On Tuesday, Oct. 7, more than 75 people gathered for the 1833 Society celebration marking the fourth anniversary of the reopening of the renovated Peterborough Town Library. The event was held to update and thank donors, volunteers and supporters of the library on the organization’s success.

Deb Caplan, Chair of the 1833 Board, praised the public-private partnership that made the renovation possible. Almost 1,000 donors contributed more than $5.5 million toward the project. Her words follow:

We are here to celebrate all of you and to say thank you for what you have done to make the restoration and renovation of this special library a reality.

You all know that the Peterborough Town Library was the first in the nation to be supported by taxation.

And while the Town provides operating support to the library for things like maintenance and personnel and benefits administration, it has been through public/private partnerships that the library has been renovated and updated since 1892.

Discussion and planning for this most recent library renovation project began over 20 years ago in 2004.

By 2011, the 1833 Society was formed with the original mission to oversee the design of the new library and raise the necessary funds.

A group of dedicated volunteers including Lyn Perkins, David Weir, Ron McIntire, Audrey White, Sue Martin, Tina Kreibel, Sandy Bibace, Tori Haring-Smith, Laura Hansen and many others spent countless hours working with architects and fundraising advisors and speaking to citizens one-on-one and in small and large groups.

The Library Board of Trustees, led by Marcia Patten, committed over $800,000 of library trust funds to support the renovations to the library.

In 2014 Corrine Chronopoulos was hired as our Library Director and quickly became a passionate advocate for the project.

Our community contributed both small and large amounts to this project, from $5 through Pennies for PTL to $500,000 in grant funds, and everything in between.

At Town Meeting in 2018, we voted overwhelmingly – nearly 80% in favor – for a $3 million dollar bond to support the library renovations.

And four years ago, we opened the doors to our new library and community building that offers all of our citizens a beautiful environment both inside and out, with updated technology infrastructure, expanded programming, and a legacy we can all be very proud of.

Now that the library is open, the 1833 Society has changed its focus. Our mission is now to work with the Library Trustees to replenish the Library’s endowment funds and to help fund special projects that support the long-term success of our library.

We are pleased to report that over the past year we have raised close to $50,000 towards replenishing the trust funds. The work that the 1833 Society has now embarked upon no longer has a particular end point, but rather is more a promise to future generations.

I’d like to end by quoting Harvey Mackay, American businessman, author and columnist:

“A great accomplishment shouldn’t be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward.”

Thank you.