Brandon Library gets by with a little help from its Friends

BY STEVEN JUPITER

BRANDON—When you walk in the doors of the Brandon Free Public Library (BFPL), you see the spectacle of the place.  You see the librarians and the books and the resources—the complex public theater that lets you know you’re in a library.  What you don’t get to see is all the people who make the entire production possible behind the scenes.  While the librarians may be the glamorous stars everyone knows, the Friends of the Brandon Library are the determined producers making sure the show can go on.

For much of the last 70-odd years, it’s been the Friends who have ensured the financial survival of BFPL, raising in excess of $200,000 for everything from books to furniture to children’s programs to computers.  Whatever the library needed but couldn’t afford, the Friends found a way to pay for.  “The library wouldn’t be here if not for the Friends,” says Bobbie Torstenson, vice-president of the group.

That fundraising has involved direct solicitations, the basement book sale, and the annual holiday auction.  Every year, the Friends pledge a certain amount of money to supplement what BFPL gets from the town and from grants—last year the Friends’ pledged amount rose from $9,000 to $10,000 in anticipation of BFPL’s upcoming renovation.

“BFPL gets only half of its annual budget from our town appropriation,” said David Roberts, president of the library’s board.  “The other half has to come from grants and fundraising.  And every year the Friends come through in a major way.  They make this place possible.”

The ladies who make up the Friends are indeed all friends, not just of the library but of one another.  For most of them, their involvement with the library began as something social years ago, when they had young children and took advantage of the programs that the library offered.  Their children are now grown, with children of their own, but the community that these ladies built at the library has endured.

I sat down recently with the Executive Committee of the Friends for a conversation about their mission.

Sue Wetmore (President), Bobbie Torstenson (VP) , Sue Stone (Treasurer), Stephanie Choma (member and former Head Librarian), and Carol Fjeld (Secretary) have known each other for decades.  In any small town, the connections among people are myriad but the work these women have done for the library has forged a bond among them that’s downright familial.  They tease each other like siblings and laugh at shared memories like pals who’ve known each other a very long time.  They hope that the broader community will become familiar with their work, too.

“It doesn’t sink in,” said Carol Fjeld, referring to the public’s general unfamiliarity with the group.  Carol just ended a six-year tenure on BFPL’s board of directors this week and was appointed secretary of the Friends literally as we chatted.

“That’s how formal we are,” laughed Sue Stone.

Much of the conversation involved fond reminiscences about the folks who ran the Friends in days gone by.  Bobbie, seemingly the group’s unofficial historian, came with documents and photos she’d found during the recent clean-out of the library basement, where the Friends have long held their book sale—the longest-running of its kind in Vermont (the sale brought in $5,000 in 2022).  Bobbie displays a leatherbound guest book she found in a desk drawer downstairs.  Its first page has the names of three visitors from Jersey City, New Jersey who stopped by in 1926.

The basement book sale was famously labyrinthine, a veritable underground city of volumes and tomes.  Some of the books, like 1980s exercise guides, were unlikely ever to find a new home, but some, like lushly illustrated books on art, were a bibliophile’s delight.  You never knew what you’d find down there.  Patience—and a lack of claustrophobia—often paid off.

These rooms are empty now; all the books have been removed.  Renovation is slated to begin in April.  The book sale will still occupy space in the new basement, but it will be smaller: two rooms instead of five.  The rest of the space will be used by the library for public activities and meetings.  Walking through the pink-walled spaces with Bobbie, who has run the sale since 2007, there’s a palpable sense of bittersweet change in the air. 

“It has to be done,” said Bobbie. “We have to evolve.”  

“We need younger people,” added Sue Wetmore.  

The need to draw a younger generation to the group is generally acknowledged as a priority.  Though their experience and social network make them effective fundraisers, they recognize that someone else will eventually need to take up the cause just as they took it up from the generation before them.  

Stephanie Choma, who was Director of BFPL until her retirement just a few years ago, said she watched with pride as Molly Kennedy metamorphosed from a bookish child who volunteered at BFPL into a professional librarian who now holds the position Choma once did.

“I can’t extend enough thanks to our lively group of Friends for all the work they put in to make our library the most vibrant library it can be,” said Kennedy in a written statement.

To appeal to a younger crowd, they try to help the library with programming designed to nurture a love of learning and a sense of wonder in children, hoping they’ll grow up to be the kinds of adults who, like Kennedy, view the library as a treasured resource.  Wetmore, for example, is a renowned birder and offers popular workshops on owl pellets.  Dissecting these agglutinations of undigested bones initially repulses the kids, Wetmore jokes, but once they dive in, they’re fascinated.  “They get so excited,” Wetmore said. “’Look what I found!’ It’s neat to see the kids learn something.”

The planned renovation of the library is forcing the Friends to look toward the future.  The physical space they’ve known for years is about to undergo major changes.  Wetmore grew up coming to the library and remembers how it was configured before the last major renovation in the 1960s. “There used to be a big staircase right in the middle, where the circulation desk now is,” she said.  

“Accessibility is a big thing,” said Torstenson, referring to the structural accommodations that will be made for patrons with disabilities.  In fact, the principal motivation for the renovation is to bring the entire building into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.  An elevator will be installed that can fit a wheelchair, for example.  

Later that day, Sue Wetmore presented a check for $10,000 to David Roberts as the second installment of the Friends’ 5-year $50,000 pledge toward the $2 million-plus cost of the top-to-bottom renovation of the historic building.  

“The library will stay cozy.  We’ll still keep our people,” said Fjeld.  “It will continue to be a home.”

“We’ll keep the same historic exterior,” said Stone.

When asked for favorite memories of their years with the library, the ladies had a hard time choosing. 

The holiday auctions, full of laughter and wine, were mentioned by more than one.  These events began with handmade wreaths and have blossomed into hours-long marathons with dozens of donated items, including art, clothing, woodwork, and food.  They usually net the library between $5,000 and $7,000.

Carol Fjeld mentioned “Miss Debbie’s” tea parties for kids.  Deb Lendway was a teacher at Neshobe.  The mere mention of these parties set off sighs of nostalgia from the group.

“I loved being part of this,” said Stephanie Choma.  

It was clear that Ms. Choma was not alone in that sentiment.  These ladies worked hard for years to support something they cherished.  And when the renovation is complete, there will be a public acknowledgment of their dedication and service built into the structure, a gesture completely fitting for a group who has given their hearts and souls to the place.