Check out our year in review for 2023!

Table of Contents:
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A Note from the Director

A Quick “New Year’s” Note

2023 marked a year of transition for the Paul Memorial Library. We said a fond farewell to our former director Carl Heidenblad who retired at the end of 2022. Carl left big shoes to fill but I’m grateful to the BOT for the opportunity to take on interim director duties for the latter half of 2023 and I’m excited to make the role official as the Library Director this year. I want to give a big thanks to my coworker Cori Caputo for her support and for stepping up to fill the extra hours left by Carl, helping us keep the library open for all our regular hours, even while short staffed through the summer.   

After several months of searching, we hired Marie Smyth as our new Library Assistant in August. She brings a wonderful enthusiasm for reading and librarianship and is currently working towards her Master’s degree in Library Science. (If you haven’t been to the library to meet her yet, stop in to say hello!) She hit the ground running, kickstarting our Pre-school Story Times, which had to take a hiatus while we were short staffed. She’s also leading a new Fantasy + Sci-Fi book club this year that we’ve had a great response to. I am excited to see her grow in her role in the coming year. 

Despite staff changes, this year we increased our program offerings by 50% compared to 2022 and hosted several popular programs, including:

  • Valentines Day and Halloween cookie decorating
  • Sheryl Faye’s performance of Ruth Bader Ginsburg for Women’s History Month
  • Local author presentation “Walking France” by Gale Carey
  • Drive-In Movies
  • Summer reading challenge and activities
  • Outdoor concernt on the lawn (feat. Hungrytown)
  • Herbal Tea Blending workshop
  • Astronomy Nights with the NH Astronomical Society
  • Quarterly Puzzle Swaps
  • Annual Haunted Library
  • Gingerbread House workshop
  • Monthly take-home craft bags for adults and kids


As always, the Friends of the Library deserves a huge thank you. Their support allows us to buy more books for adults and children, as well as funding for DVDs and local museum passes that patrons can use for free and discounted visits. The Friends also fund many of our programs and much of the materials needed for our summer reading programs.

On a personal note, I also want to give a special thanks to our patrons for their patience and support through these transitions while we were short staffed and as I am learning and growing into this new role. Your encouragement and support are so appreciated and I am grateful to serve such a friendly community. 

We hope that you, your family and friends got to enjoy the library’s offerings this past year.  All of us associated with the library look forward to serving you, your families, friends and neighbors in 2024!

Check out more of our numbers below:

2023 By the Numbers

We’ve crunched the numbers and have some fun library usage stats to share below:

Library Statistics for 2023

Total Items in Collection10,560
Total Circulation14,206
>>Physical Items Circulated: 8,404
>>Digital Circulation: 5,802
Library Visits4,663
Programs Offered81
Program Attendance1,276
Residents with Library Cards1,208
Patrons Saved$176,053.13 (up 7% from 2022)

Most Borrowed Titles 2023

Adult Fiction

  1. Horse by Geraldine Brooks
  2. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  3. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
  4. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
  5. It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover
  6. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
  7. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
  8. Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
  9. Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
  10. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Adult Non-Fiction

  1. Wager by David Grann
  2. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
  3. Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen by Adeena Sussman
  4. The White Mountain: Rediscovering Mount Washington’s Hidden Culture by Dan Szczesny
  5. History of Newfields by Rev. James Hill Fitts
  6. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
  7. Gemstones by Cally Hall
  8. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  9. SOUP: The Ultimate Book of Soups and Stews by Derek Bissonnette
  10. Trav­el­s with­ Charley: In Search of Amer­i­ca by John Steinbeck

Mysteries + Thrillers

  1. World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
  2. The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
  3. Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
  4. All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
  5. The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham
  6. Obsessed by James Patterson
  7. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
  8. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
  9. Only One Left by Riley Sager
  10. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

Easy Fiction

  1. Big Truck, Little Island by Chris Van Dusen
  2. Team Ninja by Catherine Saunders
  3. Milk and Juice: A Recycling Romance by Meredith Crandall Brown
  4. High Five by Adam Rubin
  5. Frozen: The Christmas Party by Andrea Posner-Sanchez
  6. If I Could Drive a Mixer by Michael Teit­el­baum
  7. Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann
  8. Spacebusters: The Race to the Moon by Philip Wilkinson
  9. Pete the Cat’s Train Trip by James Dean
  10. Frozen: A Tale of Two Sisters by Melissa Lagonegro

Juvenile Fiction (Middle Grade)

  1. Double Down (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #11) by Jeff Kinney
  2. Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4) by Jeff Kinney
  3. Old School (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10) by Jeff Kinney
  4. The Getaway (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #12) by Jeff Kinney
  5. The Meltdown (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #13) by Jeff Kinney
  6. The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5) by Jeff Kinney
  7. The Wrecking Ball (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #14) by Jeff Kinney
  8. Owl Diaries: Eva’s Big Sleepover (Book 9) by Rebecca Elliott
  9. Ju­nie B. Jones Is Not a Crook by Barbara Park
  10. The Deep End (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #15) by Jeff Kinney

Juvenile Non-Fiction

  1. Heavy Equipment Up Close by Andra Serlin Abramson
  2. 5,000 Awesome Facts (About Everything!) #3 by National Geographic
  3. Lift-The-Flap Picture Atlas by Usborne
  4. The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
  5. Myth­i­cal ­Mon­ster­s: Le­gendary, Fear­some Crea­tures by Gerrie McCall
  6. Minecraft Essential Handbook by Stephanie Milton
  7. Cat (Eyewitness Books) by Juliet Clutton-Brock
  8. Monsters & Creatures: A Young Adventurer’s Guide (Dungeons & Dragons) by Jim Zub
  9. Minecraft Construction Handbook by Matthew Needler and Phil Southam
  10. Dinosaur by Sarah Walker

General DVDs

  1. Barbie
  2. Fargo
  3. And Then There Were None
  4. Dinosaur 13
  5. You Again
  6. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
  7. 11.22.63
  8. About Time
  9. Doc Martin Collection
  10. The People’s Palace

Children + Family DVDs

  1. Once Upon a Potty for Him
  2. Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies
  3. Berenstain Bears: Halloween Treats
  4. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
  5. Sesame Street
  6. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
  7. Scooby-Doo
  8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  9. Elf
  10. Incredibles 2

2023 Staff Picks

Brittney’s Picks

  • Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
  • Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
  • The Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green
  • Shark Heart, by Emily Habeck
  • The Magnolia Palace, by Fiona Davis
  • Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stevenson
  • Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Cori’s Picks

  • The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
  • The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger
  • Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  • Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
  • The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh
  • Starfish by Lisa Fipps
  • I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Marie’s Picks

  • Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
  • The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
  • Red Rising by Pierce Brown
  • Babel by R.F. Kuang

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