BIXBY BULLETIN NEWSLETTER

May 2023
Director's Dispatch
Lilacs and dandelions and apple blossoms, oh, my! After all that rain (and rain and rain), what a joyous string of days filled with sunshine and everything that makes spring in Vermont so delightful. Our professional gardening volunteer who donated the huge urns in the front and stealthily refreshes them every few months has paired pansies with colored fronds to greet those of you who make your way up the Indiana limestone steps. The library’s spring bulb bed that gardening volunteers created years ago (thank you!) is a beautiful gift that keeps on giving to all who pass by on their way uptown from Otter Creek Falls.  

And speaking of Otter Creek Falls, the Bixby has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership to create programming for all ages this summer and fall with the theme: Interconnected Waterways. Our communities are interconnected in many ways, including sharing Lewis Creek, Otter Creek, and Dead Creek to feed into our collective broad expanse of Lake Champlain. We’ll be featuring Addison resident Peter Macfarlane’s daring adventure across and back the Northern Forest Canoe Trail in June. We’ll cap the season by hosting the Abenaki Arts and Education Center’s Nebizum: Water is Life exhibit. And we are finalizing kids' on-water programming for the summer, so stay tuned for more information.

Happy spring!

Catharine
What's New at the Library?
Spring Cleaning with VUHS Volunteers
A big thank you to the students and teachers from Vergennes Union High School who volunteered this past Wednesday at the Bixby! They braved the raindrops to clean up the yard and take down a whole lot of cobwebs. The entire community benefits from your volunteering!
Start Your Garden with the Bixby's Seed Library
We're excited to announce the launch of the Bixby Seed Lending Library coming to the lobby in mid-May. Bixby cardholders can borrow vegetable, flower, and herb seed packets to take home and plant in their gardens. At the end of the season, save some seeds and return them to the library for others to use. Keep an eye out on social media and our website for more information on the launch. Thank you to the Vergennes Leo Club for assisting us with this project!
Attend the Vermont Pastel Society's Benefit Art Exhibition
The Vermont Pastel Society has chosen the Bixby as the location for its summer showcase, beginning at the Summer Soirée Fundraiser on June 9 and running through July 28. The society has generously agreed to make their show a benefit exhibition, with a percentage of the proceeds going directly to support the Bixby Library's services and programming. Buy your Summer Soirée tickets today to get first dibs!
Get Your Tickets for the Bixby Library's
Summer Soirée Fundraiser
Mark your calendars and tell your friends! The can't-miss Bixby Library Summer Soirée Fundraiser is being held on Friday, June 9, 2023.

Co-Chairs Bethanie Brady Farrell, Julie Jones, Laura Mack, and Abby Matson are creating an incredibly “soaring" experience for this year’s event with more creative ideas and adventures than ever!

Tickets are $75 and include:

  • Live music and dancing with The Grift!
  • Welcome drink and cash bar
  • Local gourmet eats
  • Curated live, silent, and online auction items and experiences
  • Red Sox tickets raffle
  • Benefit Art Exhibition featuring the Vermont Pastel Society
  • Photo booth action

You can purchase your tickets online here.

Interested in becoming an event sponsor, donating an auction item, or helping out in other ways? Please get in touch with Catharine Hays at catharine.hays@bixbylibrary.org to learn more about how you can support this year's fundraiser.
Librarian's Corner
Ready to put your culinary skills to the test? Well, our Library of Things has two new additions just for you. Our cake decorating kit has everything you need to bake the cake of your dreams, including springform pans, piping supplies, decorations, a cake stand, and utensils. Want to try your hand at homemade pasta? Check out our pasta machine and prepare a delicious pasta primavera with seasonal vegetables. We've also added some fun new board games for all ages, so take a look the next time you're in.
Amber Lay, Assistant Director
The tulips are blooming, and the rain has finally stopped. Spring is arguably the best time to take that book outside! Hang up a hammock, enjoy the shade under those newly leafed-out trees, or spread a blanket and check out some of our new picture books to read to the kids while you soak in some Vitamin D. For the elementary and young adults, we have many new chapter books including those by the ever-popular Stuart Gibbs, and many highly-rated and entertaining YA fiction titles. You might have missed this month's Writer's Club, but you're not too late to join us for LEGO Club this Saturday, May 13, at 10:30 in the Community Room.
Mary Neffinger, Children & Youth Services Librarian
Seven bees are buzzing around the Bixby for this month’s library scavenger hunt. Can you find them all? Thanks to lots of positive feedback from our younger patrons, the library will have a different search each month.

Next month’s book club selection is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. This novel is about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black, and one white. Join us on Tuesday, June 13, at 6 pm to discuss. Copies of this book are on their way and should be available soon at the Circulation Desk. I'm looking forward to reading this one!
Martha Sanborn, Circulation & Information Desk Manager
Our Patrons Recommend...
Thanks to everyone who take the time to "rate your read” to share with others at the Circulation Desk. Here's what our patrons are saying about their recent five-star reads:
"I give it 10 stars for character, plot, and superlative imagination!"
"Amazing book! Great detail, interesting folklore."
"Self-development book about positive viewing in work and life. Easy, quick read with 10 simple rules."
"Great book. Couldn't put it down!"
Mark Your Calendars!
Adult Programs
Youth Programs
Programs for All Ages
Community Happenings
Friends of the Bixby
Spring Cleaning Book Sale

Saturday, May 13, 9 am-1 pm

The Friends of the Bixby will be hosting their first book sale of the season on Saturday, May 13, from 9-1 pm in the library’s basement Otter Creek Room. This is a spring clean-out sale, and all books are priced accordingly. We offer gently used fiction, non-fiction, children’s, YA, gardening, sci-fi/fantasy, Vermont books, and more!
Taste of Summer

The Ferrisburgh Union Meeting Hall annual Taste of Summer event is taking place on May 19th-21st. Activities include a family fun night, multiple food vendors, a "Market on the Green" on Saturday, live music, art display, axe throwing, classic car display on Sunday and more!

In addition, they will be hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, May 19th at 4:30 to officially open the newly completed ADA-compliant second exit/entrance. No RSVP is necessary.

For full event details, visit unionmeetinghall.org.
Community Legal Information Center

The Community Legal Information Center (CLIC) provides free legal reference services to Vermont's general public. CLIC provides access to legal research databases, legal self-help books, reference services, a notary, and printing services.

Library Hours:
Tuesday-Thursday: 10 am-7 pm
Friday-Saturday: 10 am-3 pm
(802) 877-2211