Bookstore Feels Right at Home
Amy Vendetti purchased books Tuesday at a little known bookstore in the town.
“I love this place – I’ve come out of here with two shopping bags full of books,” said Vendetti, a Winthrop resident.
The object of Vendetti’s affection is Bookends, a bookstore located in the basement of the Winthrop Public Library and operated by Joseph Neville, a professor emeritus at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston.
A graduate of Winthrop High in 1952, Neville, 79, holds undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He retired from his science professor’s position in 1995 after 30 years. He preciously worked for 10 years in industry.
“We’ve been here at the library for seven years,” said Neville. “Half the town doesn’t know about it.”
Neville said that he took over the leadership of the bookstore’s operations from the late Miriam D’Amato, bookstore committee chair for the Friends of the Winthrop Public Library.
Winthrop residents and library users donate the books. The prices are $1 for a hardcover, 50 cents for large paperbacks, and 25 cents for small paperbacks. Record albums, VCR tapes, and DVDs are also available.
“We have several thousand books in all subjects for sale,” said Neville. “I enjoy what I do here. It gets me out of the house.”
The store has been averaging $300 a month in sales. The proceeds go to the library.
“I encourage people to donate books and come here and buy some books,” said Neville
Credit: Winthrop Sun Transcript - Carey Shuman, April 18, 2013
http://www.winthroptranscript.com/2013/04/18/bookstore-feels-right-at-home-at-the-winthrop-public-library/
Amy Vendetti purchased books Tuesday at a little known bookstore in the town.
“I love this place – I’ve come out of here with two shopping bags full of books,” said Vendetti, a Winthrop resident.
The object of Vendetti’s affection is Bookends, a bookstore located in the basement of the Winthrop Public Library and operated by Joseph Neville, a professor emeritus at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston.
A graduate of Winthrop High in 1952, Neville, 79, holds undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He retired from his science professor’s position in 1995 after 30 years. He preciously worked for 10 years in industry.
“We’ve been here at the library for seven years,” said Neville. “Half the town doesn’t know about it.”
Neville said that he took over the leadership of the bookstore’s operations from the late Miriam D’Amato, bookstore committee chair for the Friends of the Winthrop Public Library.
Winthrop residents and library users donate the books. The prices are $1 for a hardcover, 50 cents for large paperbacks, and 25 cents for small paperbacks. Record albums, VCR tapes, and DVDs are also available.
“We have several thousand books in all subjects for sale,” said Neville. “I enjoy what I do here. It gets me out of the house.”
The store has been averaging $300 a month in sales. The proceeds go to the library.
“I encourage people to donate books and come here and buy some books,” said Neville
Credit: Winthrop Sun Transcript - Carey Shuman, April 18, 2013
http://www.winthroptranscript.com/2013/04/18/bookstore-feels-right-at-home-at-the-winthrop-public-library/
New Look
The interior of the Winthrop Public Library & Museum is sporting a new look, thanks to some recent improvements carried out by the library at limited cost to the town. The key change was the installation of a new circulation desk provided by the Friends of the Winthrop Public Library & Museum. The group paid for the materials, and Ron Bergman, a general contractor and Friends member, donated his time to build the desk, according to library director Alan Thibeault. “It’s a beautiful desk,’’ Thibeault said, estimating its value at $15,000 to $20,000. The desk is designed so it would look like a desk built when the library opened in 1899. The project cost the town about $1,550, with funds going toward a moving company to help with furniture, an electrician to do wiring, and the purchase of computer-related equipment.
Credit: Boston.com - John Laidler, June 12, 2011
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2011/06/12/new_look_library/
Board of Trustees formulate a plan to keep the library open for the remainder of the fiscal year
James Matarazzo, chairman of the Winthrop Public Library’s Board of Trustees, said the board will submit a plan to the Town Council that outlines a strategy to keep the library operating for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Interim Town Manager Larry Holmes had recommended closing the library as part of the town’s budget cuts, and Library Director Alan Thibeault was laid off from his position as director last week.
The council had voted at its February 9 special meeting to give the library what amounted to a 30-day reprieve to remain operational and to seek other sources of funding. Matarazzo said the library, after receiving a waiver from the state that allows it to be open 32 hours instead of the required 40 hours, has received an allotment of $20,000.
“Every public library in the commonwealth that meets minimum standards gets state aid,” said Matarazzo.
The library will also use monies from a special fund, called the Hyde Fund, and donations from residents to keep the library open 32 hours a week with a reduced staff. The trustees’ plan calls for the reinstatement of Thibeault to his position of director.
“We’ll have a plan by March 3 to keep the library open 32 hours a week, using the money [$15,000 for the first 30 days] the town has given us, plus the money we’re gathering,” said Matarazzo. “The Friends of the Library have offered to supply us with some funds. People have been coming into the library every day and giving us donations.”
Matarazzo indicated the library needs approximately $84,000 to remain open until July 1. The chairman of the trustees is confident the library will reach that goal.
“I believe that we’ll be able to announce to the Town Council [at its March 3 meeting] that the library has reached its fundraising goal,” said Matarazzo.
John Booras, a lifelong Winthrop resident who was using the library Tuesday for his work on a research project, was hoping for the best.
“I think the library is a valuable resource for everyone in the town,” said Booras. “I like this library very much. I used to come here and study when I was student at Winthrop High. There are a lot of good resources here. I’d miss the library and the people especially, if the library were to close. They’re always very helpful here.”
Credit: Cary Shuman - February 19, 2009
http://www.winthroptranscript.com/2009/02/19/board-of-trustees-formulate-a-plan-to-keep-the-library-open-for-the-remainder-of-the-fiscal-year/
Winthrop Public Library
The public library raised about $300 in dropped-off donations as of yesterday. The Friends of the Public Library pledged its kitty of $14,000 collected over the years through used book sales. There’s talk of teaming up with the Fire Department’s March fundraiser.
But that’s not enough. “It’s not a fundraising issue,” said Friends of the Public Library President Henry Dane. “Even if an enormous donation would put the library on its feet, we can’t pay staff through donations. For the library to retain accreditation, it must receive municipal funding. The library needs to have the town’s support. We’re hoping they come through.”
The library’s director, Alan Thibeault, was laid off Tuesday, just hours after he laid off two full-time and nine part-time employees, including janitorial staff. The current pay period ends Friday, which will be their last days at the library.
Thibeault, of Jamaica Plain, came here after resigning his position as librarian at the Boston Herald.
Thibeault said just hours before he was laid off, “I’m grateful for the fact we received $15,000 to continue to operate and not close right away. Nobody wanted to see the library close, in the short term at least.”
The now-former library director said the library loses state certification if it closes, lacks municipal appropriation, whether a percentage of the town’s appropriation goes toward buying materials, and whether they are open at least 42 hours a week.
As of Tuesday, the library decided to stay open 32 hours a week, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays; 12-8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; and closed Saturday-Monday. “I think that’s what we can do, to give the town the best service we can do,” said Thibeault, who is also talking to state library officials about possible solutions. “We’ll know after trying it for a few weeks if we can do this. We might find some grant money, but I don’t think we can do it without the town being able to fund us. That’s my personal feeling. We’re going to do what we can to get through the fiscal year.”
Without certification, which would come in 2010, the library would lose up to $20,000 in state aid, lose the ability to have inter-library loans, and if they break their contract with the NOBLE interlibrary network, they’d lose their databases, ability to track library loans, Internet access. “Without NOBLE, we would be thrown back into the Dark Ages,” said Thibeault.
The library is used by the unemployed and the underemployed, students, disabled people with visual needs such as magnification machines and large-print books. “The core of our constituency, and I think why any government provides services for this, is to help the poorest,” said Thibeault. “At a time like this when people are losing jobs and canceling their Internet service and can’t afford to order books on Amazon or rent movies, they can rent them free of charge. We provide the ability for people to search for jobs and get resume tips, research jobs and the companies they are applying to. We offer tools for all those things.”
The town sympathizes with its patrons, he said.
“The town basically told us that what they want us to do beyond this four-week period is to investigate donations, and the donations have been pouring in. We need to go back and look at the grant and foundation money available to us. We are grateful for the reprieve, but as Councilor Maggio said [Monday] night, you can’t fund public services on donations and you can’t rely on volunteers to fill in.”
“Last November, when [former town manager] Rick White extended the job to me, I asked him and the trustees what the long-term viability of the library was,” he said. “They said they were looking at a reduced budget, but closure was never floated.”
Thibeault started work January 5,with big plans. “I was figuring out the public face of the library, working with circulation people, working with shelving people to look at how things are organized, doing a top-to-bottom review of databases and subscriptions. I came in knowing I needed to reduce costs. That was the climate I came into. I never anticipated this when I came into this,” he said.
On January 28, he handed in his fiscal year 2010 budget with 15 percent cuts. On January 29, he was told they wouldn’t be funded at all. “It gave me a new perspective on things,” he said dryly.
Thibeault has no experience in public libraries, so he was talking to the former Saugus Library director who had to shut down the library for a time. “Her advice? ‘Hang in there,’” she said.
Before the library, Thibeault was a 10-year Army artillery captain, when he decided to bring his family back to Boston and received his library degree at Simmons College.
Little did he know he’d be going to battle for his library. “We’re really fighting for our lives here,” said Thibeault, only minutes before he became a casualty.
Credit: Cary Shuman/Sandra Miller - February 11, 2009
http://www.winthroptranscript.com/2009/02/11/winthrop-public-library