Lee Library Community Center Foundation - NH

04/13/2026

Libraries need your help!

You'll be surprised!

02/05/2026

Library supporters -- please contact NH state reps and urge them to oppose this bill. For more info, go to nhlta.org.

Just heard HB1214 will be heard at 2pm on 2/10. You can oppose this bill right now by submitting your testimony online:

Hearing date is 2/10,
Bill is HB1214
Committee is House Municipal and County Government https://gc.nh.gov/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx

05/19/2025

A lovely story about the importance of libraries to start your week.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19WtERx5YL/

Every Tuesday at 3 p.m., Mrs. Ellis, the silver-haired librarian, would slide a handwritten note into a random book before reshelving it. No one knew it was she. “You’re braver than you think,” she’d scribble on lemon-yellow paper, tucking it into a thriller. “The world needs your laugh,” nestled inside a joke book. She’d done this for 12 years, since her husband passed...

One rainy afternoon, 14-year-old Marco flipped open a dusty atlas and found a note: “Someone out there is proud of you.” He stuffed it into his pocket. That week, his mom had been laid off, and he’d been hiding lunch money in her purse. The note stayed with him, creased but unthrown, like a secret friend...

He started visiting the library daily, hunting for more notes. Mrs. Ellis watched him quietly, noticing how he’d linger in the cookbook aisle (his mom’s dream was to open a bakery). One day, she “accidentally” dropped a note near his feet: “Follow the recipe, kid. You’ve got the ingredients.”

Marco baked her a lumpy banana loaf the next week. “For the note person,” he mumbled, pushing the tin across the desk. Mrs. Ellis smiled. “They’ll love it.”

Years passed. Marco’s mom opened her bakery, “Yellow Note Cakes,” with recipes pinned beside customer orders. Graduation day, Marco left a note in the atlas: “Thank you for seeing me.”

Mrs. Ellis retired last month. At her farewell party, the library displayed a clothesline strung with hundreds of yellow notes—found in textbooks, romance novels, even a gardening guide. A nurse wrote: “This got me through night shifts.” A single dad: “I kept your ‘You’re enough’ note in my wedding ring box.”

Now, the library’s new intern, Marco’s little sister, starts her mornings the same way: watering plants, shelving books, and hiding scraps of sunshine...

Mrs. Ellis still comes in on Tuesdays. “Found one!” she’ll say, waving a fresh note someone left for her...

Funny, isn’t it? How words meant to heal others somehow heal us too...
Please follow us: Astonishing
Credit: SYJ
Photo by RDNE Stock project

04/29/2025

Premiering April 29.

The story of how public libraries shaped America and how libraries continue to be a sanctuary for Americans everywhere.

03/31/2025

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) staff were placed on administrative leave as of today following the Trump Administration’s Executive Order.

IMLS is responsible for distributing Federal Funding for libraries.
This action will interrupt IMLS's vital, congressionally funded work.

According to AFGE, the union representing IMLS staff, DOGE met with IMLS leadership today and placed the staff on administrative leave.

While on leave, the staff are prohibited from continuing their duties. All employees were required to turn in government phones and other property before leaving the building, and their email accounts are now disabled. This means that libraries and museums will no longer be able to contact IMLS for updates about the funding they rely on. Work on processing 2025 grants and 2026 applications has ceased entirely, and the status of previously awarded grants is now unclear.

Without staff to administer these programs, it is likely that most grants will be terminated.

This is not only disruptive — it is potentially devastating for institutions that depend on federal support to meet local needs. This is not merely a bureaucratic activity; it is a crisis for the library, museum, and archive communities across the United States.

When people speak up, legislators listen. Please contact your governor and you elected representatives. The future of our nation’s libraries, museums, and archives depends on it.

03/25/2025

Thanks to everyone who sent emails!

New Hampshire lawmakers are backing down from a plan to eliminate the state library.

03/24/2025

This morning NH Representative Sweeney (Salem) asked the House Finance Committee to remove all funding for our State Library and the State Arts Commission since they’ll be losing their Federal Funding and the State budget requires hard choices this year.

Links to the contact info for Committee Members:
Division 1: https://gc.nh.gov/house/committees/links.aspx?x=3&id=25
Division II: https://gc.nh.gov/house/committees/links.aspx?x=3&id=26
Division III: https://gc.nh.gov/house/committees/links.aspx?x=3&id=27

You can watch the discussion here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAjdG9SbfnY go in to 11:24 am

03/23/2025

03/21/2025

From Heather Cox Richardson:
Today, members of the “Department of Government Efficiency” team showed up at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which helps to fund libraries and museums across the country and whose elimination Trump called for in an executive order last week. They sent employees home, swore in a new acting director in the lobby, and proceeded to cancel contracts and grants.

and this from a government press release:
Keith E. Sonderling Sworn In as Acting Director of Institute of Museum and Library Services

https://www.imls.gov/news/keith-e-sonderling-sworn-acting-director-institute-museum-and-library-services
“It is an honor to be appointed by President Trump to lead this important organization in its mission to advance, support, and empower America’s museums and libraries, which stand as cornerstones of learning and culture in our society. I am committed to steering this organization in lockstep with this Administration to enhance efficiency and foster innovation. We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations,” said Acting Director Sonderling.

03/21/2025

From NPR: Federal agency responsible for library and museum funding gets a visit from DOGE

President Trump has appointed Keith E. Sonderling as the new acting director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The IMLS offers grant funding to museums and libraries across the country.

The IMLS is an independent federal agency responsible for awarding grant funding to many museums and libraries across the country. Last week, President Trump issued an executive order calling for the IMLS' elimination. According to AFGE Local 3403, the union representing workers at the IMLS, Sonderling entered the lobby of the building Thursday morning along with a team of security and a "handful of DOGE staff," and was sworn-in.

"I am committed to steering this organization in lockstep with this Administration to enhance efficiency and foster innovation," Sonderling wrote in a press release. NPR has reached out to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities for more information, but did not immediately hear back.

While libraries are mostly funded by city and county taxes, federal funding helps pay for things like workforce training, supports pilot programs, and bolsters basic library services such as computer and internet access in rural libraries. The IMLS says it awarded $266 million in grants and research last year.

Jeff Jankowksi, president of Hoopla Digital, which helps library users access eBooks, music, movies and audiobooks, sent NPR a statement that warns "without necessary funding, it's likely that many libraries may be forced to scale back digital services, or in some cases, eliminate access entirely."

Following President Trump's executive order last week, the American Alliance of Museums, a group which advocates for museums, issued a statement saying: "There is no efficiency argument when IMLS represents just 0.0046% of the federal budget, while museums generate $50 billion in economic impact."

A spokesperson for AFGE Local 3403, the union representing workers at IMLS, said Sonderling "appears committed to following federal law," but that it expects most employees will be placed on administrative leave over the weekend. "It remains unclear whether funding for existing grantees will continue, and whether new grants will be available in the future."

03/18/2025

An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries. What can we do to fight the President's Executive Order that will cut funding to libraries?

Call your representatives. Here are the phone numbers for NH:
Senator Shaheen (202) 224-2841
Senator Hassan (202) 224-3324
Representative Goodlander (202) 225-5206
Representative Pappas (202) 225-5456

Here’s a short script to use or adapt: Hi, my name is _____ and I’m a resident of _________. I’m calling to request that ________ oppose any efforts by the Executive Branch to abolish the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is essential to preserve IMLS services and funding which supports summer reading, workforce readiness, early childhood development & literacy, services to Veterans, the blind, rural and Tribal libraries, access to ebooks, and more. It also supports community grants to address local needs. This funding is critical to meet the mission and needs of our NH communities. Thank you for your time and consideration.