Small Business Saturday: Lewiston Public Library becomes community hub

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

A “Harry Potter”-themed escape room.

A noontime New Year’s Eve party.

A karaoke machine.

If you think all libraries are quiet, stodgy, inactive places, then you haven’t visited the one in Lewiston.

At the time of this interview with adult services librarian Michelle Kratts, the building boasted an elementary school fieldtrip, a gathering of aspiring memoir authors, and a meeting with members of a local arts and cultural group.

“I think libraries today are moving towards being more than just a square box with books in it. We have to move past that,” Kratts said. “The way I feel, I'm so proud to work in a library, to be a librarian, because we're one of the last places where things are free. We are all-inclusive. We welcome groups of people to just learn more about themselves, their community.”

She added, “We just had a Reiki class, which was, again, free. Everything we do is free here – every class we have, every service we provide, is 100% free.”

While the Lewiston Public Library remains a premier location to find peace when working – a spot used by students for homework, adults for newspaper reading, and a resource for writers – it has turned into a place where people can come and learn in a variety of ways (and not just from paper).

“We love to give people an opportunity to better themselves,” Kratts said.

Students visited the Lewiston Public Library’s children’s room for fieldtrip fun.

Aspiring memoir writers meet to discuss their creative works.

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She explained, “We have a recipe club that meets once a month, where we explore the world of recipes, of cooking. We now have a needlework group that started again, which women come together and just kind of work on things peacefully and quiet. …

“We have library groups, like our book clubs, recipe club, the genealogy group, children's story times. Those are on a weekly basis. Then we have a lot of special people who come in, such as (Reiki instructor) Vera Chapman. She has presented several classes here. We have book signings. We have all kinds of experts who come in to share what they know and what they love.”

“We like that this is a warm, welcoming space for people to come and learn new things, just to be a part of the community,” Kratts said. “It's way more than just books.”

Here’s what else the Lewiston Public Library offers:

•A genealogy room: “One of the great services we do here at the library – which is going to be long-lasting – is our genealogy. We have a group of people who collect the obituaries. We save them on a database,” Kratts said. There are upward of 25,000 obituaries – dating back to the 1850s.

Genealogy services are free – they just require an appointment.

The Lewiston Public Library also is an affiliate of FamilySearch, which, per its website, is a service provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that provides information “free of charge to everyone, regardless of tradition, culture, or religious affiliation. FamilySearch resources help millions of people around the world discover their heritage and connect with family members.”

Kratts said this database has collected “the vital records of the world”; “they microfilmed it and then digitized it.”

“We are actually an affiliate library of them, which means we have special access to the records through their website that other people don't at their homes,” Kratts said. “Some records are available, others are locked – except here.”

“We have a lot of instructional classes,” she said. “We meet once a month. We have worked on many, many books. Actually, because of all this research, we put together books of local family histories with photographs, stories.”

Kratts added, “My thought is, always, we need to capture these stories while we have them. So many of the people that we've captured their stories have passed away.”

“They tell the story of the area, really,” she said.

The Friends Room has many books available for sale.

•The Friends Room is open year-round, “and we have wonderful volunteers who man this room, and they just keep filling it up with the donations we get. We sell these books. We get so many excellent-quality books. Just great shape. And all this money that is raised from selling the books goes right into programming for the library,” Kratts said.

She noted, “We also have carts of free books we just put aside as a gift to our patrons. We get so many donations. We share with other libraries, too, because we tend to get really, really good ones – sometimes best-sellers come in here. So, it's always good to check out what we have.”

•Computers and resources for students. Children’s room page and program coordinator Amy Wall said, “Homeschoolers come in here all the time and just utilize the space, and they meet. I had a homeschooler in here, it’s the first time that she's really getting into it, and seeing what different things that you can borrow, different kits they can have, like STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) kits. It's all those different fun kits that they borrow.”

The library also offers Wi-Fi, e-books, audiobooks, and even hot spots that can be rented.

Families can enhance their child’s learning by borrowing passes to visit local attractions the Aquarium of Niagara and Old Fort Niagara.

Artworks can be seen above and around the shelves of books inside the Lewiston Public Library.

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•Art: The Lewiston Public Library has performing arts by way of CDs and DVDs, and paintings spread throughout the building.

Artists can display their art in the community room, Kratts said. “We also have some pretty famous art hanging up that I don't think people realize,” including a large piece in the lobby created by Marc Chagall.

With other artworks, “You'll recognize some places. People always want to buy them from us, but they're on permanent display here – and the (artists’) families actually come in to see them at times,” Kratts said.

Now, to take advantage of these offerings, there are two stipulations – but neither is overly burdensome. In fact, the key word in planning or borrowing something is “free.”

“That's one of our stipulations: Everything must be free,” Kratts said. “If people want to do a program, everything must be open to everyone. If you have a meeting, it's open to the public.”

To borrow something, patrons must become a member of the library – which, itself, is an affiliation of the Nioga Library System.

“Just fill out the application – and that's also free,” Kratts said.

Village of Lewiston Trustee Tina Coppins said, “The Lewiston Library is a vital piece to our community. The library preserves our cultural heritage and history. It's a place where adults and kids can feel safe. The library has many resources and can help you find an outreach program if you are in need. Their monthly calendars are full of different events going on and have many different resources for all ages. If you haven't visited the library yet, please stop by and support our beautiful asset in the village.”

The Lewiston Public Library is located at 305 S. Eighth St., Lewiston; and online at https://www.lewistonpubliclibrary.org/.