News and Press
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November 19, 2020
Addison Independent
Letter to the editor: So thankful for Ilsley Library
I would like to express my deep and continuous gratitude for the people and institution of the Ilsley Public Library. In pre-pandemic days, the library was a haven and frequent stop for my daughter and me. We came for books, of course, but also for the crafts, the activities, story times, and events, and it was almost a guarantee that we would run into friends whenever we tramped down the stairs. Read the letter.
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October 8, 2020
Addison Independent
Ilsley makes preparations to go fine free
MIDDLEBURY–Middlebury’s Ilsley Public Library will soon join its Addison County counterparts in going fine free, in part to remove a potential financial barrier that might exist for some local residents in getting their hands on literacy materials. Read the article.
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August 20, 2020
Addison Independent
Rogers closes book on career at Sarah Partridge Library
EAST MIDDLEBURY–Mona Rogers had an impressive resume to show off when she interviewed to lead the Sarah Partridge Library in East Middlebury back in 2003.
Educator. Business owner. World traveler. And, back in her teen years, experience as an assistant at the library in Massapequa, N.Y., where she grew up. Read the article.
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July 8, 2019
Addison Independent
Reading is a fun ride for Ilsley’s Tricia Allen
MIDDLEBURY — Children’s librarians wear many hats. They are storytellers, teachers, mentors, performers, listeners, event planners. Ilsley Public Library’s Tricia Allen wears many literal hats, too. Every Thursday through the summer she dresses up in a homemade costume — sparkly house fly, rainbow unicorn — loads great piles of books into a trailer and lugs them across town on her bike. Read the article.
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June 14, 2019
Addison Independent
Ilsley Library takes its services on the road
MIDDLEBURY — Realizing some folks can’t pay regular visits to Middlebury’s Ilsley Public Library, officials there are working on ways to bring the institution’s books, videos and other services to the masses.
Efforts to create a more mobile Ilsley Library began this past Wednesday, June 19, at the Middlebury Farmers Market at the VFW Post 7823 at 530 Exchange Street. There, Ilsley Library Director Dana Hart staffed a booth offering dozens of books and library cards to market shoppers. Read the article.
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June 13, 2019
WCAX3
How one Vermont library is tackling the opioid crisis
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (WCAX) A Vermont library is taking a new step to protect its patrons by stocking the drug Narcan. The Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury teamed up with Turning Point to teach library employees how and when to use the opiate-reversal drug. Read the article and watch the segment.
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May 26, 2019
Addison Independent
Ilsley Library now carries Narcan to fight drug overdoses
Photo courtesy of Dana Hart
MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury’s Ilsley Public Library shelves a variety of books about opioid addiction and the recovery process for those held in its insidious grasp.
Now the library has a more immediate lifesaving tool on hand for patrons who suffer an overdose during visits. Read the article.
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March 7, 2019
The Middlebury Campus
Focus Groups To Shape Future of Ilsley Public Library
Over the past five months Dana Hart, the new director of the Ilsley Public Library, met with 14 focus groups on a “Tell Me!” tour to explore various ways Ilsley can better meet the needs of the Middlebury community. She introduced some of her findings at an event at the library on Wednesday. Read the article.
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February 21, 2019
Addison Independent
Residents to shape future of Ilsley Library
MIDDLEBURY —Ilsley Public Library officials recently spent five months asking Middlebury residents what kind of services they expect from their local library. Read the article.
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January 24, 2019
Addison Independent
Check out some snowshoes at the public library
Independent photo/John Flowers
MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury’s Ilsley Public Library still boasts an abundance of suspenseful books that can boost the reader’s heart rate while on the imaginary hunt for treasure or a clue in a well-spun mystery.
Now the Ilsley — and indeed an increasing number of other Addison County libraries — are offering other amenities aimed at getting people’s pulses to jump through a variety of physical activities, ranging from tennis to strumming a ukulele. Read the article.
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August 9, 2018
Addison Independent
National Book Award finalist Patrick Phillips to speak at Ilsley
Photo/Marion Ettlinger
MIDDLEBURY — National Book Award Finalist Patrick Phillips will discuss his recent nonfiction book “Blood at the Root; A Racial Cleansing in America” on Aug. 20, at 2 p.m., at Ilsley Public Library. The book explores the fraught racial history of his homeplace of Forsyth County, Ga. Read the article.
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June 21, 2018
Addison County Independent
‘Tell Me Tour’ seeks ideas for Ilsley
MIDDLEBURY — Have some thoughts you’d like to share about the present and future of Middlebury’s Ilsley Public Library? Library staff and trustees want to hear from you.
Library Director Dana Hart has announced a “Tell Me Tour,” during which she and Ilsley trustees will conduct feedback sessions with small focus groups to get a sense of residents’ priorities for the Ilsley and Sarah Partridge libraries. Read the article.
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June 11, 2018
Addison County Independent
Check out backpack of tennis equipment
Independent photos/Rachel Cohen
Before school is out this week, families will be able to check out a backpack full of tennis essentials from the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury for some summer fun. The backpack (only one will be available at the onset of the program) contains two adult tennis rackets, three youth rackets, a variety of tennis balls for different ages and skill levels, a few books about tennis stars, and a resource guide informing parents of fun tennis games to play with their kids. Read the article.
