As I write, we just got blasted by a lake effect snow. It’s actually beautiful – if you don’t have to drive in it. Many of our younger friends and family members think it’s beautiful – because school gets cancelled!

As we wrap up 2023 and head to another year, I want to pause and list just a few of the things for which we are grateful. Here are a few:

  • Members of the community voted to pass our renewal levy;
  • Our new, now-popular, Storybook Trail opened thanks to the generosity of donors and the Board of the Ashtabula County Commissioners;
  • Our summer reading program was a huge success;
  • Members of the Friends of the Library continue to support us through their annual fundraising activities like the annual book sale, Quilt Show, and Basket auction.
  • And you!

I have to be honest with you. When I meet with Library Directors from across the state, I am always happy – and maybe a little bit proud – to brag about the ways you and the community engage with us and lend us your support. You have turned our small library into a real treasure.

Someone once said that the holiday season is a perfect time to reflect on our blessings and seek out ways to make life better for those around us.

Perhaps, as we – happily or anxiously – await and anticipate more snowfalls, we can take the poet Kahlil Gibran’s words to heart when he writes that “kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.”

Thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and patronage in 2023. It means a great deal to me and the entire staff. It seems fitting to close with this Irish Blessing:

May you be blessed with the spirit of the season which is peace,

the gladness of the season which is hope,

and the heart of the season which is love.

Sincerely,

Nancy Logan, Director