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Date: 11/16/2021
BELCHERTOWN – Between programs for all ages and a wide variety of materials for borrowing, the Clapp Memorial Library has something for everyone.
Library Director Sheila McCormick said the library was initially founded in 1887 and has been a hub of activity since.
“It is very much a center of activity in Belchertown. We traditionally have had a very active program assortment for kids, adults and teenagers,” she said.
One of the library’s most popular programs is the annual teen write night series on Wednesdays in November to commemorate National Novel Writing Month.
“The purpose of this is to give teen writers a little bit of a writing community and it gives them a chance to get feedback on their writing, they can participate in writing exercises, they can grow their word count and then at the end there is a party for everyone who has continued through the series,” McCormick said. “That is something that is a popular event and there are kids who are extremely interested in getting a jump on learning to be writers and this is a nice comfortable setting for that.”
Along with the write night series, McCormick said another popular teen program is the Teen Advisory Board, which meets monthly.
“That is a group of young people who want to participate in planning the sorts of programs and services that teens would be interested in. That is a nice group for kids who have a particular interest in the library, reading or seeing more activities for their age group,” she said.
Another activity McCormick said is in the planning stages is a program for teens to make cards for hospitalized children.
For adults, McCormick said the library currently offers three book groups.
“Pre-COVID, we had a lot more evening programming for adults, and we have not been doing in-person programming inside the library during COVID [-19], but the adult book groups have continued throughout. They have been virtual for the most part or recently they have been meeting outside,” she said. “One is called the Clapp Critics and that is just a general adult evening book group. We also have a group called the Wednesday Whodunits, which is a mystery group, and then we have a science fiction group.”
For young children, McCormick said the library offers three story times on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Children’s programming has always been a cornerstone of what we do here, and we have three different story hours for different age groups so there is a baby story time on Tuesday mornings, there is a toddler story time on Tuesday mornings and then there is also a preschool story time that is on Thursday. Those have taken place virtually or outside, but they have been moved to the old town hall,” she said.
With the next series set to begin on Nov. 29, McCormick said people can sign up online to join.
After briefly reopening for appointments, McCormick said the library quickly shifted to open browsing.
“We are open regular hours, masks are required, we are asking people to social distance and there is limited seating right now,” she said.
McCormick added the library will continue to asses COVID-19 numbers and trends moving forward.
“We will be reassessing everything relative to COVID with the hope that as things continue to trend downwards that we will be able to bring more of these back into the library and host them in the building rather than in a more remote location,” she said.
McCormick said the library has access to several streaming services including Hoopla and Kanopy, which allow library members to download a variety of digital content including e-books, audiobooks, movies, music and more that have seen a spike in popularity because of COVID-19. People are also able to borrow mobile hotspots, a ukulele and a telescope.
McCormick added that despite the popularity of the streaming services, books are not going anywhere. “As always, there is a lot of talk about what is going to happen with books, well nothing is going to happen to book they are as popular as they ever were. We have seen increased usage of e-books and audiobooks and that really is just going up and probably will continue,” she said.
As a part of the CW Mars consortium of libraries, people are also able to find materials that may not be available at the Clapp Memorial Library.
McCormick said she hopes more people come out to visit the library.
“I would just encourage people to come and visit, it is a beautiful historic building, it is very unique and we have two gorgeous stain glass windows that are worth a visit to come and see them. People who have never come into the building are usually awestruck when they walk in because it is a lovely building that has not been changed,” she said.
Clapp Memorial Library is located at 19 South Main St.