WELCOME to the STOWE FREE LIBRARY!

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Our Vision

The Stowe Free Library strives to foster community, serve the public, provide uncensored access to knowledge, and encourage learning, discovery, and creativity.

Our Values

Community - We who serve the Stowe Free Library value the community of Stowe, its residents, its visitors, its neighbors, and all those who encompass the world of learning.
 
Service - We value excellent service and aspire to fulfill our commitment to serve all who ask for assistance in a fair and professional manner.
 
Access - We value the equitable access of knowledge in all its formats.
 
Education and Lifelong Learning - We value reading, education, and learning for all regardless of age, gender, ability, ethnicity, and economic status.

OUR HISTORY

The earliest libraries in Stowe were subscription or membership libraries as was popular in the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1866, the Stowe Free Library was founded with a donation of 51 books from a group of visiting summer artists and supplemented by a town appropriation of $100. Stowe was the first town in Vermont to appropriate a sum of money for library purposes under the state law of 1865.

After occupying several locations in the village, the library finally found a real home in the “new” town hall, the Akeley Memorial Building, in 1904. Seventy-seven years later, the library moved to the renovated old High School building at the corner of Pond and School Street.

The beautiful classic Greek Revival building where the library is now located was built as a school for Stowe children in 1863. Eventually used exclusively for upper grades, the building was abandoned in 1974 when a new High School was constructed at a location away from the center of town. Thanks to a bequest from Helen Day Montanari and the diligent work of local preservationists, the building, once known as “Old Yeller,” was restored in 1981 to house the Stowe Free Library and The Current (formerly the Helen Day Art Center). A major addition to the building was completed in 1994 through local support and a modest interior renovation was made to the library in 2002 through a grant from the Freeman Foundation of Stowe.

The library is operated as a municipal department of the Town of Stowe and, as such, is about 90 percent tax-supported with the remaining income from endowment interest, fees, fines, gifts, and the proceeds from our annual book sale.

OUR COLLECTION

The Stowe Free Library houses approximately 20,000 book titles, 3,500 film titles, 1,000 audio books & playaways, and more than 100 magazines & newspapers. Our Reading and Periodicals Room is a resource for Vermont and Stowe information and history.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The Library Board of Trustees consists of Stowe residents appointed by the Town of Stowe Selectboard. They hold a monthly meeting in Meeting Room at the Stowe Free Library, usually on the first Friday of the month unless otherwise noted. Call the library to confirm meeting location.

Chair: Kelley Spear
Vice Chair: Shelby Gaines
Treasurer: Brian Mullins
Secretary: Kim Kaufman
Sarah Calvo
Charlotte Maison Kastner
Anna Colavito

Meeting Minutes and Agendas The Board of Trustees agendas and meeting minutes are available to the public.
2022 
2021 
2020 
2019 
2018 

OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

Proposed Goals for SFL Strategic Plan 2021 – 2026

Purpose of plan: to understand the needs of the community, provide opportunities to meet those needs, gauge successes, rebound from failures/shortfalls, and develop an ongoing conversation with the community.

Goal 1: Understand the community’s needs for and patron satisfaction of library services, programs, and resources and respond to the needs appropriately.

  • Develop an annual (semi-annual) survey focusing on the above.
  • Develop a program evaluation form.
  • Collect patron comments/stories/experiences/suggestions.
  • Develop programming, services, collection, resources to meet needs/expectations.

Goal 2: Gather relevant library service statistics.

  • Devise a new daily statistic “pink sheet” to include telephone calls, reference questions, other services provided by staff.
  • Develop a new statistics spreadsheet and make it accessible to the board.

Goal 3: Advocate for / market the library.

  • Develop a new library logo – to reflect the library as a town department.
  • Develop a new library website that is friendlier and more conducive to data storage.
  • Develop an organizational communication plan that includes ways to advocate for the library and market its resources.