Jane Ramos reflects on first year as library director of Sherburne Memorial Library

By Stephen Seitz

KILLINGTON—Just over one year ago, Jane Ramos officially took over as library director at the Sherburne Memorial Library, replacing Gail Weymouth, who had held the position for the 30 years prior.

The year has been eventful, Ramos reflected, saying she would like the community to know that there is much, much more to the library than books.

The Library has fully recovered from a water pipe burst back in December, Ramos reported. The pipe had burst over the library’s Vermont Room and damaged historical documents, books and electronics.

“We’ve done a lot of cleaning,” she said. “The Sherburne historical memorabilia are back on display… We’ve updated the collection with digital downloads,” Ramos continued, “and we have a local artist doing a mural for the children’s room.”

“People think we’re all about books, but that hasn’t been true for 20 years,” she said. “Our video collection could compete with any store in the state. We not only check books out, soon we hope to offer snowshoes, toys and tools, too.. People don’t realize what we have!”

Among the amenities are more programs for adults, such as de-stressing workshops, movie matinees, and bone building workshops every Thursday.

“Just simple coloring like you did as a child can greatly reduce stress,” Ramos said. Obviously, these are not the same sorts of simple pictures prepared for toddlers. Adult coloring pages are often complex and intricate. Not that children are being neglected. Story time is held Friday mornings at 10 a.m., and the Lego club for ages 6 through 13 meets on Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m., for example. “We’ve been having more kids at story time,” Ramos said.

The library also plans to do more.

“We’re working on an idea for a fairy tale festival,” she explained. “We’ll run the gamut from the cute and sweet from Disney, to the grotesque and bizarre. It’ll be a fun event. Our building is in a great location, and we spend too much time closed. It’s sad any time the building is closed.”

Ramos thinks more signage directing people to the library, would help attract visitors. “We’re at a disadvantage because there’s no town,” she said. “We’re so far removed from the Access Road.”

Ramos also commented that she’s seeing fewer “snowbirds” (a northerner who moves to a warmer climate in the winter) at the library in the summers.

“I worked here briefly in 2007,” she said. “I remember all the snowbirds who used to come in, up to 80 or 100. Now it’s down to half a dozen.”

The library is fully part of the information age, with computers, Internet and wireless access. Users can even take classes via the Universal Class, a service of the Vermont Department of Libraries

These services are, of course, in addition to the large and rotating selection of books available to check out or download as e-books and audio books.

“We’re not the library you grew up with,” Ramos said.For more information and the calendar of events, visit www.sherburnelibrary.org.