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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
It’s hard to imagine Walpole before the current Walpole Library, as it has become such a staple in the community. The new library building celebrated its fifth birthday this past week, an event marked by the Friends of the Walpole Public Library and the Library Trustees. “We saw this as an opportunity to come together and just celebrate this with the community of Walpole,” Philip Czachorowski, president of the Friends said. Celebrated it was. Featuring a performance by George Capaccio in “Albert Einstein: Relatively Speaking,” as well as refreshments and crafts for the kids, the library was bustling with activity.
The Friends of the Walpole Public Library was established in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s, according to Czachorowski. Interest had sort of fallen off after a bit, however, “when there was a campaign to get the override passed to build a new library, that’s when many of us got involved and we joined the friends and right now we have a very vibrant friends,” Czachorowski said. Last year alone, the Friends sponsored 60 events, bringing in 2,100 people. “Our big project last year is that we helped purchase the new audio visual equipment in the community room, so we contributed $1200,” he added. Friends raise money through their memberships, and through their book sale, which runs throughout the year. “Believe it or not, even though we’re only selling books for 50 cents or a dollar, we raise over $6,000 a year.”
The new Walpole building is a green building, and the only building in Walpole to be LEDS certified. “It has solar cells that I think generate 20,000 kilowatts a year of energy. The lighting is sensitive to how much light is coming in, so the lights will shut down if they don’t need to be lit, and they do it bank by bank,” Czacharowski said. “There’s a green roof, over the community center, which is filled with plants. It cools the building in the summer as water evaporates, and then it insulates it in the winter.” The Library’s update has led to increased use of the facilities, including a rise in study room usage from 70 meetings a year in the old building to 900 in the past year alone.
“It’s not just a place that people take out books, it’s also a place where the community people can gather.”
