ByWater Solutions Announces February 2023 Community Giveback Winner

by Elise Aiello on Feb 27, 2023

Each month, ByWater Solutions selects one library to be awarded $500. These funds are meant to support libraries and their communities and fill gaps in funding to further library goals.

We are excited to announce our February 2023 winner of the ByWater Community Giveback, the Bennington Free Library in Vermont!

The funds will be used to expand the library's foreign language book collection to better meet the needs of the library's growing community.

Wendy Sharkey, Head of Circulation at the Bennington Free Library commented:

Over the past eighteen months there has been a push to make the library more inclusive in several ways. A multi-year diversity audit has been started with the intention of providing a collection more reflective of our population. Two new collections have been curated, the most recent being our memory collection used for adults with memory issues, a great option for Alzheimer patients at any stage in their journey. The books are to be shared and hopefully spark a memory that can once more be shared with loved ones. The second new collection has been for foreign language books; starting with Spanish books we have already found a need for Dari books now that several Afghan families have moved to the area. There soon will be some Ukrainian families joining the community along with the proximity of the Canadian border which all point to the need for a more diverse foreign language collection branching out into French and Ukrainian while strengthening the Dari collection. It is the wish of the library to welcome all the newcomers with open arms and for everyone to feel at home."

About Bennington Free Library

The Bennington Free Library provides materials and services that will meet the educational, informational, cultural, and recreational needs of the community.

It is the Library’s aim to:
• stimulate use of its collections by informing the public of the resources available and by providing guidance in their use,
• provide free access to a wide range of opinions and ideas,
• develop collections and services in response to community needs, and
• cooperate with community organizations in stimulating educational and cultural activities.

The public library is a unique cultural institution within the community in that it is the only one that freely provides opportunities for educational growth and personal development throughout the individual’s lifetime. Our responsibility goes beyond providing books and information to those who are already confirmed library users. We aim to provide a dynamic library program that will advertise our services, attract non-users, and provide for and promote reading and self-development throughout the community.

Read more here: https://benningtonfreelibrary.org/about/

About the ByWater Community Giveback

We will select one library a month to donate $500 to their Non-profit 501c3 organization such as Friends of the Library, Library Foundation, or other funding entity. These funds are meant to support libraries and their communities and fill gaps in funding to further library goals. We LOVE libraries. Our team is made up of librarians and library fanatics. We're always looking for ways to give back and create opportunities where we can to support libraries. This is a small token of thanks for all the hard work libraries do in their communities every day.

Learn More About the Program and How to Apply.

If you have more questions, please contact: Outreach@bywatersolutions.com

About ByWater Solutions

ByWater Solutions is a full service, high-quality Open Source support and implementation company dedicated to providing libraries with a lower cost, more advanced level of support for their systems than a traditional proprietary solution can offer. ByWater Solutions has a proven track record in the first-rate implementation and support services with library systems of all sizes for the Koha ILS, Aspen Discovery, Folio LSP, Coral ERM, and Libki PC Management.

Our highly ranked, comprehensive support is what sets our company apart from any other vendor in the industry. Partnering with ByWater Solutions not only lowers the cost of implementation and maintenance of OSS but more importantly empowers libraries by giving them the flexibility and freedom they deserve. For more information please visit https://bywatersolutions.com.

For More Information

Elise Aiello
Partner Engagement Specialist
ByWater Solutions
bywatersolutions.com
Phone:(888)900-8944