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THE BIXBY BULLETIN
September 2025
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Farewell and Thank You from the Director
As I head into my final month as Director of the Bixby Memorial Free Library, I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has been part of this incredible journey since I stepped into the role on May 1, 2020.
It has been a true privilege to serve the Bixby community and to work alongside so many dedicated individuals—patrons, volunteers, and staff—who care deeply about this library and what it represents. Whether you shelved books, processed new ones, read and summarized archival documents, cared for historical objects and artifacts, served at the circulation desk, maintained our plants and fish, refinished woodwork, or even shoveled the snowy sidewalk—your contributions were seen and appreciated.
To the many collaborators behind our gala fundraisers, our guest speakers, performers, and instructors—you’ve helped us create experiences that have brought joy, learning, and inspiration into the lives of many.
To the Friends of the Bixby Library, the tradespeople and grant funding partners who have cared for this beautiful building, and the community leaders and business owners who support our mission—thank you for standing with us.
I'm especially grateful for the support of the Vermont Department of Libraries, the Vermont Library Association, and the Vermont Historical Society. To my fellow library directors in Addison County and across Vermont—your wisdom and camaraderie have meant more than you know.
A very special thank you to the Bixby Board of Trustees. Your steadfast commitment, thoughtful leadership, and deep care for the library’s future have guided us through both challenges and growth. To our Board President—your encouragement, trust, and partnership have been invaluable, and I am especially grateful for your steady hand and generous spirit.
I also want to recognize those who have served as Addison, Ferrisburgh, Panton, and Waltham clerks, selectboard members, and the voters who believe in the value of public libraries. And to those who work for the City of Vergennes where we reside—especially in the City Manager’s team and Public Works—thank you for your tireless partnership and care.
Finally, to the Bixby staff team—you are the heart of this place. Your commitment, creativity, and kindness make this library the welcoming and dynamic community hub it is today. I’m especially grateful to Assistant Director Amber Lay, whose tremendous contributions have been vital to our continued success. Her development and mastery of our systems, processes, and policies keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes, while her thoughtful and engaging work as Adult Librarian brings joy and discovery to our patrons every day. Amber’s dedication, versatility, and leadership are truly invaluable.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of Bixby’s story. I leave with immense pride in all that we’ve accomplished together—and excitement for what’s yet to come.
| | What's New at the Library? | | Booked for Bikes Breaks Records | | |
This summer at the Bixby has been filled with joy, creativity and plenty of reading adventures! While time away from school can sometimes cause kids’ reading skills to slip, our long-running partnership with the Greater Vergennes Rotary has helped keep books at the heart of summer fun for more than 25 years through the Booked for Bikes Summer Reading Challenge.
We’re thrilled to share that participation hit a new record this year with 100 young readers joining in. Together, they logged an incredible 87,600 minutes–that’s 1,460 hours spent reading!
Thank you to Scott Gaines for his decades of dedicated leadership, the Greater Vergennes Rotary for their ongoing sponsorship, and Earl’s Cyclery for their generous support of Booked for Bikes. Together, we awarded free custom bikes to four readers in our five-town community this summer!
As we look ahead to next summer, we want to make Booked for Bikes as engaging and accessible as possible. We’d love to hear your ideas for new ways to participate–share your suggestions with Shelby and help us shape the future of this beloved program!
| | Highlighting a Colorful Summer of Reading | | |
Our 2025 Adult and YA Summer Reading Challenge, Color Your Shelves, was a huge success! Participation from last summer increased by an astounding 372%, with 118 readers taking on the challenge of exploring six different genres! We were thrilled to celebrate 23 art prize winners who completed books in three of the six genres, as well as 14 grand prize winners—who completed books in all six genres—with gift cards to Vermont Cookie Love. We hope all of our participants enjoyed discovering new books this summer, and that our grand prize winners are savoring some cookies and creemees!
Have any suggestions for next year’s Adult and YA Summer Reading Challenge? Miranda would love to hear them! Email her or stop by the Bixby to share what you enjoyed this summer and what you’d like to see next year.
| | Bloom With the Bixby at the Book and Plant Sale | | |
Bookworms and earthworms alike, mark your calendars for the Friends of the Bixby Library’s annual Book and Plant Sale on Saturday, September 27 from 9 AM to 1 PM!
As you prepare your gardens ready for fall, consider dividing perennials or propagating houseplants to donate to the sale. Plant donation days are Thursday, September 25 and Friday, September 26 from 3 to 6 PM behind the library.
Your plant donations and purchases will directly support the Bixby Library’s collections, programs, events, and community resources. There will also be delicious homemade pies for sale- every pie, plant, and book sold helps enrich the services we offer to our five-town community!
| | Our Gratitude to Northlands for Their Continued Support | | A heartfelt thank you to the Northlands Building Construction Technology students and their instructor, Todd Lossmann, for building and donating a new picnic table to the Bixby. This beautiful piece, together with the original picnic table they donated in the past, has allowed us to offer outdoor seating both in front of the Bixby and in our backyard. We are so grateful for this generous gift! | | Volunteer Opportunity at the Circulation Desk | | |
As the leaves begin to change and the first crisp breezes arrive, it's a great time to embrace the transition into autumn and consider volunteering at the beautiful Bixby Library. We need help serving community members and shelving books at our circulation desk!
The ideal volunteer would be comfortable with computers and interacting with our patrons. Circulation desk volunteers sign up for a weekly 2+ hour shift, checking out and shelving books, making patrons feel welcomed and supported, and assisting the Bixby Staff with projects.
Interested in this unique opportunity to serve your community? Click here to fill out a volunteer application and join the Bixby Family!
| | We are so grateful that Patty McNerney interned with us again this summer, made possible through a grant from United Way of Addison County. After her experience at the Bixby last year, Patty discovered her passion for librarianship and returned ready to dive in. The librarians guided her quality, detailed work in weeding, organizing, and labeling book collections, in addition to serving patrons at the circulation desk with professionalism and a ready smile. Thank you, Patty! | | Celebrate Library Card Sign-Up Month | Did you know that September is Library Card Sign-Up Month? If you’re receiving this newsletter, chances are you may already have a library card, but what about your friends and neighbors? Help us put a free library card in the hands of every resident of Addison, Ferrisburgh, Panton, Vergennes, and Waltham. Let them know that it only takes a few minutes to stop by, sign up, and walk away with a world of resources including our physical books, e-books and audiobooks, movies, our Library of Things, and so much more! | Last Opportunity to Experience Hispanic Voices | | |
Don’t miss your last chance to immerse yourself in Hispanic Voices! This captivating exhibit will be on display through Thursday, September 11 in the Community Room. Showcasing 29 portraits and audio interviews with Hispanic Vermonters, Hispanic Voices was created as a University of Vermont (UVM) service-learning project to raise awareness of cultural diversity in Vermont and celebrate the resilience and contributions of the state’s Hispanic community.
As part of the project, Hispanic Vermonters shared their life stories with UVM students, who then crafted five-minute audio pieces reflecting on their heritage, lived experiences, and lasting impact. Be sure to stop by before it’s gone!
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With fall just around the corner, September is bringing an exciting lineup of new book releases! Whether you're into twisty thrillers, epic fantasy, heartwarming romance, or thought-provoking nonfiction, there's something in store for everyone.
We’re especially looking forward to the buzz around Ken Follett's Circle of Days, Elin Hilderbrand's boarding school drama The Academy, the return of Dan Brown, and the fantasy debut Alchemised by SenLinYu. And don’t forget: you can place holds now to be first in line! Search our catalog to place a reserve, or email me to get on the list. Happy reading!
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Amber Lay, Assistant Director/Adult Services Librarian
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With the school year beginning and the hot days of the Summer Reading challenges ending, the Children’s and YA sections have you covered. We have a wide selection of new releases just waiting to be read!
For children, check out Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (a Golden Dome title with a sequel coming soon), or dive into our newest manga Witch Hat Atelier. This month, don’t miss Bixby’s FunLab — our after-school STEAM program where kids can try experiments like making seasonal slime. We’re also launching LEGO Club on September 6, Graphic Novel Book Club on September 18, and bringing back Sensory Playtime on September 26. Families, join us for a movie matinee on September 13 featuring the new live-action How to Train Your Dragon — we’ll bring the popcorn!
For young adults, explore graphic novels by local author Tillie Walden (Spinning and On a Sunbeam), plus a fresh lineup of fiction and nonfiction. Teens can also join us for a Lofi and Study session on September 9 and a Roblox Hangout (ages 10+) on September 20.
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This month, the Bixby Book Club will be discussing Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo on September 9 from 6-7 PM. This book, which won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, tells the story of an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia in 1848. Ellen, the wife, disguised herself as a disabled white gentleman, with her husband traveling as her manservant. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but so far I’m really liking this one!
Our Bixby Book Club selections through the end of the year are:
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October: The Maid by Nita Prose
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November: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
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December: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
One of the things I enjoy most about Book Club is the interesting variety of books we choose. I love how it pushes me to read books that I might not have necessarily chosen on my own!
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As summer winds down, we’re gearing up for an exciting autumn of adult and all-ages programming at the Bixby! To kick off September and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, join us for a bilingual Spanish poetry reading with local author Tina Escaja on September 10. She’ll share selections from her new collection, Realidad Mitigada / Mitigated Reality, touching on a wide range of themes.
Then, send summer off on a delicious note at Cook the Book: Potluck on the Porch on September 20, featuring recipes from My Vermont Table by Gesine Bullock-Prado. On the menu so far: onion saffron tart, corn chowder, apple salad, and butternut squash fritters—yum! Sign up today in the Bixby Lobby to join the fun.
Finally, after you’ve said your goodbyes to summer, join us for a talk with local author Erik Shonstrom on October 2 as he shares his wilderness misadventures from his book I Probably Should’ve Brought a Tent. We look forward to seeing you at a program this fall!
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Axie Oh masterfully blends whimsy with Korean folklore in The Floating World, a beautifully written YA fantasy set in a unique universe where one world literally floats above another. Ren, a joyful acrobat traveling with her family, and Sunho, a memoryless mercenary living in a gritty techno-noir city beneath the floating world, come from vastly different lives. Their paths collide when a demon attack during one of Ren’s performances forces her to unleash a mysterious silver light, revealing a long-held secret. Assigned to track down the girl with the light, Sunho embarks on a journey that will transform them both. Perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli and Shadow and Bone, this emotional and magical tale deserves high praise.
Shelby Gagne, Children & Youth Librarian
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For fans of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy, Sunrise on the Reaping is a dramatic and heartbreaking prequel that explores the backstory of Haymitch. In the original series, Haymitch is a drunken, emotionally distant mentor and the only living victor from District 12. Sunrise on the Reaping reveals the young man he once was, detailing his experience in the 50th Hunger Games. Collins explores the horrors that shaped him, illustrating just how far the Capitol will go to maintain control and punish rebellion. Twisted and devastating, this prequel deepens the lore of Panem while offering insights into inequality, power, and purpose.
Miranda Degreenia, Community Engagement Manager
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This page-turning mystery follows a couple who seem to have it all: successful careers, a child, and a nice home. The book opens with a prologue: six weeks earlier, Bryden, the wife, bumps her car into the back of a brand-new Tesla. In the present, her husband receives a call that Bryden hasn’t picked up their daughter from childcare. Her phone and purse remain in the condo, and her car is in the garage—yet she is nowhere to be found. The condo’s cameras show nothing. Where is Bryden, and what happened to her?
Martha Sanborn, Circulation Desk Manager
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Questions or comments on this month's newsletter?
Contact Bixby Bulletin Editor-in-Chief, Miranda Degreenia.
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Tuesday–Thursday: 10 AM–7 PM
Friday–Saturday: 10 AM–3 PM
(802) 877-2211
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