Submitted by William H. Teschek, Librarian

1983 was a very good year for Hampton’s public library. The year was highlighted by the March 12th Town Meeting at which our long-awaited library addition was passed by an overwhelming vote of 586 to 91. In the months that followed a seven-member Building Committee was formed to supervise and plan the development and construction of the library. John Carter of Nashua was hired as architect; he had previously done the Nashua,Salem, Merrimack, and Wolfeboro public libraries. Coakley Construction of Greenland was awarded the job of General Contractor.

In August we appealed to the townspeople to help us move the library by borrowing as many books as possible from our old location and returning them to the new quarters. Exceeding our wildest dreams people turned out to borrow half of the library’s collection. September 3rd was our last day of operations in the old building, and in the following two weeks every book and stick of furniture was transported to our current quarters at Stickney Terrace. Stickney Terrace intersects Route One across from the Catholic Church,and the library is located in the former Palmer-Sicard building, a long green cement-block warehouse at the end of the street. We opened for business on Sept. 19th, and four days later groundbreaking ceremonies took place at the old building. On October 3rd the bulldozers visited destruction upon the 1957 addition to the library and hauled it to the town dump. A 13,500 square foot addition is now being constructed on the back of the original 1910 structure, which when completed will give the library more than four times more space than before. The building is expected to be completed toward the end of 1984.

1983 also witnessed the passing of Dr. Wheaton J. Lane, long- time benefactor of the Lane Memorial Library. The record of contributions by the Lane family goes back to the original construction of the library in 1910, which was totally financed by Wheaton’s father Howard G. Lane.

A new service was added in April when the Polaroid Corp. gave us three new Sun cameras to loan out to the public. Along with a Kodak Instamatic we now have four cameras, with the promise of more to come in 1984. These can be borrowed for 2 weeks, just like a book. You must supply the film.

Circulation for the year was up over 1982. 91,197 books, magazines, records, cassettes, cameras, tape recorders and pamphlets were borrowed compared to 87,246 in 1982. 614 works of framed art and photographs circulated from January through August. In August most of our collection was distributed on long term loan to businesses and individuals, who do not have to return them until we are in the new building. We have no room to store them in our current facility. 2735 new books were acquired, while only 890 were discarded, allowing the collection to grow substantially for the first time in years. Many older books have been put into storage, however, until such time as we move into the new building.

In closing I would like to express the library’s appreciation to the following individuals and groups who volunteered their limited time to the library over the past year: Olga Armen, Ruth Barkley, Arlene Farrell, Ann Hanson, Dorothy Lee, the Hampton Garden Club and the Friends of the Library. Further thanks go to all those individuals who helped us during our move; they are too numerous to name here. Special recognition too should go to the staff of the library for working above and beyond the call of their normal duties while shifting operations from one location to another.

Despite our small quarters and inconvenient location, the library will be open throughout 1984 to serve the public and to satisfy many of the town’s informational, recreational, and educational needs.