The Peru Gazette

Juliette Brookfield, CEFLS Youth Services Librarian

Community Care Project boxes being packed

Outreach Librarian Anja Bouchard points to summer reading program packs

66 Oak St., Plattsburgh CEFLS Headquarters.

Van driver Deb Price with her drop-off and pick-up at our Peru library

By John T. Ryan 

North Country libraries are centerpieces of our small communities; that’s certainly true here in Peru, where we take great pride in the Peru Free Library. Our library, like 32 similar libraries in the tri-county area, relies on a less visible entity, CEFLS, the Clinton, Essex, Franklin Library System, to provide its wide variety of services. Established in 1954 under the state Education Department, CEFLS is governed by a 15-member volunteer Board of Trustees (five from each county) and is funded primarily by New York State, supplemented by county contributions and grants.  Unfortunately, CEFLS faces a projected 2027 budget deficit that will force service cutbacks. 

Peru librarian Stacey Bousquet said, “The main service we get from them is inter-library loans. Every Friday, a van delivers books and other items our patrons requested and picks up books, DVDs, and items other libraries have requested. They also provide training, help with state reports, webinars, and technical assistance, including support for our library’s software. Their grant program supports our summer reading programs. As a new librarian, my CEFLS liaison, Anja Bouchard, has been very, very helpful.”  (In 2024 its van drivers logged over 36,000 miles transporting over 213,800 items.)

Anja Bouchard, the CEFLS Outreach Librarian, took the Gazette on a tour of the system’s 33 Oak Street building. As expected, the building houses row after row of hard-cover books. Juliette Brookfield, CEFLS Youth Services Librarian, was working on materials to encourage children to start reading early, and she commented, “Graphic novels and manga, a Japanese form of graphic storytelling, are popular with young readers. Finding reading materials that match a child’s interests can make a difference.”

The “Library of Things” lets library patrons borrow items beyond conventional books, such as early literacy and education kits for preschool- and kindergarten-age children, storytelling materials, musical instruments, LEGO kits, knitting kits, and virtual-reality headsets. It also offers occasional-use items, such as specialty cake pans and games, and much more. CEFLS lists all offerings in its online electronic catalog. 

Anja said libraries’ role has evolved beyond information into community gathering places for educational, cultural, and social activities. The many art, wellness, and speaking  community programs at our Peru library exemplify that evolution. Recognizing the current financial hardships facing many people, CEFLS launched a Community Care Project discreetly providing hygiene products and community resource information.  Seventeen libraries participate.

Executive Director Steve Kenworthy said CEFLS had projected a $200,000 deficit in its $1.6 million 2027 budget. He commented, “Conservative financial management has absorbed years of stagnant funding since 2008, but inflation, aging infrastructure, vehicle replacement and rising services are straining the system.” Kenworthy anticipates reducing the deficit by $150,000 through retirements and reassignments of in-house personnel. The remaining $50,000 deficit will require discontinuing services like certain adult, young adult, and juvenile book rotations. CEFLS is pursuing more grants and exploring participation in the United Way.