Beardsley Library wins prestigious grant

WINSTED — The Beardsley Library is one of just 15 libraries in the country to be selected for a 2019 grant from the “Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces” project.

The project will help the library staff apply “principles of design thinking to create space for social, active learning at the library,” according to the Online Computer Library Center, which supervises the project.

A grant of $5,000 will provide materials for the library staff as they “create their learning spaces,” the statement said. The Association of Rural and Small Libraries is also a partner in the project.

The project should “encourage more community involvement,” said Town Manager Robert Geiger, who also is the Library Board of Trustees vice president.

“We focus on children because they will be tomorrow’s adults,” he added.

Karin Taylor, Beardsley Library services director, was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

“The library will work with the local community to reimagine and reconfigure the library space to encourage socially engaging and active learning at the library,” an online statement from Beardsley Library noted.

It will have “a focus on place making, community engagement, and human-centered space and service design.”

The project received 120 applications from 38 states, the library center said in a statement. The selected libraries are located in 15 states, ranging from Wisconsin to Washington.

Beardsley Library provides services to 15,000 patrons, according to the grant information, making it the largest library to receive the award. The smallest library to to be chosen is the Waimea Public Library, Waimea, Hawaii, with 5,500 patrons.

The Tucker Free Library in Henniker, N.H. was one of the institutions that took part in the inaugural project.

Tucker Library Director Lynn Piotrowiz said on Tuesday that her “goal was to bring in STEAM programs for toddlers to teens.”

The library’s annual report notes that their “large collection of STEAM manipulators” is enjoyed by families and small groups.

The report notes that the library “participated in an 18-month national grant to create a space for community engagement.”

The Beardsley Library is an independent institution, Geiger said. “It’s not run by the town, the town doesn’t own it.” He said the staff at the library are not town employees and receive no benefits.

“We’re a lower income library,” Geiger added. He said the library ranks as 10 or 15 of the lowest budgeted institutions in the state.

“We’re short by $60,000 to $70,000 that will be made up by donations,” he said.

The staff at Beardsley Library will receive online group instruction with the other 2019 project members and will be guided on how to request community input and create their learning spaces, the grant information shows, using a $5,000 sub-grant toward materials.

Several participants from the first library cohort will be supporting this new group with advice and consultation from their own experience with the project.

“We’re excited that the success of the first 15 libraries has enabled us to expand the project to a total of 30 rural and small libraries in 24 states,” Sharon Streams, director of WebJunction, the online training service, said in statement.

In a “Transformation Story,” posted on the Tucker Free Library website, a youth services librarian “weeded” out more than 1,000 books and “circulation skyrocketed.” The reimagined area now offers 144 square feet of floor space.

File photo/ N.F. Ambery Ukrainian arts and crafts were displayed during a program at The Beardsley & Memorial Library. in Winsted.