A large clock and personalized plaque now hanging in the Mendon Public Library Reading Room (see above) recognize the tremendous support received over the last five years for our new library. During the five-year run of the Capital Campaign, nearly 1,000 donors gave money to the cause, with an average gift of $677. The Jacobs Family and Star Headlight and Lantern Company hold the special honor of giving the largest gifts to the campaign.
Capital Campaign Chairman Ron Knight is pleased to report that over the course of the campaign, the Friends of the Library gave the Town of Mendon $458,000 towards payments for the new Library. In addition to fundraising solicitation letters, monies were raised through many events, including two Gary Lewis concerts, several sweepstakes events held at the Rabbit Room, a garden walk, two barn dances at the Avon Century Barn, several community breakfasts, bbqs, roller skating parties, and many other activities.
The Capital Campaign Committee has included a number of community members over the years, including Chair, Ron Knight, assisted by Luanne Alcorn, Janet Altimonda, Drew Costanza, Victoria Davidson, Lisa Hochgraf, Laurene Hofmann, Melissa Jacobs, Steve Melcher, Bruce Peckham, Meg Segrue, Vickie Stankaitis, Stephen Szczublewski, Cyndi Vassallo, Laura Villanti, Sam Villanti, Jeffrey Weiss, and Deric West.
The new Mendon Public Library opened on June 27, 2011 to rave reviews in our community. This new space allowed the library to be both ADA-compliant and suitably sized to shelve the entire collection. Community members have enthusiastically embraced the new 7,340 square foot space and our visits and circulation have increased substantially each year since opening in 2011.
