FY2024 Annual Report to Donors

Dear friends and supporters of Sturgis Library:

What do the Beatles, jazz, artificial intelligence, the Somers mutiny, news literacy, Tea
for Health, beekeeping, outdoor music and the art of picture books have in common?
As you may have guessed, these were the subjects of just some of the programs and
activities offered by Sturgis Library during our very successful 2024 “season”! Other
highlights were an author talk on Cape Cod Tales with Alexander Theroux, a film
screening of Coming Black to Cape Cod with Robin Joyce Miller, and several
presentations relating to the environment and land conservation on Cape Cod.

In addition to our programs and activities, Sturgis continued to offer a compelling
selection of new fiction and non-fiction books and eBooks, together with opportunities to
discuss what you’ve read – or would like to write – in various book groups and creative
writing workshops.

All of these services were made possible, in part, by the contributions Sturgis Library
received in fiscal year 2024 from the hundreds of individuals who donated to our Annual
Appeal and who participated in our fundraising events such as our fall book sale, the
plant sale, the Hydrangea festival, and our “Everything but the Kitchen Sink” sale.
Whatever form it took, we are grateful for your support and look forward to seeing you at
the library in 2025!

Sincerely,
John Littlefield
President, Board of Trustees

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Sturgis Library is an independent nonprofit public library and research archive, not a Town department.  We receive less than half of our funding from the Town of Barnstable, and must raise the rest of our funds through donations, grants, event proceeds, bookshop sales, and other non-municipal sources.

Our donors give to the library in many ways:

• Donations to our annual appeal
• Bequests
• Gifts of stock or securities
• Gifts of vehicles through our vehicle donation program
• Gifts of goods or services to our fundraisers
• Donations of books, jewelry, and household items to our sales
• Donations of family papers or historic materials to our research archives
• Spontaneous donations in our donation boxes
• Memorial and honorary donations
• Gifts of time — volunteering for special Library projects or at Library events

If you are interested in supporting Sturgis Library, please click here or contact Library Director Lucy Loomis for more information.  You can reach her at 508-362-8448 or via email at director@sturgislibrary.org.

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Major Accomplishments & Projects, July 2023 through June 2024

Sturgis Library Statistics  FY2024 

• Collection size: 75,328 items
• Total circulation of materials:  74,043
• Use of ebooks and eaudio:  15,670
• Total visitors:  42,651
• Total programs (Zoom and in-person):  474
• Attendance at programs:  6,002

In FY2024, Sturgis Library welcomed visitors of all ages from across the Cape and around the country, including people from 37 states, Canada, and Europe.   Visitors come to the Library not only for its traditional library services and its important research archives, but because it is the ancestral home and meetinghouse of the Rev. John Lothrop, founder of the Town of Barnstable.  It was also the home of William Sturgis, and prominent sea captain, merchant, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and founder of the Library.  Because the building was constructed in 1644, we have the distinction of being the oldest building in the country housing a public library.  The following are some highlights of the past year:

• Over 400 engaging and well-attended programs were offered to patrons of all ages.
• We were the recipients of a generous bequest from the estate of late Library patron Jane Carleton.  We are very grateful for her support of the Library over many years.
• Thanks to a grant from the Town of Barnstable’s Community Preservation Committee, we were able to replace the climate control system in our archives so that our historic documents and artifacts are safeguarded.
• We held a number of well-attended fundraising events:
  • Hydrangea Festival Garden Tours
  • Annual plant and garden sale
  • Annual jewelry and accessories sale
  • Book sales, including our October Antiquarian Book Sale
  • Holiday ornament sale
  • Our 2^nd annual “Everything But the Kitchen Sink” Sale
• We welcomed new Library Trustees Cyrus Buffam and Tom Shanahan, and said goodbye to Trustees Steve Klug, Andrew Maker, and Dan Philos-Jensen.  We appreciate all their hard work.
• We thank the Osterville Garden Club for providing beautiful flower arrangements for the Library each month.
• We were pleased to welcome nearly 500 Barnstable 5^th graders for tours of our historic building in the spring of 2024.
• We thank the Town of Barnstable for providing approximately 40% of our funding.  We raise the rest through donations, proceeds from events and sales, grants, and other non-municipal income.  Sturgis Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
• We also thank the Town of Barnstable’s Enoch Cobb Fund and Kirkman Trust Fund for providing grants that allow us to provide some of the materials for the annual Summer Reading Program, ebooks and eaudiobooks, special programs, computer resources, and more.
• We thank the Cobb and Kirkman Fund of the Town of Barnstable and the Mid-Cape Cultural Council for providing grant funding for special programming and services.
• We are so grateful to our patrons and visitors, as well as our generous supporters and community members.  They inspire us every day to provide exemplary programs and services, and we sincerely thank them.

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Special Support

In addition to the Annual Fund donors listed in the next section of our annual report, Sturgis Library has received support from individuals, businesses, organizations, grantors, and others for a variety of needs throughout FY2024. With the help of these special donors we were able to purchase library materials,  to sponsor engaging programs, fund discount museum passes, maintain and preserve our historic building, and much more.  We received proceeds from the sale of donated vehicles, and honored family members and loved ones through memorial and honorary donations. We are also grateful for employer matching grant funds from a number of our generous donors.

If we inadvertently left you off the list of special donors or spelled your name incorrectly, please accept our apologies, and contact us at director@sturgislibrary.org so that we can correct our records. We thank all of our donors and supporters for their generous gifts to Sturgis Library.

FY2024 Special Donors are:

• Aldhurst, Regina
• Bearse, Carrie
• Behan, Jane
• Bowab, Janet
• Eastman, Peter
• Ehret, John and Susan
• Ehret, Christine
• Enoch Cobb Trust
• Fiske, Phineas
• Fletcher, Holly
• Gibson, Cathy LaMarca
• Goggin, Thomas and Mary
• Harding, Douglas
• Hibben, Ted and Gretchen
• Hurwitch, Peter
• Ianzito, Ben and Maria
• Kirkman Trust Fund
• Littlefield, John and Susie
• Maccormack, Kari
• Mallowes, William and Cathy Ann Mariner
• Martinage, Louis and Corinne
• McCarthy, Edward
• McInnes, Donald and Jeanette
• McKelvy, Nancy
• Mid Cape Cultural Council
• Moose Birch, Sandra
• Nelson, Philip and Molly Richardson
• Pastva, Cathy and Gary
• Raudenbsush, Peter and Helen
• Rys, Frederick and Joanne
• Scott, Thomas
• Stewart, Jacqueline
• Paster, Barry and Deirdre
• Pitney Bowes    
• Estate of Evelyn Elizabeth Robbins
• 1717 Meeting House Foundation, Inc.    

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Donors to the FY2024 Annual Fund

The individuals, businesses, and organizations listed below contributed to the Sturgis Library Annual Fund in FY2024, which ran from July 1, 2023 through June 30th, 2024.  Annual fund donations are unrestricted funds which go towards our operating expenses each year.

If we inadvertently left you off the list of Annual Fund donors or spelled your name incorrectly, please accept our apologies, and contact us at director@sturgislibrary.org so that we can correct our records. We thank all of our donors and supporters for their generous gifts to Sturgis Library.

Donors are color-coded by giving level.  Donors of $1-$249 are listed in black, $250-$499 are listed in purple, $500-$999 are listed in green, and $1,000 and up are listed in blue.

• Abbott, Janet
• Abraham, Michael and Cathy
• Albert, Donald and Donna
• Allaire, Joe and Sandy
• Allen, David and Ruthanne
• Allen, Kyla
• Anderson, Ross and Gail
• Ansel, David and Dorothy
• Avezzie, James
• Aylmer, John and Karen
• Babcock, Donald and Susan
• Banner, David and Lucy
• Bannister, Jean
• Barone, Mary
• Barron, Melanie
• Bearse, Carrie
• Beer, Patrick and Christine
• Berry, Robert and Benson, Kathleen
• Bienefeld, Gary
• Bilezikian, Jeffrey and Nancy
• Blair Hudak, Anne
• Blatt, Karen
• Bockhoff, Anne
• Boocock, Roger
• Bourne, Donald
• Brandin, Kerry and Jan
• Brosnan, Theresa
• Brown, Clifford
• Brown, Vernon and Barbara
• Burger, Kate
• Burman, Marcy
• Burrows, James
• Cahoon, Carol
• Cannon, Edmund and Susan
• Carey, Kathryn
• Carlson, Claire
• Carroll, Marilyn
• Carroll, John and Wendy
• Carroll, Mary
• Carty, Lucy
• Carvounis, Loucas and Braman
• Chabot, Gary
• Chace, Charlie
• Champion, Sara
• Chapman, Suzanne
• Clark, Paula
• Coggeshall, Ethel
• Banta, David and Coggeshall, Caroline
• Conaway, Linda
• Conway, Lisa and Gary
• Cook, Bill and Toni
• Corbitt, Jeri
• Cosgrove, Edward and Anne
• Crane, Bethiah
• Crippen, J. Patrick
• Crocker, Roderick and Judy
• Crowell, Joel and Beth
• Crowley, Jackie
• Davis, Phyllis
• Dee, Christian and Nicola
• Donovan, Eleanor
• Donovan, Mary Ann
• Dow, William
• Downs, Mike and Cindy
• Draper, John and Lucy
• Elder, Robert and Cindy
• Eleftherakis, Peter and Susan
• Elliot and Marcia Lay, Ben
• Ellis, Douglas
• Enable Hope Foundation
• Fenney, Dr. and Mary Anne
• Fischer, Nancy
• Fiske, Phineas
• Fitzgerald, Paul and Bunny
• Frazee, Bob and Alexena
• Freeman, Peter
• French, Rich and Sue
• Fuller, Chick and Marilyn
• Gabel, Ronald and Laurel
• Gabriel, Ann
• Gallagher, Frederick and Ellin
• Galvin, Grace
• Genest, Jack and Suzy
• George, Lloyd and Linda
• Ghantous, Nizom
• Glennon, Karen
• Godin, Henry
• Golden, William and Adele
• Goldstein, Bea
• Guill, Gene and Susan
• Guzikowski, Martha
• Hammer, Roy
• Haskell, Nancy and Widdicombe, Sara
• Hawkins, Richard and Ferguson, Marian
• Hazard, Jerry
• Heaslip, Steve and Holly
• Heisler, Dale and Shauna
• Hibben, Ted and Gretchen
• Hinckley, Sarah
• Hinckley, Clark
• Housman, Ted and Margaret
• Huguley, Arthur and Heidi
• Hunsaker, Jamie and Lee
• Hurto, Kenneth and Jeanne
• Ianzito, Ben and Maria
• Ives, Elizabeth
• Jerauld, Nancy
• Jones, Julie
• Kaess, Walter
• Kearns, Noel
• Kelly, Ilona
• Kenyon, Richard and Kathleen
• Kraus, Jon and Wilma
• Lamb, Rick and Nancy
• Lamkin, Mona
• Langeland, Doug and Dianne
• LaPine, Paul and Wendy
• Lathrop, John and Carol
• Lathrop Friedman, Pamela
• Lauzon, Raymond and Myrna
• Lavery, Bob and Pat
• Leary, Jeffrey and Kristin
• Lewis, Mary
• Lewis, Farley
• Lickfield, William and Tamara
• Lingard, William and Becky
• Livingston, Susan
• Long, Philip and Whitney
• Loughran, Meg and Pat
• Lowrie, Ted and McShane, Kathy
• Luban, Dr. Naomi
• Lucey, David and Alice
• Lyman, Joanne
• Machado, Gayle
• Macleod, Marilyn
• Magner, Paul and Carole
• Magruder, Elizabeth
• Magruder, Blue
• Maguire, Timothy and Susan
• Major, Catherine
• Mangan, Jim and Deborah
• Mark, Dorothy
• Marsh, Wellesley
• Martin, David and Susan
• Masi, Melody and DiGioia, Diana
• Mastromauro, Frank and Jan
• McAuley, James and Linda
• McCarthy, Mary
• McClenahan, Robert and Rebecca
• Medeiros, James and Geraldine
• Meyer, Rob & Anne
• Meyer Family
• Milligan, Cathy
• Moeller, Susan
• Moore, Christopher and Diana
• Morales, Harry and Kerin
• Morse, Diana
• Morse and Betsy Newell, Richard
• Morton, Roy and Elizabeth
• Mullen, Regina
• Mullen, Thomas
• Nanni, Sarah
• Nelson, Cy and Weezie
• Nelson, Phillip and Richardson, Molly
• Nichol, Margaret
• Nilsson, Ralph and Darlene
• Nober, Linda
• O`Leary, Rob
• Olsen, Ken and Crowley, Elissa
• Orcutt, John and Sally
• Parke, Rob and Bev
• Pearl, Richard and Janet
• Pekarev, Eileen and Maxim
• Perera, Judith
• Perrault, Michel and Anne
• Phillips, David and Susan
• Pipe, Elaine
• Pitney Bowes
• Quinn, William and Marilyn
• Rapp, Jan
• Rehkamp, Thomas and Marsha
• Revere, Avery
• Richards, Bruce and Janice
• Richardson, Elizabeth
• Richardson, Cathie
• Riordan, Cornelius and Arlene
• Robinson, Ken and Lilla
• Rosen and Cynthia Cole, Isaac
• Rosenburg, Randall
• Ross, Janet
• Roy, Linda
• Saling, Edward and Christy
• Sanborn, Louise
• Schelter, Craig
• Schiffer, Peggy and Noland, Sam
• Schofield, Susan
• Sciarappa, Dorothy and Moore, Andrea
• Senoski, Richard and Murphy, Susan
• Silver, Tom and Helen
• Silver Lake Technologies
• Skopek, Ann
• Smith, Carol
• Smith, Jey
• Smith and Marcia Brown, William
• Soponis, Mento and Gayling
• Souza, William and Elizabeth
• Squyres, Mary Anne
• Stamas, Christopher
• Starr, Gordon and Greene–Starr, Sherry
• Stein, Bernard
• Stolte, Robert and Shirley
• Stotts, Rev.
• Sturgis, Barry and Nicole
• Sturgis, Ellen
• Temple and Ann Miller, John
• Thompson, Rev. and Mrs.
• Tickell, Jennifer
• Tirrell, Frederick and Julie
• Trisko, Joan
• Tyson, Brian and Lauren
• Van Buren, Wayne and Patricia
• Vetorino, Peg
• Vonnegut, Edie and Squibb, John
• Waasdorp, Erica
• Wagenblass, Peter and Christine
• Walters, Frederick
• Ware, Paul and Susan
• Weaver, Esta
• Webb, Sarah
• Weber, David and Carole
• Weinblatt, Herbert and Anita
• Weinstein, Nancy
• Werner, Michael
• West, Peter and Debbie
• Wheeler, Betsy
• Whieldon, Jeffrey and Lucille
• Wilker-Manfredonia, Leslie
• Williams, Greg and Marianne
• Williams, Gary
• Wirtanen, Edward and Jeanne
• Wirtanen, Mark and Reilly, Terrie
• Withers, Mareda
• Wolfe, Clifton
• Woolf, Sheldon and Elisabeth
• Wright, Joan
• Young, Jacquelyn