Wide Awake Club Library Fund

ACAF • October 22, 2021

(September 2021) Fillmore’s Wide Awake Club Library will benefit from ACAF’s newest fund. This endowment has been established by an anonymous donor whose own childhood was enriched by the library.

The Wide Awake Club Library (WACL) was born in January 1896, when a women’s study group connected to the Maccabees Lodge determined that a library was essential to staying up to date (or’ Wide Awake’ – hence the uniquely clever name they chose for their venture) on current events. A physical presence on Main Street, Fillmore, soon followed and the library has been a mainstay of the community ever since.

Like most small town libraries, the WACL has evolved along with local needs. The library has the second highest circulation of all county libraries, and among its programs are pre-school and baby/toddler times, talks by local authors, summer reading, genealogy resources and instruction, homeschooler support, Cookbook Club, and the Escape to the Library after school activity coordinated with Fillmore Central School. The library also holds a collection of local history resources.

A part-time staff of seven runs the library, with help from twenty volunteers. Director Roxanne Baker is pleased for the annual support the Wide Awake Club Library Fund will provide “I’m super excited that someone thought to do this for us. I know the library will benefit from this for many generations.”

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