James Blackstone Memorial Library Director Katy McNicol hopes to see the community come out to support the annual Friends of the Blackstone Library Fall Book Sale on the Branford Town Green, Thursday, Sept. 19 through Sunday, Sept. 22. This is the 36th year for the sale.

Just look for the Friends’ ginormous event tent on the Green, which will be filled with table after table of over 60,000 books in over 100 categories. Book lovers arrive in droves to enjoy rock-bottom prices for gently-handled books, most priced $3 and under (children’s books 50 cents and up). The sale also features a vast collection of contributed vinyl, CDs, games, puzzles, movies, DVDs, audio, VHS, and sheet music. Sunday is the Big Bag Sale when shoppers can fill up for $10 per bag provided by the Friends.

“I know this year, they have a particularly large section of pop culture, science fiction, academic, music, astrology, literature, and sheet music,” Katy hints about the sale.

As library director, Katy can’t say enough about how grateful she and her staff are for the support of the Friends and the massive effort that’s undertaken to put on this sale each year.

“The Friends are amazing!” Katy says. “They do it all. There are about 350 volunteers just involved with running the Fall Book Sale, not to mention the volunteers they have day-in-and-day-out, year-round.”

The event is the Friends single largest fundraiser of the year, with proceeds (minus Friends’ operating expenses, such as those for the warehouse used to store donated books all year) donated to the library to help fund requests prioritized by the library director.

The library, which primarily receives financial support from the Town of Branford, is also supported by the oversight and guidance efforts of the Blackstone Library Board of Trustees. Katy keeps the trustees abreast of library policy and collaborates with the Friends as they undertake their efforts to support the library.

“The Town of Branford very generously gives us 90% of our annual budget each year,” says Katy. “All of the fundraising efforts of the Friends are really bridging and enhancing all that the library offers.”

For the 2023-’24 fiscal year, the Friends contributed $72,000 to the Blackstone Library, including a year-end gift of over $23,000. Since the Friends’ inception in 1988, the Friends total contributions for enrichment activities and programs at the Blackstone Library have now surpassed $1 million.

“It’s a really significant milestone,” says Katy. “I feel really fortunate, as a library director, to have the Friends’ support.”

That sentiment was amplified for Katy when she sat in on a part of a round table that Friends of the Blackstone Library recently hosted for members of other library Friends’ groups from around the state.

“Just to hear some of the challenges that other libraries face reinforces what a wonderful group of Friends - both board members and members — we have,” says Katy. “Everything that the Friends do is 100% volunteer-run. We are really fortunate to have such a strong Friends group.”

Friends sponsor the library’s streaming services, lectures, and programs; provide funds for special programming, particularly for the Youth Services Department, and funds for equipment, museum passes, movies, concerts, furniture, plantings for the library grounds, and more.

“They fill our grand auditorium with concerts, and lectures, and movies; we have story times for the kids. With support from the Friends, we’re able to keep that auditorium rollicking year-round,” says Katy.

One of the newer special collections the Friends have supported in recent years is the expansion of the Library of Things at the Blackstone.

“They’ve helped us expand it to include lawn games, household tools, a ukulele, an electric guitar, a metal detector, and so many other things that you may not want to buy but want to give a try,” Katy says. “The Friends supported all of these purchases and helped make them available online. It’s a collection that we’re really excited about.”

Everything in the Library of Things can be borrowed by anyone with a library card, which is free. September is National Library Card sign-up month, Katie adds. The card can be used at any public library in Connecticut.

“For anybody who doesn’t have a card yet, it’s a really easy sign-up process, and then you get access to all of these really neat things, books, and services.”

Katy first joined the Blackstone in 2010 as a reference librarian, then became associate librarian for development and outreach before being named library director in May 2022. As she transitioned to the directorship, she was very involved with assisting the Blackstone Board of Trustees with its strategic plan for the library’s future.

“When I took over as director, I was able to help finish that project that was already in progress, and that was a really great start because it gave us an opportunity to talk to the community and discuss their needs,” says Katy. “As I thought about what I wanted to do with the library in this director role, I was directly informed by the community and what their needs were. So the timing was great.”

Katy worked with each library department to encourage them to look at the strategic plan to inform the services and opportunities they provide and refine areas addressed by the feedback from the community. The concept of supporting community needs continues.

“My position is really a relationship-driven position,” says Katy. “I really enjoy talking to people, getting to know people, and seeing how the library can either meet their needs or help to better enhance what we offer.”

She says the services and facilities offered to the public through the Blackstone make it “...a place to be, and to be welcomed.”

As a cornerstone of the community for 128 years, the Blackstone Library has been in continuous use as the town’s public library since 1896. The building’s latest interior renovations and upgrades, together with a new addition to the back of the library, were completed in 2019. The grandeur of the Blackstone’s marble exterior may look imposing, but this is a place where the community can feel at home.

“We want to extend a warm welcome to everyone,” says Katy.

Many residents are signing up for programs they learn about in the Blackstone’s weekly Community Calendar email (sign up at blackstonelibrary.org). The calendar started during the pandemic and is now a very popular tool. Katy says her stellar staff is always willing to roll up their sleeves to respond to the community.

“We have a super talented staff that’s eager to contribute and ready to say ‘yes’ to whatever challenge they find,” says Katy.

For example, some of the staff are very knowledgeable about posting on TikTok. They’ve been having fun promoting the Friend’s Fall Book Sale, and all of their posts are definitely worth a look, Katy notes.

“They are really skilled at TikTok and really creative. They’ve have some videos that hit over 100,000 views on TikTok recently,” says Katy. “They just put up a really fun TikTok about the great vinyl you can find at the Book Sale.”

The library also encourages folks to visit its information-packed website (blackstonelibrary.org) or go to @BlackstoneLibrary on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest events, programs, and opportunities being planned for residents of all ages.

Katy thoroughly enjoys her job and is proud to share the news about all that the Blackstone Library has to offer the Branford community.

“The thing that I love about this job is that I get to play a role in every aspect of the library and moving it forward,” says Katy.