Faced with the challenges of COVID-19, members of our community looked to Sturgis Library more than ever in 2021 and, as you will read in the following pages, Sturgis emphatically “delivered”.
A key contributor was our staff’s ability to offer both traditional, on-site services as well as alternative formats such as curbside pick-up, electronic delivery and Zoom. Interest in these non-traditional services – particularly eBooks and eAudio – helped increase Sturgis’ “total circulations of materials” by over 9% compared to the previous year, even as the number of physical visits to the Library declined due to concerns about the pandemic.
Throughout the year, users of the Library also benefited from the unwavering support of the Town, our volunteers, and our individual and corporate donors. Whether you directed traffic at the Hydrangea Festival, contributed plants to the plant sale, bought a paddleboard raffle ticket, or donated to our Annual Fund, your engagement with Sturgis Library provided the resources we relied on to serve the community in the way that we did. For that, we offer our sincere gratitude.
John Littlefield
President, Board of Trustees
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 at the Library 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.
Major Accomplishments & Projects, July 2020 through June 2021
Sturgis Library Statistics FY2021
- Collection size: 74,491 items
- Total circulation of materials: 71,036
- Use of ebooks and eaudio: 11,409
- Electronic content usage (digital newspaper archive): 260,792 searches
- Total visitors: 26,957
- Total programs (Zoom and in-person): 169
- Attendance at programs: 3,161
FY2021 has been another challenging but rewarding year at Sturgis Library. We are extremely grateful to our dedicated staff for their hard work in the face of adversity, and to our Board members for their commitment to the Library. Our patrons and visitors were patient with the many changes that took place during the year, and adapted willingly as we took two steps forward and one step back many times over.
- After having been closed from March through April of 2020, and offering curbside-only service May through much of July, we were able to re-open for in-person visits at the end of July 2020 with COVID restrictions in place. At the beginning of 2021, as COVID numbers spiked again, we resumed curbside-only service in January and February. In-person service resumed in March, and slowly more services were added back, hours were expanded, and in June of 2021 we went back to pre-COVID-level hours.
- We offered 169 informative and entertaining programs throughout the year for visitors of all ages. Most were held on Zoom, but in the spring we were able to offer in-person programming outdoors.
- We held a number of great events:
- Hydrangea Festival Garden Tours
- Annual plant and garden sale
- Annual jewelry and accessories sale
- Pop-up yard sale
- Book sales
- Holiday ornament sale
- Paddle board raffle
- The Library embarked on a branding project to update our logo, and also worked with Community Web Development to re-design the Library’s website.
- We worked with Catalyst Architecture to develop a plan for a number of Library improvements, including a new cedar roof on the historic portion of the building, replacement of an old bay window, exterior door replacement and repair, drainage work, and replacement of exterior signage.
- We applied for and were awarded grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund and the Barnstable Community Preservation Committee to fund the improvements.
- We joined other libraries on Cape Cod – and around the nation – in adopting a fine-free borrowing model. The only charges that will now be assessed will be for lost or damage library materials.
- Two new garden projects were completed with assistance from the Mid-Cape Cultural Council and the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. Our new edible native plant garden is on the hillside above the new stone wall, and a rain garden is to the west of the building. The rain garden will be completed in the summer and fall of 2021.
- We welcomed new Library Trustees Edie Vonnegut, Dan Philos-Jensen, Marcy Lay, and Michelle Black.
- We thank the Town of Barnstable for providing about 45% 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 Enoch Cobb Fund and Kirkman Trust Fund, both of the Town of Barnstable, for providing grants that allow us to provide some of the materials for the annual Summer Reading Program, ebooks and eaudiobooks, computer resources, and more.
Lucy Loomis
Library Diector
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 FY2021. With the help of these special donors we were able to purchase materials to support the Barnstable Public Schools’ Summer Reading Program, to sponsor engaging programs, fund discount museum passes, and more. We also received proceeds from the sale of donated vehicles, and honored family members and loved ones through memorial and honorary donations. In addition, we have a Corporate Donor program in which businesses pledge to support the Library for three years or more and receive recognition on our corporate donor wall. We also are 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.
FY2021 Special Donors are:
- Arts Foundation of Cape Cod
- Association to Preserve Cape Cod
- Austin Perera
- Irene Antkowiak
- Deborah Badger
- Carrie Bearse
- Cobb Fund
- Kathleen Benson and Robert Berry
- Jeffrey Bilezikian
- Katherine Bonnem
- Jacqueline Boston
- Katherine Burger
- Edmund and Susan Cannon
- Mary Anne Cassis-Williams
- Diana Casteel
- Ellie Claus
- Michael and Nancy Drake
- Patrick Drake
- John and Christine Ehret
- The Family of Peter Stockton
- Fair Insurance Agency
- Jennifer Gray
- Helen Hinckley
- Kirkman Trust Fund
- Stephen and Ann Lawson
- Brenda Lee and Peter O’Keeffe
- Gayle Machado
- Dr. McCarthy
- Mid-Cape Cultural Council
- Cy and Weezie Nelson
- Philip and Molly Nelson
- Linda Nober
- Edwin Noyes
- Barry and Deirdre Paster
- David and Susan Phillips
- David and Cynthia Reid
- David Reynolds
- Dr. and Janet Ross
- Mary Ellen Scott
- Meredith Scott
- Nancy Whiteley
- Howard and Virginia Woollard
- Raymond Zahra
Donors to the FY2021 Annual Fund
The individuals, businesses, and organizations listed below contributed to the Sturgis Library Annual Fund in FY2021, which ran from July 1, 2020 through June 30th, 2021. 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
- Adams, Virginia
- Albert, Donald and Donna
- Aldhurst, Regina
- Alexander, Morah
- Allaire, Joe and Sandy
- Allen, Alice
- Allen, Kyla
- Allen, Rev. and Ruthanne
- Amundson, Martine
- Angellis, Phil and Cathy
- Ansel, David and Dorothy
- Asselin, Nancy
- Austin, John and Froula, Christine
- Babcock, Donald and Susan
- Baker, Benjamin and Deborah
- Banner, David and Lucy
- Banta, David and Coggeshall, Caroline
- Barnstable, Jesse
- Barry, William and Susan
- Bearse, Carrie
- Bergfors, Patricia
- Berman, Ellen
- Berman, Roger and Anne
- Berry, Robert and Benson, Kathleen
- Black, Michelle
- Blair, Patricia
- Blair Hudak, Anne
- Blakely, George and Deborah
- Blatt, Karen
- Blume, Ralph and Nancy
- Bockhoff, Anne
- Boocock, Roger and Helen
- Bourne, Donald
- Brandin, Kerry and Jan
- Brosnan, Theresa
- Brown, Clifford
- Brown, Vernon and Barbara
- Brown, Sanford
- Burger, Katherine
- Burman, Marcy
- Burrows, James
- Cahoon, Ralph and Ginger
- Cahoon, Carol
- Campane, Rosemary
- Carroll, John and Wendy
- Carroll, Herbert and Mary
- Carsley, Margaret
- Cartwright and Rascati Attorneys at Law
- Carvounis, Loucas and Braman
- Chabot, Gary
- Chace, Charlie
- Champion, Sara
- Champlin, Connie
- Chung, James and Hillery
- Claus, Ellie
- Coggeshall, Melora
- Conaway, Linda
- Conroy, Martin
- Conway, Gary and Lisa
- Cook, Bill and Toni
- Corbitt, Jeri
- Cosgrove, Edward and Anne
- Coulsey, Richard
- Crane, Bethiah
- Crane, Richard and Sandra
- Crippen, J. Patrick
- Crosby, Robert and Paula
- Crowell, Joel and Beth
- Crowley, Jackie
- Cummings, Suzy
- Curtis, Jonathan
- Daly, Patricia
- Damon, John
- Davis, Holbrook and Sarah
- Davis, Phyllis
- De Ciccio, Jeffrey and Sharon
- Dee, Christian and Nicola
- Detjens, Philip and Deirdre
- Donovan, Eleanor
- Dornemann, Peter and Ellen
- Downs, Mike and Cindy
- Duprey, Andre and Carlene
- Dusseault, Robert and Barbara
- Eager, Charles and Sandra
- Eleftherakis, Peter and Susan
- Lay, Marcia and Elliot, Ben
- Elliott, Lovell
- Ellis, James and Joan
- Fallon, Peter
- Fantini, George and Carolyn
- Farrenkopf, Craig and Joan
- Fenney, Dr. and Mary Anne
- Ferretti, Liz
- Field, Maeve
- Finklea Hecker, Gaylon
- Fiske, Phineas and Johnanna
- Frazee, Bob and Alexena
- Freeman, Peter
- Freitas, Caroline
- French, Rich and Sue
- Frishman, Eric
- Fuller, Samuel and Susan
- Fuller, Chick and Marilyn
- Gabel, Ronald and Laurel
- Gabriel, Ann
- Gallagher, Frederick and Ellin
- Gelatt, Caitlin
- Genest, Jack and Suzy
- George, Lloyd and Linda
- Gerrier, Robert
- Gibson, Diane
- Gifford, Connor
- Golden, Dr. and Adele
- Goldstein, Jeffrey and Bea
- Grady, Ellen
- Greenwald, Herbert and Nina
- Greer, Nancy
- Guill, Gene and Susan
- Guzikowski, Zig and Martha
- Handy, Edward and Margaret
- Harden, Mike
- Harris, Sandra
- Haskell, Nancy and Widdicombe, Sara
- Hawkins, Richard and Ferguson,Marian
- Hayes, Brenda
- Hazard, Gerald and Anne
- Heaslip, Steve and Holly
- Hemr, William and Marjorie
- Henson, Roger and Dianna
- Hibben, Ted and Gretchen
- Hickey, Maired and Robert
- Hinckley, Clark
- Hinckley, Helen
- Housman, Ted and Margaret
- Howard, Robert and Maureen
- Huckins, Joan
- Hunsaker, Jamie and Lee
- Hunter-Young, Nancy
- Hutchinson, Robert
- Ives, Elizabeth
- Jerauld, Nancy
- Jones, Julie
- Kaess, Walter
- Kaupp, Rosemary
- Kawa, Karen
- Kearns, Noel
- Keating, Carolyn
- Kelly, Jeanne
- Kelly, Suzanne
- Kenyon, Richard and Kathleen
- King, Jeffrey
- King, Paula
- King, John and Mary Ann
- Kovatch, George and Susan
- Kraus, Jon and Wilma
- Kula, Paul and Ginny
- Lamb, Albert and Nancy
- Lamkin, Mona and Maria
- Landy, Phillip
- LaPine, Paul and Wendy
- Lathrop, Barbara
- Lathrop, James
- Lathhrop, John
- Lathrop Friedman, Pamela
- Lavery, Bob and Pat
- Lehman and Ms. Elizabeth Fort, Matt and Liz
- Lewis, Farley
- Lewis, Jon and Eliza
- Lickfield, William and Tamara
- Littlefield, John and Susie
- Livingston, Susan
- Lothrop, Gordon
- Lothrop, John and Carol
- Lothropp Family Foundation
- Loughran, Meg and Pat
- Lowrie, Ted and McShane, Kathy
- Luban, Dr. Naomi
- Lundholm, William and Patricia
- Lyman, Joanne
- Macleod, Marilyn
- Magner, Paul and Carole
- Magruder, Elizabeth
- Maguire, Timothy and Susan
- Mark, Dorothy
- Markel Corporation
- Marsh, Wellesley
- Martin, Steven
- Martin, David and Susan
- Masi, Melody and DiGioia, Diana
- Masterson, Greg
- Mastromauro, Frank and Jan
- Mathewson, Hub
- McAuley, James and Linda
- McCarthy, Mary
- McCarthy, Elizabeth
- McClenahan, Robert and Rebecca
- McGowan, Mary Ellen
- McKelvy, Nancy
- McLaughlin, Meghan
- Medeiros, James and Geraldine
- Meyer, Rob and Anne
- Minehart, David and Sharon
- Moeller, Susan
- Mondor, Maureen
- Moore, Christopher and Diana
- Morales, Harry and Kerin
- Morganstern, Nancy
- Morin, Julius and Pamela
- Morse, Diana
- Morton, Roy and Elizabeth
- Moser, Marcia
- Mullen, Tom
- Munsell Jr, Dave and Diane
- Musselman, Steve and Rosanna
- Nelson, Cy and Weezie
- Nelson, Philip and Molly
- Newell, Betsy and Richard
- Newman, Arlene
- Nichol, Margaret
- Nickerson, Gary
- Nober, Linda
- North, Elisabeth
- Norton, Dr. Mary
- Norton, Robert
- O'Brien, Mary
- O'Neill, Mary
- Olcott, Jack and Judith
- Olsen, Ken and Crowley, Elissa
- Orcutt, John and Sally
- Parke, Rob and Bev
- Pastva, Cathy and Gary
- Pearl, Richard and Janet
- Perera, Ronald and Judith
- Perrault, Michel and Anne
- Perry, Mary Anne
- Philbrick, Thomas
- Pipe, Elaine
- Powers, Andy and Sue
- Price, Edward and Valerie
- Prince, Tom and Joyce
- Prothero, Helen
- Prothero, Stephen and Subramanian, Meera , Stephen
- Quinn, William and Marilyn
- Rapp, Jan
- Raser, Bob and Caroline
- Reed, Jane
- Rehkamp, Thomas and Marsha
- Renninger, Joel and Bernice
- Revere, Avery
- Rice, Robert and Dana
- Richardson, Elizabeth
- Riordan, Cornelius and Arlene
- Risio, Nancy
- Robbins, Evelyn
- Robinson, Ken and Lilla
- Rosen, Issac and Cole, Cynthia
- Rosenburg, Randall
- Ryan, Raymond and Pippa
- Saling, Edward and Christy
- Sapienza, Sally
- Scarafile, Peter and Judy
- Scheid, Carol
- Schelter, Craig
- Schiffer, Peggy and Noland, Sam
- Schilpp, Fred and Pickman, Carolyn
- Sciarappa, Dorothy and Moore, Andrea
- Senoski, Richard and Murphy, Susan
- Sheridan,Gene and Turco, Carmela
- Siegel, Paul and Ronnie
- Silber, Jeffrey and Leary, Kristin
- Silver, Tom and Helen
- Simmons, Robert
- Smith, Carol
- Smith, Jey
- Smith, William and Brown, Marcia
- Stamas, Christopher
- Staples, Judith
- Stapleton, William and Souza, Elizabeth
- Starr, Gordon and Greene-Starr, Sherry
- Sterling, Eliot and Joyce
- Stewart, Irving
- Sturgis, Ellen
- Sturgis, Barry and Nicole
- Taylor, Maureen
- Temkin, Ellen
- Temple, John and Miller, Ann
- Thayer, Larry and Margaret
- Thompson, Paul and Sallie
- Tirrell, Frederick and Julie
- Tolliver, Roy and Kathy
- Trisko, Joan
- True , Roger
- Turner, Beverly
- Varblow, Cary
- Vetorino, Peg
- Walters, Barbara
- Watson, Conrad
- Weaver, Esta
- Weber, David and Carole
- Weinblatt, Herbert and Anita
- West, Peter and Debbie
- Whieldon, Jeffrey and Lucille
- Whitmore, Steve
- Whitmore, Lynn
- Wilker-Manfredonia, Leslie
- Williams, Gary
- Williams, Greg and Marianne
- Wirtanen, Edward and Jeanne
- Wirtanen, Mark and Reilly, Terrie
- Withers, Mareda
- Wolcott, Timothy
- Wolfe, Clifton
- Wolfe, Chester and Curran, Barbara
- Wood, Marie
- Wright, Joan
- Zhang, Joan