A few days ago, the Ascienzo Family Foundation (AFF) interviewed the staff of the Red Hook Public Library (RHPL): Amy Smith, the Program Director, Dawn Jardine, the Executive Director, and Sarah deVeer, the RHPL's newest Trustee. The Foundation has been in partnership with the library for many years, so it was nice to sit down and talk with Dawn, Amy, and Sarah about past, present, and future pursuits.
To begin, I asked Dawn and Amy what their favorite AFF grants over the years have been. Dawn said: “Definitely my favorite was the Red Hook Grows Up grant…This was a huge project. We had this idea that for our summer reading program we wanted to stage a production - and the kids in the program would interview adults in Red Hook and ask them what it was like to grow up here. And then they would take these stories and add their own experiences of growing up and write this show: act in it, do the sets, costumes, everything. The Ascienzo Family Foundation said yes and I think it was one of the most valuable things we ever did.”
Amy’s favorite was the grant for bilingual programming - the opportunity to have programs in Spanish and English had never been offered before. She says: “When we put together a package to have translations of parts of our websites and programs that were in both Spanish and English, and more Spanish language tutorials…when the AFF said yes, to me that was a huge affirmation that they understood a value that we really have, which is: we can’t assume that we know the community. We need to offer new things, so that people can feel like they have ownership of the library, when they haven’t before…To me that was huge. It helped me understand that AFF was really aligned with the kind of growth we want as an organization.”
The library always has many ongoing projects - like one of their current grants called Hands On, which is a series for adults. Last weekend Amy and Dawn taught an adult machine sewing class - the library provided the fabric, the pattern, and a whole bunch of machines, and people get to try something without having to invest. “It’s an opportunity for a whole bunch of adult women to get together for a couple of hours on a Saturday, just for them,” said Dawn. “And that’s really important.” Amy and Dawn both agreed that one of the greatest values of a library is that you can explore new things without a fear of failure.
Even the pandemic can't rain on the library's parade. When COVID restrictions were tighter, the Library made sure to still bring the community together. They hosted a nature walk, where kids and parents alike could seek solace from loneliness and learn about the world around them at the same time - all while masked, outdoors, and socially distant.
The driving forces behind their work/programming has always been on shared space and resources for the community. Sarah says: “At our last board meeting we were reviewing annual reports. I took notes on some of the things that the library isn’t currently offering but which I could very easily see - which is a series of programs focused on caregivers, or parents. Also, hearing-impaired assisted devices!”
Lastly, we talked about some of our favorite things about Red Hook - and all came to the same conclusion that the level of community engagement is unmatched. We agreed that the Red Hook community is one that cares!
