Category Archives: News

GKL Receives CLiF Grant!

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June 12, 2025

Contact:

Gay Kimball Library
Erin George
(603) 242-7743

Sarah Hall, CLiF Communications Manager
communications@clifonline.org, (802) 244-0944

Gay Kimball Library Receives Grant from the Children’s Literacy Foundation

Troy NH: The Gay Kimball Library is pleased to have been selected to receive a Rural Library Grant for the 2025-2026 school year from the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), a nonprofit based in Waterbury Center, Vt.

Awarded annually to 12 public libraries in Vermont and New Hampshire, the Rural Library Grant is designed to help small-town libraries create excitement around literacy, update their collections, increase circulation, and strengthen connections with the communities they serve. The grant is also intended to fill funding shortfalls for libraries with extremely limited budgets.

“We are so pleased to have been fortunate enough to receive this grant. Our objective is to help our town’s children stay inspired by reading quality books! This opportunity will allow us to work closely with Troy Elementary School to introduce young readers to new experiences, books, and authors. We plan to incorporate family activities into our programming so people of all ages are involved and look forward to working with our young patrons and beyond,” said Erin George, Interim Director for Gay Kimball Library.

The grant provides $2,000 in new children’s books for the public library; $500 in new books for the local elementary school; two storytelling events for children at the local elementary school or library; a book giveaway for each child at the elementary school to take home; and funding for mini-grants that support family engagement over the course of the year.

Recognizing the increasing needs of small, rural libraries, CLiF recently expanded the grant to include a summer kickoff event featuring a storyteller and book giveaway; early childhood book kits for circulation in the library; board books for children ages 0-5; a selection from a multi-choice menu of options worth $1000; and a small stipend to recognize the time commitment from librarians who manage the grant in addition to their regular duties.

“CLiF’s Rural Library Grant is all about strengthening connections and building a community around literacy,” said CLiF Program Manager Cassie Willner. “In addition, we know how important it is to help small libraries update and diversify their children’s book collection and promote outreach through new titles and events.”

The Rural Library grant is one of CLiF’s longest running programs. Libraries with limited annual budgets that serve Vermont and New Hampshire towns with populations of about 5,000 or less are eligible to apply.

Since 1998, CLiF has been dedicated to creating literacy experiences that support success in life and learning for under-resourced children in communities across Vermont and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit www.clifonline.org.

What’s new and coming soon at GKL?

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Special thanks to all who came out for our Spring book sale despite the downpours. We had great success with our $5 a bag pricing and will be able to order fantastic prizes for this year’s summer reading program. We sold 31 bags in two hours on Friday night and 30 more bags on Saturday. Between sales and donations, we raised around $300 for library programming and summer reading prizes!
In May, we re-started our preschool story time program, The Hungry Caterpillars Book Club! The kids have had a great time seeing each other again, making Mother’s Day presents, and painting up bird houses donated by a generous patron. Story time will continue to run on Tuesdays at 11. All are welcome, including older and younger siblings! Story time includes a story, craft, and play time. This is a drop-by program and you don’t need to register. The only thing you should bring is play clothes and your imagination.
Also in May, we are busy with the Beyond the Bell Little Librarian program. For six weeks, our Little Librarians worked to build lemonade stands in teams. While reading The Lemonade War, kids are learning about how to run a small business and will compete to see who can sell the most lemonade at the end of the program. We have three teams – Slay Girls, Jolly Ranchers, and Da Blue and Da Pink. Each team is working on marketing, pricing, creating a stand, and making other decisions around how to make their stand successful. You can help by purchasing a cup and voting for your favorite when you see the kids selling outside the library. Watch social media for more information on dates and times the kids will sell their favorite flavors.
Looking ahead, we’re planning our summer reading programming and hope to see kids and adults meeting summer reading challenges! Coming soon is our Level Up Comic Con event, which will kick off this year’s Level Up Summer reading program. This event will take place on June 21 from 10 to 2. We will begin summer reading sign-ups for kids and adults at that time and for the weeks following June 21. Please keep an eye on social media and in the Troy group on Facebooks for specific events as the summer progresses.
After a break from our regular Book Club group, we’re hoping to bring it back. We’re looking to see if there’s enough interest in a regular adult book club. If you’re interested, or are a former member, please stop by or call the library. Our hope is to pick a book and bring the club (which meets monthly) back in July or August.
As we wait for news about a new director, we’re interested in learning about your interests and needs. We believe the library is a place not only for books but for the community. If you have suggestions on titles you’d like us to purchase, programming we can offer, or other resources you believe would be helpful for the town of Troy, please reach out by calling (603) 242-7743.
Thank you to everyone who has been so patient with us during this time of transition. Our goal is to continue to do what we can to make the library a welcoming, helpful place in town as we continue to grow!