Our Gardens are Making News! Thanks again to CCCD for helping us grow!
Author Archives: troylibrary_admin
Wrapping up Summer Reading and Opening a New Chapter!
From science fairs and storytellers to mud kitchen harvests and toad teas, summertime at Gay-Kimball Library has had no shortage of good times, memories, and laughs. As a community, we’ve managed to pull together two fruitful container gardens, a traditional garden, and a pollinator garden. Troy’s kids now confidently know the difference between pollinator-friendly plants and those that aren’t as friendly. They understand why pollinators are important to our local habitat, and so much more. Thanks to our CCCD grant, we have not only been able to implement these gardens but are now using the food from the gardens to help feed people fresh produce.
Whether you don’t feel like driving to Keene, or need fresh vegetables, we put our garden veggies in our front lobby as they are available. They are free for anyone to take with no questions asked! Please do take them as we don’t want them to go to waste, and this is for everyone in the community!
While we are so proud of the gardens and the teamwork they’ve produced, we’re also thrilled at how much reading was done over the summer! Our kids and adults did a great job with summer reading once again this year. Congratulations to all who participated!
Here is a look at just a few of our summer reading stats as of August 4:
-CHILDREN’S SUMMER READING STATS-
Total children who participated: 44 children
Total books read: 1,959 books
Main age that occurs (Mode): 9 years old (appears 7 times)
Highest goal: 200 books (set by Addison Morash)
Lowest goal: 4 books (set by James Dewing-Baird)
Highest number of books read: 159 books (tied between Abigail, James, and Joseph MacDonald)
-ADULT SUMMER READING STATS-
• Total participants: 19 people
• Total books read: 84 books
• Highest goal: 20 books (tied between Tara Chasse and Kathy Stanton)
• Lowest goal: 3 books (tied between Crystal Lerio and Kristen Tilton)
• Highest number of books read: 15 books (tied between Hailey Dewing-Baird and Tara Chasse)
TOTAL BOOKS READ
· Total participants: 63 people (44 children + 19 adults/older participants)
· Total books read: 2,043 books (1,959 from chart one + 84 from chart two)
· Highest goal: 200 books (Set by Addison Morash in chart one)
· Lowest goal: 3 books (Set by Crystal Lerio and Kristen Tilton in chart two)
· Highest number of books read: 159 books (Tied between Abigail, James, and Joseph MacDonald)
Now, with school back in session and the leaves ready to change color, we’re looking forward to fall programming. By request, we are bringing back our Cook the Book program! We will be cooking recipes from Garden to Table Cookbook by Kayla Butts. If you are interested in selecting a recipe to prepare and share with the group, please stop by the library to sign up! We picked this book as part of our Plant a Seed: Read and Farm to Table themes at the library this year. We’re hoping to use ingredients from our very own vegetable gardens as part of the recipes! Call or stop by the library to learn more about our plan for Cook the Book – Family-friendly Farm to Table edition!
I will be heading to Montgomery, Alabama this month to attend and present at a national conference for the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. Not only will this be a great opportunity to put our special town on the map and show off the hard work we’ve done with our gardens, but it will mean the ability to network with librarians and library staff from all over the country.
I will be hosting a national workshop on creating safe spaces in libraries that will serve as a model for other libraries around the country. I also hope to bring back new ideas and resources to Troy, as well as provide resources that go beyond books in small towns like ours to others. Please bear with our staff and hours during the week of September 14 through 20th as we will do our best to serve you but may need to move to limited hours while I am away.
Author Peter M. Hanrahan will be joining us at the Gay-Kimball Library at noon on Saturday, September 26, and will be making a presentation regarding his book, Dean Man’s Ridge: The Bravery of American Paratroopers at the Battle of the Bulge.
The principal character in the book, Niilo Liimatainen grew up in the Troy area and, after World War II, made the Monadnock Region his home until his passing in 2005. Following his presentation, Mr. Hanrahan will also hold a question-and-answer session and will then be available to sign books for attendees. Author and Filmmaker Dayton Duncan worked for 32 years in partnership with Ken Burns to produce historical documentaries for PBS. After reading the manuscript, Mr. Duncan provided the following advance praise for the book.
“Peter M. Hanrahan talked for hours with his wife’s uncle about the old veteran’s experience in World War II, when his untested platoon was virtually wiped out in the Battle of the Bulge. This led Hanrahan on a deeper search for other personal accounts of soldiers from the 17th Airborne Division, whose first action came in that bloody and decisive campaign. And what a treasure trove he discovered. Through their letters and reminiscences, Dead Man’s Ridge brings the reader to the bitterly cold days in Belgium when young American men were introduced to the horrors and heroism, the chaos and camaraderie of desperate combat against a seasoned enemy. Day-by-day accounts of major figures, from Patton to Eisenhower and even Hitler, provide the larger context of the epic battle, but it is the granular testimony of the men who did the fighting and dying that gives this book its power–– and its heart.”
Also on September 26, I will be joining the Troy Conservation Commission at the ballfield on Marlborough Road for a moon stargazing event at around six (more specific times to follow). We’ll read about the harvest moon and make a craft before dark. For more details on this event, keep your eyes on our Facebook page and website.
Moving forward, many are asking if we will be holding a Trunk or Treat again this year. The answer is “yes.” With that said, we are in need of candy donations as soon as possible. Last year, we had well over 300 visitors to our Trunk or Treat and we want to be sure we don’t run out of candy! If you want to help out, but don’t want to host a trunk, please consider donating candy to the library any time during September and October. We use this candy to help out those who do volunteer trunks! Anyone interested in hosting a trunk can sign up by calling the library to reserve a spot!
Upcoming October events:
• October 8 at 5 pm – Judith Black Program – Humanities-to-Go through NH Humanities: Meet Lucy Stone: Enter the Antebellum World of the Abolition and Women’s Rights Movements
In this first-person interpretive program, Judith Black introduces American Lucy Stone, the first woman hired by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society as a public speaker and the “Shining Star” of the Abolition and Women’s Rights Movements. The presenter dispels well-worn platitudes about the antebellum North by interjecting historic and personal truths about these social reform movements. Her presentation also paints a dynamic and detailed picture of what it takes to change the world you are born into. Follow Lucy as she makes her case for tax resistance, her challenges to marriage laws and motherhood, and her pro-Emancipation response to the Civil War. Go with her to The American Equal Rights Association Convention in May 1869, where she eloquently supports the 15th Amendment, which gave African-American men the vote.
• October 15 at 4 pm – Jabberwocky Tea with Miss MaryLee!
This event will include a snack and craft and is open to all ages. “Jabberwocky” is a famous nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll featuring a classic heroic quest, a triumph of good over evil, and a playful subversion of language. Published in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass, it tells the story of a young boy who listens to his father’s warning, takes his sword, hunts and kills a scary monster called the Jabberwock, and returns home victorious. MaryLee has it memorized!
• Trunk or Treat – Held in the Gay-Kimball Library parking lot during Trick or Treat hours for Troy.
We are currently working on scheduling more events for the remainder of 2026. Follow our Facebook page to learn more and stay up to date with GKL activities and programming. Our goal is to continue to do what we can to make the library a welcoming, helpful place in town as we grow.
Job Opening – Library Clerk
Featured
Library Clerk Job Opening
Job Description
This position requires:
- Outstanding customer service skills
- Ability to communicate effectively in writing, verbally, and electronically
- Ability to utilize automated circulation system and to execute circulation policies and procedures
- Excellent computer skills
- Ability to deal with multiple tasks and give friendly, respectful, and helpful service to all library users
Duties and Responsibilities:
The following functions are considered essential to this position but are not intended to be all-inclusive. Other library-related projects and duties will be assigned as needed.
- Partly responsible for the day-to-day functions of the Circulation Desk including working directly with the public when taking or returning materials, checking library materials in and out, calling daily overdues, updating patron account information, troubleshooting patron concerns or questions, managing payments from the public, and answering the telephone.
- Inspect incoming and outgoing library materials for damage and missing parts. Communicate with borrowers and/or other libraries regarding replacement costs. Partners as needed with the Library Director to make the final determination about replacement.
- Register and orient new borrowers
- Provide readers with advisory and reference services to the public or direct them to another staff member as needed.
- Responsible for the library’s interlibrary loan service and all tasks associated with that service
- Accurately and efficiently search a variety of online catalogs and databases for the location of materials requested by library patrons.
- Assist patrons with equipment such as computers, automated catalog, photocopiers, and scanner
- Promotes library activities and programs to the public in person, electronically and in written format.
- Enforce library policies in an equitable manner
- Interpret library policies and procedures and explain them to the public.
- Open and close the library according to the established procedures.
- Catalog and process materials
- Shelve materials as needed and as time permits; maintain integrity of collection by reading shelves
- Communicate any pertinent event, messages, or actions to other staff members
Qualifications:
- High school diploma required; some college coursework or degree preferred
- Library experience preferred
- Exemplary customer service skills with customer service experience
- Computer literacy expected including but not limited to Internet apps, MS Office, and the ability to troubleshoot
- Sound judgment, initiative, tact, and courtesy, attention to detail, and organized
- Ability to maintain effective working relationships with patrons, staff, etc.
- Ability to lift boxes and books and push book carts weighing upwards of 50 pounds
- Ability to stand, sit, bend, and reach
This job is for the following hours: Tues. 10:00 am –7 pm Wed. & Thurs. 2 pm – 7 pm, plus two Saturdays a month 9:45 am-2 pm. Approximately 18-22 hours a week.
We are accepting applications from candidates who can work some or all of these shifts.
Wage ranges from $14 – $16 an hour depending on experience. This is not a benefits-eligible position. Gay-Kimball Library · Post Office Box 837 · Troy, NH 03465
10 South Main Street · (603) 242-7743 · library@troylibrary.
Welcome, Summer at Gay-Kimball Library!
June brought with it the grand opening of our summer reading program, complete with this year’s theme: Plant a Seed – Read! The theme came just in time for our community gardens, too! Between our exciting Bio Blitz, Dump Truck Day with our very own town moderator, a visit from the third grade at Troy Elementary, summer reading sign-ups, Escape the Greenhouse programming, and getting those gardens planted, we’ve gotten this summer off to a great start at Gay-Kimball Library look forward to quite the memorable summer!
With our gardens working their way toward their first harvests, many are asking what we will do with the vegetables we grow. The answer is simple: Share! We planted our gardens as a community, and we will share (free of charge) our harvests of tomatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, chives, peas, beans, lettuce, and more with the community. As we pick our crop, we will make anything we grow available to anyone in town. We plan on having a free vegetable stand inside the library for anyone who wants to try our fruits and vegetables! Maybe you don’t want to run to Keene for those extra tomatoes you need for taco dinner on a Tuesday. Stop by the library. Maybe money is tight, and you are looking for fresh vegetables, same idea. We will have more than enough to share throughout the summer.
Depending on how things go, we may offer a stand outside the library as well. We only ask that you do not pick from the gardens without prior permission from library staff, as some of the picking will be done as part of programming by groups like Storytime, volunteers, or visiting groups by invitation. Watch our Facebook page or website to see what is available when.
Curious about what else is planned for July at Gay-Kimball Library?
Join us for the following fantastic summer events:
Thursday, July 16, 4 pm: Toad Tea with MaryLee – Make Way for a Garden Tea by our new community garden! Join us for an afternoon tea, story, and craft with Marylee Obert as she shares her very own book and treats us to a magical world all her own! This enchanted afternoon is appropriate for kids ages four to twelve and their caregivers and stuffed or imaginary friends. You do not need to sign up in advance to attend, and you only need to bring your imagination. Dressing up is encouraged but not required.
Saturday, July 25, 11 to 2 pm – The science of it! – We couldn’t say no when we were challenged to join in on 250 million acts of science for the nation’s 250th celebration! Join us for a Science Across America Community dialogue and science fair! We will celebrate all things science, and families are encouraged to attend! We will have several booths set up for this event, where you will get to learn more about many types of science and try your hand at science experiments through our Science Across America grant.
Thursday, July 30, 6-8 pm: What’s your story? Cultivating community: An evening of getting to know our neighbors – sponsored by New Hampshire Humanities – the importance of storytelling and how it unites us – with special guest Veronica Francis. This program is meant for adults.
Veronica Francis, author of Circus Towne, is a New Hampshire storyteller, keynote speaker, and technology coach who helps people navigate change with clarity, confidence, and a sense of humor. Known for her warm presence and relatable storytelling, Veronica blends real-life experience with practical insight – reminding audiences that adaptability matters more than perfection, especially when the plan falls apart.
Her life story reads less like a straight line and more like a series of detours – and that’s exactly the point.
Saturday, August 8, noon to 2 pm – Ice Cream Social, Celebrating the end of summer reading – come on down to the library to celebrate your reading goals and the community’s achievements this summer! This is a free event for all Troy residents, and you don’t have to participate in summer reading or any of the programming to attend. We welcome everyone at Gay-Kimball Library!
Come One, Come All for One of the Quirkiest Stories of Them All!
Imagine growing up with a circus in your front yard? Author Veronica Francis doesn’t have to imagine. She lived it. And she’s coming to Troy, NH, to tell the story! Francis, author of Circus Towne, will speak at the Gay-Kimball Library in July about her unique life story and memoir. Circus Towne is a comical memoir about a girl in Twin Mountain, New Hampshire, who grew up in an amusement business that her father started in 1973. Circus Towne is not just a book, it was also a tourist attraction in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, featuring a traditional live circus from Sarasota, Florida, performing four times per day, every day for three summers. And the show goes on…
Gay-Kimball Library has received a Civic Life and Belonging grant from New Hampshire Humanities to present “What’s Your Story?” to include her tale! “What’s Your Story” will occur on July 30 from 6 to 8 pm at Gay-Kimball Library in Troy, New Hampshire. This event is free, will include refreshments, a keepsake gift, and is geared toward adults. Attendees will not only hear more about Veronica’s story but will also learn more about themselves and their neighbors. You do not have to be a Troy resident or Gay-Kimball Library patron to participate.
This program is a storytelling presentation and workshop that highlights how stories connect us all. It will demonstrate connections and commonalities neighbors might not realize they have, despite living nearby for years.
Veronica is a New Hampshire storyteller, keynote speaker, and technology coach who helps people navigate change with clarity, confidence, and a sense of humor. Known for her warm presence and relatable storytelling, Veronica blends real-life experience with practical insight – reminding audiences that adaptability matters more than perfection, especially when the plan falls apart.
Veronica Francis helps organizations capture meaningful stories, preserve local history, engage communities, and communicate what matters most. For more than 25 years, Veronica has worked with nonprofits, community organizations, and small businesses throughout New Hampshire, combining communications expertise with a passion for preserving the stories, traditions, and experiences that connect people to one another.
Whether she’s collecting community memories, leading a workshop, managing communications for a nonprofit, speaking to an audience, or helping people navigate new technology, Veronica brings curiosity, practical experience, and a healthy sense of humor to every project.
She believes every community, organization, and family has stories worth saving – and a few worth laughing about, too.
Veronica grew up in Twin Mountain along iconic Route 3, where her family ran a roadside motel before building Circus Towne, a full circus-themed amusement park next door. Summers were spent under a tent, backstage, and sometimes in the spotlight – learning firsthand that entrepreneurship, like life, rarely comes with perfect conditions.
Her childhood included:
- tourists wandering through the yard asking for towels
- a backyard circus with elephants and leopards
- lost hikers, moose, and unexpected driveway visitors
- lemonade stands that turned into spur-of-the-moment performances
- a front-row seat to the everyday chaos of life on a busy highway
Those early experiences shaped her worldview, and became the foundation for her signature storytelling programs, Route 3 Ronnie and The Show Must Go On, where humor, resilience, and real-world lessons take center stage.
Sign-ups are not required to attend this event in the conference room at Gay-Kimball Library in Troy. However, we ask that you arrive by 6 pm as the presentation will start on time. We also ask that attendees are at least 13 years of age and able to sit for a two-hour presentation and workshop that will include interaction with those in attendance. If you are unsure if this program would be suitable for you or your family, please call the library and ask to speak to Erin at (603) 242-7743.
New Hampshire Humanities’ Civic Life and Belonging Grants fund events that improve civic life by bringing together community members and supporting meaningful discussion and perspective sharing through a cultural or humanities lens. New Hampshire Humanities connects people and ideas by funding and supporting statewide programs that inspire curiosity, foster civil dialogue, and explore big questions. Learn more at www.nhhumanities.org. This event is made possible by New Hampshire Humanities, with support from New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
Closing out May at GKL
May not only brought the library its fair share of flowers, but also saw an author visit, Mother’s Day Tea, major garden progress, and a new Friends of the Library group.
Our students at Troy Elementary School had a special visit on May 14 from Author Marek Bennet, thanks to our Children’s Literacy Foundation Rural Libraries (CLiF) grant! NH-based cartoonist, musician, and educator Marek Bennett leads discovery-based Comics Workshops for all ages throughout New England and the world beyond. His comics work includes the graphic novel series, The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, as well as drawing, translating, & editing for The Most Costly Journey (2021) with the bilingual El Viaje Project. In September 2022, both books were featured at the National Book Festival in Washington DC. Marek is the recipient of the New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Award for Art Education.
Mother’s Day came with a Mother’s Day Tea hosted by MaryLee Obert at the library, complete with poetry, refreshments, and laughs. Thanks to all who came out to celebrate mothers and caregivers alike! Thank you, too, to those who have volunteered to support the library through our new Friends of the Library group! The group will continue to meet on the first Tuesday of the month, every month, at 6 pm, and is always looking for new members. If you are interested in joining, please attend a meeting or call the library at (603) 242-7743 for more information.
We’ve also been fortunate enough to have help from several groups and individuals in getting our gardens and seedlings started. There is still a lot of work and planning to be done! Please watch our social media pages and website for details of when we will meet and the kind of help we are looking for.
Jumping into June, we are looking forward to a Biodiversity presentation on Wednesday June 10 at 5:30 pm by Troy resident Dan Bisaccio. Dan led biological diversity projects for the Smithsonian Institution for over 30 years in tropical forests around the globe. He will present a slide show on why biological diversity is important to all of us and discuss how to get involved with our upcoming Troy, NH BioBlitz. Dan will also go over how you can participate in BioBlitz by using iNaturalist and contributing your sightings of plants, bugs, birds, and all things natural to our day’s biodiversity inventory. This presentation is geared for adults who are willing to assist young naturalists or with friends, neighbors, or by themselves contribute to our biodiversity “snapshot” inventory. It’s important to bring your phone to this event! Following this, and as part of our summer reading programming, Gay-Kimball Library is hosting a Bioblitz Saturday, June 27 from 10 am to 2 pm…
Are you a birder, a snake enthusiast, fascinated by insects, or find yourself wondering what plant or critter is that? Are you looking for a chance to train your naturalist skills with like-minded peers? Get your phones charged and help us record every plant and critter you see. We will be using a free app – iNaturalist – to record what neighborhood species we share our Troy community with.
A BioBlitz is a fast-paced, community-driven event where scientists, volunteers, and nature enthusiasts work together to identify as many species as possible in a specific location within a set timeframe (often 24 hours). It combines education, scientific observation, and nature exploration to document biodiversity, often using apps like iNaturalist.
Speaking of summer reading, we will kick off this year on Saturday, June 20, with sign-ups from 10 am to 2 pm. All who sign up will receive a gift bag, reading contract, and more! This year’s theme is Plant a Seed: Read! June 20 will also mark the first date and opening of our week-long ‘Escape the Greenhouse’ Escape Room.
This year’s summer reading program is suitable for preschoolers and up. Sign-ups are required for both the escape room and summer reading. The escape room will run through the 27th, and sign-ups are required. You do not have to participate in summer reading to participate in the escape room, which is free of charge. You do, however, need to sign up to participate in the greenhouse escape room. The escape room is suitable for children and adults ages eight and up and can be done in groups of six or fewer.
As always, we are thankful for our patrons, who help make the library not only a resource but a community hub for so many in town. Give us a call if you have ideas on ways we can better serve Troy and its residents!
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Our Hours:
Tuesday – 10:00 am – 7 pm
Wednesday & Thursday – 2 pm – 7 pm
Saturday – 10 am – 2 pm
Do those hours not work for you? You can make use of our 24/7 Library Lockers!
A Successful DUMP TRUCK DAY in the Books!
May 25 – After a very rainy Memorial Day weekend, Mr Kyle came out on the end of the day Memorial Day to pull up 100 square feet of sod for the vegetable part of our garden! This was in preparation for our long-awaited DUMP TRUCK DAY!
May 26 – With perfect weather, our Storytime crew, curious patrons, volunteers, Mr Kyle, and library staff gathered to listen to Mr Kyle read to us before the big Black and Gold Compost dump! Next, the kids took turns making their own dump truck runs to the garden plot to fill up our new garden with compost! In two hours time, and with a lot of laughs, not only did we have a new garden space, but our hands and faces were covered with almost as much dirt as great memories!
Later in the day, volunteers and staff put up a fence, worked together to plant pollinators in the pollinator bed, and cleaned up as Mr Kyle replanted sod around the library property to spruce things up! Looking forward and based on weather patterns and one cold night ahead, the decision was made to wait one more week before getting our greenhouse seedlings in the ground. Meantime, gutters will go up over our container beds so that the roofline drip doesn’t hurt our fragile stems.
This week’s pictures say it all:
Plotting our Gardens!
Weeks Four and Five
May 1 – We pulled out our best graphic design and AI skills to create a visual map of our gardens so we could best prepare our garden designs. We cross-referenced with Burpee guides to be sure that whatever we plant will work well with its neighbors.
May 7 – Library Director Erin George asked the local Girl Scouts to create plant markers for our gardens and made plans with the library landscaper to put in the final garden bed in preparation for an end-of-the-month planting/ground-breaking!
May 8-10 – Research was done by several patrons and volunteers on fencing and other tools/things that would be needed for our gardens, like hoses, etc. Erin also researched the cost of plugs, bulbs, and plants that are already established versus seedlings already started in the conference room. Meanwhile, library children continued to keep an eye on seedlings to be sure they were watered and turned to and away from the sun as needed.
May 13 – Gay-Kimball kids had a blast planning gardens using seed catalogues and creating gardens all their own, learning more about the differences between pollinator gardens and other types of gardens.
Weeks Two and Three of the Gardens – Bloomin Right Along!
Week Two
April 17 – A regular patron volunteer removed the rocks from our cardboard and spread compost over it so that the cardboard could begin the process of decomposition. We will soon add a layer of mulch to complete the prep for our pollinator garden for now.
April 21 – Just in time for Earth Day, we held a special Storytime by inviting a special guest in to help us get seeds started for the gardens. Ruth, known to the library kids as “Nans” or “Nana,” came in to teach the kids about seeds. The kids planted sunflowers and transplanted tomatoes. These plants will continue to grow in pods in the library conference room over the next few weeks, and the children will take care of them during weekly Storytimes. The Girl Scouts, in the meantime, will also look after them. Nana left seeds, pods, potting soil, and more for other age groups to plant throughout the week, and librarians designated several tables in the conference room as spaces for our makeshift “greenhouse.”
April 22 – We had a teen volunteer come in to help us plant seeds in starter pods in our conference room for the following for our veggie garden: cauliflower, lettuce, eggplant, and peas! We were also able to help a patron with tomatoes she’d lost in an early frost by replacing them with our own starter tomatoes from the Storytime group; what community gardening is all about!
April 23 – We moved the two ten-foot container gardens outside and lined the back of the building with them. We filled the bottoms with cardboard and mulch and brought in two truckloads of soil to fill them.
Week Three
This week was all about planting more seedlings, keeping them watered, and the research. While we continued our learning in programming with books like “The Bad Seed” and “Growing Together,” we also looked toward tools like “Burpee Companion Guide” to plan our garden designs. We learned that some plants are poisonous to one another, while others complement each other, and came up with the following plans for our gardens:
Container Garden A
- Grape tomato
- Yellow pear tomato
- Determinate tomatoes
- Red eggplant
- Basil
- Marigolds
- Alyssum
- Nasturtium
Container Garden B
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini
- Yellow squash
- Italian squash
- Sugar pie pumpkins
- Radishes
- Lettuce
Pollinator Bed
- Blue lobelia
- Coneflower
- Heliotrope
- Milkweed
- Alyssum
- Agastache
- Yarrow
- Daisy
- Pentas
- Salvia
- Delphinium
- Marigolds
- Nasturtium
- Sunflowers (kindergarten, tiger’s eye, mixed)
Vegetable Bed
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Green cauliflower
- Carrots
- Little finger carrots
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Oakleaf lettuce
- Lettuce
- Peas
- Sugar snap peas
- Beans
- Chives
- Marigolds
- Nasturtium
Blooming into May with Gay-Kimball Library
Bring on the May flowers and those plentiful gardens! Thanks to a generous donation from UNH, the library is now bursting with seeds for our community and pollinator garden projects! But before we get to those, let’s take a look back at what April brought us…
Between the showers, we saw the first buds of a Friends of the Library group with an informational meeting in mid-April. We are so thankful for the many people willing to support the library through a Friends group. It’s not too late to join. If you are interested, please call the library at (603) 242-7743 and let us know.
We were also honored to host a POW/MIA display from Rolling Thunder, which is still set up in our library to honor The Missing Man. This display reminds us of our brave lost soldiers and prisoners of war with solemn symbolism. It is a great educational tool for all. If you’re interested, there’s still a limited amount of time to stop by and learn more.
The Missing Man table isn’t the only new display you’ll see if you visit. We’ve recently made the most of our spring cleaning and created a new reading nook meant to encourage more young adult visitors and readers at Gay-Kimball Library. We’ve also changed the way we catalogue our movie collection to make it easier for our movie-loving patrons to find their favorite titles! Stop by and check out the changes and let us know what you think!
Also in April, we set up a program with Author Veronica Francis for our New Hampshire Humanities Civic Life and Belonging grant. This program, “What’s YOUR Story?” is slated for Thursday, July 30 at 6 pm. It is a storytelling presentation and workshop that highlights how stories connect us all. Presented by Francis, this presentation and workshop will demonstrate connections neighbors might not realize they have, despite living close by.
Veronica is a New Hampshire storyteller, keynote speaker, and technology coach who helps people navigate change with clarity, confidence, and a sense of humor. Known for her warm presence and relatable storytelling, Veronica blends real-life experience with practical insight – reminding audiences that adaptability matters more than perfection, especially when the plan falls apart.
New Hampshire Humanities’ Civic Life and Belonging Grants fund events that improve civic life by bringing together community members and supporting meaningful discussion and perspective sharing through a cultural or humanities lens.
New Hampshire Humanities connects people and ideas by funding and supporting statewide programs that inspire curiosity, foster civil dialogue, and explore big questions. Learn more at www.nhhumanities.org. This event is made possible by New Hampshire Humanities, with support from New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
Back to those highly anticipated community gardens: In early April, we had our county site visit, applied to a master gardener program, and collected the names of people interested in helping with this project. There is a lot of work to be done! We will be holding community-wide volunteer meetings soon. Please watch our social media pages and website for details of when we will meet and the kind of help we are looking for. In the meantime, please call, drop by, or message the library if you are interested in joining the gardening club! We would love all the help we can get and would especially welcome assistance from anyone with special skills in gardening, soil, farming, wildlife, and pollinators. The more help, the better!
Springing ahead, this month, our students at Troy Elementary School will get a special visit on May 14 from Author Marek Bennet, thanks to our Children’s Literacy Foundation Rural Libraries (CLiF) grant! NH-based cartoonist, musician, and educator Marek Bennett leads discovery-based Comics Workshops for all ages throughout New England and the world beyond. His comics work includes the graphic novel series, The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, as well as drawing, translating, & editing for The Most Costly Journey (2021) with the bilingual El Viaje Project. In September 2022, both books were featured at the National Book Festival in Washington DC. Marek is the recipient of the New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Award for Art Education. His website is: www.MarekBennett.com
As always, we are thankful for our patrons, who help make the library not only a resource but a community hub for so many in town. Give us a call if you have ideas on ways we can better serve Troy and its residents!
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Our Hours:
Tuesday – 10:00 am – 7 pm
Wednesday & Thursday – 2 pm – 7 pm
Saturday – 10 am – 2 pm
Do those hours not work for you? You can make use of our 24/7 Library Lockers!