News from Your Otis Library

By Stephanie Skinner

June 2025

On May 3rd the Otis Library had our 2nd annual book sale at the Otis Ridge. Librarian Lois Hall and Friends of the Library Chair, Rosy Crittendon, had spent the previous three weeks working every day to sort and box up books, puzzles, DVDs and games. By the time of the sale, they had sorted 164 boxes. The boxes were taken in shifts from the library to a storage unit kindly donated by Donny Chaffee, and then from the storage unit to Otis Ridge, where space was also donated by Eric VanOostveen, General Manager.

Visitors stopped in all day. Some took a single book or puzzle, some took multiple boxes. Volunteers staffed the table and also sold 50/50 raffle tickets. There were so many volunteers on the days before and the day of the sale including Sue Brofman, Susan Hicks, Jeanne Randorf, Arlene Tolopko, Debbie Bobson, David Knishkowy, Sharon DeLevie, Diane Dyer and so many more that I just can’t remember them all!

And of course, Lois and Rosy were there early, and they were the last to leave.

The very next day, all the unsold boxes of books, puzzles, games and DVDs had to be returned to the storage unit, and once again a mighty army of volunteers showed up to help; Tony Rigillo, Bob Forman (who, it turns out, is a super stacker of boxes due to a warehouse job in Manhattan in his youth), Greg Dow, Pam (whose last name I never caught! Please stop by for a Complimentary library card!), Steve Berry, Sue Ebitz, Roland Timmons, Sue Brofman and, the endlessly generous with his time, Jim Crandall. The dedication, well-led coordination, and spirit of cooperation meant those boxes were stacked back in the storage unit in just under an hour.

I’ll butcher and paraphrase something we’ve all heard; it takes a village, or in our case, a tiny town, to run a book sale, and Otis earned a star in the library firmament on those days of extreme volunteerism.

But here’s even better news! On July 5th we’ll have the Otis Library Country Fair on the slope in front of the town hall and all those books and puzzles looking for new owners will be back and anxiously awaiting someone just like you. There will also be vendors, food and entertainment, including, perhaps, music for the first time! Mark your calendars now.

These are fundraisers for our town library, which is much more than a building with books. It is your community at its finest. So I hope you will stop in the library and then visit the fair too, to see that our wonderful staff and volunteers work very hard to put the FUN in fundraising.

In other news: A summer reading program will kick off in mid-June, and our book club and cook book clubs are booming. Don’t miss everything we have to offer right here in Otis!