Bixby Memorial Free Library is proud to announce that it has been awarded two Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) grants in 2024. The grants build on past CVNHP support to care for and bring to life the library’s notable museum and archival collections by celebrating the significance of our five-town footprint in the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere.
“The Bixby Library is proud of the historical collections entrusted to us over the past century, a tradition many Vermont libraries share,” explains Catharine Findiesen Hays, the Library’s Director. “These generous and impactful CVNHP grants recognize this role and augment the resources we receive from residents of our five towns to do more with these collections and make them accessible and relevant to our lives today.
“These grants will help community members explore how our five-town community is connected to the larger Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere. We’ll bring our shared ecosystem to life to remind and reconnect us, as we care for and more fully appreciate them. We are especially excited to foster and strengthen partnerships with experts, educators, students, and community organizations this year.”
Bixby Archives “Biosphere Lens” Finding Aids and Accessibility Intern
To curate the locally-provenanced archives and artifact collections, the Bixby recruited an accomplished Historical Collections Associate, Kelly Bartlett, to create browsable finding aids and a captivating history exhibit titled “Biosphere in Your Backyard.” The function of these finding aids is to expound upon the contents and significance of each collection, while the exhibit ties together common themes under the umbrella of the Champlain Adirondack Biosphere Network.
The support of CVNHP enables the library to fulfill its belonging, sustainability, and literacy strategic goals by making more information available online for researchers, educators, students, historians, and those who just love learning more about the richness of our local history. These updated findings aids are online and can be reviewed in the Historical Collections section of the Bixby website.
Additional outcomes of this project include the creation of an “Biosphere in Your Backyard” exhibit in the Kerr room, which draws upon the collections examined throughout the summer, along with two biosphere-centered book displays located in the Bixby’s Vermont Room and Children’s Room
What Are You Looking At: Eco-Hands Across the Biosphere
Inspired by CVNHP’s 2024 theme – celebrating the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere – this grant enables the Bixby to continue engaging Historical Collections Associate Kelly Bartlett to partner with area educators to connect the youth of our five-town community with young people in the libraries and schools across the lake, in the communities that we view from our shores. Through a series of field trips, hosted programs, and educational kits using our object, artifact, and archive collections, this project will enlighten and empower students and their educators as stewards of the Biosphere.
The Bixby community is deeply grateful to CVNHP for its generosity in funding these important projects. We invite our community members to join in this undertaking by volunteering, providing insights into local history and waterways, and offering suggestions for making these programs as meaningful as possible for as many as possible. To share your input, contact the Bixby Library at info@bixbylibrary.org.
About Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP)
The project was funded by a 2024 Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) grant. Managed by the Lake Champlain Basin Program, the CVNHP works with partners in the eleven counties surrounding Lake Champlain to conserve, interpret and promote the region’s natural and cultural treasures to build a sense of stewardship for its rich environmental, historic, and cultural resources. (Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership – Home)