Dear Massachusetts Libraries Board of Library Commissioners LSTA Review Board,
I am writing to convey enthusiastic support for the Berkley Public Library’s proposal to Build Connections with Teens and Tweens. In our tiny town, the library has always served as the bridge between different populations in an isolated community. I am excited to hear about clever ways to provide programming for teens and tweens and turn them into community contributors. Through this grant, we will help a severely underserved group and provide a safe place for them to pursue knowledge.
Currently, we bus high schoolers to a neighboring town from the town common. They get dropped off daily from the bus and would visit the library if there was space. Instead, the majority disperse across the wide open fields to walk the road home (there are no
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The library serves surrounding local areas, with young families regularly attending Lego builds and child-oriented events from nearby Somerset, Assonet, Raynham, Taunton, and Fall River. With new space, the services we offer can grow, too: The elderly population would feel more welcome when they don’t have to contend with the stairs for our social events such as the holiday open house. People may feel more welcome at the book clubs if they are not cramped noisily around a table. Adults will be able to have enough working or reading space when needed. We will be able to apply for new grants because we will then be able to offer accommodations to handicapped people. Homeschool groups can organize their robotics teams, community interest groups can borrow a place to meet up and host events. I hope that this grant will demonstrate to the selectmen the value of increasing future resources for more permanent structural additions to the