The new director of Calvert Library had good news to report to the Calvert County Commissioners Tuesday, Aug. 27. Carrie Plymire was attending the board’s meeting to introduce this year’s Maryland One Book.
The statistical information Plymire distributed to the board and members of the press confirmed what many county officials had predicted—solid success for the larger library branch serving the southern end of Calvert.
According to local library officials, Calvert Library Southern Branch saw significant increases for this past June and July as compared to the same period in 2012. Last year the branch was located in cramped quarters at the Southern Community Center in Lusby.
Despite taking some flak from some citizens and even a few county government employees, the commissioners approved expenditures to retrofit and lease a storefront in Solomons as an interim site for the Southern Branch. The county’s long-range plan is to construct—or have a developer build—a new branch site within the town center of Lusby.
During June, the Southern Branch experienced a 26 percent rise in circulation, a 29 percent jump in reference, a 60 percent increase in computer use, while self-checkout use rose 130 percent, as compared with June 2012.
The July numbers were also soaring—up 30 percent in circulation, 45 percent increases in both reference and computer use, and a 175 percent rise in self-checkout use.
Last September, the county commissioners awarded a $773,280 contract to W.M. Davis Inc. to retrofit the former location of Woodburn’s food store and entered a lease agreement with the property owners at an annual cost of $94,240.
The construction money came from a one-time premium from the county’s Triple A Bond rating. The Calvert Library Foundation ponied up an additional $239,000 to purchase furniture and furnishings for the branch.
Plymire, who recently succeeded Patricia Hofmann as the county’s library director, urged the commissioners and public to participate in a two-month observance of the Maryland One Book. The 2012 selection is “King Peggy,” the true story of American Peggielene Bartels, who
