Where would you be without your library?
2:13
Thank you to everyone who supported our dream of raising the funds needed to match the grant.
If you would still like to donate:
http://mn spear.org or http://fun dly.com/shutesburylibrary
Created/Directed by Lindsay Van Dyke http://lindsay vandyke.com
Additional footage filmed by Sarah Wentworth.
We're a small town in Massachusetts, population ~1800. Our cute little library was built 110 years ago, for a town of 400 people.
Features of our current library building:
* No running water. The composting toilet and hand sanitizer goes only so far with kids in tow
* So small that our weekly story hours can only accommodate 5 or 6 children
* Librarian must turn away volunteers, since we can only fit two adults behind the desk
* Can't fit people lingering over the stacks; it's in, a quick browse, and out
* No room for students to study
* Zero privacy for people wanting to use one of our two computers
* Can't host any events or meetings for more than a handful of people
* Free wifi (only part of our town has high speed internet of any kind). People sit with their laptops in their cars, since there's literally no room in the building
That's right--there's no room in our cute little library to sit and read a book!
Here's the awesome news: The state Library Commission has agreed that we desperately need a new building, likes our plans for one, and has promised to fund 60% of it. That means they'll kick in $2.1 million -- as long as we raise $1.4 million by June 30. So far, we've raised about $180,000. UPDATE on 5/17/12: since youtube video has gone viral, we're up to $240,815!
A generous anonymous donor has provided us with a $150,000 matching gift. Will you help us reach this goal?
Every little bit helps. mn spear.org
To buy the song "Everybody Let's Jump (For Your Library"):
http://eloise thegreat.band camp.com/track/everybody- lets-jump-for-your-library
Tags: library shutesbury ukulele storyhour books reading massachusetts nonprofit charity donation uke book Eloise the Great kids song
Added: 2 years ago
From: ShutesburyLibrary
Views: 59,671
[scene opens with an exterior shot of the M.N. Spear Memorial Library, as "The Shutesbury MA library, built in 1902, is 900 sq feet (That's wicked small)" appears on screen]
[cut to a female librarian playing the ukulele for a group of children, as the song "Everybody Let's Jump" by Eloise the Great plays in the background]
[cut to a group of patrons standing outside the library, as they hold up signs which read "We Need," "A New," "Library," and "Because"]
[cut to two female librarians standing inside the library, as one holds up a sign reading "No Running Water" and the other holds up a sign reading "Composting Toilet"]
[cut to another female librarian standing beside the entranceway, as a young boy opens the door ("trapping" her behind it) while she feigns panic and holds up a sign reading "Space"]
[cut to two young girls making an exaggerated effort to walk in between the cramped shelves, as one holds up a sign reading "Space"]
[cut to two more patrons holding up signs, one reading "Hot Hot Hot" (with an arrow pointing towards the floor) and the other reading "Melting Shoes"]
[cut to a closeup of the younger patron holding up her foot (as the sole of the show looks melted) next to the "Melting Shoes" sign]
[cut to another female librarian sitting at her desk, holding up a sign reading "There's No Room to Study"]
[cut to a young girl sitting outside of the library, holding up a sign reading "Our Little Town Loves to Read"]
[cut to a young boy holding up two signs, one reading "The State Will Give Us $2.1 Million" and the other reading "If We Raise $1.4 Million"]
[cut to a young girl holding up a sign reading "In Our New"]
[cut to another female librarian holding up a sign reading "Library"]
[cut to a young boy holding up a sign reading "We Will ... "]
[cut to a male patron inside the library holding up a sign reading "Get Creative"]
[cut to two young girls, with signs reading "Story" and "Time"]
[cut to a female librarian holding up a sign reading "Learn New Skills!"]
[cut to three young girls, with signs reading "Learn," "To," and "Read"]
[cut to a male patron sitting at a computer, holding up a sign reading "Look For Jobs"]
[cut to a young boy holding up a sign reading "Meet New People"]
[cut to a young girl holding up a sign reading "Hope"]
[cut to an older male patron holding up a sign reading "To Learn Local History"]
[cut to a young girl holding up a sign reading "Be Inspired"]
[cut to several children holding up signs which read "Please Help!," "Donate," "www dot," "mnspear," and "dot org" (before they start jumping up and down)]
[cut to a young boy sitting in the library, as he reads "The Adventures of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets"]
[cut to several patrons, young and old, browsing through the (cramped) library]
[cut to a young girl placing a coin into the donation jar]
[cut to a closeup of the jar sitting on a table, as "A little helps a lot" appears on screen]
The state will pay 60% of the cost of our new library ...
IF we raise $1.4 million by June 30.
We've raised $180,000 so far.
Please help.
www dot mnspear dot org
---
From boston.com:
The M. N. Spear Memorial Library in Shutesbury, Mass., is cramped, the heating grate melts shoe soles, and it has no running water (it has a composting toilet). Its dollhouse proportions have lost its charm for the town's residents (population 1800). The library was built 110 years ago to serve Shutesbury's then smaller population of 400 residents.
The state library commission agreed that the town was overdue for a new library and approved its plans with a caveat: The commission would fund 60 percent of the cost--$2.1 million--if the library raises the rest--$1.4 million--by June 30. With $180,000 raised and an anonymous gift of $150,000 if they can match it, the library made a video to raise awareness about its plight. Think of it as an online calorie-free bake sale.
---
From boingboing.net:
The Shutesbury Public Library in Shutesbury, Massachusetts is seeking funding in order to build a new building to replace their charming but woefully inadequate current one (which features no running water!). In order to get the word out staff and patrons created this cute little video in order to show the shortcomings of their current location, as well as what they could do with a new building.
---
From masslive.com:
By Fred Contrada
on May 04, 2012 at 4:30 PM, updated May 04, 2012 at 4:31 PM
SHUTESBURY – The up-and-down question of a new library for the town is down for the count following a judge's ruling that gives opponents a two-vote victory.
The finding issued by Franklin Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup on Wednesday declared two people who opposed the $1.4 million Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion eligible to vote in Shutesbury and two others who voted for the project ineligible.
The new result is a 522-520 vote against the proposed project.
Originally, the question tied 522-522 on the Jan. 10 ballot question seeking to borrow $1.4 million towards the $3.5 million project. By law, the question fails in the event of a tie.
Proponents were looking to the 5,800-square-foot building to replace the aging, 900-square foot M.N. Spear Library, which is more than a century old and lacks running water. They were also hoping to use it as a town community room.
In 2011, Town Meeting members voted to move the project forward, then rejected it in a subsequent vote.
A recount of the January, 2012, vote tipped the scale in favor of proponents when the town counted a provisional ballot in favor of the override after ensuring that the voter was not registered in Connecticut. Both sides then challenged various votes.
Rup's ruling puts an apparent end to the matter. Select Board Chairwoman Elaine Puleo said she will notify the state that Shutesbury cannot accept funding for the project.
"We have no other recourse," she said.
---
From mnspear.org:
History of the M.N. Spear Memorial Library
The first Public Library in Shutesbury, housed in a single bookcase, was established in 1811 by "Proprietors" or "Subscribers" -- more than forty of whom contributes at least one dollar (one share) each -- "desirous to encourage the establishment of a Library in the Town by the name of the social Library." The last record we find of a meeting of the proprietors is dated February 23, 1823.
On April 2, 1894 the Town voted to accept the law necessary to secure a "Free Library" and elect three library trustees. Twenty-five dollars was appropriated for the library, which was opened in the town house and maintained there until the present building was erected in 1902.
This structure was made possible through a bequest of $1,500 by Mirick N. Spear of Amherst. William H. Hemenway contributed a sum of money for shelving.
In 1934 the library received an endowment for its maintenance in the form of 45 shares of American Telephone and Telegraph stock, willed by William N. Spear of Springfield.
No comments:
Post a Comment