skills, and support for job seekers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs.

If you haven’t checked out the Goffstown Public Library lately, you’re missing the full story. Stop by for a visit to celebrate National Library Week. Follow on Facebook and Instagram, and the hashtag #NationalLibraryWeek to join the online celebration.

Read more »

Posted on Posted in Community, General

At the Goffstown Public Library, we are honored to work with many dedicated and impassioned volunteers: Joan, who brings her dog Candy to us for children to read aloud and improve their skills; the Friends of the Goffstown Public Library, a small and mighty group of volunteers who raises money to fully fund our Museum Pass Program, gingerbread decorating workshops, and so much more; and members of the Goffstown Public Library Foundation, whose mission it is to work on a capital campaign for a much-needed building addition. Finally, the Library Board of Trustees, who spend many personal hours meeting, advocating, and planning for the future of our Library. We applaud you all!

Outline of three extended hands reach for the sky, surrounded by hearts above the date 2023.

National Volunteer Week is celebrated annually to: recognize those individuals who give of themselves, and to promote volunteerism in every community. This week was established in 1974 by a proclamation signed by President Richard Nixon, and the Points of Light Foundation encourages volunteerism, with this poignant statement: “Volunteerism empowers individuals to find their purpose, to take their passion and turn it into meaningful change. When each of us, in our own way, answers the call to make a difference, we make progress in solving our most persistent problems, and create stronger communities and a more just society.”

If you’re interested in volunteering, please get in touch with the Friends at friends@goffstownlibrary.com.

Posted on Posted in Community, General

There has been a lot of conversation regarding the annual visitor/door count number collected by the Goffstown Public Library and stated at the town deliberative session. There has been a call to collect the number of unique visitors instead, and that to do otherwise is misleading and lying to the community.

I responded to comments truthfully and factually. We gather and report statistics as required:

 
  • The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an agency of the federal government, collects public library data nationally every year. As part of this process, the IMLS requires the NH State Library to collect the same data from all public libraries in NH that is being collected in every other state. They use this data to better understand library programs and services, and to see how our libraries compare to those in other states.
  • All public libraries in the US are required to report data in the same way so that the numbers are meaningful and comparable.
  • The specific wording that the IMLS uses to explain this item (door count and number of visitors) is as follows: “This is the total number of persons entering the library for whatever purpose during the year.”

As Library Director, I will continue to gather and report numbers as required by IMLS and NH state law: RSA 202-A:12 (g). Please address further questions and comments to trustees@goffstownlibrary.com.

 
~ Dianne Hathaway, Library Director