Anna D'Agostino, director of the ELANCO Area Library, wants residents in the library's service area to know the return on investment they receive when donating. "We have a community space with free Wi-Fi and public computers," she said, noting that scanning, faxing, and a climate-controlled environment are also offered. "We are open 51 hours a week (to provide) a safe environment for children and adults." She added that a variety of materials are available along with literacy and STEM building programs. "If you're going to contribute to something, there's a lot of value here at the library," she said.
D'Agostino joined the library as director in December of 2021. Prior to coming to ELANCO, she served as assistant branch manager and librarian at Brooklyn Park Community Library in Baltimore. Before that, she was electronic resources librarian at Loyola Notre Dame Library, Baltimore. She has lived in a variety of places in the U.S., and she has always loved libraries.
At the end of January, Jen Watson became assistant director and youth services coordinator for ELANCO. Watson, who is from Colorado, has a background in environmental education, which brought her to the Whitaker Center, Harrisburg, where she was a STEM programming manager.
Together with other staff members, the two women coordinate the many offerings of the library, which range from room rentals to museum passes. ELANCO Library board member Susan Burke pointed out that in addition to staff expenses, the library must pay for electricity, heat, and other costs. Although, ELANCO is supported by the state and funds from five local municipalities, a large percentage of the budget is not covered. "Our goal is to get the word out about how libraries have to fundraise two-thirds of our money," said Burke. For many years, much of that funding came from the library auction, but for a variety of reasons, organizers are looking into other funding techniques. "We are calling this year's fundraiser the Operational Campaign of 2022," said Burke. The library sends out an annual appeal letter in early fall and takes part in the Extraordinary Give, which will be Nov. 18 this year. Currently, the fundraising committee is putting together a $600 prize package that includes a donated grill, a grocery store gift card, and utensils.
In addition, the library is doing in-house fundraisers including a by-donation opportunity for children to win a free book. According to D'Agostino, a local artist created a birdhouse from Dr. Seuss books, which she gifted to the library. "Patrons can contribute some change and fill out a ticket with name, age, and contact information," explained D'Agostino, who added that every two weeks a book winner will be drawn. During February, a campaign to pay off children's library fines brought in enough to restore library privileges to 13 youngsters.
"Our role is to serve the public," noted Burke, who added that D'Agostino has emphasized offering access to everyone in the surrounding area. "We are trying to do programs for the diversity of residents and age groups we have (in the ELANCO area)."
More information about the library may be found at http://www.elancolibrary.org.
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